The watch market at the cusp of the second quarter of the 21st century is such that most watches that brands make, and that most enthusiasts buy, look like something else we’ve seen before. They follow traditional design codes of horology that have been deeply hand-hammered in the bedrock of horological aesthetics for more than a century. Though not all watches look traditional, far from that, but most do indeed look pretty much the same. (Read: numerous variants of the same idea spread across different genres of watches.) We often say and hear and read that coming up with new design concepts isn’t easy, especially those which we would feel comfortable to wear everyday and in public. (I know, I do tend to talk shit about machine watches because, well, they are just plainly ridiculous.) And so being creative is invariably difficult because each new model a brand comes up with, regardless of what it is, will be compared to an increasingly growing number of watches that have come before it. 

Which is why we see more and more bizarre watches being rolled out because watch designers, and brand owners then, do not have the courage to come up with fresh designs which defy long-established horological conventions without looking too out-of-place on anyone’s wrist*. Or, on the opposite side of the creative spectrum, they multiply existing designs and simply differentiate them from one another by a new dial texture or unique colors. Either scenario gets old very quickly and one could think that designers are running out of creative juice to give us new watches. However, of course some do come up with interesting new ideas which come in the form of watches we can wear everyday without feeling that we’re the ugly (and odd) duckling in town. Brands such as Horizon, Pedral, and Atelier Jalapert do it very well and today we’re going to take a first look at Monovant and its first mechanical watch, the Rheon which inscribes itself within the same register of concept watches it is safe to wear. 

*I reckon it is a difficult balance to strike.

Specifications 

There is a sub-section of the international watch community which gets the most pleasure looking at, researching, buying, and wearing watches which are the semi horological equivalent of abstract art. By such we mean watches which do not come with all of the classic design elements of watches—hour markers and minute tracks—but which are endowed with some of them. In most cases the dial is the center of attention for one of many reasons—a unique material, a complex guilloché pattern, or a never-seen-before transcendent color. And so most of the time-telling elements are removed so that it is easier to gush over the dial without distractions. (You may or may not be into this type of horology for reasons which are of course entirely subjective.) And some other times, brands go a step further and experiment with new case shapes, dial constructions, and alien-like materials**. But what if we were looking for something new but not too odd, limited but attainable? 

**Which, mixed in together in the right proportions, can come out quite stunning. 

Well of course these turns, chicanes, and detours are leading us straight to the Monovant Rheon. A type of watch I don’t often review but which grabbed my interest on account of its formidable price point—970€/$1,139 USD discounted and around 1,350€/$1,585 thereafter—which sounded good given the announced spec sheet and unique design features. The pièce of resistance here is the Lapis Lazuli dial (a metamorphic rock—one born from the transformation of pre-existing rocks due to extreme changes in temperature or of pressure—used as a semi-precious stone) which is complemented by a VVS diamond (VVS stands for “Very Very Small Included” and refers to the highest chosen clarity standard in jewelry) of 0.1 carat located at the twelve o’clock. The superb dial is topped by a flat piece of sapphire with inner anti-reflective coating, nestled inside a stainless steel case of 40 x 47 x 9.7mm which comes with a decent 50 meters of water resistance (screwed-down crown and case-back.) 

The whole is powered by a Sellita SW200-1 caliber (4Hz/40 hours of power reserve) which we are all very familiar with as it is reliable and generally accurate out-of-the-box, tweaked to remove the calendar complication from the standard SW200***. With the Rheon, Monovant wanted to show that it does care to make watches for everyday use by adding BGW9 lume on the hour and minute hands, which means that one can read the time at night with decent accuracy. The watch head is complemented by a “H” link stainless steel bracelet with push-pins and a butterfly clasp, and though the prototype didn’t come with these additional features, the production models will come fingerprint coating and a clasp with a micro-adjustment mechanism. Moreover, a rubber or leather strap is included in the package and is equipped with an NFC (Near-Field Communication or wireless beacon sort of thing) chip for added functionality. The latter explains the mention of “phygital” on the case-back. 

