During these past few weeks, eyeing my wrist has been pleasurable – and relaxing. I’ve been wearing a Waldan Heritage Professional watch with an off-white dial, and this 40mm watch’s clean time-only face requests very little from my brain. I’m lulled by its familiar, soft color and plainspoken display, which immediately registers the hour, minutes and seconds…and then seems to back off.
Dress watches typically require only admiration from wearers and observers, and on that front Waldan’s classic design here clearly succeeds. And it’s not simply the open, track-free dial that delivers a clear message.
Waldan nicely frames all the Heritage Professional cases with a polished, two-level round bezel. These curves continue onto the relatively small, lightly brushed lugs that only slightly offer contrast to the watch’s polish.
That pleasing contrast, along with the blue seconds hand and the red ‘Ameriquartz’ logo, nicely accent the watch overall, but are careful to not overwhelm the eye. The luxurious Ambra Elbamatt leather strap, on the other hand, betrays Waldan’s strong sense of fashion, which is more blatant on the collection’s green-dial option.
Ameriquartz inside
But there’s more to the Waldan Heritage Professional than meets the eye – literally.
While you won’t see the Ameriquartz caliber inside the watch’s closed case, you’ll know that it will power the watch’s hands flawlessly for years.
Fine Timepiece Solutions, the Arizona-based manufacturer of the Ameriquartz movements that power all the newest Waldan watches, guarantees that its all-metal calibers are defect-free for a full five years. (In fact, as a founding member of FTS, iW Publisher Gary Girdvainis will attest to the ultra-high manufacturing processes that result in these movements. Just ask him.)
The fairly slim caliber means that Waldan’s entire Heritage Professional collection maintains a dress-watch-thin 8.6mm from top to back. This size means the 40mm case diameter seems a smaller on the wrist, which is preferable for a dress model. My Waldan fit effortlessly onto my small-ish wrist. It was comfortable at all times. 
Waldan is introducing its Heritage Professional series with dials in four colors, including black, white, off-white and green. While I look forward to seeing additional dial color options in future debuts, the off-white model nicely fits my wrist, as I’ve noted, while also perfectly enhancing my mood. With its ability to satisfy both those demands, the Waldan Heritage Professional, priced at $299, is a bargain.
Specifications: Waldan Heritage Professional
Movement: American-made Ameriquartz Caliber 70200 quartz movement, all metal, hand made, assembled and tested individually in the United States. Fully serviceable and warrantied for five years.
Dial: Off White (OA variant) with black applied Arabic numerals, steel hands, black outer dial rim with applied SuperLuminova plots. Sunken and diamond-cut subdial above 6pm for sub-seconds register with small blue steel hand. Signed ‘Waldan, New York,’ ‘AMERIQUARTZ’ and ‘USA MOVT’.
Case: 316L stainless steel, two-piece, double stepped case with screw down back and anti-reflective-treated flat sapphire crystal. 40mm diameter x 8.6mm thickness x 20mm lug width. Mixed finish with polished case and brushed lugs. Knurled crown signed “W” with multi gasket system for 50 meter water resistance. Caseback signed.
Strap: Genuine Ambra Elbamatt brown leather, stainless steel buckle.
Price: $299
Comments are closed.