Cadola Buxton Automatic Review

Cadola is a newer brand from the Solar Time group, which operates other brands like Spinnaker and AVI-8. Most of the brands under Solar Time's leadership tend to focus on a specific type of watch genre, for Spinnaker it is dive watches and for AVI-8 it is pilots watches. Cadola on the other hand is the groups brand to take on timepieces that are inspired by watches worn by racecar drivers in the golden era of motorsports.

We recently reviewed the RPM Automatic from Cadola a few months ago and were overall very impressed with the design of the watch. It also felt great in hand and performed well on the timegrapher. Cadola just sent us one of their newest models, the Buxton Automatic, to review and instantly the watch felt completely different from the RPM Automatic.



Initial Thoughts

When the Buxton Automatic arrived, the first thing I noticed was how compact the case was. I typically collect watches that are 42 mm plus in case diameter and 50 mm plus in lug to lug length. The Buxton measuring in at 38 mm x 45.2 mm x 12.3 mm means the watch is much smaller than what I'm used to on the wrist. The height is of the Buxton does give the watch a bit more presence on the wrist though.

The next thing I noticed about the Buxton Automatic during my initial time with the watch was the extremely bright orange dial. On a smaller watch like the Buxton, having a bold color dial can really help the watch command more attention. The tangerine hue used by Cadola on this model is eye searing. Also the added horizontal ribbing adds a nice layer of depth and texture.



The final thing I took note of during my initial time with the Buxton Automatic was the awesome looking black leather rally strap. The mixture of large and small perforations really gives the strap and in turn the watch the feeling of a vintage piece an old timey racecar driver would be wearing on the track. While just looking at the case and dial of the Buxton doesn't immediately scream racing watch, one glance at the strap really drives that notion home.

A Closer Look

Now that I've gone over my initial impressions of the Cadola Buxton Automatic, let's now go over the technical specifications of the watch. The Buxton is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 38 mm with a lug to lug length of 45.2 mm. The watch weighs in at 77 grams on our scale and at its thickest point is 12.3 mm tall.



The Buxton uses a mineral glass crystal that has an anti-reflective coating applied to it. While mineral glass isn't nearly as scratch resistant as sapphire, it does offer a link to its vintage inspiration and also keeps the cost of the watch down. The glass is flat and sits fairly flush with the case as well.

Looking through the crystal clear glass you see the bright tangerine orange dial we spoke about earlier. The dial has a repeating pattern of horizontal lines that appear darker on the higher sections and lighter on the recessed areas. The effect adds a ton of visual appeal to the dial.



Around the rehaut of the dial are printed Arabic numerals for each 5 minute interval with 0/60 being represented by a solid triangle. Moving inwards is the printed minute track done in matching orange to the dial. Each minute is represented by a slightly larger hash mark with four smaller hash marks residing between each minute.

Cadola uses polished applied bar hour markers on the Buxton Automatic with each being covered in green luminous material. 3 o'clock gets a smaller hour marker to make way for the black backed date window with an orange printed date. There are three centrally mounted hands on the dial of the Buxton, being the hour, minute and seconds hands. The hour and minute hands are paddle style and are filled with matching lume to the hour markers. The stick seconds hand is done in black without any luminous treatment.



Cadola branding is printed in white at 12 o'clock in a box that breaks up the series of horizontal lines at varying heights. At 6 o'clock is "Automatic" printed in white that once again sits raised and breaks from the horizontal lines. Finishing off the dial is a small 24 hour time scale printed underneath each hour marker with 24 sitting above the 12 o'clock marker. "100M" also replaces the 21 label found at 9 o'clock.

The Buxton Automatic uses a vintage correct cushion case that has a mixture of brushed and polished finishes. The major areas of the watch like the bezel and sides of the case are done in a brushed finish with the large edges being polished. This adds a bit of visual interest to the vintage inspired case. Looking at the profile of the watch you can see that the bezel is clearly defined and sits a bit inwards from the mid case. The profile view also shows that the lugs have a nice downward turn that contours to the shape of your wrist.



