INTRODUCING: The Brellum Pandial LE.3 DD DLC Chronometer

Fergus Nash

It’s easy for panda-dialled chronographs to be pigeonholed into a specific look, or to draw comparisons with other watches that have popularised the colour scheme. Brellum’s latest addition to their Pandial line completely sidesteps this issue with a fairly unique concept — retaining the iconic panda style within a completely blacked-out case and bracelet coated in DLC. The Brellum Pandial LE.3 DD DLC Chronometer thereby brings a slick, modern edge to a vintage-flavoured watch with ease.

For those unaware, DLC stands for “Diamond-like Carbon” — a material that can be applied onto almost any object to give it an ultra-hard surface and a slick, opaque finish. It provides great scratch resistance compared to the stainless steel underneath, and also achieves that liquid-like shine of ceramic at a fraction of the production cost. That doesn’t mean the whole watch is glossy though, as the front-facing surfaces of the case and lugs have been finely brushed to match the outer and centre links of the bracelet, enhancing the watch’s already sporty character. The Brellum Pandial certainly doesn’t shy away from its bulk either, with a 43mm diameter, 52mm lug-to-lug length, and 15.9mm height thanks to a domed sapphire crystal on the front and back.

The Brellum Pandial has clearly had a lot of thought put into the design of the dial, with plenty of small details to keep your eye interested without overcrowding the key white backdrop. Despite having a running seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and a day-date complication at 3 o’clock, the Brellum Pandial cleverly maintains horizontal symmetry by echoing the subdial’s crosshair markings on the day-date windows, as well as keeping the centre of the subdial white. The vertical symmetry is much simpler, thanks to the minute and hour counters on black subdials with concentric circle guilloché.

If you’re someone who loves the mechanical side of watchmaking, then the display caseback of the Brellum Pandial is well worth staring at as well. The classic Valjoux 7750 gleams beneath a domed sapphire crystal, with various surface finishes visible along with the lavishly blued screws. Hovering above is the automatic winding rotor, which has been finished with stripes in its black DLC coating and skeletonised to show more of the movement underneath. It also features a dragon filled with green paint, as the emblem for Brellum, as well as the unique edition number between 01 and 17.

The Brellum Pandial LE.3 DD DLC Chronometer pricing and availability:

The Brellum Pandial LE.3 DD DLC Chronometer is strictly limited to 17 pieces, and also comes with an integrated Nebur Tec fabric strap with matching black hardware. You can find a link to Brellum’s website here. Price: US$3,030 / £3060 / €3350 / CHF 2990