Why The Echo/Neutra Rivanera Surprised Us In 2024

Which watch surprised me the most this year? Honestly, the biggest surprises have come from microbrands and independents. With less "mountain to move" than a macro brand, so to speak, a micro can pivot on a dime and implement change, without the drudgery of bothersome things like focus groups. I guarantee that Toledano & Chan’s internet-breaking B/1 wasn’t subject to anything as mundane as worrying about a quarterly earnings call. And as audacious as that design is, knowing Phil Toledano, I can’t say that the B/1 was a shock, considering the source. 

Along with an uptick in unrestrained designs, another trend I’ve had my eye on is the democratization of materials that were once the strict domain of five-figure watches from upper-crust brands. Carbon fiber is having its moment in the under-$2,000 segment, with Tissot leading the charge with the new PRX Carbon, following hot on the heels of its reimagined Sideral. And I was pleasantly surprised at the introduction of a full-ceramic version of Nivada Grenchen’s integrated F77 sports watch. Which leads into my biggest surprise of the year. 

Titanium is everywhere in sports watches these days, from Rolex to Timex, but one thing that was definitely not on my bingo card was a titanium, tank-style dress watch, and certainly not one from a micro known for its retro-leaning sports models. So I was more than a little surprised when Italian microbrand echo/neutra launched the brutal and beautiful Rivanera.

I’ve been a fan of echo/neutra’s aesthetic for some time, but its unexpected take on a tank-style watch stopped me in my tracks. First of all, who exactly is making a rectangular watch these days, apart from Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre? It’s a short list, and the tank-style watch almost always hews to traditional styling cues, but not in this, ahem, case. Titanium in a dress watch? Rare enough, as is a dress watch with a blasted finish, but to combine the two? Madness, I tell you, and I mean that in the best possible way. The result is monolithic, monochromatic, and just plain mondo. 

Echo/neutra really left its comfort zone with this one, and I salute its team with both wrists. Elements of art deco design can be found in the handset, dial markings and small seconds display, but the gray/black of the two variants’ anti-colorways keep things decidedly discreet, unaffected by typical deco frippery. There’s a hint of flash in the polished edge of the grade 5 titanium case, catching the light at the most unexpected moments, but the overall vibe is subtle rather than showy. And like the finest examples of the dress-watch style, the Rivanera offers a slim wearing experience, with a 5.9mm case height, and that includes the chamfered sapphire crystal. A manually-wound ETA caliber 7001 provides the power, with a voyeuristic glimpse available through the display caseback. The gray and black dial variants both come with two straps, one in calf and the other in Horween shell cordovan, and the fact that the entire package will set you back less than $1,500 is, quite frankly, rather astonishing.

So there you have it, a sleek stealth fighter of a design in a throwback form, coming from a most unexpected source. I was truly surprised by the Rivanera, not only for the fully realized vision of echo/neutra designer and co-founder Nicola Callegaro, but for its confident execution. Now that the Rivanera exists, I can only wonder what’s next for the brand.