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Hands-On The Farer Eldridge Chronograph Automatic

A mature, fun, and sporty offering from the UK brand with a love of bold color.

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Continuing on their path of ongoing expansion and subtle evolution, enthusiast favorite Farer recently released a new line of automatic chronographs. Available in a quartet of colors, the Farer Chronograph Automatic emphasizes the brand's eye for wearable and thoughtful sport watches with a distinctive personality and, should you desire, a dash of colorful charm.

Seen here in the brown dial "Eldridge" colorway, the Farer Chronograph Automatic is also available in blue (dubbed "Cobb"), black ("Seagrave"), or a more recent green sunray ("Lander"). This ever-so-slightly metallic brown coloring has a chocolate tone that is nicely accented by light blue elements on the central chronograph seconds hand, pips at the hour marks, and a medium blue coloring for the running seconds in the sub dial at three (not to mention the very nice navy blue Horween leather strap). 

Offering a mostly brushed case with polished bevels, the Farer Automatic Chronograph is 39mm wide, 45mm lug to lug, and just 12.5mm thick, excellent sizing for a sporty automatic chronograph, and certainly thinner than what we might usually expect from the genre. With short lugs and a brushed bezel, the Eldridge wears nicely, offering an impressive pop of color with a versatile and considered footprint on the wrist (including the thoughtful match of dial color to date disk color).

Farer tends to operate at a price point that is a step up from many other microbrands, with the Eldridge costing a hair under two grand. While many of you are likely used to microbrands that hit the mark around $600-900, Farer is working to break that mold and, as with past watches I've experienced from the brand, you can see what you get for your extra cash.

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First and perhaps most obvious, is the case. Not only is it very nicely sized, but it's also both complex in its form and very nicely finished. Look at the recessed ornamentation in the case side, the subtle relief where the bezel meets the case, and the finely polished bevels on the lugs. A lovely mix of sporty design and thoughtful small details, the Eldridge Chronograph Automatic's case looks good and wears even better. 

Next up is the dial, which is nicely balanced with a pair of oversized subdials (running seconds, and a 30 minute chronograph counter) a telemeter scale, and a nicely matched and well-executed date display at 6. While I'm not personally wild about the color, I cannot argue with the execution (I don't personally mind when subdials eat into numbers, but I know many of you do) and I really like the date window, the font, the circular graining on the subdials, and the wide and very legible handset. If brown isn't your game, both the alternative versions offer their own dial layouts and plenty of charm. You can't argue that the light blue/brown combo has a look all its own and you certainly won't miss that central seconds hand (which looks great with Farer's signature bronze crown).

The movement is an Elabore-grade ETA 2984-2 that can be seen via the display case back. With a Farer designed skeletonized rotor, the movement is a great choice and offers a layout not common to automatic chronographs in this price point (which generally use the Valjoux/ETA 7750). Ticking at 4 Hz, the 2894-2 has 42 hours of power reserve supporting time, date, and a 30-minute chronograph. It's also a modular chronograph, based on the 2892. This is part of the reason the Eldridge Automatic Chronograph can be fairly flat for an automatic chronograph – the Valjoux/ETA 7750 is 7.90mm thick, compared to 6.10mm for the 2894-2 (the 2892 base is only 3.60mm thick).

I've owned enough chronographs to know that I'm not generally a chronograph guy. That said, I get a lot closer to ownership when the watch in question is less than 40mm wide. While chronographs can tend to be very chunky, there is a certain appeal to that complicated dial design packed into a case that wears well on my wrist. Obviously, watch size is not an objective measure, but I love the size of the Farer Automatic Chronograph and how well it sits on my seven-inch wrist.

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Legibility is strong for all of the functions, water resistance is a welcome 100m, and at 45mm lug-to-lug, the Farer Automatic Chronograph should suit a lot of wrists and it certainly feels sturdy enough for sporty (but considered) everyday wear. With a list price of $1,950 on your choice of one of several leather straps (or a slightly less expensive rubber option), the Farer is not without competition. While I might opt for the black dial "Seagrave" or the charmingly asymmetrical "big-eye" layout of the blued dial "Cobb," in any of the colorways, the Chronograph Automatic is up against strong competition from brands like Sinn (several models), Longines (the BigEye), and even other microbrands like Oak & Oscar and their Jackson Chronograph

The above examples are not exhaustive (as I'm sure many of you will remind me of in the comments), but the Farer absolutely deserves a position in the running. It's detailed, well made, distinctive, and really great on the wrist. With a handful of dial variations to suit your personal style, if you're looking for a nicely proportioned automatic chronograph with a unique appeal from a true enthusiast brand, Farer is just the ticket with its Chronograph Automatic line up. 

The Farer Eldridge Automatic Chronograph: case, 316L stainless steel, 39mm x 12.50mm, lug to lug 45mm, 20mm lug width, with solid bronze crown. Movement, ETA 2894-2, modular chronograph based on the ETA 2892; with center seconds and 30 minute counter; 28,800 vph, 28.60mm x 6.10mm; self-winding with Farer custom rotor. For more information, visit Farer online.