I have reviewed a lot of Szanto watches. Eleven, I believe. When I sampled my first Szantos back in 2014, the brand had only just launched and didn’t even have an active website, but they did have a small collection of inexpensive, vintage-inspired watches. Since then, the brand has kept the theme and greatly expanded the collection to include a wide range of styles and movements. Recently, Szanto lent me two of their Automatic Officer series watches, a silver dial Coin Cushion 6202 and a champagne dial Classic Round 6305, and I am pleased to report that these new models still possess the same Szanto charm.
As you might have gathered from the name, the Automatic Officer series uses automatic movements. They are only identified as “Japanese,” but peering through the display window and eyeing the specs (21-jewel, offset small seconds, and an offset 24-hour subdial on the Coin Cushion), it’s clearly a Miyota. I’m guessing we’re looking at the 8218 and 8219, also used in other Szantos. Both are perfectly fine units with 21.6k bph vibration rates and over 42-hour power reserves.
Blue cathedral hands, large serifed numbers, and onion crowns give the watches a early 20th century military quality. The hands are properly sized for the broad surface area they inhabit, reaching right to the markers and the railroad minute track. Antique script for the Szanto logo and “Automatic” designation keep the throwback theme.
With their polished cases and intricate guilloche dials, the Automatic Officers have a decidedly dressy bend but neither is particularly small, or even mid-sized. The Classic Round case is the simpler of the two, offering a smooth, polished surface that allows the dial to take center stage. Curved sides with mirrored finishes tend to visually shrink watch cases, and that effect is certainly present here. The Classic Round is 43mm wide, just over 47mm long, and 12.5mm thick but wears smaller than the 42.5mm Coin Cushion.
The Coin Cushion has a Radiomir-esque shape. While it not quite as wide as the Classic Round, it occupies far more area and is decidedly fancier. That fine coin edge on the fixed bezel dresses it up just enough. At 12.2mm it is nearly as thick as the Classic Round but the square case, tapered corners, and rounded sides make it seem far slimmer. The overall 49.5mm length is kept at bay by its wire-style lugs.
Speaking of straps, the pair arrived on 3.2mm thick glossy leather that tapered to stout 20mm signed buckles. They are nice enough, but given the size of the watches, I’d have preferred a little padding to balance things out. Not that this will pose any problem. The lugs on these watches are not real fixed wires and have 22mm spring bars so normal straps will fit.
I’d say the Automatic Officers would be best for folks with larger wrists than mine. I was able to carry them off on my 6.75″ wrists without complaint, but I’d only be able to wear them casually while a bigger guy might try them with a jacket and tie.
Of course, an officer’s watch is pretty useless unless you can wear it in the field. The Szantos definitely have the right stuff. Both watches have K1 mineral crystals, 100m water resistance, and bright SuperLuminova on the hands and markers. While you may want to keep them looking pretty, there is no reason why the Officers couldn’t easily serve for daily wear in a variety of circumstances – even submerged if you were to fit a waterproof strap. It’s not often you find a dressy watch that can suffer such abuse.
Overall, the Szanto Automatic Officers are attractive and useful. They are also nicely priced. The Classic Round is $375 and the Coin Cushion goes for $395.