***Monovant indicated that getting no-date versions of the Sellita SW200 has become difficult. 

Note: due to its nature, the Lapis Lazuli dial leaves specks of material on the polished hands, these are not dust particles. 

Design 

So obviously the Monovant Rheon is a watch that was created to be worn everyday on account of the aforementioned great specifications. It has a good movement, decent water resistance, pretty good lume, and a solid case and bracelet combo. These specifications constitute part of what makes this model interesting and what brought me to want to write about it, not on the merit of its looks alone. So it was more the singular combination of design and specifications for around $1,000 USD which prompted me to want to spend time with it, and of course to be able to admire the Lapis Lazuli dial up-close. The latter showcases incredible depth and one-of-a-kind design (for the lack of a better word) as the deep blue hues and clusters of gold flakes are unique to each dial, to which Monovant added an anti-shock compound to prevent cracks which once again goes to show that the brand left no square-micron up to chance. 

I do not know if the latter bears any effect on the finishing of the dials, but the one I put under macro appeared evenly smooth at the surface level, a bit glossy so to speak which works very well with the multi-faceted 0.1 carat diamont at the twelve and the polished and applied logo at the six.The obelisk-shaped but bottom-rounded hands have a semi-skeletonized construction which makes it possible to admire the dial just a little bit more whilst reading the time, and are polished with such intensity that they sometimes completely disappear. (Something done on purpose by Monovant.) The dial is set within a vertical TV-shaped band inside the case which is endowed with a radial brushing, and the sapphire crystal is shaped in the same way and flushed to the case. The latter comes with a sort of tonneau profile seen from above, but something else entirely seen from the side. Indeed, it curves down to a perfectly flat case-back. 

Looking at the case in greater detail, I’m now seeing a second reason why I wanted to check out the Rheon. It has a formidable profile which makes me think of an alien-made pebble, in other words, a pebble made artificially at the edges of the known universe. Again going back to its unique profile where the sides slant down with an outward curve, a movement interrupted by two undercuts, one on each side of the case, finished with a horizontal brushing. So the majority of the case is mirror-polished and reflects light at most angles and under most lighting conditions, and the brushed undercuts also reflect light but with a different intensity, for the brushing has a pearlescent finish. Further driving home the idea that the case wasn’t made on earth but elsewhere, which works in contradiction with the earth-born metamorphic stone and small diamond that makes up the dial. The Rheon is therefore akin to a hybrid between our world and the universe.

The Heart of the Matter 

At the heart of the matter today is the fact that Monovant is a new brand which dares experimenting with novel combinations of design and manufacturing techniques, bridging the gap between concept horology—watches which are endowed with designs, profiles, and materials we’ve never or rarely seen before and which have not been wrist-tested—and everyday timekeeping devices which are sized and built to be versatile and comfortable. Generally speaking, whenever brands come up with a new concept, they slap their creations with a 5x price factor to justify the novelty, and even though I would often say that we do have to pay more for original designs, well, that’s not always the case as proven today. The Monovant Rheon is therefore two things: first an exercise in design through which a brand can bring about change and novelty to an otherwise standardized watch market; second, an excellent specs-to-materials-to-design ratio as 970€/$1,139 USD is a great starter price for such a novel creation. 

Conclusion 

Through the Rheon, Monovant is able to offer something new and different to our niche world of horology and it’s nice to be able to explore new territories at reasonable price points. And so let’s talk in more details about prices: 970€/$1,139 USD is the discounted price for the first 10 watches sold (out of a total of 99,) then the price will go up to 1,100€/$1,292 USD around August 20, 2025, and after that the final retail price will be 1,350€/$1,585. Regardless of how much you spend, you will not only receive the watch on the stainless bracelet, but also your choice of a leather or rubber strap, as well as a Lapis bracelet (the fashion accessory, not a second watch bracelet) made of lapis stones and jadeite. And you can learn all about it of course on the brand’s website. 

Thanks for reading.