Simple ain’t easy. Forgive the aphorism, but it is easy to overlook when the details of an object exist harmoniously, even more so when the format is familiar. This is classic field watch design, but that isn’t a demerit. The Heartlander Solar doesn’t deviate heavily from the field watch archetype, but it is a thoughtfully-designed, value-conscious, and well-executed entry into the genre.
Dryden isn’t a new brand here at The Time Bum, we’ve favorably reviewed several of their models before, including the automatic Heartlander. The brand is the brainchild of Founder and lead designer Jerry Wang, who imbues his designs with a classic, but not referential, sport watch aesthetic that evokes the brand’s Kansas City roots. The Heartlander Solar further evinces the brand’s flexible design skills and ability to leverage a base platform for multiple models.
The Heartlander Solar’s dial trades the automatic variant’s large cardinal Arabic markers for a full set of scaled-down Arabic hour markers. The font is a modern take on field watch numerals, dating back to the 1920s, if not earlier, but with a less vertically compressed design. The numerals, and their companion dots sitting outside the minute track, are printed in BGW9 lume that is quick to glow and has a shade of off-white when not illuminated. The lack of fauxtina is a good choice – no need to make a modern solar quartz watch look like an antique.
Surrounding the hour markers is a minute track with thick bars at the 5-minute intervals, and two lengths of finely-printed hash marks between. The longer of these lines denotes each second, and between them are three shorter marks. The latter don’t serve a functional purpose on a watch that only marks the whole second, compared to the sweep of a mechanical movement, but they do help address a common visual shortcoming of quartz watches. It is common for the seconds hand on quartz watches, particularly lower-cost movements, to not accurately hit each second’s position, falling some distance to either side of the markers. This offset is a regular source of nitpicking from horophiles, even if it does not present a fundamental functional issue. If you live your life with a need to accurately know the exact second, buy an atomic-clock synced watch.
On the Heartlander Solar, the shorter, intermittent hashes make it harder to notice when the seconds hand doesn’t perfectly align with a marker, but they don’t detract from reading the time. It is a clever visual trick that seems simple when looking at the watch because it is executed well. Dial text is similarly well done, even with three different fonts – one for Dryden’s logo, another for the “Solar” designation beneath that logo, and a third for the model and water-resistance designations beneath the pinion. I often advocate for brands to get rid of anything other than their logo above the pinion, but in this case, I appreciate Dryden’s prominent celebration of the solar movement.
Four dial colors are offered: grey, green, blue, and black, all rendered in saturated satin hues. The first three share a case finish, while the black dial features a blacked-out case. Dryden has always been smart with color, and with the Heartlander Solar, they’ve chosen hues and combinations that look classic, but not dull. Unable to shed my stripes, I requested the green dial for review, and I am happy I did so. It is a versatile shade, and the finishing avoids the plasticky iridescence of some solar watches.
Hours and minutes are indicated by a set of blocky syringe hands, adding a modern twist to a traditional field watch facet, with lume channels that match the white hue of the hour markers. The seconds hand is a less modern, but on-theme, arrow design, tipped in a yellow that matches the “Heartlander” text on the dial. The same brushed-steel hands are used on the blue dial, while the hands on the grey and black dials are painted white, a treatment I’d be curious to see on the green and blue dials.
My single quibble with the dial is the date window, which is deepset into the dial, a result of the multi-plane surface of the solar movement. The position doesn’t make reading the date an overly onerous task, but the date wheel sometimes falls into enough shadow that you have to adjust your angle to catch light. Given that the geometry is a function of the movement, the execution is a tradeoff, not poor design. To the contrary, the painted surround of the date window demonstrates an attention to detail that keeps the cutout from looking like an afterthought.
Dial design isn’t all that distinguishes the Heartlander Solar from its mechanical sibling, and Dryden hasn’t been bashful about signalling the differentiation with the model’s name. The Solar is driven by an Epson (Seiko) VS42 solar movement, a full charge of which will get you about 6 months of activity. That full charge can be achieved with 5 hours of exposure to sunlight, though cloudy daytime skies and bulbs over 30W will also charge the movement, albeit at slower rates. The V42A isn’t an accuracy champion at +/- 20 seconds per month, but at the Heartlander Solar’s price point, tradeoffs are expected.
