Vaer’s another brand poised to bring watch manufacturing back to the US, and doing it with the kind of laid-back, California cool kid style of a Bruce Brown film. The brand’s got a bunch of enviable styles (including the R1 Racing Chronograph, which I’ve hovered over the “checkout” button in my cart half a dozen times today already), but for field watches, I like the A12 Dirty Dozen.
I own the Americaquartz version, an American-sourced and assembled quartz power, but the brand makes an automatic version too. The dial is clean, simple, and classic. Best of all, the quick change straps are actually quick change, meaning that it’s easy to dress this piece up or down based on the occasion. I have spare straps for my other watches, but don’t usually bother with the effort. With Vaer, I easily swap the stock black rubber strap for a ballistic tan nylon or the dressing stainless steel jubilee bracelet. And this gets bonus points for the reference to the 1967 classic Lee Marvin movie.
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