REVIEW: House of Horology Bedlam

It’s time for us to take a look at another brand you may not have heard of (just yet), New York’s House of Horology.  They’re a fairly new brand with just a single line so far – let’s take a look at what they have on offer.

Their first (and only) model available is the Bedlam; the one we were sent for review is the Bedlam Dark Red.   What drove HoH to create this Bedlam lineup?  Glad you asked – here’s what they have to say about that:

We couldn’t find the watches we wanted – fashionable without being over-designed, sturdy without being clunky, and beautifully crafted without an insane price tag – so we decided to make them ourselves!

And that definitely seems to be the story these days with the smaller boutique brands popping up – someone wanted a specific watch that they just couldn’t find, and went out and created their own.  There’s at least one positive to our interconnected world manufacturing economy, right?

As far as technical merits go, we do have a quartz Seiko chronograph movement at work, which gives us the time, date, and chronograph functionality – no surprises here.  Just a movement that will work, and work accurately.  That means we need to turn to the styling to look for a differentiation with the watch.

The 43mm PVD case definitely gives a more modern feel; with the squared-off edges and decorative screw treatment, it’s evocative of some of the Lum-Tec designs in my mind (perhaps a cross between the V Series and Bull models).  The font used for the numerals is also very similar to what you’d see on some of the Lum-Tec models.  With all of these, I’d say it’s more “inspired by” than “copy of”.

Taking a closer look at the dial, you’ll notice that the hours subdial (at 6 o’clock) has a different layout.  Actually, there’s really not any markings, per se – instead, you have the HoH logo.  This gives the watch a subtle bit of branding, and really doesn’t impact readability (frankly, we all know where on a dial the hours are, right?)   Of course, that makes the branding over at 3 o’clock a bit redundant.

With the particular Dark Red model we were sent, you’ve got a nice mix of black, red, and white (including red stitching on the leather strap).  And while I’d normally ding a watch with a black dial having a white date display, in this particular model, it’s actually not as noticeable.  Yes, a swap of the date dial would be nice, but not necessary.

In terms of daily wear, this is a perfectly comfortable watch.  For the size, it is thinner than you might expect (due to the quartz movement); while the leather strap is thick, it is decently flexible.  Also of note with the strap – while most makes would be tempted to go with a pre-V buckle, here we’ve got the more standard thumbnail style – and I find that more comfortable.

One item I’m not quite as comfortable with is the pricing – at $490, this is definitely on the high end for a quartz chrono; once you get in the $500 range, your options really open up (even into some interesting automatics).  That aside, this is a nice mix of function (including screw-down crown and 300m water resistance rating), reliable 1/10 of a second chronographmovement, and twists on common design.  If you want to pick up your own, head on over here and pick out your favorite of the eight color schemes.

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