We’ve had four Revelots (Rev-ELO? Reve-LOT? Rev-enge of the LIVING DEAD?) here at Watch Country and while this is the latest one to get a review, it was actually the first one we picked up. Thereby introducing us to the Malaysian microbrand. The Mecadromo range came out last year (2024) and wowed the microbrand scene thanks to its classy racing-inspiring design while also highlighting that you really can pick up a nice looking piece for a cheap price when you leave the established brands behind.
The range comprises of ten models from all-black to various colour schemes (say no to ‘colourway’) and as soon as they came up for pre-order we had to have the Mecadromo Bonfire which we picked up with the black and yellow perforated leather strap. It’s now sold out in that combination but Revelot recently revealed that a few models have now come up for sale, you’ll have to check out the official website to see what models/straps you can get but there are quite a few available and if you missed out last time, now’s a good time to get on it.
The Mecadromo is essentially a meca-quartz chronograph with “a touch of vintage notes” as Revelot themselves say. And by vintage they mean the detail, the bold colours and the all-important-but-not-really-used-now tachymeter of 1970s motor racing. And it all works rather splendidly both functionally and in terms of aesthetics.
We always like a dial with a bit of fuss to it and the Mecadromo certainly delivers. The dial itself has a texture that is meant to evoke the look of asphalt but, to us, looks a bit like the texture on our car’s dashboard while the chapter ring alternates the direction of its micro-markers to create the a bit of a ‘chequered flag’ look. Baton hands and indices aid legibility and offer a bit of real estate to inject some colour. On the Bonfire variant both are predominantly orange with a touch of white. Very nice.
You then get a tri-compax layout of sub-dials. These offer up a 24-hour dial, a minute counter for the chronometer (essentially a stopwatch) and a small seconds hand. If you’re new to chronographs, the third main hand that you’d think is a seconds hand actually isn’t. That’s a seconds hand for the chronometer only. The small seconds hand is there to actually show the passage of time and that’s fine although it can make a watch seem a little lifeless at first. It’s the same on our Bulova Lunar Pilot and Tissot PRS200 though and it doesn’t bother us (it also saves on battery life). The sub-dials are also uses as another opportunity to throw in some colour on the dial.
The last bit of of functionality is the date complication. Aside from being the best, most useful complication, here Revelot have used it as a design accent in the very coolest way. With its circular window, white background and black text, it’s meant to mimic the decal numbers from classic rally cars right down to the typeface. Very slick, Revelot. Very slick indeed.
The Revelot name, crown logo (watch crown, rather than royal crown) and the identifier ‘Mecadromo’ are tucked away in the top third of the dial but are small enough to not cause offence. So, yes, there’s a lot on here but the design is just absolutely spot on. Especially on the Bonfire model which marries orange, yellow and off-white to create a toasty but tasty look. There’s also enough layering to give the watch some interesting depth.
The dimensions are pretty good too. The 41.5mm case size is just about within our skinny-wristed tolerances and the 48mm lug to lug, combined with the curvature of the lugs themselves, make this very snug and comfortable on the wrist. It’s a watch that we tend to forget is on the wrist until we need it. There’s no jangle or rattle here, especially as we picked the superb perforated leather strap which, unlike a lot of straps, was comfortable right away.
The stainless steel case is 12.3mm thick (including the only-slightly protruding single-domed sapphire glass) and sports a crown (non-screw) with two further pushers (the top starts/stops the chronograph, the bottom resets it). An aluminium bezel finishes off the design with it’s yellow, orange and red accented tachymeter. Gorgeous.
So with all this visual deliciousness going on, how is the watch so cheap (we paid £162.83 during the early-bird pricing and, surprisingly, didn’t get rinsed by FedEx with import taxes)? Well that’s all thanks to the movement, the ubiquitous Seiko VK63. This is an interesting calibre as it uses a battery-powered quartz movement for the main timekeeping but with a mechanical module for operating the chronograph. It’s good for around three years battery life, has hacking functionality (so the seconds will stop when setting the time, super handy for raiding a WW2 Third Reich castle with a dozen or so mates) and we rather like the way the chrono-seconds hand snaps back to 12 o’clock instantly when you hit that bottom pusher. It’s far from fancy and it definitely needs setting after a few weeks as it does lose around 20 seconds per month but it does the job.
We’re going through our watch journey here which means we’ve gone from quartz to automatic and are circling back to liking quartz again and with this watch being cheap, comfortable and so damned pretty, it’s a really easy choice for picking out of the watch box in the morning. From nights out, work and going to the gym, it just works. A ton of versatility for the price and it won’t make you look like a scutter when in the company of watch nerds either.
So is there anything we don’t like about it? Not really. If we’re being super-picky there’s not much polish on offer if you like a bit of shine (the only bit we could find was between the lugs) and the lume (Swiss Super-Luminova) isn’t best. It’s legible but only applied to the hour and minute hands as well as a tiny bit of the indices. We’re lume sluts though. Give us all the lume. Blast our retinas away with it, we’re ready.
In terms of our own personal history with this watch, we pre-ordered it in August 2024 and it arrived in November. However, this was when we were going a bit mad with our watch buying (Black Friday alert!) and so the watch hasn’t had as much wrist time as it deserves. But recently we’ve been finding ourselves picking it up more and more. Maybe it’s the sunny weather, enabling us to wear a few warmer colours, which is allowing us to accessorise with it or maybe it’s just that sweet, sweet dial but we’re currently having something of a second honeymoon with the Mecadromo.
If you’re looking to pick one of these up, the Bonfire version is currently only available with a brown leather strap, a black hex silicone one (not bad actually) or Revelot’s Glide Lock bracelet (which we’re not huge fans of). The first two will set you back £176.76 while the bracelet version ups the price to £217.46. Either way, you get quick release on them which makes swapping them out pretty straightforward and the Mecadromo certainly is versatile enough to support different styles. Nearly all of the other colour variants are also back in stock (only the Le Mans Blue Luminova isn’t).
The ‘Ten Watch Box’ Verdict: So, will it hold down a place in our ten watch display case? With it’s unique design (this isn’t a homage), beautiful colours, comfortable wearing and quartz-powered no-fuss movement, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, we’ve finally pulled off the barcode sticker on the back which suggests this watch isn’t going anywhere apart from on our wrist.
JUST THE FACTS
Availability/Options: With Revelot being a microbrand, this one comes in and out of stock as and when they can make them but you’re more likely to get a result from eBay. There are still most of the variants available and, honestly, they’re all going to be strong, capable watches. Be warned, two watches we’ve ordered from Revelot were hit by import taxes (and currency conversion fees). So be prepared to pay over the odds.
Brand: Revelot
Model: Mecadromo
Reference:R17-4C8A1B1
Style: Chronograph
Case Size: 41.5mm
Movement: Seiko VK63 (Meca-Quartz)
Material: Stainless Steel
Band Width: 22mm
Band Type: Leather strap
Price Paid: £162 (Revelot early-bird pricing)