“It is mine, I tell you. My own. My precious. Yes, my precious.” The Arrow Evo from Rashid Tsoroev.

Made in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia (North Caucasus of Eastern Europe) the Arrow Evo by Rashid Tsoroev is another Russian watchmaker to lookout for. Russian watchmakers are still a bit overlooked by most watch collectors; I think the exception is Konstantin Chaykin but his prices are not what they used to be. Rashid is definitely an emerging indie watchmaker to keep on your radar.

His first watch was the Arrow and now the Arrow Evo. The evolution between the first Arrow and this one is noticable. The star of the show is no doubt the dial. My goodness have I not gotten tired of staring at that dial. Skillfully made by hand, he uses a technique called tremblage on the brass dial where he painstakingly and patiently hammers the dial to give it that grainy look. From his instagram posts it states that it takes at least two days to finish the dial using this technique. Would love to know what the rejection rate is, specially being a one man shop. He designs the case and receives it from a supplier and then finishes/details it at his atelier. The hands and pin buckle are done by him and the font used on the Arabic numerals indices were designed by him as well. When I first saw the Arrow Evo the first thing that caught my eye was obviously the dial. The second was the font, specifically the number eight. For some reason the eight reminded me of a Fernando Botero painting.

Coming in at 40 mm the stainless steel case is perfect for my 7.25 in wrist, and the sculpted lugs compliment the case. You may be inclined to call it a “dress” watch but I prefer to not label my watches. It’s whatever I want it to be and I’ll wear it with whatever I choose. No need to have an article telling us how to and how not to wear a watch. The Evo comes standard with a black alligator strap but I’ll be swapping it for either a blue or gray strap. Wearing it for a couple of days, three things have stood out. First, is obviously the dial. Second, is how light it is; barely notice I have it on. Third, is how loud the rotor is on the La Joux-Perret movement, not a deal breaker but it is noticeable to my ears. Maybe I’m used to manual winding movements and my hound-like hearing picks up the noise a lot easier. Or maybe it’s because deep down I think I would have preferred a manual wound movement and possibly reducing the case thickness by maybe one millimeter with this.

For the price, from an upcoming independent watchmaker, the attention to detail and a dial that your eyes won’t stop staring at, the Arrow Evo is definitely a great addition to my collection.

Pros
– Price
– Details Matter
– Still under the radar watchmaker

Cons
– Loud rotor noise
– Automatic movement
– Delivery times

Quality
95

Style
95

Value
95

Wearability
99