Edge was introduced by Titan Industries(now called as Titan Company Ltd.) in the year 2002 and it soon entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the slimmest watch in the universe. I was in the formative years of my professional career and could only appreciate the watch from a distance. Whenever I had reasons to visit the Titan showroom either for a battery change or regular servicing of my regular titan watch, I would never miss the opportunity to have a close look at the slim design of the edge. Years later, I had made up my mind that once I peak in to my career I would gift myself an edge as it simplifies the discerning taste of corporate individuals in my view.
A decade later in 2012 Edge got a complete makeover with a new collection that features sapphire glass on either side of the dial, titanium casing. The space collection model that weighs only 36grams has a case in case skeletal design has won the red dot design award in 2013 for excellence in design.
On my 40th birthday, I finally gifted to myself one from the Edge collection. Bought from the World of Titan showroom, this one from the 1044 series was introduced few years back and has featured regularly on the titanworld website under the Edge collection.
The NE1044SL01 watch features the very popular tonneau shaped dial that resembles a barrel in profile. The numerals are marked like bar on a white dial that has a pressed pattern and polished in silver. The minute and hour hands are shaped like an alligator with the head and tail parts being very narrow and the middle portion being slightly broad. The crown wheel is hexagonal shaped to provide a better grip while adjusting time. The back case made out of non-allergic stainless steel prominently displays the word EDGE with other information such as 30M water resistance and sapphire crystal glass. Unlike many other watches that usually sport mineral glass, the edge collection comes with sapphire crystal glass.
Few words on Sapphire Crystal - the hardest oxide crystal, which is the basic crystal morphology of alumina(Al2O3). It possesses the characters of high strength, high hardness, high heat-resistance, wear ability, corrosion resistance and light transmittance performance, which is the preferred watch glass material for the luxury watches. When it is heated, the synthetic sapphire forms round masses that are sliced into pieces with diamond-coated saws. These disks are then ground and polished into watch crystals.(One reason sapphire crystals are relatively expensive is that the tools required to make them are costly.) Sapphire(whether natural or synthetic) is one of the hardest substances on earth. It measures 9 on the Mohs scale, which is a system for rating the relative hardness of various materials.(Diamond measures 10, the highest rating.) Watch crystals made of synthetic sapphire are often marketed as "scratch resistant", meaning they are very difficult - but not impossible - to scratch.
The glass is slightly etched at the rim with thickness not exceeding 1mm! The thickness of the dial is less than 4mm(3.97 mm to be precise) and the dimension of 30.5mm x 32.09mm perfectly suits any person with average mid-sized wrist. The black leather strap in croco-finish completes the package.
The watch is provided in a case which itself is very unique. It is a flat long metal case on which the watch is placed and then covered with black leather case.
This watch is currently priced Rs.8295/- at the World of Titan Showroom and is suitable for discerning formal wears.