Quartz is making a comeback and not only in high-cost and enthusiast niches. Seiko, Citizen, and their subsidiary marques have offered a bevy of quartz watches since they catalyzed the Quartz Revolution, and some microbrands like Scurfa have built their brands on quartz offerings. Still, mechanicals have been the enthusiast darling and the perceived superior technology in romanticism, if not function, for decades. There’s a shift afoot, though, as venerated Swiss brands like Tissot, Hamilton, and TAG Heuer have released models that celebrate quartz and solar quartz movements, rather than positioning their quartz models merely as affordable alternatives to their mechanical offerings. More microbrands are also taking up the quartz-is-cool mantle, bringing this unreasonably maligned tech further into the enthusiast space.
The change is a welcome deviation from the marketing evangelism that quartz is cheap and uninteresting. No, there aren’t the whirly mechanical bits that, admittedly, I love, but it is similarly remarkable to consider that time is kept through the reliable vibration of synthetic mineral crystal. In the Heartlander Solar, the functionality of the VS42 makes a lot of sense for a watch intended to be a dependable companion, but not a focus, of outdoor activities. In addition to the reliable and unfussy function of the movement, it also makes the watch lightweight to such a degree that I had to check the model’s specs to verify what metal the case is made of.
The case (it is steel) is the same used in the automatic Heartlander, which checks in at 38mm wide, and 46mm lug-to-lug. The Solar is 10.8mm thick, a 0.4mm reduction from its automatic counterpart. Not having an automatic Heartlander on hand, I couldn’t verify this with certainty, but the height difference appears to be primarily on account of the Solar’s flat sapphire crystal, compared to the auto’s domed crystal.
The case design is a riff on the traditional rounded design common to the field watch genre, with a few flourishes to stand out from the crowd. Vertical brushing atop the lugs, and horizontal brushing along the flanks of the case, are bisected by a contiguous polished chamfer that terminates at the outer, lower end of each lug tip. The combination creates a linear flow from lug to lug, which visually diminishes the case’s already svelte height. Atop the midcase rests a cantilevered fixed bezel, polished on its underside, and circularly brushed on top, that adds some mid-century flair to the side profile. As with the midcase, the finishing and transitions on the bezel far exceed what I’d expect for a watch that starts at $279.
Dryden gives you options when it comes to what’s attached to the case’s 20mm lugs. The three-link bracelet has a vintage lightness, the weighting of which matches the lightness of the watch. The links have some sharp edging that won’t cut you, but make the bracelet less comfortable than it could be with softer surface transitions. The clasp has toolless micradjustment that is easy to operate, and holds positions with no accidental deployment.
If you aren’t interested in the bracelet, or prefer to save $100, the Heartlander Solar can also be purchased with FKM straps color-matched to each dial option. The material quality is good, and the design of the upper surface – grooves running the perimeter that mimic stitching, and a monochromatic digital camo pattern with alternating finishes that make light dance – fit the watch’s restomod motif.
Usually, I’m an advocate of buying the bracelet, but I’m hesitant in this case, not based on the $100 level upcharge, but more because I prefer the look of field watches on a strap. Dryden’s decision to offer buyers the choice between the two is wise, as such tastes vary. For my money, I’d get the FKM strap, and use the additional funds to continue feeding my irresponsibly extensive strap collection.
The affordable quartz field watch market is growing. Hamilton recently released quartz versions of the Khaki Field, Vaer has offered several options in the segment for years, and Prevail shook up the market with their Onward Future Field, our Microbrand Watch of the Year for 2024. I’m elated that there is such strong competition in a market segment that barely existed a few years ago, with models that all offer good value, capability, and design. Within that growing market, the Heartlander Solar offers a Goldilocks option – cheaper and more water resistant than the Khaki Field, more modern design than what Hamilton or Vaer offer, yet not quite so futuristic as the Onward Future Field. The Solar also shows Dryden’s ability to innovate a model line, not merely with new colorways, but in a manner that offers an instrumental difference.
