Hands-On: the echo/neutra Chrono GMT

Sometimes, no matter how many hours we spend scrolling on Instagram and monitoring various watch-focused group chats, things slip through the cracks. Watches that check all the right boxes to rise above the noise of a crowded market go unnoticed and become sleeper hits instead of hits, and creativity that deserves widespread celebration instead receives a splattering of quiet applause. For collectors that enjoy witnessing brands evolve and develop distinct design DNA in real time, it can be a bummer to discover your radar missed something great. But on the bright side, this scenario allows for instant gratification and the opportunity to speed run a brand’s evolution to the present day.

This was my experience when Italian microbrand echo/neutra released the Rivanera at the end of last year. Like many of you, I was pleasantly caught off guard by the rugged take on the classic rectangular dress watch, but didn’t recognize the name divided by a distinct slash on the dial. This sent me digging through surprisingly sparse reviews and forum threads where I discovered that the Rivanera was far from beginner’s luck, and was actually the result of a year’s long evolution that began in the way many do, with a safe and somewhat generic field watch on Kickstarter. Watching aging YouTube videos, this actual first release called the Averau (which later included a very cool moon phase) looks like exactly the type of watch I would’ve chased in 2019 when specs and MSRP were my primary selling points. The past half decade has seen my tastes prioritize thoughtful design over specs per dollar. And, catching up on echo/neutra’s quick progression from spec forward field watches in 2019 to challenging what we can expect from microbrands both in terms of design and manufacturing capabilities only five years later, it seems to be a progression shared by founders Nicola Callegaro and Cristiano Quaglia as well.

The Watch 

The 1956 line has been a staple of the brand since 2021, first as a platform for sporty three handers, and then as a bi-compax chronograph with a telemeter scale (more on this quirky complication below). In the spring of 2024, predating the Rivanera that stole our collective attention, echo/neutra expanded on their unique and arguably under-celebrated bi-compax chronograph by adding dual time functionality with the release of the 1956 Chrono GMT. Though I may have been late to the party to discover this release, I was recently fortunate to go hands on with all three vintage inspired colorways including a black dial with black subdials, a bronze dial with black subdials, and a new addition to the collection, a black dial with tan subdials. I’ll admit that the words “vintage inspired” make me instantly wary in a microbrand market saturated with vintage inspiration, but I found the colorways to be warmly reminiscent of the 1950’s and 1960’s without feeling like forced homages to anything in particular.

Before the watches arrived I made myself familiar with previous iterations of the 1956 line while intentionally remaining ignorant of the details of the Chrono GMT to avoid my opinions from being swayed before seeing it in the metal. While unboxing the watches, the first thing I noticed was that echo/neutra had traded in their minimal three-numeral layout for (nearly) full Arabic numerals, allowing for quick and intuitive legibility thanks to high contrast hands (tan or black depending on the colorway) that feature blue BGW9. Like most enthusiasts that find it irresistible to engage a chronograph, I quickly moved on to testing the pushers. With satisfying and clicky responses,I found its operation to be equally intuitive with one pusher to activate a centrally mounted 60 second elapsed time hand along with setting the 30 minute and 12 hour counters in motion, and another pusher to send these hands flying back to their starting positions.

Looking beyond the dial, the black ceramic bezel displays a lumed telemeter scale. Unlike the ever-popular tachymeter often found on chronographs (which I think we can all admit is mostly for show), a telemeter scale is easy to use and allows the wearer to measure the distance of a visible and audible event. Historically it’s been employed in combat to determine the distance of the enemy by simply engaging the chronograph at the sight of a flash, stopping it when the sound is heard, and then using the scale on the bezel to determine the distance of the sound’s source. Do you need one? Hopefully not. But since when did enthusiasts start to value necessity? Perhaps more practically, the obscure complication can be used to determine if you are at a safe distance from the fireworks your intoxicated neighbor is setting off, or how far away those sirens are when things go awry.

