Today, I would like to tell you about a Russian watchmaker who is still little known, yet for some aficionados did not go unnoticed when he launched his family watch project in 2021 with a very original first watch. Yes, I am indeed talking about Verbin. Before introducing one of his models made for a collector, let me go back over the journey of a father and son who should never have found themselves in watchmaking.
Born on December 4, 1981, in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Verbin comes from a modest and very typical family background. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father, Sergei, was at the time a mechanic in a factory attached to a scientific institute. Mikhail Verbin was a very curious child who loved to learn and was always looking for new things. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the 1990s were difficult. His father had to retrain in construction and his mother worked in a school. Mikhail Verbin, for his part, continued to study and practiced a lot of sport.
Despite everything, Mikhail Verbin fell into watchmaking thanks to his father, who wore various watches such as a gold Longines in the early 1990s. This was followed by his first watch, a stainless steel Casio, and a growing interest in watches alongside his studies. Mikhail Verbin earned a teaching degree, then another in construction. At around the same time, around 2001, his father had the idea of creating his own watch jewel.
It was an entirely original design and concept. Since Mikhail Verbin already mastered 3D modeling with the software 3ds Max, he managed to model it. His father then contacted a jewelry workshop that carried out the project. It was a simple watch fitted with an ETA 2824-2 movement in an elegant gold case. Mikhail Verbin recalls that bringing it to life was a real challenge.
After his studies, Mikhail Verbin worked for a while in a school, then on a building site, first as a team leader and then as a site manager. With his first real salary, he treated himself to his dream watch of the time, a Breitling Superocean Steelfish X-plus 2000 m. He then decided to give up that job because he felt his life lay elsewhere, doing something he loved every day.
Between 2010 and 2011, following a set of circumstances, his father and he began to consider launching a small watch company and creating their own workshop. The prerequisites were as follows. His father had the skills and knowledge required for working metals on different machines, and Mikhail Verbin knew how to design parts in SolidWorks or AutoCAD. Over the following years they acquired the equipment needed to start, while Mikhail Verbin trained in parallel using watchmaking literature dating from the Soviet era.
He quickly began designing movement modules, disassembling and reassembling various watch movements, and trying to bring old broken calibres back to life. At the same time his father taught him how to use the lathe and the milling machine so he could be more complete and understand the different constraints that apply to watchmaking. Then in 2012 he had the good fortune to meet a remarkable woman, the talented artist Darina Potapova. They spent all their free time together talking about different subjects, beauty, watches, art in general, color combinations, shapes, symmetry in nature, and more. Her worldview and aesthetic sense deeply influenced him thereafter.
In 2014, without the necessary equipment or access to technologies, they decided to start their project with a calibre he already knew, the reliable Swiss ETA 2824-2. Coupled with this mechanism came the idea to design a watch that would be recognizable through a display module with jumping hours and retrograde minutes. This led to a first prototype in 2015, not reliable or high enough in quality to meet modern watchmaking standards. Lacking the means to buy a high precision CNC milling machine capable of working within the required tolerances, they took the bold gamble of designing one themselves.
Mikhail Verbin therefore taught himself machine design and construction in order to create a machine that would allow them to improve the design and execution of this watch. The following years were anything but restful. After several iterations, machine adjustments, and re machining of certain components and mechanical parts, it took nearly ten years for the project to see the light of day. In 2021, the final prototype of this first Sonare Retro model was completed.
The main plate of the module and the titanium case were designed specifically so that the sound of the jumping hour mechanism would be particularly clear, slightly resonant, and pleasing to the ear. Hence the model name, Sonare Retro. Sonare from the Latin for to sound, and Retro for retrograde. The name of the model thus contains the entire original idea, to create a watch not only of great visual beauty, but also one whose movement produces a crystal clear sound, allowing you to literally feel it working. Since then, eight variations have reached the wrists of collectors around the world. Now it is time to present the very latest piece that has left their workshop in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Table of Contents – Verbin Sonare Retro
What are the features of the Verbin Sonare Retro?
Case
The Verbin Sonare Retro has a titanium case water resistant to 5 ATM, fully brushed. It measures 42.5 mm in diameter, 12.5 mm in thickness, and 49 mm lug to lug. As you will have seen, it is a little large and thick for my wrist. Although the design is quite simple, the construction and finishing are impeccable and give the watch a robust character. The crown offers a good grip for setting the time and for enjoying the complication. I also like the relatively slim lugs that soften the overall look.
