Buying Guides
Retrovivo - Budget Watches with Big Personality
Who are Retrovivo? They are a Microbrand from the Sicilian region of Italy who started in the technical processes such as supplying components, to now, where Retrovivo create watches with the knowledge and respect of the parts that introduced the founder into the watch industry.
Coming from the Sicilian region of Italy, Founder Giuseppe Bua started out in the watch industry in 2013 supplying parts and components for other watches first, before founding Retrovivo in early 2025, a creative move which allows the watches created to keep costs down through a decade of supplying components, while keeping the promise of quality and ensures the aim of the brand and the design language is conveyed in the final product in the tight budget.
The overall brand aim and design ethos is vintage styling, while building solid, modern watches, hence the brand name, RetroVivo - retro styling of watches and 'Vivo' meaning 'living' or 'to live' in English, a synonym of present times and modern technology and features included in wristwatches.
RV01 was the first model released by the brand in 2025, which like many microbrands, began on Kickstarter, with the goal gaining traction and attention across the wider community, due to the vintage-design and affordable price. The RV01 was a success, and it was a simply-styled 39mm circular wristwatch, available in four different colours, Black, Green, Sand and Grey, with tan-coloured hands and indices housing Swiss Luminova in each model, with the green model seen below.
The RV01 was priced at 160 Euros, and with an Italian Leather Strap, Sapphire Crystal, Grained Texture Dial and Seiko VH31 Sweeping Seconds Mecha-Quartz Movement - it seems like value and tasteful design has been achieved and remained in the brand's designs throughout. While not a mechanical movement, it provides great reliable accuracy and appears smooth and mechanical, and this Mecha-Quartz style movement has been a go-to for value-for-money microbrands aiming to show off their watchmaking techniques while keeping costs down and reliability strong.
With the RV01 a success for Retrovivo, the RV02 followed suit in the same minimalistic yet vintage style, showing off a different set of watchmaking techniques and skills while remaining true to the brands character.
The RV02 followed this time in the style of a diver's watch, featuring a unidirectional, 120-click ceramic bezel, and once again 4 different colourways to choose from, including; Grey, Blue, Orange or Brown. To compliment this range of colours, each dial's indices feature a vintage-cream shade of Swiss C3 Lume, making great contrast on particularly vintage colours such as brown and grey, and providing easy legibility in darker settings.
While the RV02 retails for 300 Euros, it is currently on sale for 200 Euros, and with the specifications (listed below) being an evolution on the RV01, this piece appears to be a bargain, with great looks, a range of intricate watchmaking techniques and improvements over the RV01 through experience.
While the movement in the RV02 uses the same Seiko VH31 Mecha-Quartz, it is reliable Japanese movement that gives the impression of mechanical, and other brands in this price range such as Furlan Marri use Mecha-Quartz, with the Retrovivo watch being priced at less than half of some of these competitors.
Specifications of the RV02 include:
-316L Brushed and Polished Stainless Steel
-39MM Diameter and 47MM Lug-to-Lug
-12.5MM Thickness including Sapphire Crystal Treated with Anti-Reflective Coating
-Unidirectional Ceramic Bezel
-Engraved Screw-Down Crown
-20ATM Water Resistance
-C3 Swiss SuperLuminova
-Stainless Steel Beads of Rice Bracelet with Micro-Adjust Clasp
We really like what we see with this new RV02 Model, especially the grey dial, the vintage cream C3 SuperLuminova matches perfectly with the Grey Gradient Dial, which is also textured to give the watch a further vintage design language.
Could Retrovivo be a brand to watch in the future? We hope so, as the current designs perfectly respond to the brand's message and character, and they are currently providing great value-for-money on this current model line.
Italy's recent watchmaking rise has been great to watch, with other brands from the area such as Venizianico and Unimatic leading the way, carrying the heritage from big-names such as Panerai. Could Retrovivo hit the spot with their audience, creating classic designs with their Italian charm, and add to the list of names from the region?
