Lew & Huey
Lew & Huey is a watch manufacturer based in Philadelphia, USA. The brand is owned and found by WatchUSeek user Chris "docvail" Vail in mid-2012 as an attempt to create high quality watches with original designs at an affordable price. Its name is a phonetic take on the Chinese Mandarin phrase 'luen huey', meaning reincarnation or rebirth.
History
Lew & Huey was found under the promise of delivering quality watches at an affordable price point. In 2012, founder Chris Vail decided to create his own series of watches after being disappointed by the lack of quality chronographs under the $800 range in the watch market. A Kickstarter was then launched to meet a $10,000 goal set by Vail in order for him to start producing watches. Word of mouth of the brand spread rapidly across watch enthusiast internet forums and the goal was met extremely quickly and successfully, gathering over $40,000 by the time the Kickstarter completed. Since then, Chris has released multiple affordable watches with immediate success, with most still crowd-funded through Kickstarters.
Watch models
At the present, Lew & Huey has several model lines, some that have not been released yet:
- Riccardo: The first watch by Lew & Huey, it is an attractive, reliable and affordable automatic chronograph that features a sunburst pattern with applied indices. The Riccardo also has anti-reflective coating and sapphire crystal displays on both sides of the watch, and provides a ST1940 chronograph movement by Tianjin Seagull. The ST1940 is the modern equivalent of the well-endowed Venus 175 movement and features a 33 jewel movement that beats 21,600 times per hour.
- Acionna: Named after the Gallo-Roman religion water goddess, the Acionna is created to be an CASUAL watch whilst maintaining a rugged, diving design. It is built around a hacking and hand-winding 24 jewel Miyota automatic movement that is capable of providing a 42 hour power reserve when fully wound.
- Cerberus: Designed as a reference to the Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell, the Cerberus is also created to a versatile 'everyday' wear, with styling cues taken from classical designs. It is built around a hacking and hand-winding 24 jewel Miyota automatic movement that is capable of providing a 42 hour power reserve when fully wound.
- Orthos: The first purpose-built diving watch of Lew & Huey, it features combination of modern and vintage styling cues. The movement used in this watch is a hacking and hand-winding 24 jewel, 21,600 BPH Seiko automatic movement that is capable of providing a 41 hour power reserve when fully wound.
- Spectre: Featuring a sunburst patterned dial and brushed/polished surfaces, the Spectre is a pilot watch built with functionality and uncluttered design in mind. The movement used in this watch is a hacking and hand-winding 24 jewel, 21,600 BPH Seiko automatic movement that is capable of providing a 41 hour power reserve when fully wound.
Watch movements
Currently, the movements featured in Lew & Huey watches are either Chinese or Japanese. In particular, Miyota, Seiko or Seagull movements are the most often employed.
Distribution
As of right now, Lew & Huey watches are only available through direct contact with founder Chris Vail or through the official Lew & Huey website.