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As it's my first bronze watch I just thought I'd do a very quick review of my Helberg CH6 that recently arrived after I pre-ordered it back in Oct 2013.

This is certainly not an expensive watch, or a ground-breaking watch, or indeed a complicated watch. But what it is (IMO) is a handsome, very nicely put together, and superb value for money watch. For those of you unfamiliar with Helberg, they are the more "vintage" arm of H20 Watches, which themselves are a German micro-brand run by a guy called Clemens Helberg. H20 watches have quickly gained quite a following on places such as WUS on account of their excellent attention to detail and highly customisable options. H20's designs to date are fairly contemporary (at least for dive watches), and they use some interesting materials - Grade 5 titanium, bronze, tungum in addition to SS, as well as metal mixes such as mokume gane. The Helberg arm is a little less adventurous in terms of materials (SS and bronze being the options to date), but the designs are much more vintage in style...... which appealed to me more than H20's pieces.

So back in Oct 2013 I ordered this piece at the pre-order price of just $495 USD (if memory serves!), which considering the spec and level of finishing, was a superb deal IMO. The options were as follows -

Case material: Stainless Steel 316L or Bronze
Case back: Stainless Steel 316L
Case diameter: 45.50mm
Length: 50.50mm
Height: 16.40mm with flat sapphire crystal / 20.40mm with 4mm domed sapphire crystal
WR: 1000M / 100bar
Crown: 8.50mm
Dial: Glossy Black, Navy Blue, Drab Olive or Brown enamel dial with Super-LumiNova BGW9 marker
Handset: Chromed or golden handset with Super-LumiNova BGW9
Movement: Miyota 9015 / 28.800 bph / 42 hour reserve / 24 Jewels

Additionally, the pre-order deal came with a free sharkskin Maddog Strap (worth $300 USD alone!), plus the opportunity to pick up an Isofrane strap for half price. I've long been a fan of Isofranes, so picking up another at half price was a no-brainer for me. I've got a Helberg bronze buckle on the way, so soon enough the buckle will match the finish of the case.

So last Saturday my bronze case/bronze bezel/black dial/gold handset/domed sapphire crystal version finally turned up on my doorstep, and while I know it's very easy to wax lyrical about a new watch, I've honestly been very impressed with the package. It arrived in a water-proof Pelican style case, and came with the Isofrane, the Maddog strap, and an additional brown leather strap as standard, along with a screwdriver and the warranty card. Both leather straps were fitted with a frankly ludicrously large bronze buckle : I've not taken any pictures of them, but there are plenty of pictures of them elsewhere on the net.

As I mentioned above, the finish is excellent. The case is made of solid CuSn8 bronze, which has a lovely red-gold hue to it.... at least until the patina sets in! The case also has a nice mix of finishes, being predominantly brushed with just a couple of polished accents on some of the leading edges. Everything is nicely rounded and there are no sharp edges that you sometimes find on "budget" watches. Another nice touch is the fact that the crown is also bronze. I see far too many bronze watches nowadays where it seems like the manufacturer can't be bothered to craft the crown in bronze, so you end with a mint crown on a patinated case after a few months. The only gripe I have with the case is the drilled lugs. The lugs were originally not going to be drilled, but a few people on WUS really pushed for drilled lugs and Clemens eventually went along with them. Personally I find the holes are too small for any tools I have, so they are useless in terms of changing straps (plus I'm more than happy with my trusty Bergeon 6767), and they simply add “visual noise” to an otherwise very clean case. The bezel action is very nice and precise, although I read one customer on WUS say the exact opposite : maybe his has an issue, because mine is spot-on.

The glossy dial is very nicely executed, and I'm glad that Helberg decided to omit the date - far too many micros always use the dreaded 4:30 date position even on 3 handers which drives me mad! I've not looked at the dial under a loupe yet, but I'm not sure whether the Helberg logo and wording is printed or applied : either way it's very nicely done. The lume is thick and liberally applied and while the blue colour is very nice, it could do with being a little brighter IMO. As always, Omega, Panerai and Seiko lead the way on the lume front, but given the cost of this CH6, it's a minor gripe.

The official WR rating is 1000m, but Helberg also included a print out of the pressure test report and it actually made 2400m. I think I can do the washing up with it on with not too many worries!

