Archer Watches is an independent located in St Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Al Archer is the owner and only employee. He services, restores, and creates watches. He has a well-deserved loyal following of clients, many who are members of the watch forums.
I have been interested in his watches for some time. In particular, a marine style called the Sterling. It gets it's name from the 925 Sterling Silver dial. Some specs:
German stainless all polished steel case 42mm wide, 11mm thick with large onion crown
Sterling Silver dial with frosted finish
Water Resistant to 50 meters
Slightly domed sapphire crystal, anti-reflective inside coating
Sapphire display case back
ETA 6498 Hand-wound Swiss movement, 17 jewels, 48 hour power reserve, 18,000 beats per hour
lugs: 22mm with screwed pins
When Al gets the movements from Switzerland, he completely disassembles them and reassembles them to his own specs. He even provides a DVD of the entire process.
The watch is superbly smooth-winding. Also dead-on accuracy, one of the most accurate watches I have owned. A beautiful, soft, calfskin strap made by Rios1931 in Germany. One of the nicest straps I have had.
The watch comes with a specially-made wooden box, very unique, and a beautiful ballpoint pen with wooden case. Just beautiful detail in both the watch and the presentation.
Finally, some pics:
Thanks for looking. And thanks to Al Archer for a watch I am so proud to wear!
Cheers,
Carl