Review: Buscum Ducis

Starting your own watch company is hard. Unlike, say, hiring a factory in Taiwan to make a bunch of MP3 players for you, creating a watch takes patience, an understanding of the history of horology, and a willingness to risk failure. Thankfully, Buscum Ducis’ Svan van Der Zande has all of these attributes.

After promising a finished watch since last March, Sven has finally delivered his first timepiece, a quartz watch with great styling and quite a bit of attention to detail. The watch comes in a handsome display box and includes a tan and a black band along with a screwdriver for swapping them out.

The watch itself is a healthy-sized 45mm with a brush steel case and a 22mm lug width. The watch is water resistant but, as Sven points out, not suited for diving. The dial consists of two parts – a cut face with numerals and pips and a Super-Luminova face that gives the watch excellent night readability.

The movement is a Swiss Ronda 1069, a workhorse quartz three hand movement. The seconds hand is set at above 6 o’clock.

At $295, the watch is on par with other quartz timepieces but I think the build quality is far superior to the standard department store watches you’ll find at this price. Because Sven designed this watch by hand, you’re essentially getting a boutique timepiece at a bargain price.

The watch keeps excellent time and is just large enough to be ostentatious without being overtly huge. The band is signed on the buckle and on the leather and the back is engraved with the BD logo.

Buscim Ducis is a small company with big ambitions. I’m all for giving the little guy a leg up and this is a great opportunity to own a unique and inexpensive watch. These guys are definitely worth another look.