The hacking Miyota 9015 is so far behaving itself just as well as an ETA 2824, or maybe even a 2892. The rotor is very silent with no vibration at all, and the second hand is extremely smooth. The winding feel has a little more “grind” to it than a butter-smooth 2892, but that's the only descernible difference at this stage. In terms of timekeeping it's currently running at circa +7 seconds a day – not bad considering it wasn't sold as a COSC spec watch, and I'd obviously expect it to settle a little over time anyway.

The pre-order price was superb, but even at full price ($800 – 900 USD depending on the choices) I still feel this is a great watch for the money, especially with with spec and level of customisation on offer

Anyway that's enough of a review, so here's a few quick and dirty pics. The first was on the day of arrival : the others are from today, so you can already see the patina starting to form -

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Nice pick up Driver8, and great review. Definitely a heck of a lot of watch for the money and a genuinely good looking piece.

Nice informative review about a beauty of a watch. I don't know a lot about Helberg but they seem to make a great affordable watch, something I will have to check out for myself in the near future. Also the bronze pieces are insanely gorgeous! That buckle will definitely put the icing on the cake!

It looks like a steal for $500! Great looking piece and nice writeup.

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Chronomat 01- Sierra Silver/Steel
Navitimer 01- Limited Edition #1337/2000

Anxiously awaiting delivery of the a very similar watch. If I remember correctly I ordered it with the olive dial the same strap options along with a mesh that was also offered! I can not wait!!

Congrats buddy!

That's a very interesting watch Driver. It looks so complete , which is a tell tale sign they got it right in the design stage. interesting high arch radius cut along the face if the case too. There is definitely a retro feel but I am amazed at how contemporary it looks as well. Great buy for your half a ton. What is the finish on the bronze?

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Jim

"You have Control".

Thanks a lot gents.

I actually thought I might struggle with concept of a patinising watch as, while I always wear all my watches, I also try to keep them in as mint condition as possible...... and that's kinda difficult with bronze! But in actual fact I'm loving it!

It's literally changing on a daily basis, and I'm certainly not forcing the patina at all ; it's all going to be natural. (Forcing the patina seems like a crazy thing to do IMO).

@P51 - The finish is almost entirely brushed except for the leading edges along the sides of the case which are polished. Kind of like a Seamaster's polished edges only not as wide. It's a very nice finish.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Just thought I'd add a couple more pics as my bronze Helberg buckle arrived today to replace the standard Isofrane buckle. The standard Iso buckle is excellent but unfortunately they don't make one as standard in bronze, so I decided to go with the Helberg version........ and I have to say, I'm seriously glad I did as it's a work of art in it's own right! It's a super piece of CNC work and is a perfect complement to the watch-head.







The only issue was that because of my proximity to the sea and the humid weather at the mo, the watch-head was already visibly darker than the buckle.... so I took an executive decision and removed the patina that had already formed on the head. This was actually very easy to do - all I used was the juice of half a lemon in a small bowl with a little water added to cover the head. About a minute in the juice and a slight bit of agitation with a cloth and a cotton bud, and then a good rinse in fresh cold water was enough to clean the patina off completely. I did the same thing with the buckle just to ensure they both have the same finish, and that was it, reassembled on the strap and he's good to go. I'm just going to let the patina develop of it's own accord, so let's see what happens!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Looks great! Look forward to seeing what happens

I generally don't favor the look of the more 'vintage' style diver's but I really like that watch. Very cool that it's bronze and will develop a patina. It looks great, and is clearly well made. Nice pick up and review D8, it really looks good on you!

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

Just thought I'd post up a couple of "patina progress" pictures. And it's all 100% natural patina I might add.

It's developing some superb pink, purple and silver tones..... so much better than the very dark tones that seem to come from ludicrous "forced patina" processes. I've very happy to go the all natural route.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Driver8,

Love that patina Your patience has served you very well on this.

Desert Hiker

Looks great Driver, awesome piece of kit for the money

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Breitling navitimer super constellation LE
Omega Ploprof 1200m
Bremont supermarine
Rolex milgauss GV
Olivant and Botsford 40mm Gold edition

I love the colours that come from a (natural) patination of bronze - definitely maturing nicely Driver8.