Dial
The Verbin Sonare Retro features a multi part dial that improves legibility of the jumping hours, the 100° retrograde minutes, and the running seconds. The main element is a machine guilloché copper or salmon section that carries the retrograde minute display. It also frames a first aperture for the jumping hours and a second for the seconds.
The visible diameter excluding the case is 35.8 mm, which leaves generous space to appreciate this two tone dial in full symmetry with two styles of guilloché. Beyond the overall look, I especially enjoyed the guilloché in the retrograde minute sector. Its curved pattern gives the impression that the minute hand conducts like a maestro. At each change of hour the watch emits a very clear and distinctive sound. In my reading, that sound is echoed on the dial as a shock wave that spreads evenly across the peripheral surface. As a possible improvement, I would imagine a kind of rehaut to smooth the transition from dial to case.
Movement
The Verbin Sonare Retro houses the automatic VR.100 movement, based on a modified Swiss ETA 2824-2 or Sellita SW200 1, with an in house module for jumping hours and 100° retrograde minutes. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and, despite the display constraints, keeps a power reserve of about 38 hours when fully wound.
Father and son managed to ensure high reliability even with intensive use and in demanding situations, while minimizing stress on the base calibre. They developed a locking system that holds the hour disc on the current hour, which gives the mechanism strong resistance to external forces.
Functionally, the system uses a spiral cam at the center of the movement that completes one rotation per hour. The main rack, fitted with a sliding device, is gradually lifted by the cam and then drops instantly at the end of each hour. The secondary rack, under spring tension, pushes the main rack via the minute pinion toward the cam. Both racks are fitted with pawls. A star wheel with twelve specially shaped teeth carries the hour disc and is locked by a position lever that is spring pushed toward the star.
This position lever has two arms. The main arm locks the star. The secondary arm participates in unlocking. At the end of each hour the main and secondary racks drop. The pawl on the secondary rack first pushes the lever’s secondary arm to unlock the star. Once unlocked, the pawl on the main rack engages the star and turns it by thirty degrees, which equals one hour. The position lever then returns to its initial place and locks the star again.
Strap
This Verbin Sonare Retro comes on a well made dark blue leather strap with matching stitching and a neatly executed signed titanium pin buckle. Depending on the chosen configuration, you can easily switch to another strap color.
What is the price of the Verbin Sonare Retro?
The Verbin Sonare Retro was a first edition of eight pieces, now sold out, that started at 10,000 USD. Further versions related to this model will appear in the near future.
Verbin Sonare Retro: a watch with a singular, atypical design
The Verbin Sonare Retro is a fine achievement that clearly required courage and persistence. Starting from a simple idea, without resources or funding, and arriving at such a finished product deserves real respect. Going so far as to build their own machine shows the determination of Mikhail Verbin and his father Sergei.
I really enjoyed the originality of this watch. It uses a display more often found on square or rectangular pieces. The combination of colors and textures is well judged and helps each indication stand out. The only small shadow over this beautiful project lies in the dimensions. When I mentioned it to Mikhail Verbin, he told me he had already received that feedback and that it is technically possible to work on the thickness, which bodes well for the future. With a target of ten pieces per year, Mikhail Verbin and his father are not trying to make a fortune. They want to share their passion and find clients who share the same vision of sincere, honest watchmaking.
During our meeting in Dubaï I also discovered his new sport line, which keeps the same case and movement base but breaks decisively in its design. The sportier dial features elements that reminded me of the racing world of the 1960s. I want to thank Mikhail Verbin for the straightforward conversations that allowed me to discover another way of making watches. I wish them much success and hope this article brings the attention they deserve.
Verbin Sonare Retro – Watch Specifications
- Brand: Verbin
- Model: Sonare Retro
- Case Material: Titanium
- Dial: Two guilloché dial options: salmon or cream-white, each with a distinct motif.
- Functions: Jumping Hours, 100° Retrograde Minutes, Running Seconds
- Movement: VR.100, based on a modified Swiss ETA 2824 2, Self-Winding, 28’800vph frequency (4Hz)
- Power Reserve: 38 Hours
- Water Resistance: 5 ATM
- Crystal: Sapphire
- Caseback: Sapphire
- Case Dimension: 42,5 mm (Diameter) × 12.5 mm (Thickness)
- Lug to Lug: 49 mm
- Strap: Blue Alligator Leather with Titanium Pin Buckle
- Availability : Limited Edition of 8 Pieces
- Retail Price: Starting to 10,000 USD (excluding VAT)
Did you already know this project? Do you enjoy this style of time display? Share your first impressions in the comments section.
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For more information about Verbin, click here.
