I was really shocked by this timepiece when I was making a searching online about good quality designer watches made in China. I thought it is a German brand because of its complications dial and sophisticated craftsmanship, however, after reading the introduction on its website and checking wathces’ prices, I am sure that Borman is a Chinese brand. Borman, I am glad the brand has chosen such a nice name, like the name of a pilot coming from Germany. I checked all watches produced by Borman yesterday and found they are all dress watches, there are no sports models or diver’s watches from Borman, they are doing one specific thing, also a great project, although the watch quality is not as solid as A.Lange or Glashutte from Germany, but Borman really deserves more attention from us.
The case is crafted with solid 316L stainless steel, its diameter is up to 40mm and thickness is about 12mm, this is a very popular case size for most dress watches, by the way, the case is not thick, I like it, some of watches like this made in China are too thick when being integrated with several functions. The fluted pumpkin-shaped crown is easy for the wearer to rotate to adjust time and date, the crown has a glossy high-polished “BORMAN” lettering on a sanded background. By the way, the lug width is 21mm, it is strange that Borman does not use rose gold on case back rim.
The coffee dial breaks through the design traditions of most Chinese watches, it has the aesthetics of mechanical watches made in Germany. Whether the GMT, Moon Phase indicator or week display, they are greatly different from the Chinese watches you usually see. The small dial at 12 o’clock is a world time display that has a true GMT function, but you need to adjust it manually by push the button on the case at 2 o’clock. For example, when you in New York, the main dial tells you local time, but you can adjust the GMT hand to the hour time of another city at the same time. The semicircular indicator at 6 o’clock shows you day and night through the rotating sun and moon disc, it is a false moon phase indicator, it will rotate every 24 hours. The week is displayed at 9 o’clock from “MO” to “SU” alternately. The date window features a black date font in white background. The most interesting thing I found on the dial is its central seconds hand, it is very small, just on the axis of the hand set. The button on the case at 4 o’clock is pressed to adjust the week display.
The watch features an exhibition-style case back that is fixed by eight screws. Behind the central crystal, there is golden movement inside that has beautiful finish on the auto rotor and movement plates. The movement is claimed by Borman with 48-hour power reserve, I do not think so, it is just a very common automatic movement from China, 38-hour power reserve I think, but I still suggest you wind it every night before going to bed to keep a more accurate timing. The watch is equipped with a brown leather band, which is fitted with a deployant clasp that also has beautiful fish-scale patterns like the movement. I like the Borman watch very much, I want to keep it on my wrist every day, because it looks more Swiss made than the other dress watches in my collection.
