Review Serica Field Chronometer with California Dial – The most detailed review you never wanted to read ( Ref. 6190 )

Who is Serica?

Serica is a young French watch brand from Paris founded in 2019 by Jérôme Burgert and Gabriel Vachette. In 2020 they launched their first Field watch with the reference 4512. I was an immediate fan and bought it right away and have been wearing it since.

In October 2023 Serica relaunched the Field watch series with a more precise COSC-certified movement under the new reference 6190. Although both watches look similar there are a lot of differences.

Serica sent me the 6190 for this review and I was able to have a side-by-side comparison with the previous version (Reference 4512). Read on for a case study on how an iteration of a great watch design can look.

Case

The lugs on the 6190 are now twisted with a polished flank. This makes the watch visually more interesting, because there are more reflections. At the same time it appears slimmer. The lugs are not drilled from the outside anymore. This will make changing straps a little bit harder, but its not an issue for me since most of my leather straps have quick release spring bars.

The most drastic change is the reduction in height from 11.3 mm down to 10.4 mm. This doesn’t sound a lot, but it makes a difference. Serica not only reduced the height, but they also incorporated an automatic movement (COSC certified), which usually makes the watch thicker since you need space for the winding rotor. Still Serica made the case 0.9 mm thinner. The water resistance of 200 meters (20 bar) didn’t change.

Other dimensions like diameter, lug-to-lug width, lug spacing etc. are basically unchanged and are listed in the Technical Specifications section. All of these changes add up, as you can see in the following side by side comparison.

How it wears on small and medium-sized wrists

The new refined case proportions make the watch case “hug” the wrist better. This is apparent once you wear the watch on a smaller 14.5 cm (5.7 in) circumference wrist.

Smaller wrists

Medium-sized wrists

My wrist is around 17.5 cm (6.9 in) in circumference. I found the 4512 to fit great, but the 6190 with its slimmer profile wears just a bit better. See for yourself.

The new case shape follows the curvature of the wrist better.

Caseback

The engraving of the caseback text is less deep on the 6190. This might sound like a detail but I felt it when I was cleaning both watches with a microfiber cloth. The 4512 seemed to pull more on the cloth and felt a bit unrefined while the engraved text on the 6190 was very smooth.

Typographic details

You can see how subtle the differences of the new and old model are with details like the use of ligatures for “660 ft”. A ligature is the merging of two letters into one for aesthetics and legibility. The typefaces has changed to a more wider and rounder typeface.

Not everybody can put their finger on each of these typographic details. But if a designer knows what they’re doing, everybody can feel good typography. If you want to know how even big brands mess up watch typography, check out my article about the topic here.

The notches of the caseback on the new 6190 were moved more towards the outside. The screwed caseback is less domed and therefore sits flatter on the wrist.

Dial

The dial is still enameled at 900 °C in black. The layout has been drastically changed though.

Layout changes

If you look at both the new 6190 and the previous 4512 next to each other, they could appear like identical models. The design team behind Serica made many small changes to the dial that result in a more balanced layout, getting rid of unnecessary details.

Move the slider to the left and right to see all differences.

The following dial changes were made:

• The hands are now white coated, not brushed steel. The minute hand has a new shape.
• There is no consistent inner ring anymore.
• The hour markers are slightly longer and slightly offset inwards.
• The gap between the 3 and 9 o’clock indices and their hour markers is a bit bigger.
• The minute markers are shorter.
• The COSC certification as a Chronometer has been added to the dial as well as the depth rating of 200 meters (660 feet).
• The subtext L SERICA SWISS L has been pulled to the bottom of the dial.

Hands

The hands on the 6190 are coated in a matt white finish, while the hour and minute hands on the previous 4512 were brushed metal. The shape of the minute hand has been slightly changed. Its less pointy and the area for the Super-LumiNova has been increased. These design changes increase the contrast and therefore improve the legibility of the watch face.

Indices

The indices on the 6190 are fully lumed, while the 4512 has a white painted area with slightly offset Super-LumiNova.

Crystal

The crystal of the 6190 is slightly less domed, but remains a 2 mm thick double dome. The main difference is that the junction of the two domes happens more towards the center of the dial. This results in a better viewing angle and less distortion. The “milky ring” around the edge of the crystal is less pronounced in the new 6190.

Movement

Serica’s movements are manufactured by Soprod SA Les Reussilles (Soprod). They were founded in 1966 and their production site for mechanical movements is based in Les Reussilles, Switzerland. They’re part of the Festina group.

Is it better than the previous model?

In a call with the Serica founders Jérôme and Gabriel, one sentence stuck with me.

“I’m not a trained Designer. My training was putting thousands of watches on my wrist and asking myself ‘why is it magical?’ How can I create my own way without copy-and-pasting what has been done in the past?” Jérôme Burgert, co-founder of Serica

With this review I have been doing the exact opposite. Instead of just putting a watch on the wrist and judging how it feels, I started obsessing over the design details and specifications.

If you love watches, I think that is the wrong way to approach the hobby. You hear this sometimes from other collectors: “a 42 mm is too big for my wrist”, “I can’t wear black dials”, “15 mm is too chubby and top-heavy”… but none of these people had the watch on their wrist. There are millions of ways to design a watch and you can’t judge the aesthetics and beauty of an object by dissecting its tech sheet.

Still I think from a Design point of view this article helped you understand what work goes into nailing the details — since the details make the product.

Is the new 6190 better than the 4512? In my eyes yes. The 4512 is still the OG that put Serica on the map. Through Serica’s new focus on reliability and accuracy through their single use of COSC-certified movements, their own design language for each model line and listening to community feedback they have found their well-earned spot within the watches landscape. I’m a fan and curious to see what their future will bring.