Valentine’s Day may be over and done with, but it is never too late to experience love in the form of a new watch. Accordingly, CSH has a new paramour for you to romantically fixate on in the form of Undone’s Vintage Killy chronograph. Modernly built but classically styled, the Killy is a lovely reminder that “cool” can be obtainable at a reasonable price.
My gut tells me that there is a supportable narrative for the idea that watch companies tend to offer their products in a fairly homogenous manner. Unless you’re Omega, who offers an infinite amount of models, you likely have at least a few non-limited references for each product line. Boutique or e-commerce matters not; said watch companies will usually only offer the incredibly dynamic choice of whether your new toy comes on a strap or bracelet. That’s it. Not very inspiring to a prospective customer looking to enhance their personal uniform, no?
Undone Watches cries foul at the vanilla essence of this business model. If you aren’t familiar with Undone, this microbrand’s value lies in the personalization of time pieces. We aren’t talking true customization, per se; no one is offering a piece unique for under $500. What you do get through Undone, however, is the ability to order a mass-produced watch that, with some tweaking, may better cater to your own unique tastes.
Undone looks to offer consumers as much optionality as can be stomached. I’m talking case material finishing, dial and hand selection, bezels, display casebacks, and even special dial text or engraving if you lack the desire to see the movement. All in all, the company brandishes a significant parts catalogue in a concerted effort to earn watch lovers’ hard-earned dollars.
Undone has a strong base of customizable watches, some of which can be considered homages to specific watches or certain common designs. Customization aside, some of those watch designs are actually quite attractive in their stock configuration. The watch that caught my eye and our star for today, the Vintage Killy, is a chronograph whose appearance harkens back to the golden era of watchmaking. Classically styled and inviting to the eye, it is also conveniently inviting your wallet: $265 USD. Time for a deep dive.
A Killy For Your Thoughts
We’re acknowledging the obvious here, but the Killy takes heavy design cues from the chronographs of the 30s, 40s and 50s. This is an era where dials were entirely printed, measuring scales for chronographs were located on the dial instead of an external bezel, and crystals were commonly acrylic or mineral in nature. A lot of these features remain common today for cost saving or aesthetically-driven reasons, and you can easily locate them on watches like the Killy that call back to yesteryear.
Perhaps the most lovely and eye-drawing component of the Killy is the dial’s cream coloration. Undone chose the tone well; it is a mellow shade that evokes warmth and can lean towards ivory in the right light. Subdial-wise, you have a 60-minute timer up top with small seconds running to the south. Both are subtly recessed, almost to the point of non-discernability. I’m personally fond of this numeral-heavy layout, which negates a common chronograph problem: illegibility. Conversely, the Killy’s utility has a low ceiling due to only having that single 60-minute timer (more on this later).
This dial is a classic chronograph configuration with two measurement scales ringing its circumference. The red-colored inner scale is a telemeter, which can be used to measure distance between the watch and something visible that then becomes audible – think fireworks or artillery shells. The blue-colored outer scale is a tachymeter, which is commonly found on famous chronographs like the Omega Speedmaster or Heuer Carrera; this particular scale can be used to measure speed from a stationary point. In the 20th century, measurement scales on a tool watch would have been regularly used in professional applications. Nowadays, we can consider them aspirational features at best – anyone timing lap speeds with a chronograph is sitting in the stands, not standing in the paddocks.
The Killy technically does have a bezel that rings the mineral crystal, but I want to emphasize the word “technically.” At 40mm, the Killy isn’t dimensionally offensive but it is an all-dial watch; you should expect this chronograph to wear like a pancake and accordingly exude serious wrist presence. The size of the Killy is a lesson in companies making commercially reasonable compromises; the watches that inspired the Killy were likely smaller at 36mm or less, but it can be hard for a new brand to sell product at that case diameter and expect any serious sales volume.
Undone actively and prudently chose to make their marketing subtle. The brand’s name lies below the small seconds subdial and measurement scales, which prevents a jarring contrast with the Art Deco-style numerals. The only other place an Undone logo appears is on the Killy’s grooved onion crown. To me, signing or stamping a crown helps position a brand to be associated with quality. So many microbrands neglect the crown and that subjectively signals to me a lack of thoughtfulness. Watches are all about the small details, so kudos to Undone for taking that extra measure to make the Killy a more complete offering.
The Movement
You may be wondering how such a handsome chronograph can be priced at a mere $265 USD. Call it elementary, my dear Watson: this is not a true mechanical chronograph. The Killy is powered by Seiko’s VK61 movement, which is actually a hybrid meca-quartz setup with flyback functionality.
In case it wasn’t a dead giveaway, a meca-quartz movement borrows qualities from both mechanical and quartz watches. Timekeeping is regulated via a quartz movement (aka a battery passing electricity through a circuit to a quartz crystal). The chronograph functions are then mechanically controlled via a module with all the appropriate levers and hammers. The visual symptoms are such that while your small seconds hand is tick-tocking, the chronograph hand makes a continual sweep around the dial. Side-note, but the pushers on the Killy feel fine; they’re simple, but are not terribly squishy upon activation.
