Today's review focuses on a watch that I had admired for quite some time, but due to its relatively high price, it never quite made it to the top of my wish list. Until now.
Since six years have passed since the watch was first released, some retailers have drastically reduced its price—and I was finally able to find an offer that suited me. So, which watch are we talking about? It’s the Franck Dubarry Crazy Wheel, housed in a titanium case.
I’m sure that true watch enthusiasts are familiar with the name Franck Dubarry, though perhaps less so with the brand itself.
Franck Dubarry is a well-known watch designer who, in the late 1990s, created the TechnoMarine brand. The brand was highly successful, and in 2007, Dubarry sold it to an equity fund. As part of the sale agreement, he was bound by a non-compete clause, which prevented him from launching a new watch brand until 2014. Once that clause expired, he established a new brand under his own name. The first Franck Dubarry watches were introduced in 2016, and the Crazy Wheel models followed in 2017.
So, it’s no surprise that the brand is still relatively unknown.
For a newly established brand, launching such a specific and unconventional watch as the Crazy Wheel, and pricing it in the CHF 10,000–13,000 range, was a very bold move!
On the other hand, the radically different and innovative way of displaying the time sparked a lot of discussion among watch enthusiasts and helped raise brand awareness.
I’m a perfect example—what first drew me to the brand was reading about this very novelty.
The main concept behind the Crazy Wheel is that the hour subdial is mounted on the minute hand, and it rotates along with it. This means the hour indicator completes a full 360° rotation every 60 minutes. I know—it sounds complicated, and to be honest, it is a bit puzzling at first. But you get used to it fairly quickly.
To make it easier to understand, I’ve included a short video showing how it works.
Of course, for such a complication, an in-house movement—or more accurately, an in-house module—had to be developed. If I remember correctly, the movement is based on the ETA 2892, with an added module that, through a series of wheels mounted above the dial, transfers the motion of the hour hand to a secondary hour subdial. From the base ETA movement, the stop-seconds and date functions are retained. The movement operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a power reserve of 42 hours.
Unfortunately, precision isn’t exactly this watch’s strong point. It seems the added transfer module negatively affects positional accuracy. My watch runs anywhere between –7 and +25 seconds per day, depending on its position. That’s quite a wide range compared to what you typically expect from an ETA 2892. However, the overall result in daily use isn’t terrible. Wearing the watch 24/7 for a full week resulted in an average deviation of +12 seconds per day.
Let’s move on to the design, which is very Hublot-ish in character.
As mentioned, I own the most basic version with a titanium case, but models made from other materials (such as forged carbon) were also released.
Particularly interesting were the two “Maori” editions, made of bronze and stainless steel, featuring engraved Maori tattoos. These were visually striking—but delicate to wear and nearly impossible to polish. I seriously considered one of the Maori models, but in the end, I went with the safest option.
In all versions, the case uses a sandwich construction with colored inserts. These inserts appear to be ceramic, although I can’t confirm that with certainty. The bezel is flat and secured with six hexagonal screws, and the crown has a protector. It’s a standard push-pull crown (not screw-down) and features a colored ring between the crown and the case.
In all models, the colored elements always match the color of the hour subdial.
The caseback is closed, and the watch is water-resistant to 10 ATM / 100 meters.
The case is not the only thing that reminds us of Hublot. The strap is also very Hublot-like, consisting of a combination of a rubber base with a thin upper layer that appears to be crocodile leather, and a titanium folding buckle. This type of strap is often seen on many Hublot watches. Furthermore, the way the strap is attached to the case is also similar to what can be found on many Hublot models. Regardless, it doesn’t really matter, because the result is incredibly good. The strap is very soft and comfortable on the wrist.
In fact, the overall wearing experience is simply phenomenal. The titanium case makes the watch light, and the strap makes it very comfortable. Even though the diameter is 43 mm (and the crown protector makes it appear even larger), the size is not an issue here. Of course, you know I’m biased since I enjoy wearing watches over 42 mm, but this watch is truly one of those that elevate the wearer’s experience to a higher level.
You’re probably wondering how it feels to read the time. Surprisingly, one can get used to the unusual way of reading the hours quite quickly. The biggest confusion comes from the second hand. Even after wearing the watch for a few days, I sometimes mistakenly read the minutes on the second hand and the hours on the minute hand instead of on the hour subdial. The second hand is simply too dominant and somewhat unnecessary.
I should point out that, in my opinion, not all Crazy Wheel watches offer the same ease of reading. When I was choosing the right watch for myself, I noticed that some versions have very poor color contrast between the main dial, the hour subdial, and the hour hand. I believe the good legibility on my version is largely due to the clear and obvious color distinction between those three parts.
What really spoils readability is the date. There are two reasons for this. First, due to the watch’s construction—as you can see in the photos—every hour, for about 15 minutes, the date window is completely covered by the hour subdial, and for another 5 minutes it’s partially obscured by the “tail” of the hour complication module. I included photos to illustrate both situations. So, for about one third of the day, the date cannot be read at all.
The second problem is the date window itself, which has a magnifying glass over it. Unfortunately, this glass has the opposite effect on visibility than intended—it actually reduces readability. It’s easier to read the number two days ahead (or two days behind) and then calculate the correct date than to read the exact date directly. I know it sounds funny, but that’s honestly how I read the date! With this approach, I’ve also drastically reduced the interval when the date is completely unreadable—to just a few minutes every hour. I can’t tell the date only when both “substitute dates” are obscured (as shown in my photo).
I was curious to see how the watch would perform at night. From the close-up photos, you can see that the lume is applied to the minute and hour hands, as well as to the hour (or rather, five-minute) markers on the central dial.
The result is better than expected—but not perfect. Even though the minute hand has lume only at the very tip, reading the minutes is not a problem. The minute hand glows brightly throughout the entire night. The same cannot be said for the hour hand. It seems the lume on the hour hand is either different or applied less effectively, as it fades much sooner. If you have good eyesight, you might still be able to read the time—but I can’t. Without my reading glasses in the dark, I can read the minutes but not the hours. Useless. A strong lume on the hour hand would be much more helpful instead. After all, the position of the hour hand already gives you a pretty good clue about which part of the hour it is, right?
The watch box once again shows that Frank Dubarry is trying to position the brand among luxury names. It’s wooden and quite exclusive in appearance. I like the fact that it’s not overly large—just the right size to keep everything looking elegant.
I began my review with the price of the watch, and I’ll end with it. Even though the watch is very well made and features an interesting new in-house movement, I believe that the original price, back in 2017, was simply set far too high. As proof, I took a photo of the outer box, where the original retail price for the U.S. market is printed.
If you remember the watch market six years ago, you’ll probably agree that many more appealing watches were available for less money. Even if this had been a Hublot—rather than a watch from an unknown, wannabe-luxury brand—such a price would have made it a tough sell. Supporting my point is the lack of real user experience reviews of the Crazy Wheel series. Most available reviews are promotional or commercial in nature.
So it’s no surprise that, six years later, some retailers still have these models in stock—and are offering them at heavily reduced prices. At the moment, prices range from one-third to half of the original retail price, depending on the model. And if you factor in the general price inflation over the past six years, the true market value today is effectively just a quarter of the original.
The result? Crazy Wheel suddenly becomes a very interesting option—if you’re looking for a well-made, highly distinctive watch. I can guarantee it will get noticed, people will ask you about it, and it will bring you a lot of joy.
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