Everyone loves a good sector dial. They’re a simple yet captivating way to lay out a dial that can easily find its way into a dress watch or a tool watch. Depending on how the rest of the watch is created around the dial, you will find yourself wearing it every day, no matter the situation, or strapping it on for formal occasions. Watches like the JLC Master Control or the Longines Sector will likely be in the latter category. The watch we’re looking at today, the Branch Sector, aims to fall somewhere in between. As long as you’re not going swimming, the Sector can accompany you just about anywhere. Let’s talk a closer look.
On the Wrist
The Branch Sector is one of those watches I knew I would love the way it fits on my wrist before I even put it on. At 36.5×42.5×10.55mm, this watch is right in my wheelhouse. Watches in the 36-38mm range have become my favorite size, and the Sector fits the bill perfectly.
Although I have yet to try on a dive watch that is 36mm wide, I get the feeling they would be too small. However, fixed bezel watches like the Sector doesn’t suffer from that problem despite the smaller case size. The dial doesn’t need to compete with a rotating bezel for real estate on your wrist and has plenty of room to breathe. This creates the illusion of a larger watch. The Sector can easily work on wrist sizes up to 7.25” (18.5cm).
The Sector walks the fine line between a dress watch and a tool watch. The only thing holding it back from the latter is the 30-meter water resistance rating. That said, don’t be deceived by the Sector’s dapper appearance. Unless you’re going swimming, the Sector can be a go-to watch for mowing the lawn in the morning, playing with the kids in the afternoon, and going out the dinner in the evening. That is the reason sector-dialed watches are still being made, versatility.
Branch Sector Specs | |
Case Width 36.5mm | Lug-to-Lug 42.5mm |
Case Thickness 10.55mm | Wrist-to-Crystal 8mm |
Lug Width 19mm | Weight 86g |
Water Resistance 30m | Strap Leather Strap |
Crystal Acrylic | Lume No |
Movement Sellita SW-210 | Price $800 |
Dial Details
As its namesake would suggest, the Sector boasts a classic sector dial layout. Starting from the outside of the dial, there is a silver chapter ring with numeral and hash marks. A thin white line separates the chapter ring from the index ring where 12, 3, 6, and 9 are displayed at the cardinal positions with thick, black lines for the other hours. The silver chapter and index rings have a brushed look, and despite displaying all the time telling information you will need, they never look too busy.
Branch kept the inside of the dial clean with their logo up top and a crosshair in the middle of the dial. This simplicity with small flourishes like the brushed silver rings makes the Sector stand out among other sector dials like the JLC Master Control. It’s utilitarian while still maintaining some style.
The heat-blued hands come out to shine as soon as the dial hits bright light. I’m always a sucker for blued hands, and the Sector’s do not disappoint.
Case Details
Case finishing on the Sector is precisely what I would expect for a watch of this style, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t executed well. The tops of the lugs and the sides of the case are brushed. The fixed bezel is mirror-polished, and there are no heavy chamfers. This case is meant to show off the dial, and it does so flawlessly.
The case is nearly flat until you reach the tips of the lugs, where they turndown enough to give the case some flow. They hold in the only mildly annoying part of the watch, which is the 19mm lug width. I say mildly because odd lug widths are becoming more common as watch brands embrace the difference that 1mm can make. I’ve owned enough 19mm lug width watches in the past few years that I’ve amassed a decent collection of straps to put on them, so it no longer bothers me.
A large 6mm crown operates the Sellita SW210 manual wind movement. A large crown like the Sector has something that brands who create manual wind watches seem to forget about. Nothing is worse than trying to wind up your watch with the tiniest crown possible. Having something to grip while winding it up for the day makes the entire experience much more enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
The Branch Sector is the perfect take on a sector dial for many good reasons. It captures the vintage aesthetic of original sector dials with the acrylic crystal, heat-blued hands, and manual winding movement. This is a watch you can see being made in the 1930s or 1940s, yet I appreciate all of the modern touches we wouldn’t have had 80 or 90 years ago.
As I was wrapping up my review of the Sector and getting ready to box it up to send back to Branch, I kept going back and forth about buying one. Every time I put it on, I kept telling myself how well it fit my wrist and how much I enjoyed wearing it. Perhaps that is because I’ve lusted after a sector dial for some time, even going as far as modifying a Seiko SNK to have a sector dial. Who knows, maybe the Branch Sector will still find a way into my watch box.
Check out more dress watch reviews at The Watch Clicker here
Check out the Branch website here
Hi Will,
I think it interesting that nobody mentioned that although the dial layout is that of a sector watch, the watch itself can not be considered a sector watch.
A sector watch has a distinct track for each hand, the hours hand indicating the hours on a track divided into 12 sectors, the minutes mand pointing to a track divided into 60 sectors and a central (sweep) seconds hand registering its passage on a track divided into as many fractions as the movement’s best rate allows (a 18000bph movement has 4 stops within 1 second, while a 21600 bph movement should have 5 sectors between each full second.
Although the Branch has a beautiful dial and drop dead gorgeous hands, the two are completely mismatched. The hour hand’s tip extends way past the sectored hours track. It actually touches the minutes track which is sectored for 5 minutes, making it look like it’s telling time in 1/5s of a hour.
The same applies to the minutes hand which actually points to the heavily sectored seconds track.
A sectored watch, breaks down and displays time in the most accurate and legible way because the hours hand points precisely to one of twelve marker, the minutes hand to one of 60 markers, while the seconds hand subdivided the minute as best as the best rate of the caliber used allows.
Although creating a beautiful watch, the designer behind this Branch completely missed the point behind a sectored watch.