The right hand side of the case has a non-screw down crown at 3 o'clock that is nicely scalloped. Even with the push pull crown, the Buxton Automatic still has a surprisingly respectable 100 meters of water resistance. The crown's resting position allows you to manually wind the automatic movement. Pulling the crown out to position one lets you set the date and pulling the crown all the way out to position two lets your set the time as well as stops the seconds hand. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand either.

Flipping the watch over shows off the solid screw down case back with a large engraving of a wheel and tire along with "Cadola 1946". Around the outside of the case back are smaller engravings for important information about the watch such as water resistance and model number. Beating underneath the solid case back is an un-specified automatic movement. Given that the Solar Time brands mostly use the Seiko NH-35 and that the movement registered at 21,600 vph (3Hz) on our timegrapher, it's pretty safe to say that the Buxton is also powered by an NH35. That means you can expect around 40 hours of power reserve and the movement should be easily serviced and repaired by most local watchmakers. On our timegrapher the movement did show an accuracy of +4 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions.



The Cadola Buxton Automatic has the strap monster lug width measurement of 20 mm, which means there are virtually endless amounts of aftermarket straps that will fit. Standard the Buxton comes with ablack leather rally strap, which means there are large central perforations cut into the strap with smaller holes on each side. The strap also has very attractive bright orange stitching sewn along each side. The strap tapers down from 20 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the brushed and polished pin buckle. The strap was a bit stiff at first, but softened up after just a few times wearing it.

On The Wrist

Cushion styled cases typically tend to wear much larger than traditional round watches, and with that being the case, the Buxton Automatic still felt a bit small to me. On my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area, the watch left a lot of exposed wrist on each side of the lugs. I do tend to wear watches much larger than the Buxton, so it is hard for me to get used to wearing smaller sized watches.



The strap did an excellent job of keeping the watch centered on my wrist though, which is something I can absolutely not stand on smaller watches, when the watch favors one side over the other. Being well under 100 grams meant that that Buxton Automatic was a great all day wearer though, the watch never became a chore on the wrist and an ounce of wrist fatigue never settled in.

Since I mostly wear black t-shirts, shorts and sneakers, the black, orange and steel hues of the Buxton Automatic fit in well with my everyday outfits. On the rally strap, the watch does give off more of a casual vibe, which is perfectly fine for my more laid back lifestyle. The watch could still work fairly well in more formal settings if the rally strap was swapped our for a more traditional leather strap. The orange dial is a bit loud, but the Buxton Automatic should work fairly well as a daily wearer.



To determine how legible a watch is, I use a simple test where I see how easy it is to tell the time at just a glance while driving. In this test dive watches with their high contrast dials and large markers and hands do the best, while skeletonized and complicated watches do the worst since they value design over legibility. Since this is a driving test, the Buxton Automatic should do well. That was just the case with its hands and hour markers contrasting nicely with the bright backdrop of the orange dial. The dial is a bit small and stick markers take more time to decipher than Arabic numerals, but overall the Buxton did a respectable job. With an ample amount of luminous material found on the hour markers and hands, low light time telling was a breeze as well.

While wearing the Cadola Buxton Automatic out and about running boring everyday errands as well as out to dinner and drinks, I noticed that the watch didn't receive too many looks. I guess that is pretty much expected due to the smaller size of the case and being on a strap and not a bracelet. We are in a pretty Rolex sports watch heavy area, so unless you're wearing something like a Ulysse Nardin Freak, most things go un-noticed. I did show the watch to a few friends that just loved the pattern and color of the dial as well as the rally strap. They were also blown away by the price of the watch.



Value and Position in the Market

Speaking about price, the Cadola Buxton Automatic retails for only $270. For that price you're getting a compact vintage inspired case with a very accurate automatic movement and a full 100 meters of water resistance. It's still wild to me that you can get a complete watch that is extremely well made for less than what most top Swiss brands charge for a strap, not including a buckle or clasp. Now is the time in the review where we compare the Buxton Automatic to other watches with similar specifications and features to see how the watch holds up value wise.

