Since founding Venezianico in 2017, brothers Alberto and Alessandro Morelli, have developed a signature style designed to put affordable luxury Italian watchmaking back on the map. Passionate about their hometown, they make watches that tap into Italian flamboyance and combine thoughtful details designed to capture the real feel of Venice with the use of unusual, technical or jewellery-like materials. Venezianico is also unusual in that it’s a brand that straddles both the enthusiasts’ sector and the mainstream.
Nereide Collection Overview
The Nereide collection is huge! Not Tudor Black Bay huge, but huge nonetheless, with no less than 28 different configurations currently available. Variants encompass different case sizes, dial designs, dial colours, dial materials, movements and complications. There are time-only watches, date versions, Swiss movements, Japanese movements, GMT complications, sapphire bezels, ceramic bezels, tungsten bezels…the list goes on and on!
Prices range from between €463 for a Seiko NH35 powered watch to €1131.60 for the Sellita powered Nereide Aureo, which has dial coated in 24 carat gold. My review watch, the Nereide Lapizlazzuli (ref: 4521548), comes in at €897.90 on a rubber strap or €979.90 on a bracelet. The Nereide takes its name from one of the last marvels of Venetian naval engineering, the Nereide submarine, although I have to say, for dive watches, all watches from the collection are on the dressier side of the spectrum.
The Lapislazzuli is one of the latest releases, and as the name suggests uses the exotic semi-precious stone, Lapis Lazuli, for its dial. All configurations are available to buy directly from the Venezianico website. Alternatively, if you fancy a trip to Venice, you can visit the bricks and mortar store, lovely! Now, where did I put my passport?
The Case and Wearing Experience
The Nereide Lapislazzuli is currently only available using the 42mm diameter 316L stainless steel case, which is 12.5mm thick and has a lug-to-lug measurement of 49mm. If you’re become used to modestly sized dive watches that follow the recent downsizing trend, you’ll probably be a little shocked at how heavy the watch is when you first put it on. It weighs in at 184 grams according to my scales, and that’s with a few links taken out to size it for my 7.25 inch wrist. The case itself feels and looks broad across the wrist too, due to the 22mm lug width, added crown guards and colour of the bezel which blends into the case. Thankfully, the case is not too thick and has a nice arc and taper to its profile, which does help minimise some of the perceived bulk. Whilst proportionally making up little of the overall weight, it’s worth remembering that the bezel insert is made from Tungsten, which is approximately four times as dense as stainless steel, so as a percentage increase for the bezel alone, it’s substantial. Some will see this extra weight as a positive, others as a negative, but what’s undeniable is the benefit it brings, which is durability! Tungsten is the hardest metal on earth and has a melting point of 3400°C, which also makes it the most heat-resistant metal. In practice it means that the bezel’s resistance to wear and scratches is incredible. Those door frames better run and hide!
The three-part case blends different finishes. The 120-click rotating diver’s bezel is polished dial-side and has a mirror-like Tungsten insert featuring engraved Arabic numerals for the 15, 30, and 45-minute markers and simple engraved batons placed at every other 5-minute marker. These are filled with white paint, but do not have any luminescence. The 12 o’clock inverted triangle marker has a blue border to match the dial and a white BGW9 lume-filled centre, which glows at night. The bezel edge has brushed knurling in a uniform square-shaped pattern, which makes it easy to grip. A flat scratch-resistant sapphire crystal rises slightly above the gently sloping bezel and has an anti-reflective coating applied to the inner, which is much appreciated on a smooth dial like this.
The mid-case is satin-brushed, but has gorgeous, polished chamfers top and bottom that are generously wide and wrap around the faceted lug tips and terminate at the crown-guards. Curiously, the crown-guards are polished to the top and bottom surfaces. The solid screw-down caseback protrudes slightly out from the rear of the mid-case and is attached with six screws. It features an embossed band of specifications separating the polished outer from the centre section that has a detailed engraving/embossing set against a bead-blasted and circularly brushed ‘base’ field. The 6.7mm brushed and knurled screw-down crown is branded with the Venezianico cross and helps to provide a 200m water resistance rating. The action on the well-proportioned crown is positive and it’s smooth to wind.
You can purchase the Nereide on either a colour-matched rubber strap or pay an extra €100 for the new five-link bracelet inspired by the works of Renaissance sculptor Jacopo Sansovino, apparently known for his mastery and attention to detail. The bracelet tapers from 22mm down to 18mm and comprises two polished and three satin-finished sections to each link. It’s an interesting link design too, with only the middle section of each link having straight edges. The others are all angled. The single fold-over deployant clasp, with twin push-buttons for safety, has brushed and polished finishes and four holes of micro-adjustment, so it should be easy to achieve a reasonable fit. However, it’s disappointing that the bracelet isn’t quick-release and lacks on-the-fly adjustment, something many buyers now expect at this price. It’s also worth pointing out that although the overall level finishing is generally good with even brushing and precise polishing, the bracelet does have sharp edges in places and the caseback engraving can feel abrasive against the wrist. However, the flipside is that €100 is a very reasonably priced upgrade! And in my opinion, it’s an upgrade worth stumping up for, as to put it kindly, the rubber strap is poor. It has a jelly-like feel, semi-translucent quality and attracts lint like nobody’s business! The plus point is that the rubber strap does have curved ends for a seamless fit, but the watch is deserving of a more premium feeling FKM rubber strap.
