The past 100 years of horological design have been marked by several periods (eras) each defined by something unique. Both during the inter-war and post World War II periods, brands did a lot of experimenting with case and dial designs to such extent we rarely see nowadays, in either sides of the price spectrum, whether looking at microbands or well-established luxury houses of watchmaking. For example, there was a time when brands put the emphasis on evoking certain man-made materials or specific features of mother nature by way of new hand shapes or textured dials. There was another time when brands stretched cases vertically, horizontally, and tethered animal-inspired lugs to them. Some of these epochs are referred to art deco or the golden years of watch design, for brands did explore new frontiers of horological aesthetics at times when watches were still necessary objects and more wearers of timekeeping devices meant more opportunities to do something different and for someone to buy into it. 

But as watches became more and more obsolete the more technology we got, and with the booming of the latest wave of microbrands about a decade ago, a lot of what we saw being offered by brands was good, relevant to what many of us were looking for, and of high value, however not as wild and daring as many designs from way back when. Today, there are but a few brands which think outside the box and even go further than that—Pedral, Canuck, and Alato to name most of the rare few—which is a darn shame because there is so much more that can be done in horology today. Well, there are other brands that do crazy stuff but which ask so much money for it that we, at Mainspring, are not keen to type many words about them since most of us won’t be able to purchase these luxurious machines. But to Pedral, Canuck, and Alato, now we can add Hong Kong-based Nectere, created by James Wong and Tony Yip in 2024, whose debut collection, Order From Chaos, slides avant-garde horology under the $1,000 USD price tag. 

Today we are going to check out the fourth member of this collection, The Eclipse. 

Specifications 

The narration of a watch’s specifications is easier to weave together when dealing with straightforward tool watches, not so much when writing about artistic and avant-garde ones. Because we need to look beyond the traditional technical specificities of a watch through which we normally establish a story about its great value or apocalyptic-level of survivalistic capabilities, and think about what it took to create its unusual visual character. What we’ve learned so far speaking about brands that do things differently, whether from visual or technical perspectives, is the fact that creating novelty requires special tooling, new manufacturing and finishing processes, and prevents brands from pointing the finger at a specific case from a catalog of already-made parts and order 300 of them. Instead, the more unique something is, the more difficult it is to produce, thus the more expensive it becomes which is why, more often than not, what is novel and singular often comes with a higher price tag regardless of its quality. 

What brands such as Pedral and Alato have showed is that it is possible to get something very personal made for a reasonable amount of money, and for the folks running the brand to decide not to line their pockets with too many dollar bills and instead take a cut from their own profits to make it possible for enthusiasts to acquire their unique pieces. This is all very theoretical of course but that is how I’m starting to see the difference between two unusual watches—one costing $10,000 USD and the other ten times less than that—as it comes down to where the designer/brand owner live(s), what it is made off, and where the watch is being manufactured/assembled/QC’d. Being based in Hong Kong, I suspect Nectere gets its watches made nationally or close by in neighboring countries, and seems to have found the right balance between the quality of its components, their finishing, and how much the whole costs to make. For The Eclipse feels anything but cheap, and its tangible physical quality is matched by its incredible design. 

So what is the Eclipse made out of, and how good is it? It starts with an asymmetrical stainless steel case coated with a gold PVD finish, measuring 38mm across, 45mm lug-to-lug, 8.5mm thick, and coming with an 18mm lug width. (The brand measured 38mm from the top-right corner of the case to the furthest left side of it, but at its longest I measured 39.5mm right above the crown to the top-left corner of the case.) On a perfect 6.50”/16.5cm wrist, The Eclipse wears superbly, clocking in at 81g on the provided PVD-coated mesh bracelet, its unusual shape claiming I am different and I know it, with a dash of hypnotic strength. Inside, there is an ultra thin manual-wind Seagull ST-17 caliber (3Hz/38 hours of power reserve) which one powers up by way of a deeply knurled 5.3mm push/pull crown (accompanied by an audible and satisfying winding action.) Above the dial, a domed sapphire crystal, and on the screwed-in case-back, an asymmetrical window made of K1 mineral. And 30 meters of water resistance is expected here and fine.

The tangible quality of the Nectere Order From Chaos: The Eclipse therefore stems from what it is made out of: the reasonable weight of its PVD-coated case, the thickness of its sapphire crystal (and the “thud” sound that emanates from it knocking it with my finger nail,) the perfect knurling of its crown and subsequent pleasurable winding action, as well as from the gentle heft of the mesh bracelet, its on-the-fly infinitely-adjustable clasp, and its quick-release spring-bars. There is a lot already that we need to take it looking at its specifications alone, which is a good start for what is to follow. And now it is the perfect moment to tell you how much this watch will cost you: $880 USD. That’s it, I know. 

Design 

Now that we have established that The Eclipse is a watch that was properly spec’ed out and manufactured, thus automatically setting it apart from cheap fashion watches that would be equipped with an assymetrical case—I never thought of it of being such timepiece but I assume some of you might have at first, although we all know assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups—we can study its design which makes it stand apart from anything else I’ve seen thus far and reviewed on Mainspring. Gold is not my cup of tea—oh shocker—however I was moved by The Eclipse’s singular design and the great depth that emanated from its dial and case just by looking at the product shots. (Very good ones I may add.) Its hypnotic strength is thus generated by both the dial and case, and how the two come together in a celestial dance as the brand puts it (which I wished I would have come up with first!): both are asymmetrical and both come with their own distinct personalities and high-levels of finishing and texturing. And this alone warrants $880 USD. 