What I like most about the VK61 is that it has flyback functionality, meaning you can reset the chronograph without having to stop it first. The general advantage of a flyback is the ability to rapidly track multiple intervals; think time between waypoints traveled or measuring fuel consumption. You and I likely live a more benign life than that which would actively test those use cases, so we’ll unfortunately need to settle for something more simplistic like kitchen-based fun to get the best use out of a flyback function.
Returning to the subject of the 60-minute timer being a solo show: I’m fairly certain after researching the VK61 movement line and obtaining visually informal evidence from similarly-equipped time keepers that this is a movement limitation. The VK61 movement is standardly set up to have the 60-minute timer / small seconds subdial, and I lack the knowledge to know if modifying it for more totalizers is even possible. Barring a movement upgrade from Undone, which would certainly impact the Killy’s price point, what you see upfront is what is effectively possible from a functionality perspective.
I do find it odd that the base Killy comes standard with a display caseback. The VK61 isn’t exactly the bell of the ball, and given the Killy aims to mimic tool watches of the golden age of watchmaking, you’d think they would offer it with a solid caseback to start. Chalk it up again to modern markets; times have changed, and watch consumers want to be able to examine the innards of their new toy. You can still customize the Killy to have a solid caseback anyways, so it’s a moot point.
FYI as a last observation on the movement: the VK61 comes equipped with a date function. The Killy does not have a date window cutout (likely a design choice) however, so pulling out the crown softly will put it into an effectively pointless “ghost date” position. Newcomers to our hobby will likely overlook such a minute detail, but this bug’s existence will draw the ire of at least some seasoned veterans.
Despite my identification as a hopeless romantic for true mechanical chronographs, I do like the Killy’s meca-quartz setup for use in a daily no-fuss watch. $265 makes a compelling case for not investing big dollars in a luxury chronograph; rest assured that it will not come replete with the servicing needs that are certain to accompany the ownership of such watches.
FInding A Niche
A question I don’t ponder often enough during reviews is “Who is this watch meant for?” and I think it is particularly pertinent in the case of the Killy. We’ve got a cost-efficient, hybrid movement chronograph with hyper-specific styling that only your grandad could appreciate with any true sense of nostalgia. Put bluntly, this chronograph is not your typical mass-market design.
I think the Killy’s audience boils down saliently into two camps. The first is the quintessential vintage dork who may lack the intestinal fortitude required to wear vintage. All must reach deep within themselves and answer the questions that grip their souls tightly at night: am I okay spending the dollars necessary to obtain a vintage chronograph? Better yet, am I okay wearing a watch that realistically lacks the robustness to handle everyday life? If both questions strike the fear of a higher power into your heart, then you should look no further than the Killy for an efficient risk-reward proposition.
Camp number two is a different, more casual type of watch wearer. They haven’t yet taken a true horological plunge into the deep end and perhaps they also haven’t identified a personal style. To them, the Killy represents a fun experiment for a low amount of dollars and may potentially even serve as a first watch. Don’t get me wrong – the Killy can absolutely have a place in a serious watch collector’s rotation. The price point naturally allows it to be a suitable candidate for a more novice hobbyist, however.
Note, neither of these camps specifically fits into Undone’s core ethos: watch personalization. The Killy can fundamentally transform into three other distinct watches via dial choice alone, and even just changing peripheral details can materially alter it beyond what we have reviewed today. I think Undone as a brand speaks to the consumer who desires the power of choice; all the same, the Killy in its base configuration caters to the crowds mentioned above.
I enjoy the Killy for the role it plays as an affordable chronograph with retro flavoring. Does the watch ecosystem today suffer from an oversaturation of vintage-styled watches and old reference re-editions? Most assuredly the answer to that question is yes, and the jury is out on how well these watches will age trend-wise a decade from now. There is still a time and place for those watches at all levels of the market, however, and the Killy is so attractively priced it’s hard to knock. Undone is tugging on the heart strings of watch nerds who enjoy old designs, myself included, and it appears with the Killy that they may be onto something.
For more information on the Vintage Killy, visit Undone’s website.
The Specs
- MSRP: $265 USD
- Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel
- Crystal: Domed K1 Mineral Glass
- Features: Flyback Chronograph
- Movement: Seiko TMI VK61 Meca-Quartz
- Power Reserve: N/A
- Screwdown Crown: No
- Bezel Movement: N/A, Fixed
- Caseback: Display (Sealed Caseback Optional)
- Water Resistance: 30m
- Case Diameter: 40mm
- Lug-to-Lug: 47.6mm
- Lug Width: 20mm
- Thickness: 12.7mm
Leave a Reply