The first time I heard of Szanto Watches was their collaboration with Roland Sands earlier this year, the watches looked good and were priced right. The Roland Sands watch collection was part of their ICON series which also includes a collection in partnership with racing driver Danny Sullivan and Surfer Shane Dorian.
Szanto is made by a company called Time Concepts which makes a number of other lifestyle watch brands like 420Waldos, Bia, and several others. But Szanto seems to be the best-developed concept and the one with the best back story. The Szanto line is inspired by vintage military watches and they do a good job at capturing the vintage look. The brand offers Japanese Automatic and Quartz movements by Miyota, the rest of the watch is made in China.
The Desert Sands is offered in three styles, the antique gold case with a white or black face, and a black case with a black face. The brushed stainless steel case with antique gold ion plating looks great, it has the look of vintage bronze without the issues associated with a bronze or brass case. Being stainless steel also allows for a 100-meter water-resistant rating.
The watch is very functional, I like that it has both the 12 and 24-hour designations on the face, the lume on the hands is bright and shows up well at night, the stopwatch feature is also a nice nod to the military inspiration of the watch. Inside is a trusty quartz chronograph Miyota 6S21 movement with a date complication. I do like how the oversized 6 is home to the date window on the watch. The leather strap is high quality and features quick-release pins, it should age nicely with wear and match the built-in patina look of the case.
At 41mm the Desert Sands 4550 Series is a nice size to wear as a casual daily watch, while I think it is a beautiful watch and well made, I don’t think they really nailed the military field watch theme. Field watches have always been simple, the A-11, Omega RAF, or Benrus GI come to mind as examples of the clean functional design that defined military watches. The Desert Sands feels more like a modern interpretation of a gentleman’s watch from the early 1900s and less like the watch a soldier would be issued during the North African campaign.
