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INTRODUCING: The Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway INTRODUCING: The Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

INTRODUCING: The Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

Fergus Nash

Ernest Hemingway was a man celebrated in equal measure for his life as much as his writing. While pioneering the “Iceberg Theory” of simple, direct language that was transferred from his time as a journalist, Hemingway also amassed a lifetime of adventures from navigating both World Wars, living in Paris in the 1920s, and reporting on the Spanish Civil War. As his fame grew he gravitated towards a life of writing and drink in Cuba, spending a lot of his later years living in Havana.

Cuervo Y Sobrinos began as a jewellery shop on San Rafael Avenue in 1882, enjoying a long run of success which included plenty of celebrity visits including Winston Churchill, Clark Gable, and of course Ernest Hemingway. While their involvement with wristwatches was mostly restrained to just co-signing dials on brands such as Rolex, Vacheron Constantin and Longines, Cuervo Y Sobrinos did produce their own brand watches with Swiss manufacture in the 1950s, right up until Fidel Castro’s 1958 Cuban Revolution forced the Cuervo family to flee for their lives.

The Cuervo Y Sobrinos as we know it today was resurrected in 1997, producing luxury Swiss watches that honour the Caribbean heritage of the name as well as the lavish Havana lifestyle that the original store served for decades. The Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway specifically pays tribute to one of their most iconic patrons, exemplifying all of Ernest Hemingway’s panache and precision.

The case

The Historiador range is possibly Cuervo Y Sobrinos’ most well-known silhouette, with the Historiador Landeron gaining plenty of online attention thanks to its use of refurbished vintage chronograph movements. From the front, it’s quite an opulent display even in stainless steel. The thin outer bezel is bolstered by a steel chapter ring beneath the sapphire crystal, giving a strong border to the dial and adding more chance for playful reflections. The grand lugs sweep up and then fall down to meet the case, creating an extremely robust impression. That steel chapter ring is also engraved with a subtle quote from Ernest Hemingway, reading: “In order to write about life, first you must live it.”

The case of the Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway does wear a little bit larger than its 40mm diameter suggests, courtesy of the 51.55mm lug-to-lug length. It’s still relatively slender at 11.75mm thick, but the length is what will determine if you’re comfortable wearing this watch or not. The high polish on all surfaces also serves to increase the luxury air that the watch carries, remaining fairly versatile while anything but stealthy. One side of the case shows a lovely deep engraving on the crown of the ‘CyS’ logo, while the other side has an engraved plaque attached to show the limited-edition number of the watch. The cream-dial reference uses a stainless-steel plaque, while the other three variants use 18k yellow gold.

The dial

Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

Although Cuervo Y Sobrinos have released some truly extravagant and complicated dials in recent years, the Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway harnesses the same “less is more” approach that Hemingway’s writing perfected, giving you minimal detail on the surface while rewarding you for looking more deeply. There are four dial colours in total, with two sunburst finishes in silver and black, one smooth cream dial, and one in a brown so dark it may as well be called black. The Arabic numerals are in a classic Art Deco style, with neat outlines in either black or gold depending on the surrounding colour. While the dark dials have these luminous numerals in crisp white, the lighter versions have an aged faux-tina tone.

Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

The 12 o’clock spot has an application of the brand’s historic crest, either entirely gilt or in silver and red depending on the watch. Continuing the theme of elegant simplicity is the lack of date complication, ensuring a pleasing symmetry and encouraging daily wear without the hassle of adjusting anything other than the time. Ernest Hemingway’s name is printed in red above the 6 o’clock position, which is fairly significant as no watch has ever been officially licensed by Hemingway Limited before — an organisation that manages the author’s legacy and is still run by family members.

The movement

Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

With Swiss Made on the dial and little watchmaking infrastructure in Cuba itself, it should come as no surprise that the calibre CYS 5121 powering the Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway uses the Sellita SW200 as its base movement. With the Sellita SW200 is essentially a clone of the ETA 2824, the last few years have seen an explosion of brands switching over to these movements as they have proven their reliability, serviceability, and affordability, in addition to government restrictions placed on ETA to prevent their approaching monopoly. The specifications are simple but not to be taken for granted, with a 28,800 vibrations per hour beat rate, 38 hours of power reserve, and automatic winding.

Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

The automatic winding rotor is engraved, however you won’t be able to see it through the solid caseback that depicts an Ernest Hemingway logo, made up of the letter H and a marlin. The marlin is a reference to his novella The Old Man and the Sea, a tale that is emblematic of Hemingway’s battle with loneliness, hope and meaning.

The Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway pricing and availability:

Cuervo Y Sobrinos Historiador Hemingway

Cuervo Y Sobrinos extend their Cuban influence beyond watch designs and into the boxes, where each watch is packaged inside a functional humidor. Borrowed from the world of cigars, where Cuervo Y Sobrinos are still sponsors of the official Cigar Smoking World Championship. These humidors are constructed from high quality timber and display humidity gauges should you ever wish to store cigars in them, but are otherwise just beautiful display pieces. The dark brown (3189.1HB) and beige dial (3189.1HC) watches are each available as limited editions of 140 pieces, with the brown model being slightly more expensive thanks to its solid gold case plaque. The other two references are only available as a limited box set, with an even grander humidor inside a padded leather travel case. Price: 2,500 CHF (3189.1HC), 3,000 CHF (3189.1HB), 6,000 CHF (3189.1HA + 3189.1HN)