Some people call it the Quartz revolution, but we at analog/shift know it only as The Dark Time. Sure it was a revolution in watchmaking (not entirely for the good) and out of it came interesting and inventive timepieces. But the shockwave that Quartz unleashed was also incredibly destructive: It wiped out more small Swiss watch manufactures than we care to think about. It is hard to believe that there is any silver lining in the destruction of so many small Swiss brands, but there is. While brands like Technos, Lanco and Gallet were wiped out, some of the fine timepieces that they produced survived, and their relative obscurity means that you can pick them up for much less than the watches from the big Swiss manufactures of the same caliber. Take this gorgeous 2-register Regency Chronograph, for instance. With styling cues torn from the pages of Heuer and Omega's books (note the thin acrylic bezel's resemblance to the Seamaster 300 and the slightly curved case that screams early manual-wind Autavia), this stunning piece, driven by the fabled Landeron 248 manual-wind movement, ticks so many of the boxes we look for in the pieces from the big names. Even with all this, the obscurity of the Regency name and heritage makes most un-illuminated enthusiasts breeze right past it. But you know better. That's why you're here.
