William Wood Valiant Review - A good looking watch, but for what market? - Beans & Bezels

Disclaimer: This watch was sent to me to review, and I do not need to return it after my review is complete. This watch was given to me without restriction and is not contingent upon a particular outcome for my review. All opinions here are my own, and William Wood had no influence over the opinions stated here.

William Wood is a relatively new British watch brand, and they were founded by Jonny Garrett. William Wood was his grandfather, and their entire lineup of watches are a tribute to him, and other fire fighters like him. They use up-cycled fire hoses in their straps and merchandise, and also use recycled firefighter brass helmets to create small ornaments that are part of the watch design. The brand also gives back to the fire fighter and first responder community through charitable donations, and the William Wood watch brand has gotten a lot of media attention over the last few years.

To be completely transparent, I've been skeptical about these watches, and have been critical about their pricing in the past. But when Jonny approached me to ask if I'd be interested in doing a review, I couldn't pass on an opportunity to see if my opinions would change after actually spending time with one of these watches and looking at them up close. Because more often than not, a good watch is able to transcend it's specifications and components, and the intangible stuff can entirely change how I feel about a particular watch.

What I'm referring to is the pricing on this watch with respect to the movement that is beating inside of it. To address the elephant in the room, this William Wood Valiant watch uses a Seiko NH35, and is priced at $975. From the perspective of a WIS, this pricing is highly irregular, and even the polarizing Unimatic watches with this movement are in the $600-700 range. But my suspicion is that William Wood isn't interested in being a hit among the micro-brand crowd, and they're likely more interested in entering the designer and fashion brand watch market, where a watch movement carries little to no weight - like the $1800 Gucci Grip, for example.

But with that in mind, I choose to still treat this watch as if it were any other $975 watch that came my way. So let's take a look at how it holds up in terms of design, build quality and finishing!

And you can find more photographs of this watch and others on the Beans & Bezels Instagram page:

#William #Wood #Valiant #British #Microbrand #Watch #Review #BeansAndBezels

keywords:
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[Safeway_Sage]

This is a case of the William Wood company being the tail that wags the dog. They don't get to tell watch lovers that overpaying for a mediocre watch is acceptable if it has firefighter bling on it. It's exploitative and manipulative. This review is probably the best one to date. Keep up the great work!

[stefanseelmann]

Great review. The price point is outrageous. Seiko Instruments sure is making a ton of money pately

[ianduncan]

I love the straps but could not justify the price for the full watch. Are these straps comparable with other dials?

[Not_Mark_Twain]

Your critique of the pricing seems right based on the cost of components, especially the movement. And I agree that a Sellita movement would be a lot better (and would let them shave 1-2mm off the height). The question is for whom the value of WWW's brand positioning exceeds the sum of their parts. Clearly not aimed at collectors who care about movements and accuracy. For firefighters, families and friends of firefighters, and for people who want to support firefighters however, this watch might make sense. Not sure that's a market I'd bet a company on. (Then again, I am one of a very few people who wear the Oris Coulson Limited -- dedicated in this case to firefighting pilots. )

[rtrres]

I gave myself 6 months to think about it before I went through with the purchase. I love the design and couldn’t find similar watch that I liked just as much. First think I noticed is how thick it is and the color of the watch is darker in my hands than in the pictures on the site.

I feel like I over paid for the watch but I am happy with the purchase. I love the watch but not the brand and can not see myself spending that much again for a William Wood watch.

[robjohnston]

Great review, and brilliant perspective on the Seiko Movement in a $1, 000.00 dollar watch

[porscheguy]

What a confusing watch. There are tons of dive watches with the NH35 competing at the $300-$600 range, so these guys are really betting hard on their design to win the day for them. At this price, they are competing more directly with the Chrstopher Ward C60 Trident - which seems to have much higher quality and a better movement. The design is really cool, and as a gift for a firefighter, it would be awesome - but it is a little niche. You are right - we do tend to be snobs about movements as the NH35 is an incredibly accurate and reliable one. But as far as a dive watch, I'm going to save some money and buy an Aquascaphe, then perhaps put the money I saved towards a Biatec Corsair pilot with its Eterna movement...

[JasonTheWatchGuy]

Brilliant watch with a story but you're right about that price point

[jjakiefte]

Well balanced review. I baulk at the steep price, but the watches are attractive enough to warrant looking out for previously owned ones on Ebay etc.

[HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

I've seen these on Instagram. They do look pretty cool and the story and little design touches are nice... But they've shot themselves in the foot with the pricing. They either need to upgrade the movement, or significantly reduce the price I think. Otherwise I just can't see them selling many at all.

[switzknight]

Gorgeous photography as always. Love the dial, crown, hands and crystal. However the bezel back play looks terrible and yes, the case is pretty plain, the case back is not appealing, a more substantial custom rotor could have dressed up a bit the NH35. I won’t start on the price point. I do hope that the fire hoses materials is sewn on a rubber and not on a silicone strap. And yes, I feel the minutes markings could be a bit longer. Thanks for sharing.

[jfoz]

I think they have remodelled their pricing now and reduced them. Overall a lovely watch in my opinion I like the concept. Great review and I agree the pricing is too high and not very competitive with other micro brand companies out there. I hope to see them succeed though and grow. Hopefully they sell many pieces at more reasonable prices.

[clevo]

There are better watches for $120 with NH-35 movement sapphire glass and ceramic bezel . these guys are kidding.

[watchesandcaps]

How ridiculous are William Wood lol. This pricing is an early April Fool's joke or something.

[shahbros]

Extremely overpriced, should have been around 300$ Everyone, please don't buy this 🤣, do yourself a favor and get a steinhart or glycine or Seiko or a Hamilton