Hands on Review: BALTANY Retro American 1921
In this latest hands-on review, I am sharing my observations on the new BALTANY Retro American 1921 watch with a salmon-colored dial.
As the name suggests, this timepiece takes inspiration from the Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921, a reissue of a historic model of the 1920s.
The original watch made by the iconic Swiss Maison stands out with its square-cushion shaped case, diagonal display and off-centred crown. Recreating this emblematic design, the BALTANY S4046 collection is a budget-friendly substitute to the Historiques American 1921 model.
This “time-only” watch is available in “small-seconds” and “centre seconds” versions. The small-seconds model is again available in automatic, hand-wound and quartz versions. In this article, I am reviewing the automatic small-second variant of BALTANY 1921.
BALTANY Retro American 1921 Watch Review
The model featured in this review has a stainless steel case, salmon-colored dial and an automatic movement made by the iconic Tianjin Seagull company.
Earlier, Vacheron Constantin had paid tribute to its 1921 watch by presenting re-editions in precious materials like 18K gold and platinum. These hand-wound watches featured the emblematic case design and a fine-grained silver-colour dial.
Just like its historic inspiration, the 1921 tribute watch by BALTANY stands out with its unconventional design with a crown positioned at the right side top-corner of the square-cushion case.
The dial has been tilted to align the 12H numeral with the crown. This BALTANY 1921 model comes with a fine circular-brushed salmon dial with applied steel Breguet numeral hour-markers and printed railway minute track.
Positioned between 2H and 4H, the small seconds counter with snail pattern features printed black numerals and indices.
Distinctly shaped, both the hour and minute hands feature polished steel finish whereas the small-seconds hand stands out with a heat-blued finish.
This model (20S4046A) is powered by the Seagull ST1701 automatic movement. The brand is also offering a hand-wound version (20S4046H) with same design and functional features but equipped with the ST1700 calibre.
Both movements feature 20 jewels and beat at the rate of 21,600 vibrations per hour or 3 Hz. They have a power reserve rating of approximate 40 hours and feature an anti-shock mechanism based on the famous Incabloc shock protection system.
Enhanced with polished finish, the stainless case has a diameter of 38mm (45.1mm diagonal excluding the crown) and lug to lug length is 44mm.
The automatic version has a case thickness of 10.5mm (manual-wound variant measures 9.5mm) including the glass.
Protecting the dial side is a sapphire crystal glass with AR coating. On the reverse side, the slightly domed stainless steel case-back is secured to the main case with eight screws.
Water resistance of the watch is 50 meters as inscribed on the case-back. The flying-saucer shaped crown with fluted sides ensures easy adjustment.
The cock-eyed dial doesn’t carry the movement information (automatic or hand-wound) or any other texts except the brand name. However, the steel case-back is inscribed with movement type (automatic in this model) and other details.
Regarding the movement, the Seagull ST1701 has been popular among the brands specialised in homage and micro-brand segment. Seagull is one of the largest manufactures of mechanical watch movements in the world.
Powering the 1921 tribute watch, the Cal. ST1701 supports both automatic and manual winding but lacks the hacking seconds function. This timepiece doesn’t have an exhibition case-back to admire the movement where as the centre-seconds version with the Miyota 9039 calibre is provided with a sapphire crystal case-back.
The model featured in the review doesn’t have any luminescent application on its hands and markers on the dial. If you need a lumed version of the 1921 design, look out for the BALTANY S4071 series.
Finally, the watch has a brown leather strap and stainless steel pin buckle. The lug width is 20mm and this model doesn’t have quick release strap mechanism. However with every 1921 model, the brand is offering a spring bar removal tool for changing the straps.
The packaging is composed of a rectangular card-board box, brown leather-pouch for keeping the watch, spring bar removal tool, warranty card, microfiber cloth and booklet.
According to me, BALTANY American 1921 tribute is a must have for enthusiasts with a passion for outstanding vintage watch designs of prestigious Maisons.
The original re-editions come with staggering price tags making them accessible to limited number of customers. With a pocket friendly price of $169, BALTANY 1921 is perfectly suitable for the collectors who could not afford the sought-after designs of luxury brands.
Other versions
The BALTANY American 1921 Sub-second mechanical watch is also available in a silver dial version with a stainless steel or gold-plated (IPG) steel case. A quartz version (S4072) is also available with the Seiko VD78 calibre.
The 1921 model (automatic/hand-wound) is also available with lumed numerals and cathedral hands featuring white dial or black mother of pearl dial.
The brand is also offering a 1921 homage centre seconds version powered by Miyota 9039 calibre. Made in Japan, this premium automatic movement features 24 jewels, 42 hour power reserve and a balance frequency of 28,800 vph. Retailing at $295.00, it comes with a sapphire crystal case-back to view the movement.
About BALTANY
Based in China, BALTANY offers automatic, hand-wound and quartz watches inspired by historic designs like 1921, Bubble Back, Oyster, Dirty Dozen, A-11, Type 20, Avigation, W10, Explorer, Tuxedo and many more.
Please visit BALTANY watches website for more details.
Model: BALTANY Retro American 1921 Automatic
Movement
Seagull Automatic Calibre ST1701
Manual-wound version with Cal. ST1700
Frequency: 21600 vph
20 jewels
Power reserve: Approximately 40 hours
Case
316L stainless steel case, Square-cushion shape, polished finish
Diameter: 38mm (45.1mm diagonal)
Lug to Lug: 44mm
Crown: 316L stainless steel
Case thickness including glass: 10.5mm (automatic) / 9.5mm (hand winding)
Glass: Sapphire crystal, AR coating
Caseback: 316L stainless steel case-back fixed with screws
Waterproof: 50M (5ATM)
Dial
Salmon dial
Applied Breguet numeral hour markers
Hands: Polished hour and minute hands, heat blued second hand
Strap
Brown leather strap
Strap/lug width: 20mm
Buckle: Polished buckle in 316L stainless steel
Weight
Automatic version: 70g
Manual-wound version: 67g
