I’ve been a strong supporter of Erroyl since their very first release, the E30 Heritage almost a year ago. I also reviewed the Royal 300 – both of which are splendidly made and designed watches for the price.
Their third model, the Regent, is an expansion of the family. Based around the same design cues and feeling of their other models, the Regent provides a level up. Higher build quality and more intricacies make it a visually impressive timepiece. It comes in three version, and I have the Nero here to review.
It’ll cost you $579 AUD / $400 USD / £285 GBP, which is fairly standard for a decent quality automatic from a micro brand. Let’s take a closer look to see if it’s a good deal.
The case
The case measures in at 42mm in diameter, 12mm tall, with a 49mm lug to lug length. It’s fully polished and is a pleasant shape – that being a bulbous configuration with curvaceous lines. The watch weighs in at 98g, so despite the fairly large size for a dress watch it’s surprisingly lightweight on the wrist.
The pusher at 2 is for the month advance. My personal preference is to not have a large button like this, as it can be easy to accidentally push it and advance the month. I probably would have preferred to see the other option here – that of an inset mini pusher, but for that you’d need a small tool to press it.
The push-pull crown is an unusual angular mini onion. It’s well machined considering the complexity of it, with decent grip and a protruding end containing a deeply etched Erroyl logo.
The sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on the underside
The screw-in caseback features an impressive stamped design, the kind you’d see on a much more expensive watch. It’s deep, detailed, and well produced.
The dial
The Regent has a very attractive black sun ray dial with a guilloché concentric circle design. The Nero is striking because of the “panda” appearance – white subdials on black.
I always love applied hour markers, and the Regent impresses in this area. Polished stainless steel to match the hands and provide a flashy reflection, they’re pitched and in two shapes – triangles at 12, 3, 6 and 9, and batons for the rest. They’re all well made and applied.
The recessed day and month subdials are elegant and flawless, with a matching concentric circular pattern to match the main dial.
The dauphine hands are graceful, thin and outstretching. They’re pitched, delivering a reflection to match the applied hour markers.
The date wheel is white, so it doesn’t technically match the dial – although in a way it mimics the white subdials so I think the Regent Nero gets away with it more than usual (not that it particularly bothers me). The window has a neat border to it, which keeps the dial clean-cut.
All printing is fine and accurate, and I really like the high contrast of the white on the black main dial section – very classy.
The strap
The leather strap measure 20mm wide at the lugs, tapering down to 18mm at the buckle. It’s made of genuine Italian Crazy Horse leather – the Crazy Horse part being the finishing of the leather. It’s not what you’d expect on a smart dress watch, and I really like it. It has a more rugged look thanks to the special purpose wax applied to a buffed grain surface. In the case of the Regent, perhaps the default choice would have been a patent leather strap. But I like the decision Erroyl have made here – a little bit off the book, which I think has paid off. I like the matt finish to the leather, and it’s really soft to touch too. It’s very well stitched and the quality of the leather is very good.
The butterfly clasp is well machined and built. But – there is one issue that I’ve found – that being the positioning of it. On my 7 1/4 inch wrist it sits a little high and on top of my lower wrist bone. This is fine for a while, but soon gets a bit uncomfortable.
The movement
Powering the Erroyl Regent is the Miyota 9122 triple date (day, date and month). It’s an automatic with hand winding capabilities, has 26 jewels, and is high beat running at 28.8k bph or 8 ticks per second. As is the usual case I’ve found with Miyotas, you can hear the rotor spinning around if it’s quiet enough. It’s one of their top models, much like the 9015, so it’s likely to be a hardy little fellow that will be reliable and sturdy. Miyotas are usually a bit industrial looking, but that doesn’t matter here as its hidden behind the impressive stamped caseback.
Final comments
For under £300, the Erroyl Regent offers a watch that is dashing in looks and super in build quality.
I have just two minor issues; that being the strap comfort in smaller wrists due to the positioning of the butterfly clasp, and also the month pusher (which is just a personal preference). Apart from that, it’s a solid watch for the money which is executed to a level higher than you’d expect at this price point.
