Albert Villa's modern take on Art Deco inspired vintage dress watches from the 1920s immediately reminds us of Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reverso, a well-known classic dress watch design, that first retailed in 1931 as a watch that could withstand the rigors of a polo game. All very apt as the general shape of the case here puts us in mind of the Reverso, (while thankfully not being a close homage,) but in a more modern size, with one of the most reliable of all mechanical movements, scratch resistant sapphire crystal, and 50 meters of water resistance. Very handy for those unexpected rain-showers while playing polo, or should you fall off your horse and land in a puddle!
We absolutely love the strong sunburst blue gradient dial on this design, matched with understated elegance which is nicely balanced to carefully avoid too much "bling". Instead we have a finely polished case, dauphine hands, (with a nice smooth high beat second hand sweep,) and applied major indices, with a decorative signature at the bottom of the dial and no logo beneath 12 o'clock to detract from the outstanding sunburst. Thanks to the movement choice here, the case is very thin and comes in at under 9mm, exactly what we want to see in an automatic mechanical dress watch, so that it can fit under a formal sleeve cuff for the grandest of occasions.
Not only is Albert Villa Timepieces the only watch microbrand we know of hailing from Romania, but the small limited edition size here of just 100 timepieces makes this design fairly rare and adds to the interest, making this watch quite the conversation piece, since it is sure to be noticed when worn.
Rhapsody In Blue
The name of this watch, "The Twenties Rhapsody in Blue" is very fitting since it is part of the 1920s' Jazz Age series of watches from Albert Villa, all themed around some colorful aspect of the 1920s. In this case the name comes from a famous composition by George Gershwin in 1924 called "Rhapsody in Blue", his best known work, which bridges the gap between classical music and jazz. We are also treated to five cocktail glasses engraved on the back of the case which subtly makes us think of relaxing in a nightclub of the era to listen to a sophisticated jazz performance.