First up we have the Speciale Automatic from Straton which has a 42 mm cushion case crafted out of stainless steel. The Speciale is more complicated with the addition of chronograph and day of the week complications. The Speciale runs on a Swiss made Valjoux ETA 7750 automatic movement with around 42 hours of power reserve. The Speciale has the same 100 meters of water resistance that the Buxton has as well. The Speciale is much more expensive than the Buxton at $1,299 though.



Next up is the Rallygraf from YEMA which has a 39 mm case crafted out of stainless steel. The Rallygraf has a more traditional round case shape but also has the charming look of a vintage racing watch. The watch does feature a chronograph and is powered by a mechanical-quartz movement. The Rallygraf has a matching water resistance of 100 meters to the Straton and Cadola as well. The Rallygraf is also a bit more expensive than the Buxton Automatic at $420.

Moving on is the 300T from Seestern which has a 42 mm case made out of stainless steel inspired by the DOXA models of the same name. The 300T is a true dive watch with 200 meters of water resistance that has a vintage cushion case look to it. The 300T is powered by the same movement as the Buxton Automatic in the Seiko NH35 and also boasts a bright orange dial. The 300t is little bit more expensive than the Buxton at $299.



Finally we have the 5 Sports SRPD59 from Seiko which has a 42.5 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Seiko 5 is has the vintage dive watch look to it with the crown positioned at 4 o'clock. Being a dive watch, it's a bit odd that the Seiko 5 only has 100 meters of water resistance matching the non-dive watch Buxton's depth rating. The Seiko 5 is powered by an in-house Seiko made movement with 41 hours of power reserve. The Seiko 5 is also a bit more expensive than the Cadola at $350.

Looking at the above four watches, you can see that the Cadola Buxton Automatic offers great value for the specifications it has. For the most part the Buxton matches all of the other watches specs and besides the Straton having additional complications, the Seestern having better water resistance and some having a sapphire crystal. This is achieved with the Buxton Automatic having the lowest asking prices of all the watches as well, really showing how great of a value it is.



Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the Cadola Buxton Automatic for me? Truth being told, it really is not. Most of this comes down to the size of the watch. I don't care if a watch is from Patek Philippe or Cadola, if it's well under 40 mm, it's really not going to be something that I would collect personally. I have strong preferences that were defined in the early to mid 2000s where bigger watches were popular. This is still ingrained in my mind even though trends are moving towards smaller watches being en vogue. Being a drivers watch, technically it should be smaller so it doesn't get in the way, but that's not something I take into account when adding a watch to my collection.

Past that, I'm not the biggest fan of cushion shaped watches and also tend to stay away from watches crafted out of stainless steel for my personal collection where I prefer high tech materials like carbon, ceramic and titanium. There isn't much if any weight penalty for using stainless steel in the Buxton Automatic since it is smaller though. I do have to say that I love the color and design of the dial on the watch. I'm also a pretty big fan of the black and orange rally strap as well. The size in the end is just too much for me to overcome personally.



Would I then recommend the Buxton Automatic to somebody looking for a vintage inspired sports watch? In all honesty, I really would without pause if they enjoyed smaller watches and didn't mind cushion shaped cases. For the price there is literally nothing I can ding the Buxton Automatic for in terms of design, execution and performance. At its price point you really can't go wrong with the watch either. A simple strap change will make the Buxton much more acceptable as a daily wearer as well.

This is now the second watch we've had in from Cadola to review and like the RPM Automatic, I left this review very impressed with the brand. Although the Buxton Automatic isn't for me personally, it's easy to tell the watch is very well built and designed. It's also a great example of how different the designs of the watches from Cadola are, this and the RPM Automatic are night and day different from either other. This makes me excited to get more hands on time with other Cadolas models and keep exploring the brand.



For more information about the Buxton Automatic please visit : Cadola

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: CD-1057-05

Retail Price: $270

Case Size: 38 mm

Lug to Lug: 45.2 mm

Thickness: 12.3 mm

Weight: 77 grams

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Bezel: Stainless Steel

Strap: Black Leather Rally Strap with a Stainless Steel Pin Buckle

Movement: Automatic Movement (Likely a Seiko NH35)

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Date

Power Reserve: 40 Hours

Water Resistance: 100 Meters