In this review, we will take a look Stuckx. The company is owned by Stephan Trimbos. He decided to create his own brand, a new microbrand that took off a few years ago through the feedback of the community on the Watchuseek forum, that eventually led to the launching of “The Bull” via Kickstarter. The project was a success, ending with 267 backers and total of €108,864 pledged (exceeding double their expectation goal of €50,000).

“The Bull” Is basically an homage to the vintage 70s, sports racing design – the Bullhead Chronograph from brands like Omega, Breitling, Seiko, Citizen, and others. Stuckx updated the design to modern standards.

The particular model we are looking today is The Black Bull 2-Eye Mecha-quartz Chronograph Ref. 4211.0384. So let’s start. The packaging that it came in was quite good, I was expecting just some cardboard box for this price. But the box was wrapped in this soft material (feels like faux leather) and on top, it had nice Stuckx logo in metal. You open the box, and here you have The Black Bull in all its glory. I actually never had a Bullhead style case in my hands. My father had bullhead Omega from the 70s and I held it once when I was little, but it got sold so I never got my hands on it to review 😦

The original case is made exclusively for the brand. So it’s not like they took it from some kind of Chinese case manufacturer like most brands do. So that adds more value to me, that they have an original design. The case finishing is very good, it is brushed with polished corners. The case is slightly curved so it sits very comfortably on my hand. The lugs you will find only on the bottom, the top ones are hidden in the case. The only thing that I needed to get used to, is that it sits very high where the crown and pushers are. The case is 42mm, made from 316L stainless steel. Height is 13mm. The lug size is 22mm so there are plenty of options for the straps. The unidirectional bezel has some nice action, but it has some play to it. The bezel is made out of 316L stainless steel with ceramic bezel insert. Sadly the white indications are without lume, but it has a top indication in orange lume.

The Bullhead style cases always have the crown and pushers on top or bottom. This is no exception. The screw down crown is big and easy to grip. It has a nice motion to it when you set time/date. Pushers are probably the best ones in any mecha-quartz watch I reviewed. You can really feel the movement when you push them in. It has exactly the same feeling when you push in a pusher in a mechanical chronograph. And the Chrono function works very well and smooth.

The dial is very 70s style. The outer ring is tachymeter scale in white and black. The main dial is in black with applied markers with orange color. The subdials are in sunburst gray. The one on the left is minutes dial with small black hand and red arrow on the end. The one on the right is seconds and it is kept minimalistic with plain black hand. On 6 o’clock you will find a white date window. On the top of the dial, you will find applied Stuckx logo.

The movement is VK series Seiko/TMI movement. It’s the most common mecha-quartz movement that is beeing used right now. I have this movement in several of my watches. But Stuckx must really been working with those pushers to achieve the best action on them possible because these feel very good. The movement is very reliable, well what other can you expect from Seiko.

The Bull comes in 3 different type of Seiko / TMI movement, which are :

• “2-Eye” Mechanical chronograph with automatic winding @ NE-88 (is wound by movement of your arm). With a smoothly running seconds hand at the 12 position, chronograph minute counter at the 6 position and central chrono seconds hand.
  This version comes with a see-through, display case back to see this piece of mechanical fine art.
• “2-Eye” Mecha-quartz chronograph. Combining the feel of a mechanical watch with reliable quartz technology at its core. It has a running seconds hand at the 3 position, a chrono minute counter at the 9 position, a smoothly moving central chrono seconds hand, and instantaneous fly-back reset. It also shows the date at the 6 position.
• “3-Eye” Mecha-quartz chronograph. The same movement as used for the 2-eye, but with 3 subdials. It exchanges the date at 6 for a chrono hour counter.

The only thing that I didn’t like about the watch, and was also my father’s first thing to say when he tried on the watch was the strap. Not that it isn’t very good quality leather and stitching. For our taste, it was a bit too soft and too thin. It needs a bit thicker strap. The buckle was also too small for our preference.

Overall It’s a great example of modern bullhead case watch. Because it has this type f case, it wears smaller than it is. For me, it feels like 39-40mm. And the curved case also curves around the wrist very well, so you don’t feel the watch a lot. The only downside for me is the play in the bezel and the strap, otherwise, the watch is top notch!

Price : 330euro (outside EU), 399.30euro (EU residents) @ stuckx.com

Specifications:

– 42 mm 316L stainless steel case in bullhead style
– Height approx 13mm
– Strap size 22mm
– Polished black ceramic bezel inlay, unidirectial turning bezel
– VK series Seiko/TMI movement. High quality mecha-quartz movement with mechanical pusher feel and smooth running chrono hand
– Sub dial at 9 showing chrono minutes
– Sub dial at 3 showing seconds
– Date position at 6
– 316L steel case in brushed finish
– Water resistance of 200 m
– Sapphire crystal (flat)
– Leather high quality strap with signed buckle
– Watch comes in a luxury watch box
– 24 Months warranty