Have you noticed how many brands pretty much make the same mecaquartz chonographs these days? Throw a VK64 inside a stainless steel case, top it with a sapphire crystal, put a strap and voila! It’s easy to get bored of these watches because they all look and function the same. And I don’t understand why so many folks insist on making yet another mecaquartz chronograph. Maybe because VK64’s are cheap and reliable? Having a bicompax layout looks cool? And brands can sell them on the cheap? I don’t know, I’m not in their head so I can only make assumptions about their intentions but here we can discuss something a bit different. Not majorly different in terms of design—or perhaps yes?—but dissimilar from a function perspective. Because the run-of-the-mill mecaquartz chrono most often comes with a tachymeter scale most of us won’t ever use so why bother? I know, I’m asking you many questions, and rhetorical questions of course. 

And we’re going to attempt to find answers to these questions by looking at the first model from Wayforth, a Canadian brand we haven’t looked at before. The model in question is the Voyager Ref. V1.07 (there are eight colorways in total) which was created to be the perfect travel companion as envisioned by the brand’s founder, Stephen. We perhaps don’t think of chronographs as being the go-to choice for travel so this idea already makes the Voyager interesting to look at. In that context, it shares some common characteristics with many similar watches and does a couple of things differently which we’re going to shortly dissect. At a price of $391 USD, it offers a compelling list of specifications which indeed make it versatile and functional. And its dial is laid out in a way that supports its intended purpose. So it does something different than most mecaquartz chronographs which is why I thougt this could be of interest to you. 

Specifications 

In the 21st century, chronographs, whether they are powered by a mainspring or a battery or the sun, tend to come with middle-average dimensions. Nothing too small, nothing too large. The Wayforth falls right in the middle with a case measuring 41mm in diameter,48mm lug-to-lug, a total thickness of 13mm, and a lug width of 20mm. The diameter-to-lug ratio is great here and makes it possible for the watch to say I’m here without saying I’m sorry I’m so heavy. Complementing these dimensions is a DLC-coated 316L stainless steel case which comes with brushed and polished surfaces (I think a first for me) which is quite nice since a diamond-like-coating adds resistance to corrosion, bumps, and scratches in addition to endowing the watch with a sealthy character. Of the eight versions of the Voyager the Ref. V1.07 is the only one to have a DLC coated case which is just another reason why I wanted to review this one. 

To add to the everyday and travel-oriented durability of the watch we find a slightly domed sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating, 100 meters of water resistance made possible by way of a non-DLC coated stainless steel screwed-down case-back and a push/pull crown. The chronograph pushers do not have a cap that screws down which has no impact on the Voyager’s water resistance—a lot has changed in the past few decades indeed. You can also easily read the time at night thanks to good applications of BGW9 lume on the hour and minute hands as well as the applied hour markers. And the Seiko VK64 within ensures accurate timekeeping and the timing of events up to 60 minutes (the chronograph stops totalizing the minutes after that), and here Wayforth—thanks the Horological Gods—added a date complication at the six which most brands opt out of. Something I don’t understand. By the way, the VK64 has a stated battery life of 3 years. 

Design 

The Wayforth Voyager is the type of watch you need to get hands-on with in order to fully grasp what it is and what it can do for you. Though that is true of all watches. But this model has a deciptively simple layout which at first makes it look basic and commonplace although it isn’t. (If it was I wouldn’t be telling you about it.) First there is the ensemble of the time-telling elements, the hour and minute hands plus the hour markers and minute track. The hands are polished and in the form of sign-posts—classic—and the hour applied markers look like tiles (to me): fully polished with rectangular flat tops and two of the four sides which slope down towards the dial. The minute track is fully graduated and printed on a recessed portion of the dial, while the date aperture is doubly framed by the two levels as it sits below the lower part and is color-matched to the dial. 

Then the chronograph functionality is visually comparmentalized from the rest by the color orange. An orange chronograph hand which perfectly reaches the outter edge of the minute track, and smaller orange hands for the 60-minute totalizer at the nine o’clock and the 24-hour indicator at the three. (I know most folks complain about the purposelessness of the latter and I get it. But visually it belongs here in order to make the dial symmetrical.) So what is already different about the Voyager from most VK64-powered mecaquartz chronographs is the addition of the date aperture. And what further differentiates it from the massive competition is the addition of a 12-hour inner rotating bezel and, therefore, of the deprioritazation of the tachymeter scale. The bezel is of the bi-directional and of the friction-fit variety and actuated by the crown at the 10 o’clock. I’m sorry folks but this is cool and makes sense given the travel-oriented nature of the Voyager. 

It should be noted that the tachymeter scale is particularly discreet on this version on account of the DLC coating. But Wayforth could have opted to paint-fill the markings which it didn’t do here but did on the other versions. Though on all versions the scale remains discreet because it is printed on the narrow outer portion of the bezel which is so scaled to make way for the inner rotating bezel. And so lastly, the case. It comes with a standard profile with a twisted-lug design constructed from the wide polished chamfers. The crowns and chronograph pushers are relatively small but easy to operate, and I like how functional the chronograph pushers are: they look more like tactical buttons which are just tall enough to allow them fully travel during the actuation of the chronograph functionality. A small and clever detail. Final bit: the Wayforth is shipped on a racing leather strap which goes well with this type of watch. 

The Heart of the Matter

As I hope it came across in these past hundreds of words, the Wayforth Voyager Ref. V1.07 is not your run-of-the-mill VK64-powered mecaquartz chronograph. It’s much more than that from both visual and functional perpectives without looking like an odd machine. As we know, Stephen’s goal was to create the perfect travel companion which means—if you have ever traveled outside of your hometown—that it is better to go for the discreet rather than the flashy. And one can achieve the former whilst not compromising on functionality and character. Because I do find the Voyager to have a lot of it but perhaps not in the way you would have expected in the first place. Again, one must look at this watch upclose in order to see what makes it stand apart from the busy market of mecaquartz chronographs. Indeed its design is full of little nuggets which work together in unison and confer to the Voyager a unique character. And there are some I haven’t yet mentioned. 

For example, you may have noticed how the sub-registers are laid out: with radiating CNC-machined radial patterns and fully spelled out numerals to mark, respectively, the 10-minute and 4-hour increments. This goes well with the orange hands, recessed minute track, and inner-rotating bezel. Another example is the clean indication of the hours on the aforementioned inner bezel which are printed in a clean typeface, color-matched to the chronograph functionality, at least it is so on this version. The way all of the information is laid out means Stephen was indeed intent on making the first travel mecaquartz chronograph on the market, that is as far as I know of course. Which in itself justifies your looking more closely at his first collection and to imagine how it could fit within your personal lifestyle. Moreover, the 12-hour bezel can also be used as a 12-hour totalizer which is cool and which is something you perhaps haven’t thought about until just now! 

Conclusion 

Why, at last, a useful chronograph? Because in my humble opinion most mecaquartz chronos—to be more specific here—don’t do much for us. The 60-minute totalizer is fine but the general absence of a date aperture is a shame. With the Wayforth Voyager we have both and someting else: the dual-purpose 12-hour inner rotating bezel with which we can track a second time zone or time an intercontinental flight. So we have great functionality packed inside a well-proportioned and solid case, all of which will set you back $391 USD which is little to charge for what you get. So I encourage you to take a closer look at all eight options of the Voyager and to act fast before these limited production units sell out completely.

P.S. The brand is currently running an anniversary sale! 

Thanks for reading.