The Dial
I think it’s safe to say that the dial is where it’s at! Whilst some brands dabble in incorporating exotic dial materials, for Venezianico it’s part of the brand’s DNA. The Lapis lazuli dial brings depth, glamour and uniqueness to the Nereide and is said to symbolise nobility and spirituality. This semi-precious mineral was used to produce ultramarine, a blue pigment valued by artists throughout history for the intense and brilliant blue that no other pigment can match. It’s also entirely fitting for the Venice-based brand to choose it, as Venice used to be the primary trading port for Lapis Lazuli excavated from Afghan mines.
The appearance of the dial changes quite dramatically depending on the light. Sometimes it’s a deep, vivid, cobalt blue colour, warmed up slightly by the sparkling gold and silver tones of the pyrite inclusions. Other times the blue is less saturated and the dial takes on a more reflective, mottled appearance with the scintillating pyrite inclusions and semi-translucent sand-coloured areas coming more to the fore. Whilst legibility for time-telling remains excellent, I do think additional layers of anti-reflective coating would help bring out the true colour of the dial in a wider variety of lighting conditions.
The dial construction is dual-layered and complex. The blue outer minute track (not made from Lapiz Lazuli) sits on the uppermost layer and is printed in white. The baton-shaped applied indices are attached to this upper layer and appear to have a cantilever design, floating above the main dial and casting shadows below. However, when you look more closely under magnification, it becomes apparent that the underside of the indices are cut away at a reverse angle. It’s a lovely effect and certainly adds to the level of interest and depth. The indices are deep and precisely executed with polished facets to three sides and feature BGW9 Super-LumiNova luminescent strips in the centres. A framed black-on-white date window is placed at three o’clock and the silver coloured applied ‘Venezianico cross’ underneath the 12 o’clock marker is inspired by the golden Renaissance cross of the ancient clock tower in St. Mark’s Square, Venice. The silver surrounds of the well-proportioned hour and minute hands are split into two, with each section being filled with BGW9 Super-LumiNova which glows blue/green in low light, adding to the already excellent legibility. The simple needle-style seconds hand features a circular counter-balance and a tiny rectangular lumed section. Dial text is well balanced and just enough, comprising the brand name underneath the cross and Nereide Lapislazzuli below.
The Movement
A Swiss-made Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement powers the watch. This workhorse movement is a mainstay for watch brands at this price level due to its reliability, availability and relative ease of servicing. It’s hacking and hand-winding, has a 38-hour power reserve and beats at 28,800 vph or 4Hz, giving a nice smooth sweep to the seconds hands. Venezianico doesn’t quote accuracy, so we should assume that the watch uses the standard grade version of the movement, which is rated at +/-12 sec/day.
Final Thoughts
The Nereide Lapislazzuli is not a watch for shy and retiring types! It’s a bold watch that makes a statement and will get you noticed, thanks in part to its dimensions and in part to the finishes at play and materials used. Whilst the design itself is conventional, there is lots going on and you certainly can’t accuse it of being understated.
The value proposition here is very good and the quality is evident throughout the watch case and dial, even under a 4x loupe, but I feel that improvements to case and bracelet finishing could elevate it further. Whilst not unreasonably large for a dive watch, the case is very weighty and I feel that it needs a heavier bracelet to balance it up on the wrist. Or even better, I’d like to see the case thinned out by a millimetre or two, which would improve the wearing experience and make it feel more refined. It’s brother-from-another-mother, the 39mm Nereide, is considerably thinner at 10.5mm. That’s a whopping 2mm thinner than the 42mm, although admittedly the 39mm uses a slightly thinner movement and doesn’t have a dual-layered dial, so maybe it’s not possible?! Venezianico is also behind the curveball by not offering a quick-release bracelet or on the fly adjustment.
The use of materials is exciting and the lapis lazuli dial and tungsten bezel are undoubtedly the standout features. The mirror-like tungsten bezel is a total chameleon and flips from silver to black in an instant, depending on the light and what it’s reflecting. I personally love the dial, not just for its use of lapiz lazuli, but for the overall execution and level of detail, such as the floating indices, which provide added depth. It’s also difficult to argue with the spec; 200m water resistance, Swiss automatic movement, sapphire crystal, tungsten bezel, exotic dial, it’s got it all. With this watch, you have two unlikely bedfellows; durability and glitziness. The level of ‘bling’ means that it’s not going to be a watch for the traditionalist or those who are looking for a watch to fly under the radar, but that’s fine, sometimes it’s good to be brave! Personally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Venezianico releases a 39mm Lapislazzuli with floating indices and a ceramic or sapphire bezel to tone down the glamour. In the meantime, the Nereide collection offers plenty of great alternatives to choose from, so if this particular variant isn’t for you, you should have no problem finding something else that matches your personality!
