Here’s an interesting watch.
Pancor P02 launched as a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 and was delivered in 2018. It’s a unique mechanical watch that work in many settings. Priced around £250, it wasn’t a spontaneous purchase but after a bit of to and fro I thought this would be a piece I could have quite a bit of fun with.
It’s definitely a unique looking watch. To begin with, it’s pistachio green – a colour we don’t see very often on watches. All surfaces on the dial and hands are matte pastel, which contrasts nicely against the case’s chromed and shiny finish. If the body would have been treated with a sandblasted texture, used titanium or even been brushed it would have looked a lot more like a tool watch. Now the Pancor P02 sits somewhere between dressy and tooly.
The face is quite large at 42mm, especially since there is no bezel and the face goes all the way out to the edge of the case. To make this big surface a bit more dynamic and interesting, Marc Schutten the founder of Pancor opted for a Miyota 9132 movement. This adds a 24h subdial at six a clock and a power reserve indicator at 12 a clock.
Without these sub dials the watch undoubtedly would have looked a lot dressier, in which case it would have worked better in a 38 – 40mm size.
What is it like to wear the Pancor P02 on the wrist?
As mentioned, the Pancor P02 feels quite tool like. This is much thanks to the pointy yellow second hand and sub dial hands which seem to float in the air thanks to the black center plate. The execution is gorgeous and in combination with the pistachio green gives the watch a feel of a medical instrument that’d belong in a surgical theatre.
This is what caught my attention in the first place. My very first associations wandered to the TV series Lost and the 70’s bunkers of the Dharma Initiative. This watch could’ve been the Dharma Initiative’s officially issued wrist watch.
The watch has 22m lugs and works on a huge variety of straps, from canvas to leather and even mesh. I found that my favourite was on a light beige suede strap for a smart casual look.
All in all the package is unique and fun, but it doesn’t come all without downsides. Although the watch is 10ATM it’s not as utilitarian as I would’ve hoped for. The lume is poor, the date window is small and the yellow hands against green face makes for overall poor legibility.
Why did I sell my Pancor P02 watch?
The above mentioned legibility issues could’ve been reason enough to flip a watch, but I think for me what was the killer was the size. With the flat crystal going all the way out to the edges of the case 42mm is simply too large for this type of watch. At least for my wrist. It doesn’t sit bad on the wrist, but it feels large.
At 39 or 40 mill I think the Pancor P02 had been a much more attractive watch that I still would wear with joy (although maybe I wouldn’t have bought it in the first place because I shied away from watches under 41mm in 2017.
After I bought my Venturo Field 2 in 2020 my Pancor became obsolete. They served a similar spot in my collection and I guess you could say it was pushed out by the Venturo.
Nevertheless the P02 still has a spot in my watch loving heart and I remember it dearly. It was also a watch that grew on my partner over time and one of the few watches of mine she approved of.
