Héron, the Montreal-based microbrand that had a legitimate hit on its hands with the release of the Mirabel GMT last year, is back with their take on the classic “go anywhere, do anything” sports watch, met with the brand’s typically refined design codes. Héron exists at a time when the straight up vintage inspired watches that dominated the scene a decade ago are fading in popularity, but they remain distinct and relevant for putting a truly personal and distinctive spin on the genre. These are not recreations of well known vintage references, but seem to exist in that type of “alternate reality” space imagined by brands like Serica, Albishorn, and others. There’s just a little extra charm to these watches that sets them apart, and make them feel like they aren’t part of a playbook.
The new Héron Continental is, according to the brand, inspired by watches worn “during the great age of exploration.” They want us to think of early transcontinental flights, mountaineering expeditions, and important midcentury scientific breakthroughs. This, of course, is not new ground for watch brands. Many that existed during this age of exploration remind us of it on a regular basis, and newer brands do their best to conjure. To Héron’s credit, they make their inspiration explicit in their press materials, citing watches like the Rolex Explorer, Universal Geneve Polerouter, and Longines Conquest as touchpoints. But the Continental is its own thing, borrowing certain ideas from those watches but not exactly lifting the designs wholesale.
The watch itself has a hardened stainless steel case and measures 37mm across, 11mm tall (including the crystal), and 43mm from lug to lug. That lug to lug is kept short thanks to short lugs that turn inward, and the case appears to be nicely finished with a polished bevel running the length of the caseband.
There are three dial variants available at launch: black, cream, and blue. All feature Arabic numerals at the cardinal positions framed by circular markers on the dial’s perimeter (in contrasting orange on the black and cream dials). The Continental uses a sandwich dial construction that reveals lume behind the cutouts for the numerals as well as the simple hashmarks for the rest of the hours. Branding is minimal, just “Héron” at 12:00. The blue and black dials have a sunray finish, while the cream has a lacquer finish.
The Continental runs on a Miyota 9039 movement with 42 hours of power reserve, and a custom rotor visible through the exhibition caseback. It’s mounted on a beads of rice style bracelet with microadjustment built into the clasp. The retail price is set at $630. Héron