While the chronograph and telemeter scale are great for both practical and impractical uses, in terms of visual creativity, the GMT layout is my favorite detail on the entire watch thanks to a third subdial that cleverly uses the space dedicated to running seconds to display an AM/PM disc decorated with monochrome sun rays and stars. The disc slowly rotates over a period of 24 hours, but is also independently adjustable in conjunction with the red GMT hand that features the same blue glow as the hour and minute hands. Obsessing over the subdial long enough reveals that the minuscule real estate below this disc subtly shares that this unassuming tool watch offers 100 meters of water resistance, an impressive feat considering the crown and pushers don’t screw down. Powering these complications is a hand wound elaboré grade Setlitta SW532M, which keeps the watch ticking with refined accuracy for 62 hours between winds.

Chronographs and GMTs are inherently sporty complications built for jet setting and timing in all sorts of environments. In stark contrast to its complication counterparts, while the GMT Chrono is a tool watch by every definition, it leans dressy thanks to classic colorways and a dial that is notably serene for the functionality it provides. Similar to tucking specs onto a subdial rather than treating precious dial space as a billboard, the trend of finding balance while breaking aesthetic tropes is continued with an offset brand name at 3:00, the only quadrant of the dial without a subdial. I’m less convinced that the red printed and considerably smaller cursive “mechanical” located directly under the brand name provides anything more than a reason to squint, but it’s a small (literally) gripe that I quickly found easy to ignore.

The relaxed feeling yet function packed dial may be the star of the show, but the wearer-friendly case of the Chrono GMT is what kept this watch on my wrist day after day while it was in my possession. At 40mm, it will feel visually at home on a variety of wrist sizes, and physically at home thanks to a lug to lug of only 46mm.  While claiming that a watch is so comfortable you forget you’re wearing it is often hyperbolic cliche, I did forget the watch was on my wrist shortly after it arrived and unknowingly wore it for a round of unpredictable catch in preparation for my son’s first ever baseball practice. Tall dimensions (the watch is 14.8mm thick including the domed sapphire crystal) paired with short lug to lug measurements have the potential to create a top-heavy wearing experience, but I found the downward sloping lugs hugged my wrist and provided a secure and unobtrusive fit while thankfully remaining unscathed from rogue balls.

These universally friendly dimensions are paired with the level of finishing you’d expect (or at least hope) to see in a watch at this price point. Without trying to feel unnecessarily complicated, it features a signed crown, polished surfaces where they make sense such as lug edges, and expertly brushed surfaces that offer contrast on the case sides and lug tops. Buyers will receive two straps including a black Alpine calf leather strap and their choice of an equally comfortable tropical strap, or the bracelet for an additional $50. This optional screw sized three link bracelet offers comfortable articulation and compliments the case with a brushed inner link, high polish outer links, and an easy-to-operate brushed clasp. Going against my typical advice to avoid shelling out extra cash for a bracelet, this one is far from a run-of-the-mill afterthought, elevates the already elegant look of the watch nicely, and is well-worth the modest price hike.

Final Thoughts 

In an environment when many brands are moving upmarket, I increasingly find myself wrestling with what value looks like and how high my expectations should be at various price points. When I started collecting on a (used) Seiko 5 budget a few years ago, $2, 000 opened luxury doors that I may not have been able to personally open, but could see the inherent value in. Most of those doors have long since closed and it can be all too easy to become jaded and feel like the days of attainable luxury are gone. The echo/neutra 1956 Chrono GMT is a reminder that luxury at this price point is still out there, if you know where to look. 

All in all, the Chrono GMT is an expertly finished tool watch that wears like a broken-in pair of boots, charms like a dress watch, and packs substantial functionality into an impressively clean dial. With clever design choices, a hand wound movement, and a unique complication, it stands out in a landscape where chronographs and GMTs tend to feel formulaic and predictably rugged. I may have personally missed the first five years and echo/neutra’s up-and-coming phase, but it seems like a safe bet to say this is a brand to keep an eye on to witness creative and attainably priced watchmaking in real time. echo/neutra