Berny Railway Watch Review

Today we are reviewing the Berny “Automatic Mechanical Luxury Business Dress Wristwatch”, which is a homage of the Swiss railway clocks and I like it a lot.

Model

There are a number of similar models; I have the AM7068M-B which is the version with the white dial and black baton indices. this is the version that looks most like the Swiss railway clocks.

*There is an updated version to this watch which I discuss at the end of this article

You can also get black dials and a mix of numbers 3,9 12 and baton indices.

Basic Specs

The watch weighs 75g and is a mechanical automatic. It has 5ATM water resistance (50m) and the case is made from stainless steel.

It is 40mm in diameter.

A thickness of 12mm.

And a lug to lug of 46mm with a strap thickness of 22mm.

Brand

Berny are a Chinese watch brand that was founded in 1995. The story goes that their founder Fred Chu visited Switzerland in the early 90s and was so awe struck by the watches he seen there that when he came back to China he quit his job and devoted his life to watch making. 

He had spent his time in the Swiss city of Bern and to pay tribute to this, he called his brand Berny.

They sell their watches on Aliexpress and are relatively cheap and selling mostly homage based watches. 

(You can read more about – Are Aliexpress Watches Any Good?)

Movement

The official specs tell us that it’s a Seagull ST1612 movement. Seagull watches are pretty good but it is hard to find out many details about their reliability and quality. It is often suggested that Chinese movements are not assembled or lubricated with as much care and hygiene as some other places, but I’m not a watch maker, so I can’t comment on this. The ST1612 is very similar to the Miyota 8215.

This movement has 21 jewels and a beat rate of 21,600, but there is no information on its accuracy. It has a power reserve of 36 hours as well as hacking, hand winding and a date function

The automatic rotor is pretty loud when it’s spinning.  It is also signed with “Berny” and most of the components are a standard silvery/metal colour, apart from the balance wheel which is golden. It is not the most glamorous or highly decorated movement, but it is still always nice to see inside.

Dial

The dial is what drew me to this watch. It is very much a homage to the Swiss railway clocks and watches of Mondaine.

The dial is very plain and simple, which makes it look much bigger than it is. The dial is plane white with black batons at the hour marks and smaller minute markings in between.

The date wheel sits just above the 6 marker and the only text on the dial is the word Automatic just above the date window and the brand name BERNY under the 12 position.

This branding is a little large and it kind of ruins it for me, but at the same time I am able to see past it. If I could remove it, or make it smaller, I think I would be a lot happier.

(Since writing this article it seems there is now an option to get a custom dial on this watch, meaning you can order a sterile dial, or put something different on it)

The hour and minute hands are simple black rectangles and the seconds hand is a thin red lollypop.

When you compare this with the Mondaine Swiss railway clock, it is very similar, but the Bernys hands are much smaller and slimmer. The famous red second hand of the Mondaine is not quite as powerful on the Berny. However, as a homage, it does it a great job. (Read the update at the bottom of this article, as they have updated this on their new watch)

Bezel

This is a more dressier style watch, so there is not really a bezel. There is just a brushed edge around the dial and its looks pretty nice.

Crystal

The watch has a flat mineral glass with a sapphire coating.

Case

The case is stainless steel and 12mm thick, 40mm wide and 46mm from lug to lug.

It is all brushed and the finishing is pretty good. The crown is unmarked and polish, which makes it slightly off from the rest of the case, but that is only a small detail.

Case Back

There is a clear case back which allows us to look into the movement.

Lume

I would rather there was no lume on this watch, as the lume that is provided is a bit of a joke.

The only lume is on the second hand, on the little lollypop. This section is quite small when you compare it to other lollypop hands, but either way it’s just pointless.

I think it would have made sense to just leave the lollypop red and have no lume. For a start the lume is terrible and doesn’t last long, probably as it’s such a small amount, but more importantly, it’s useless. You can’t tell the time in the dark with just the second hand!

Strap

The strap size is 22mm and the issued strap is actually really nice.

It is black genuine leather with white stitching, quick release pins and a signed clasp. For a watch of this price you would assume it would be a dreadful strap, however, it is really quite good.

It’s soft and flexible and just feels great without having to break it in. I was genuinely surprised and have not felt the need to swap it out. If it doesn’t last, I will probably replace it with something very similar, I really like how it looks on the watch.   

Price

I paid £30.58 for this watch from Aliexpress but prices can change so you will need to check what it is going for now. Strangely I thought I paid £20 for it, but clearly not.

Regardless, £30 for this watch is a great bargain. The Mondaine quartz is about 200 and the automatic is around £5-600. So they are still very achievable, but for only £30 to have this Berny while I save up, is great deal to me. 

Issues

Apart from instantly falling so in love with this design that I knew I would have to buy the Mondaine at some point, the watch as been pretty issue free.

I only have one small niggle and that is when I set the time, the second hand will jump forward when I push the crown back in. I’ve never seen this happen with any other watch and I have a feeling it is not meant to be doing this. The watch hacks, so the second hands stops, but it will jump forward about 5 seconds when you put the crown in.

I have a feeling the movement will not last long term. This is fine, I will just buy the Mondaine when that happens, if not before. Then I will use this watch to play with and take it apart to see how awful of a watch maker I am.  

Overall Opinion

This watch is cheap and I love it. I just really like that Swiss railway clock look. I don’t know why, I just love it and this watch from Berny really fills that hole for me.

For what you pay, you get a really great watch. I still question its longevity, but for £30 I’m not worried. It has confirmed to me that I need the Mondaine, so for me, it’s been worth every penny and I will enjoy it while I save up for the real deal.

If you are thinking about getting one, just do it. They are so cheap you can’t really say no!

(You can read more about – Should You Collect Homage Watches?)

*Updated Version Of This Watch

It seems Berny have released a new version of this watch, It looks fairly similar but there are significant changes.

The first being that they have changed the hands. They are now a bit thicker and the second hands is more like the one seen on the actual Mondaine. I think makes this new model better looking. these hands are really want I wanted for my own model.

The next big change is the lume. My model has a real lack of it, but the new version seems to have a fully lumed dial. Having not seen the watch in person I am not sure how good this is and if it affects the dial colour in the daylight or not.

The logo on this model is also slightly different. Its equally as big and in your face as my version, but there is not much you can do about that. I also believe the movement has been updated to a more reliable model, which is always good to see.

So if you are thinking about buying this watch, you should look at this new version and see what you think before you decide.