The Perrelet Turbine watch series is an innovative collection of fine European timepieces that incorporate a turbine blade motif into the dual rotors of its automatic movement. Sold only by exclusive high end jewelers, Perrelet turbine watches cost around $4000 or even more. But, ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS, ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS, if you are lucky, you can find a quartz watch with a similar look from Sharp for only $19.99 in the giant retailer’s watch department.
At first, I thought the styling similarities were purely coincidental, but my friends on MyWristwatch Forums quickly picked up the similarity. After a member mentioned it, I remembered seeing a Perrelet advertisement in an old copy of Watch Talk magazine. A close examination of my Sharp watch reveals that the budget-priced Sharp watch pays homage to the premium Perrelet. It has many very similar styling cues to the Perrelet Turbine A1047/1.
Instead of getting a watch steeped in a prestigious Swiss watchmaker’s history that stretches all the way back to 1777, when you buy the Sharp brand watch, you get a watch made by MZ Berger that uses the Sharp name under license. While the premium Perrelet features a hand built movement made by experienced craftsmen working for the company that invented the automatic watch movement, the Sharp watch has a quartz movement made by workers in Singapore.
The features of the Sharp Turbine-style watch aren’t quite up the same level as a genuine Perrelet. For example, you won’t actually get a moving twelve bladed dual rotor made from titanium. Instead, Sharp delivers a watch that successfully incorporates a turbine motif with blue plastic disc recessed beneath the surface of a plain black dial. The dial features windows so that the disc appears to be turbine blades. However, the rotor blades of the Perrelet actually moves. The Perrelet model uses red stripes to emphasize the motion of its rotor blades. Like the Perrelet, the Kmart special has a 44 millimeter diameter case. The Perrelet marks time with the numerals denoting minutes at the customary positions for 15, 30, 45, and 60. The Sharp watch marks time with numerals for the hours 3, 6, 9, and 12. Both watches have similar fonts and tick marks for the minutes or seconds.
While the A1047/1 has a black design, Perrelet has many clever turbine watch configurations. The humble Sharp watch has a stainless steel back, base metal bezel, and black resin band. I found the Sharp turbine-style watch to be fairly comfortable to wear. The black resin band is a tad stiff, but that is to be expected with such bands. The Sharp has luminous material inset in the hour and minute hands that works well after exposure to bright light. Surprisingly, the Sharp watch has what appears to be a slightly convex glass crystal. It’s a surprise to see in a world where most budget watches have simple flat circular disks.
Overall, the Sharp Turbine-style Men’s Watch is a nice addition to a low budget watch collection and it makes a great bang-around watch. However, after watching the real Perrelet turbine rotors spin in fascinating web videos, it’s apparent that the Sharp turbine-style watch pales in comparison to the classic watch it emulates.
Sources:
“Attention Kmart Shoppers” – Discussion Thread, My Wristwatch Forums.
Perrelet official website.
Sharp Watch Instructions and Product Packaging.
Personal Experience
Other articles by this contributor:
Wristwatch Profile: the Legendary Rolex Submariner Date Watch
Wristwatch Review: Men’s Structure Instrument Panel Analog Watch
Dreaming of a Bell & Ross Watch
