On top of that, despite having skeletonization both on the front and rear of the movement, the dial is existent and legible. This is what I call a “partially skeletonized” dial, because you have all the items on a normal dial, with an expansive view into not just a movement, but a skeletonzied movement. The dial is rather classic and straightforward in white with rose gold toned hands and raised hour markers that alternate between baton markers and Roman numerals. It is no sport watch being more dressy in appearance, but it isn’t too boring either.
Rose gold accents mix with steel on the case and dial. Earnshaw claims that the bezel and crown are 18k rose gold plated, and the mix with steel offers a bit more of a high-end look. The case itself is 42mm wide and wears nicely on the larger side for a dress watch. The case is decent, but itself is probably the biggest indicator for seasoned watch lovers that this is a budget timepiece. What do I mean? Well the edges of the case are on the softer side which implies that this isn’t a fancy CNC machine cut case. I am quite used to watches with cases that are precision cut out of a single piece of high quality steel, and then polished up. Less expensive cases such as this use a different manufacturing process that I believe results in a rougher case that is chemically “polished”, offering the chromed finishing.
Attached to the steel case is a black leather strap. Earnshaw indicates the strap as being “genuine mock croc pattern leather.” Does that mean there are fake mock croc straps? A bit ironic but we can forgive them that. The strap is fine, but nothing special. I’d probably replace the strap with something a bit nicer – which is actually a very good way of making inexpensive timepieces look dramatically better. This would look really nice on both a black or brown strap. The strap does however come with a folding deployant clasp.
It is hard to resist having at least one skeletonized watch in your collection. Plus, inexpensive ones that are both automatics and Swiss made are probably pretty rare. The best part is seeing the balance wheel move and the mainspring wind if you choose to manually wind the watch via the crown. With just the time and an open dial, this isn’t a bad timepiece if you are looking for something in this price range. Also, at this time the Beagle is among the few Earnshaw watches with a “Swiss Made” label, but perhaps that will begin to change which I think would be for the better. Price for the Earnshaw Beagle ref. ES-0014-01 is 399 Euros. thomas-earnshaw.com
Necessary Data
>Brand: Earnshaw
>Model: Beagle
>Price: 399 Euros
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Sometimes
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Someone looking for a decently made and inexpensive skeletonized dress watch and appreciates that it is an automatic.
>Best characteristic of watch: Fair pricing is refreshing and movement looks nice when skeletonized.
>Worst characteristic of watch: Case and strap make budget price apparent.
