Whenever we speak about vintage watches, people are either into and mostly collect them, or are against and steer clear of them. The stereotypical reason for being for vintage is the appreciation of certain aesthetics which are no longer being genuinely made today, whilst the go-to reason for being against it is the difficulty to source good samples and their inherent high servicing costs. Which is why in the past few years micro/independent brands have demonstrated boundless energy to reissue crap loads of them, either xeroxing previous designs or borrowing an intense amount of their key design characteristics, a phenomenon which even inspired the old dogs of Swiss horology, and then of Japanese horology, to do the same with their own previous creations. So the situation is this: if you like how things looked before, either buy an original vintage watch or an homage or a recreation of one. Plus there’s the neo-vintage made to look old and like something else but not really. 

So up until seeing the first images of the Tusenö SuperVintage, the subject of today’s review, I thought it was impossible for a brand to create a new vintage watch. New because it is made today with modern materials and components and because it looks unique. Vintage because it was designed to connect today’s horological world with that of the golden age of dress watches, roughly the inter-war period of the second quarter of the 20th century. And there is a difference between designing a watch to look like one made in the past and designing a watch to look like it could have been made in the past. The latter is what defines the SuperVintage and what sets it apart from all other vintage-inspired and neo-vintage watches I know of. (And I don’t know them all of course.) And you might be surprised to hear, just like I was, that Tusenö’s latest creation will only cost you the reasonable sum of $899 USD on pre-order. 

Specifications 

At first glance, the Tusenö SuperVintage is all design. But one of its two “modern” traits does come from its mechanics, well of course because it is fabricated today and not a century ago. Its armature is therefore made of 316L stainless steel that is entirely polished and measures a delightful 34.5mm in diameter, 40.5mm lug-to-lug, and 8.7mm thick which is spectacularly vintage. I’m as far from being an expert in vintage horology as France is from New Zealand by plane (19,000 km or 11,800 miles), but I would say that the SuperVintage hearkens back specifically to the 1910s-1920s Art Deco dress watches in the likes of the Vacheron Constantin ref. 10594 and 10144 (Google them) as it is endowed with a specific blend of case shape + dial layout combo as we will see shortly. Though I couldn’t figure out the dimensions of the aforementioned VC’s, I can tell you however that the Tusenö wears exceptionally well on my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist, and I imagine, like they would too.  

Inside the small case we find a Top Grade manual wind ETA 7001 which beats at 4Hz and comes with 42 hours of power reserve, which is decorated with blued screws and Côtes de Genève on the plates. The caliber is rather handsome and visible thanks to a screwed-down see-through case-back made of sapphire, and operated by way of a slim yet tall push/pull crown complemented by rope-like etched grip. The crown is perfectly sized to fit within the case dimensions and profile and really is easy to operate. Moreover, the top crystal is also made of sapphire and endowed with several layers of anti-reflective coating, and shaped, as we will see, to contour the case. The SuperVintage is shipped on a thin Italian leather strap, either black or brown and available in two lengths, which has an 18mm width at the lugs and tapers to 14mm at the horse-shoe shaped buckle, and is equipped with quick-release spring-bars. 

Design 

At the risk of sounding either extremely self-centered or superbly ignorant, I would say that this Tusenö SuperVintage threw me into the vintage camp with great force, something that had never happened before. I’m not ignorant of the vintage but I was never into it before for the reasons I mentioned in the introduction, although at the beginning of my collecting career I did acquire a few vintage pieces which I quickly sold for the very reasons mentioned in the introduction. Why and how did the SuperVintage achieve this? First because of the naturalistic shape of the case whose profile makes me think of a smooth pebble that spent a millennium being rocked and tumbled at the bottom of the deepest of the oceans before being gently carried to the surface and onto a white sand beach. Second because of the multi-layer and multi-finish nature of the dials, each being different on each version, which look intense and intricate all at the same time. 