Order From Chaos is Nectere’s first collection inspired by the complex nature of the universe and the unpredictability as well as rarity of natural phenomena, from which certain things are born in unusual manners. The brand generally evoked this idea by designing an asymmetrical case which both feels perfectly fashioned by nature herself—the lack of sharp angles and the dominance of curves feels everything but man-made—and akin to an object the most eccentric of designer could have come up with in the deepest state of a dream—in the likes of an architect in Christopher Nolan’s Inception who creates worlds that seem familiar but different. However, Nectere didn’t just assign the case an unusual shape, it also gave it a great sense of depth and dimensionality—by sculpting four rounded ridges running along its body, akin to vertically-stacked rice paddies—and an elegant nature—by covering the whole chassis with fine polishing work. Moreover, The Eclipse’s side profile is remarkable for the case has a few more tricks up its sleeves. 

At the top of the ridged case sits a chamfered piece of sapphire crystal which creates a gentle hazing effect against the dial located below it—and the ensemble brilliantly evokes the Stellar Corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun which shows as a halo surrounding it during a total eclipse. Nectere intensified the beauty of this natural phenomenon by adding a PVD coating to the case and juxtaposing the latter with an incredibly deep and intense black dial. Moreover, the belly of the case was curved in and falls down from a narrow vertical mid-case, the whole thing therefore cascading down from the crystal and rushing back in towards the case-back. At the four o’clock-ish there is the small yet easy-to-operate crown decorated with the brand’s “N” logo which feels naturally placed at this particular point. A note should be made about the mesh bracelet which perfectly accompanies the beauty of the asymmetrical case, as it appears to be flowing from below it from hooded lugs and wrapping around the wrist akin to a celestial belt. 

And at last, the dial. The brand invested as much time designing it as it did with the case, endowing the time-telling element of The Eclipse with equal depth, however rendered in a very different manner. Whilst the case commands both a vertical and horizontal presence—for the numerous aforementioned reasons—the dial appears like a flattened black hole at first glance, as the escalating ridges of the case and chamfered structure of the crystal make it appear as if it is far away from us. A closer look reveals a controlled chaos of angled lines and fine surface etching which make the dial appear to be spinning on its own axis. More specifically: there is a first asymmetrical section made of deep CNC-machined grooves shooting at various angles, interspaced by lines made of gold dust demarcating the twelve segments of the 12 hours. Then a lopsided sub-register for the running seconds complemented by golden accents and continuous grooves organized in an asymmetrical fashion, and a matte center section decorated with a sunburst effect. 

Maybe this is just me but I am amazed by the great sense of movement emanating from the dial and its various levels and textures, with golden printed color accents perfectly matching the case hue, the whole being complemented by three PVD-coated polished hands whose shape reminds me of some kind of distant weapon used by the most chivalrous of armored knights. The Eclipse is really something and so darn incredible up-close and personal.

The Heart of the Matter

A gold asymmetrical case and a PVD-coated gold mesh bracelet is not a horological combination I thought I would ever see strapped to my wrist and feel compelled to write about for Mainspring or any other watch media for that matter. I am, and forever will be, a tool watch enthusiast afterall. However, as someone once told me, by learning something new, or having a new experience, if I were to die today, I would do so being a little less ignorant. When Nectere reached out to ask if I would consider writing about The Eclipse, it was an immediate yes in my mind for one specific reason: the whole thing seemed instantly coherent and well-put together, an impression I need to have about watches I have never seen in the metal in order to feel inclined to study each square micron of it. Thus an opportunity for a new experience was presented to me and I had to oblige. I didn’t look at the spec sheets of The Eclipse or its price tag, as the singularity of its design and the cohesive juxtaposition of the asymmetrical case and multi-layered dial was enough to make me want to spend a few hours typing these words for you today. 

Throughout this assessment, it became clear that Nectere not only designed a beautiful watch but also made it to high standards of manufacturing and finishing which could have motivated James Wong and Tony Yip to want to stash hundreds of 100-dollar bills into their pockets albeit they won’t be able to, since $880 USD is more than a reasonable price to ask for The Eclipse. A good movement which has gained the attention of the most reluctant and snobbish watch experts out there, a solid 316L stainless steel case coated with a PVD-polished finish, a solid and easily adjustable mesh bracelet, a sculptured sapphire crystal above and bespokely-shaped K1 mineral one below, and of course a multi-layered dial which is strong of some serious hypnotic capabilities. Thus leaving not too much room for high profits, albeit a watch commanding too small of a price to revive a certain epoch of watch design. 

Conclusion 

The Nectere Order From Chaos: The Eclipse is the fourth installment in the brand’s debut collection and the most visually striking one in my humble opinion. However, the previous three were quite charming as well: The Dune, The Forest, and The Mist each came with a different soul, and all worked very well with Nectere’s asymmetrical case. The Eclipse is now available for pre-order and is limited to 100 units, and shipping will begin at the end of August 2026. Lastly, for the $880 USD the brand also sends a black leather strap with quick-release spring-bars to modify The Eclipse’s soul a little bit. 

Thanks for reading.