The Singer Reimagined Caballero Is a Watch For Gentlemen

I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the word 'gentleman'.

It seems like an outdated label to slap on someone who opens doors for people, always pays for dinner and lends you their jacket when it rains. We can thank every Hugh Grant movie ever for that stereotype, but I think it misses the true essence of what a gentleman actually is. Perhaps a new definition is in order. In my mind, gentlemen are strong, assertive and kind, restrained and sophisticated without being shy or quiet. They’re willing to put in the work, however that looks.

A modern gentleman is someone you call to bail you out of jail late on a Friday night because they, along with having the connections and resources to get you out, won’t hold it over your head the next morning. They have the horsepower to make things happen, but only use it in a way that doesn’t garner attention. The gentleman knows who he is and doesn’t try to be anyone else.

Try to keep this new definition in mind while we explore the latest release from a Brand that lives close to my heart, Marco Borraccino’s Singer Reimagined. The Caballero, or gentleman in Spanish, is the brand’s first dress watch, houses their first proprietary movement, and brings an elegance to the brand that is, frankly, breathtaking.

What Is The Singer Reimagined Caballero?

When I saw Marco’s Instagram announcement post of a horse running down a dirt road, I emailed him immediately. I wanted to know what was coming, and I couldn’t wait for the public release, a whole three days later…. It was a rather cheeky move (perks of the job?), but I asked for an early look at what was coming, and oh boy am I glad I did!

The Caballero is Singer Reimagined's take on an elegant dress watch. Unlike other watches in this category, think Calatrava, Patrimony or Rolex 1908, Singer has done things a little differently and made something that has the brand’s DNA through and through. The watch, at 39mm, is the right size, but just like our modern gentleman from above, it packs some serious horsepower within its restrained case. It’s less Hugh Grant from Notting Hill and more Dave Batista at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Google it!

Moving away from their usual highly technical, larger cased watches like the Dive Track and the Track 1, this new release from Singer just might be the watch that puts the brand on the map for a much broader audience than it’s had in the past. I’m all for it.

Let’s start under the hood.

The Calibre-4 Solotempo - A Quad-barreled, Parallel Wonder

Singer is calling this new movement its first fully proprietary calibre, which is technically true, but doesn’t tell the whole story. In my past conversations with Marco, we spoke about his deep involvement in the development of the AgenGraphe, an incredible flyback chronograph movement now used by brands like H.Moser & Cie. It’s clear that Singer is no stranger to technical development, and this new movement is a testament to that.

The Solotempo’s party piece is its quad-barrel arrangement. Each running in parallel, the barrels work together to ensure linear delivery of energy across the entire six-day power reserve. This is important because although accuracy is important, and this movement is accurate, even more important is the consistency of that accuracy over time.

If you were to visualise the performance of a traditional mechanical watch on a line graph,  you would see the force exerted on the mainspring diminish as you get closer to the end of the power reserve. The line would drop from left to right, the x-axis representing the force, or amount of energy, and the y-axis, the power reserve. It’s a bit like riding a bike when you’re full of energy vs when you’re tired. Your speed is going to decrease as you go. The more this force varies, the less stable your watch’s accuracy over the long term.

The ideal situation for this would be a completely flat graph line, or a ‘constant force’. So the amount of energy the mainspring outputs is the same with a full power reserve, as it is with an almost empty one. Brands have attempted to tackle this problem with all kinds of weird and wonderful mechanisms. The Fusée & chain (like the gears on your bike), the ultra-thin buckling silicon blade from Girard-Perregaux (allows for a build up of energy before releasing) or the constant force tourbillon by Arnold & Son (limiting the movement of the balance to even out variations). All of these solutions happen downstream of the barrel, at the ‘business’ end of the movement, if you will, and that’s where the Calibre-4 Solotempo differs.

Singer’s solution allows the watch to avoid unnecessary complexity, while still addressing the problem at its core. All four of the barrels are powering the balance wheel at once, evening out any power insufficiencies the barrels might have on their own.

Amplitude is evened out by way of mechanical cooperation instead of complexity. It’s horological strength in numbers.

It's The Dial That Gives It Away

The expanse of hand-painted lacquer on the dial of the Caballero is interrupted by chamfered open working that exposes the underside of the barrels’ four synthetic rubies. The effect is distinct and gives you a hint that there’s a special movement underneath; the high gloss of the lacquer also looks like it’s flowing into the four apertures. They’re like sinkholes sucking in blue water.

On a more personal note, the four rubies remind me of the oil lights on the speedometer of my old 1969 VW Beetle; it makes sense, since Singer is a Porsche restoration company. Although on the Caballero, the glowing rubies don’t give me anxiety whenever I look at them - Air-cooled die hards know the oil light on an old VW is critical to happy ownership. When the oil light is on, you’re not going anywhere!

The dial itself is simple enough that it could be worn in a formal setting, but still retains the details Singer has become so well known for - the golden flange, polished logo and instrument-inspired hands. It’s Singer at its finest.

I don’t often pay much attention to the press material that comes with new watches, but this line from the PDF captures the personality of the Caballero perfectly.

With the Caballero, the whisper becomes a statement. It is not loud. It is not brash. It does not beg for attention. It earns it. Quietly. Confidently.

This is a highly technical watch that has the horological horsepower to keep up with the best of them, yet it doesn’t shout about it; its slimness and size play down its sophistication. Like a gymnast in a dinner suit, this watch fits its muscle in an elegant package.

Although thinking about the definition of a gentleman, and wondering if I am one, feels inauthentic, Singer is right to name their new watch the Caballero. It’s technically impressive, elegant, restrained and quite possibly my favourite watch of the year.

I know who I’m calling to bail me out of jail.

Learn more about Singer Reimagined HERE.

Cya in the next one x.

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