Almost On Time

I will be the first to admit, I’m not quite sure how to pronounce the brand name “Bausele”, but I thought their watch designs looked quite cool and unique so decided to buy one on eBay.

Bausele is an Australian brand that was founded in 2011. This is quite unusual. If we think of almost every other watch brand, they are from a handful of places such as Europe, Japan, America, and China. It is nice to see a country from the Southern hemisphere launch a brand that is different from what we are accustomed to.

Not only this, but their watch designs are fairly classic. Although they are modern in terms of color and finishing. Their overall feel is not something from recent years.

GT Hybrid

An unusual monopusher chronograph design. It is clear that this watch is intended to disguise itself as a vintage timepiece. Whilst the monopusher is not a common mechanical design at all, it was invented in the 1920s and has somewhat disappeared from modern watches, with almost every single model having 2 pushers.

In short, the GT Hybrid was created to be something that has all the technology and benefits of modern-day, whilst still appearing to be a classic wristwatch.

Dial

The dial of the watch has a very classic layout. It is quite clear to see that Bausele intended this smartwatch to look exactly like a classic wristwatch. If you weren’t paying attention to the crown or hour indicators, you would be forgiven for thinking that this is a vintage watch from the 60s or 70s.

The hands are very thin, but the difference in length makes the time very easy to read. As this is a hybrid smartwatch, you do not use the crown other than pressing it. The time will set itself once you’ve connected the watch to your phone.

Smartwatch Features

If you’ve owned a hybrid smartwatch before, this likely will not be anything new to you. Unlike a standard smartwatch, you don’t have an LCD screen and instead connect the watch to your phone by bluetooth. This is a simple process and only takes around 2-3 minutes to set up.

Within the Bausele app, you can track your steps, which details how many calories you have burned. In addition to this, there is a standard sleep tracker which will record your various stages of sleep throughout the night. These two functions are very similar to other smartwatch apps you may have used in the past. This data is displayed on easy-to-read graphs as you would expect.

If you are a traveler, you will be pleased to know that the watch automatically synchronizes with your phone. Therefore if you change timezones, your watch will automatically change the time without you having to touch a button.

Overall the app is easy to use and doesn’t really offer any surprises good or bad.

Caseback

The caseback of the Vintage 2.0 Hybrid is quite unusual. Instead of any engraving, Bausele has chosen to etch a mechanical movement onto the back. This etching is quite loud and not a usual design you would find on the back of a classic watch.

Around the outside of the movement drawings are the bluetooth logo and a fish symbol which reminds the wearer that the watch is 50 meters water resistant.

Strap

The leather strap that comes with the watch is quite basic and sticks with the vintage feel. As you would expect, it is decent quality and does not feel like a cheap Chinese strap that has been chemically altered.

A good feature of the Bausele straps is that they use quick-release pins on the underside. Therefore if you don’t have watchmaking tools available, you can easily switch out the strap for another without risking scratching the case.

Replacement straps are a little on the expensive side costing $50 AUD. However, if you think this is too much you could always buy a 3rd party strap and fit it with no issues.

Where To Buy & Value For Money

You can buy the Bausele Vintage 2.0 GT on their official website here.

In terms of value for money, the Vintage 2.0 GT is considerably more expensive than standard hybrid smartwatches.

However, this comparison alone is doing them a bit of a disservice. This is because the hybrid smartwatch competitors are all pretty much doing the same thing.

Brands such as Nokia, Garmin, and Withings all produce hybrid smartwatches that look pretty much the same. There is no real variation between the designs and they all look like modern fitness trackers. The beauty of the Bausele watch is that it is a modern fitness and sleep tracker – but certainly doesn’t look like one.