The case and top crystal of the Tusenö SuperVintage are designed and constructed with a double curvature, something I heard was a pain in the neck to make happen. Something that also looks pretty fantastic. A double curvature means the case and crystal bend down towards their edges starting from the three and nine positions, so towards the twelve and six, and then curve down again at the center of their edges so where the lugs would be. Though the case is designed in such a way that it doesn’t really have lugs or flanks, as the fully polished 316L stainless body is one smooth and curvacious singular unit, making it so remarkable to look at and wear on the wrist. Technically there are lugs but hidden underneath the case in a garage-like spot, neatly tucked away. Seen from the front or rear, the SuperVintage looks like a space ship; seen from the sides, it looks like a frozen drop of mercury. 

Traveling back to the idea of the golden age of dress watches, and looking at the imagery the brand created for this release, we should set the scene in a Brooklyn Speak Easy to better feel the power of each dial variant. The SuperVintage collection was named after three iconic drinks that I assume were as popular back in the day as they are today, each creating a unique visual spectacle whilst being made and served. The most intense of them is the red-orange Negroni where the richness of the cocktail being poured over ice is captured in the texture of the inner dial. Then the fresh minty green Mojito which crushed ice and mint is represented in the frosted finish of the inner dial. And lastly, the chocolate brown Espresso Martini whose signature foam is transcribed in the matte texture of the inner dial. Besides the wild inspiration for each dial version, what is impressive is that each necessitated a different manufacturing process. 

And so creating each inner dial section did require a different technique, and each outer dial is also finished using a different technique. This greatly elevated the complexity and inherent cost of creating the SuperVintage, a process that was made even more difficult on account of the outer dials which are actually part of the case and were made so to conform to its unique double curvature construction. Looking closely at each variant we easily see the interplay of various textures and finishes, which contribute to endowing each with depth and character which are unique to the SuperVintage. Moreover, the 1910s/20s aesthetic is created by the slanted, Breguet-style Arabic numerals running along the curves of the inner dials, and framed by ultra-classic looking railroad minute tracks. The singular design of the Tusenö is complemented by the domed and polished leaf hands present on two levels of the dials, and equipped with chamfered capped pinions. Because why not? 

The Heart of the Matter

Before announcing the SuperVintage, Tusenö was in the business of elegant sport watches. A diver and a GADA/everyday models, the Shellback and Windseeker respectively, miles apart from what we’re looking at today, so an unpredictable move by the Swedish brand. What was also unpredictable is to be presented with a new vintage dress watch, one designed to indeed look like it could have been made a long time ago instead of looking like one made a long time ago, being endowed with exceptionally designed and manufactured case, dials and hands. What was predictable, however, should you had been familiar with Tusenö before, is the attention to detail and singularity of certain design elements which made the brand’s two previous core collections stand out so much, and popular as such, which permeated through the SuperVintage in all of its corners and square microns. 

At the heart of the matter therefore is the fact that Tusenö’s latest creation is one of the most unique and wild watches I’ve ever seen, indeed designed to disguise itself as a vintage piece but not made like one, neither looking like any particular model created in the past century, yet a watch that spiritually belongs to the glory days of elegant dress watches from the inter-war period. I’m a bit at a loss of words to communicate what the SuperVintage is and means, and so I will leave it you fill in the blanks. Undoubtedly, The SuperVintage is a watch that has generated many emotions within my little horological heart and it might have the same effect on you. So be warned that you won’t come out of this review the same you were when you came in, for this collection has the power to transform the most ardent of utilitarian watch enthusiasts into an amateur of elegant timepieces, something I had started to believe will never be possible. 

Conclusion 

At the time of publishing this review, there are three weeks left to pre-order the Tusenö SuperVintage at the discounted and reasonable price of $899 USD, valid through August 6, 2025. Thereafter this model will retail at $999 USD which is still reasonable given the singularity of its design and horological soul. I would be hard-pressed to find a more unique watch out there today on the market, at least visually-wise, and for sure at this price point. Better understanding now what Tusenö is capable of doing, I for one cannot wait to see what’s coming next. 

Thanks for reading.