Hands-On Review: The Big Zero Malevich 0273
I have often been inspired by or drawn to black and white artwork. I own a wonderful watercolor of Red Square I bought from an art gallery in Moscow. Red Square might be the most colorful place I have ever visited in the world. The artist in this case chose to render it in a sepia tone which is an odd choice considering that you lose all of the beautiful colors of the walls and particularly, St. Basil’s Cathedral. The willingness to redefine what is expected is at the heart of avant-garde artwork both then and now. In 2013 I was lucky enough to be in Moscow for a week. It was during this time I found myself in the Tretyakov Art Gallery. One of the paintings I was most enamored by was Malevich's Black Square. I didn't know at the time, but years later I would be wearing that painting on my wrist.
The dial of the Big Zero Malevich is composed of three distinct segments, all made from Russian stones. The grey outer area that resembles storm clouds is made of violan. The stark white border is made of white jade and the big black square is made of black jade. These three stones comprise the dial in 6 total pieces. These stones arrived polished and ready for installation from a Russian lapidary to the work benches of Raketa’s skilled watchmakers. The outer edges of violan are four distinct pieces of violan that form the outer edges to fit the square design into a round watch. Raketa selects violan of the same character to form each watch so it has a cohesive design. The white jade border is dropped in and then followed by the black jade square. I’ve affectionately named this watch the “Black Hole”. The stones are then carefully affixed to a brass plate suspended in the case. Raketa says this system will help dissipate any shocks the watch may experience. Don’t forget, any stone dial is inherently more fragile than a solid silver or stainless dial of modern manufacture are. It’s just a fact of it being a natural stone.
The Malevich is compatible with the Big Zero bracelet and straps.
The dial isn’t that hard to read. In almost any light situation there’s always been enough light bounce to read the time. Granted, at a certain point this watch is certainly hard to read. Hilariously there are times where the hands are aligned perfectly inside the outline of the black jade square, making the watch effectively “timeless” for that minute until the hand pokes out again during the next. I’ve called this “don’t worry about it” time. It’s actually kind of nice to look down, not see the time and to know that it likely isn’t all that important really. Don’t worry about it.
The case shape has been updated from older Big Zero models the factory has been putting out. Interestingly these small adjustments still keep the classic Big Zero case lines but give it a distinct look. The case itself has several different angles and types of polishing, giving it a very sharp look out in the sunlight without being overly decorative. The case flanks are of distortion-free high polish while the top and bottom of the case is a less lustrous polish to break up the reflectivity. The lugs downturn slightly into a 20mm gap for the fitted leather strap. Aftermarket straps will almost certainly need curved spring bars due to how far in the spring bar holes are set. Enthusiasts will note that Raketa has taken the time to invest in finer finishing techniques such as polishing the bevel of the case. Indeed, the two ribbons of polish are more costly to produce due to the extra steps required. Interestingly the effect this has on the watch is the eye is simultaneously drawn to the black square and circular case when observed. It’s a really interesting effect.
Protruding from the case is a crown clearly designed to get out of the way. It’s small and inset into the case, providing the smallest amount of surface to twist to start the watch running. I suppose you could wear it for a bit then set it but that’s not how I live my life. The surface of the crown is very nicely knurled and if you can grip it, it provides a lot of traction.
Turning the watch over lets us view the 2615 beating away keeping this watch going. Generally an interesting movement, the Malevich ups the ante with a grey/black anodized rotor and a circular polishing technique on the plates and bridges that is extremely subdued yet highly pleasing to look at. The caseback is screwed down for good measure giving the wearer a healthy 100 meters of water resistance although we wouldn’t suggest taking it on any dives. Unfortunately this also makes the watch reasonably tall. The Malevich measures 13.55mm tall glass to glass and it’s pretty noticeable. For my money I would have preferred a flat caseback with no window to knock the last 3mm off the case height. It’s not a deal breaker as even Grand Seiko has casual models with taller cases than this so it’s manageable, but not ideal. Indeed there is so much room on the bezel and sides of the caseback that Raketa has entirely filled it with a Greubel Forsey-like wall of text. Everywhere you look there’s text! In addition to the standard fare of where it was made and by whom etc., there is a Kazimir Malevich quote engraved: “…all the phenomena of the world are reduced to a big zero.” It seems especially apropos when displayed on a Big Zero watch with a Big Zero on the dial.
It’s more of an art piece than a watch, but then what are watches really? No one needs them anymore and the reason to have one can be as simple as, “It looks cool.” It’s what I call a “second kind of cool.” It’s cool to you personally and you enjoy having it on your wrist so why not? I find that the stone’s texture and the variation and framing of the colors makes it easily the most interesting watch I own. Not everyone will dig it for one reason or another, but you’ll probably see me with it on quite frequently during events or dinner occasions where the time isn’t even desired. What is time, if not a Big Zero?
Photo credit(s): Raketa, Jacob Casper, Peter Tung Photography, Tretyakov Gallery.