[VIDEO] Hands-On: the Trematic Archive One 502

There’s that moment we all know too well—you’re deep in the rabbit hole of late-night doom scrolling through Instagram’s discovery feed, mindlessly thumbing through the same photos. Then, suddenly, one catches your eye and stops you dead in your tracks. You actually click on the post, you spread the image to zoom in, and then you do the unthinkable and read the caption. That is exactly how I ended up discovering Trematic and this specific model, the Archive One 501.

I was completely unfamiliar with the brand, which, when combined with a design language that spoke to me, immediately sparked my curiosity. Specifically, it was the typeface used for the indices. Those quirky, alien-like 4, 6, and 10 markers, cast in rose gold tone, immediately grabbed my attention. They looked like something from a different time, maybe from a different planet, yet the watch overall felt refreshingly modern. A worn-out phrase lately, but the blend of vintage style and contemporary sensibilities didn’t feel tired, which is something I can’t say about many “retro-inspired” designs in the microbrand space.

For those who haven’t encountered Trematic, let me give you a quick rundown: the brand dates back to the 1950s but faded into obscurity after the Quartz Crisis, just like many of its contemporaries. In 2022, Daniele Campagnano breathed new life into the brand, seeking to revive its forgotten legacy. The first model to re-enter the market was the Zy6, a watch we recently mentioned on the Worn & Wound Podcast as being something of a sleeper hit. With that release, Trematic made its intentions clear—they were here to capture that elusive vintage-modern spirit like so many other brands you’ve likely read about in these pages.