A New Arrival from Hanhart

March 25, 2019

A New Arrival from Hanhart

HANHART PRIMUS RACER REVIEW

I am the fortunate owner of a Hanhart Primus Racer timepiece which I received as a prize from the generous people at aBlogtoWatch.

I thought I would share my initial impressions as well as my feelings after wearing the watch for a few months.

Expectations

Up to entering the competition I was aware of Hanhart as a manufacturer of stopwatches for motor racing, but not of the pilot watches or the Primus range. Down here in the Southern part of the African continent there are neither dealers nor advertising for the brand.

Hanhart is a Swiss-German watch company that was established by Johann A. Hanhart in Diessenhofen, Switzerland, in 1882. Today, it makes chronographs and stopwatches. For more information about their history, go to History of Hanhart

The brief review on aBlogtoWatch (https://www.ablogtowatch.com/watch-brands/hanhart/) piqued my interest so I started to investigate further. I was impressed with the 136 year history of the brand, especially the Pioneer models. The newer Primus range appeared to be a complete departure styling wise, so I was looking forward to receiving the prize!

I expected to have to pay some import duties and fees, but Hanhart and aBlogtoWatch to care of it all. Thank you for that.

Unboxing

I have a few other watches including Rolex, Panerai and Omega which all came with expensive packaging. On opening the Hanhart package I had expected the usual white cardboard outer box with a smart inner box in either leather or wood. Instead there is only one simple black cardboard box. On opening it, I found that the inside was printed in a bright motor racing theme. Not quite what I expected. More about that later.

Inside the box was a leather pouch, a leather bound ballpoint pen, an ‘insert before flight’ key holder, some brochures as well as a vial of Chanel red nail polish! To learn the story behind the nail varnish, refer to https://www.hanhart.com/the-red-button.

It is however the pouch that draws your attention. It is beautifully made and very tactile. Even smells great. Inside was the very impressive Primus Racer.

First Impressions

First impression is that it is a large watch. The case size is 44mm but it looks bigger. Having a Valjoux 7750 movement it is by its nature a thick watch at 15mm. The case does taper towards the wrist which makes the skin contact area much smaller. The hinged lugs also make it wear smaller on the wrist. As I have a 20cm wrist, the size is not a problem for me, except when I try to wear the watch with French cuffs. But then it is a sports watch, not a dress watch.

I am not a fan of leather straps, mostly because I can seldom find one that fits my wrist. Fortunately Hanhart can supply straps in three sizes and I found the large one to be perfect. The fine calfskin strap supplied tapers from 24mm to 22mm. It is padded, but in perfect proportion to the watch. The deployant clasp is the best I have ever used. It is beautifully machined and works very well. Yes it is large, but matches the size of the watch perfectly. The inlaid anodized aluminum red decoration adds a touch of class.

Being a chronograph, the dial of the Racer is busy with seconds and 30-minute sub-dials. Also the usual hour and minute hands, a date window at 6 o’clock and a very red seconds hand. The silver hour markers are applied, the rest of the markings printed. The rehaut carries the seconds scale in increments of 1/10 second.

Apart from the red seconds hand, all the other hands are skeletonized but the hour and minute hands have applied Super-Luminova which shows as pale blue at night. There is unfortunately no other lume on the Racer. It is understood that other models in the Primus range have lume on the sub-dials as well as the hour markers.

On the side of the watch is the usual crown as well as two plunger buttons for operating the chronograph. The plain one is used to start and stop the stopwatch, the red one to reset it. The red button is a trademark of Hanhart and is used throughout their ranges (read the nail varnish explanation referred to earlier). The chunky crown is decorated with the Hanhart logo and screws down to provide waterproofing up to 100 meters. The bezel is quite bulky and has a decent grip, but does not rotate.

The HAN3809 bicompax movement runs at 28,800 bph and has a 42 hour power reserve. It is based on the ubiquitous Valjoux 7750 which makes it relatively easy to service anywhere in the world. I found the movement to be quite accurate at +4.1 seconds per day. There is a display back on the case but as the movement is rather plain and undecorated apart from the rotor, there is not much to see. The rotor is the noisiest one I have ever experienced, but I like it as it matches the bulk of the watch.

Initial Concerns

As you might have realized by now, I was generally impressed with the Primus Racer. But there were some initial concerns. The design and appearance of the watch will not appeal to everyone. It is large and in your face. I have however warmed to it. In my Afrikaans home language there is a saying ‘mooi van die lelikheid’, which translates roughly as ‘beautiful because of the ugliness’. So it’s a bit of an acquired taste.

I was also concerned about the legibility of the dial. The silver markers and hands on a white base are not the easiest to read unless the light is good. Perhaps some more contrast such the black on the hands of the Pilot would have helped. The date window is also very small and difficult to read at times.

The finish of the watch is generally excellent. I was therefore surprised to feel the sharp edge on the underside of the stop/start button. The red reset button does not have this problem.

However, my biggest disappointment is that the bezel is fixed on the Racer. It has a red mark on it, is nicely knurled, but does not turn. It does on the Diver. Of course the Racer is not a diver, but being able to use the bezel to time events over 30 minutes such as a parking meter, is very useful.

After a Few Months

Having now used the watch for a few months I have formed the following feelings about the Racer.

It is a large watch but wears smaller because of the hinged lugs and tapering case. The strap is extremely comfortable and suits the watch very well. No need to dig through my NATO strap collection for a replacement.

The watch has been trouble free and at around +4 seconds per day accuracy is perfectly acceptable. The power reserve is excellent.

Although I still find the white and silver dial difficult to read at times, it has not been a real problem at any time.

I made some comments earlier about the packaging. I was initially disappointed but on thinking about it, I have changed my mind. I have a large box in my loft with expensive but empty watch and fountain pen boxes. They will stay there until I decide to sell the item one day. The Hanhart way makes more sense. Rather give the customer an exquisite leather pouch which can be used when travelling or when storing the watch in a safe. The bulky box is disposable as it has served its purpose. Just makes sense.

Conclusion

The Primus Racer is a watch you cannot ignore. In my display case it towers over the Panerai which was previously my largest watch. When on the wrist, it makes a statement. It is impressive. But it is an acquired taste.

Equally impressive is the company itself and it long history. I am drawn to the single button Pioneer MonoControl but can unfortunately not visit a dealer to look at one locally. We will however be visiting Europe next year so I will be looking out for a dealer then.

But for now, the Primus Racer is the most impressive watch in my collection. Thank you aBlogtoWatch and Hanhart!