The Telling Watch Company aims to be exactly what it says, a brand that tells not just time, but stories. Each model will tell the story of the particular item or event that inspired it. I recently sampled a prototype of their debut model, the Telling Jovian.
As you might have guessed from its name, the Jovian is about Jupiter. More specifically, it is about the Pioneer 10 Jupiter mission. Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to pass Mars, successfully navigate the asteroid belt, fly close to Jupiter, and finally, escape the solar system. It sent its last transmission 30 years after launch at a distance of 7.6 billion miles from Earth. It is expected to reach its next star in about 2 million years. If anyone is there to meet it, they will find it contains a sort of intelligent life greeting card with a road map home. It is an impressive tale and quite a bit to pack into a watch.
Measuring 43mm wide, 50mm long, and 12.5mm thick, the Jovian is on the larger side, yet still a good fit on my 6.75″ wrist. The case is available in brushed stainless (Glint) or PVD black (Umbra). With its fixed bezel, brushed finish, and polished edges, the overall shape is pleasant, if not particularly exciting. This is fine because the real action is on the dial.
Telling drew upon aspects of the Pioneer 10 voyage without making any of them too obvious. There is no red-eye storm or parabolic dish to shout “Hey, we’re going to Jupiter!” Yet, if you know the back story and look around, you’ll find them all over. That rocky dial texture represents the asteroid belt through which Pioneer 10 passed on its way to the outer planets and the second hand’s tip is the magnetometer used to navigate that field. The tail evokes a transceiver array. Finally, the minute and hour hands, with their long and skinny semi-skeletonization, are meant to mimic the two protruding radioisotope thermal generators that powered Pioneer 10.
Whenever I evaluate a themed watch, I ask myself if the design would work if I didn’t already know the story behind it. In the case of the Telling Jovian, I’d say yes. Sand-textured dials are always cool, even when they aren’t tied to space rocks, that funky second hand has certain mid-century whimsy, and I always like a novel handset.
Now before you get to attached to any of that, bear in mind that this is a prototype, and things will likely get tweaked before production. The second hand’s gold head and finned tail will be scaled down, as will the applied Telling logo. The dial’s texture will be less “sandy” and more “rocky” with less sheen. I think all of these are good developments. I understand they are also considering moving the gold magnetometer farther down the second hand’s shaft. On that one, I must disagree as I like the way the current position passes just below the hour markers.
I must also point out the way “Auto” and “matic” are split around the 6 o’clock marker. It’s a little thing, but I get a kick out of the symmetry, and it seems somehow charmingly retro.
Speaking of the markers, those on the prototype Glint are hollow, while the Umbra’s are lume-filled. I think the empty frames telegraph their distinctive shape better than the white-filled ones, but in low light, I’ll choose the fill every time. Once that is done, the only distinction between the black case’s dial and the silver case’s will be the grey numerals on the latter. Of course, that means they’ll have no lume either.
As you can see in the photo above, the difference between the Glint’s minimal lume and the Umbra’s more liberal use of that Swiss BGW9 SuperLuminova is huge. Advantage Umbra.
Flipping the watch over, we find the Jovian’s most obvious link to the Pioneer 10; an engraving that maps the Jupiter fly-by. This too will be fine-tuned before production, with a brushed finish and heavier typeface to make the whole thing more legible.
Its case back secures with six screws, behind which beats a Sellita SW200, a reliable, 28.8k bph, 25-jewel automatic with a 38+ hour power reserve. From the specs in the perimeter, we learn that the watch is rated for 100m water resistance; a trait useful for terrestrial pursuits, although I do believe there is a chance of water on the Jovian moon Europa.
Purchasers will have their choice of one of two 20mm Horween leather straps. I love Horween and usually like the look of a rustic, minimally-stitched strap on a tool watch, and the Jovian, with its water resistance, AR-coated sapphire crystal, and screw-down crown certainly fits that description. And yet, it feels like a poor match on this one. A watch that is all about space travel and cutting-edge technology — even at 1970s levels — should have a similarly modern strap. I’d suggest a sailcloth or maybe a Velcro pass-through for that “pardon me while I strap my spacewatch over my spacesuit” look.
The Telling Jovian briefly appeared on Kickstarter for $405, 10% off the expected post-launch price. I understand it will be relaunched the first week of April. This is a clever watch with some novel design elements. If you are a student of space exploration history or are just looking for a handsome and somewhat unorthodox everyday watch with a quality movement, you may want to give the Telling Jovian a look. See TellingWatch.com for more.
