Vaer’s first batch of watches was produced overseas and the brand still utilizes offshore production for more affordable models, but it is gradually growing domestic production for higher quality models like the R1 USA Chronograph.
The brand currently produces about 30 references in its Scottsdale, AZ facility, including dive watches, field watches, chronographs and GMTs. They all use quartz, automatic and meca-quartz movements from revered Japanese manufacturers Miyota and Seiko.
A need for speed
Introduced in 2022, the R1 USA Chronograph was Vaer’s first foray into the stopwatch complication, and its design was influenced by auto racing watches from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The 38mm elliptical stainless steel case is topped with domed sapphire crystal and has a screw-down crown. It is powered by a Seiko caliber VK63 meca-quartz movement with a central seconds counter and 60-minute totalizer at nine o’clock.