CODE41 X41 Hands-On Review

The world of micro-brand watches is extensive, and often complicated. Figuring out what you’re paying for and how can be a frustrating and under-rewarded venture. Is there benefit to Kickstarter campaign watches? Is crowd-funding an efficient way to kick off a watch brand? What about from an enthusiast perspective? Is it beneficial to know what’s happening behind the scenes?

This is where CODE41 caught my attention. The brand was conceived in 2016 with the goal of bringing total transparency to the structure of a watches roadmap - and detail to it’s customers where the money was coming in, where it was being spent, and why a watch costs as much as it does (I’ve included an example for the X41 below). To be completely fair, this was a major role of the dice - and in my opinion, paid off for the brand. You can read a lot more about the brand’s history on their website, as well as a detailed description of how they deal with their various watch-making channels.

The brand has been generous enough to lend us a new X41 Model in their Aerocarbon case for review. This is the 5th iteration of the watch, so for sake of time, I won’t go through every change made since it’s inception in 2018, but will include the link to their story behind each iteration here.

The watch is super unique, really fun, and wears surprisingly well. So without further ado, let’s get to it.

THE CASE:

The X41 case measures in at 42mm x 11.7mm - but due to the way the wideset lugs are constructed, I feel it wears a little bit bigger than that. Let’s start with the material. The case is made out of a carbon composite in France. The high-density aeronautical ready material is 300 layers thick, and produced by backing each later at a 90 degree angle to themselves. This makes the material superbly strong, but also insanely light. In fact, in my time with the watch, I often found myself shaking my wrist to feel it.

The case construction itself feels like a top quality carbon case, and I feel punches at or above it’s competitors at a WAY MORE expensive price-point (looking at you un-named LVMH brands). The bezel is flat, but characterized by a bit of a rough finish that adds depth to the case. You can see the various brushed bits that darken or lighten depending on it’s angle to alight source, and overall provide a lot more visual interest than just a Jet-black “polish” we see on many other watches.

The construction of the Carbon makes this watch almost 2x lighter than titanium, and 4x lighter than steel. It also is much more resistant to bending, though it can break, so care is definitely needed with the watch.

The lugs are wideset, and I feel like very extended from the case - to the point of being a bit underwhelming when fastened to the bracelet (but more on that in a minute). That being said, the design of the lugs is a lot of fun, and feel really industrial. On the side of the case, the construction is coherently designed with some visual interest instead of just being boring or flat. The structure of the lugs add some visual appeal, and unique character.

Because of the design of the lugs and the over-sized crown, the case wears a bit more square than a typically round watch. The best way I can describe it is like this: 42mm feels different on a Panerai than it does on a Rolex - And the X41 would fall into the latter feel on the wrist. That being said, the extra heft didn’t bother me, and I actually came to find the case construction more charming than invasive.

Additionally, with the Edition 5, the Water Resistance rating has been upped to 100m from 50m, so that’s an added benefit to this version of the watch. Because of the way AeroCarbon is made, it’s less porous, and therefore doesn’t need the extra titanium chamber for water resistance.

THE DIAL & MOVEMENT:

Normally, I would split this section up into two pieces, however being that so much of this watches appeal is the crowd-funded movement - and that movement is on full display - I found it fitting to combine the two.

For starters, the movement is a short-production movement that was designed by the brand, and funded through it’s many backers. For instance, through the transparent model, we know that movement was produced in Switzerland at a price-point of $1,705 - and there’s a lot here to unpack, so let’s break it down.

First, the press-releases don’t do this movement justice, because it truly is a beautiful mix of seemingly random design, but absolutely insanely cohesive aesthetics. Starting at 12 o’ clock, you have two clear rotating disks to display the date. At first, I was afraid this would be hardly legible, especially with the high-contrast black case and bridges, but against the brushed date arm, it ended up being superbly legible.

the obvious stand-out piece of the “dial” is the two very large, very angular bridges that extend from 9 o’ clock and 4 o’ clock. The dramatic angles feel aggressive but provide some much needed breakup from the overtly-complicated skeletonized portions of the movement.

Despite the complication, the watch is still very much legible. The brushed handset, although hollowed out, features a red tip and are lume filled so they don’t get lost in the movement. The indices really only include 12-4 o’ clock and 8-9 o’clock as they are fastened to the outside of the dial, above the bridges - while the rest of the indices are pushed further back into the movement plate (I actually didn’t even notice them the first day I wore it). The lume is great and long lasting, though I can see some enthusiast complaints about not having all of the indices. Personally, the only think I feel the dial could benefit from is having a lumed backplate for the date. I recognize that may seem a little petty, but being able to see the date in the dark would take the dial to another level.

Flipping the watch over, you’ll find that the back of the movement is just as fun to look at as the front of the movement. Instead of a standard rotor, the community and the brand opted for a Peripheral Rotor. This is a rotor that spans the edge of the movement, and doesn’t block up any part of the visuals. Honestly, this is a fairly rare component, and I can only think of a handful of brands off the top of my head that utilize it - and they are all VERY MUCH more expensive than the X41.

The back side of the movement features a cool X-shaped bridge pattern that really keeps the main act on the frontside of the watch. While the Peripheral Rotor is fun to look at, and the movement is definitely finished well, the high skeleton nature of the watch means a lot of blank space is present on the back of the watch. The movement features 33 jewels, beats at 28,800 VpH, and features a solid 45-hours of power reserve.

THE BRACELET:

The X41 comes with either a leather strap (which wasn’t provided to me) or a titanium-linked bracelet. The bracelet features a really nice butterfly clasp that I found very comfortable with a nice branded integration once clicked in - however, this is about where the bracelet stopped for me.

I did find myself a bit underwhelmed by the titanium bracelet option, and I think I would have preferred a leather strap - and that’s something I typically never say. I’m confident that everyone didn’t have my problem, but I found the links a bit too long, and adding one made the watch too loose, but removing one made the watch too tight. This is compounded by the lack of any sort of micro-adjustment capability (even though the butterfly clasp functioned fine).

Further, and probably my biggest qualm with the X41, was the bracelet attachment to the case. I’ll preface this by saying that I recognize what CODE41 has attempted to do. The case and bracelet are so easy to pop on and off, that I was able to use my thumbs to change the bracelet out. However, the fit and the look of the Titanium bracelet against the AeroCarbon case is simply a bit awkward. The titanium doesn’t quite match the hue or the finish of the case, so it’s a little mismatched in color and texture, although subtle, was especially exaggerated in the sun. And because of the wide lug length and tapered bracelet, there is a large gap in the corners of the case and lugs. I think this watch would intensely benefit from having a fitted carbon bracelet (if any bracelet) - even though the price would shoot up a little bit. Myself? I’d probably just opt for the leather option.

Overall, I very much enjoyed my time with CODE41 X41 AeroCarbon. In an industry where transparency is majorly, errr… Hidden (to say the least), it’s refreshing to see a brand that is doing things a lot different than its competition. I’ve appreciated seeing CODE41’s rise to success and really hope we see other brands rip a page from their book when it comes to letting people know exactly where their money is going when purchasing a watch from them. The CODE41 is a lot of watch for the money, and you can literally see why any time you wish.

So, How much is the CODE41 X41 AeroCarbon Edition 6?

Price for the new Edition 6 X41 starts at $6,605 USD for the AeroCarbon, and $6,045 USD for other configurations and will be available in late April for a limited period of time.

Read more about the watch at Code41Watches.com You can also check out their pre-order video here.