We frequently feature Swiss watches where you will need to take out a second mortgage just to contemplate owning them, but the new Chrono 4 Géant from Swiss watch maker Eberhard & Co. is a Swiss watch with all of the quality but much less of the crippling cost.

Eberhard & Co. is one of those Swiss watch brands that quietly bubble under. The story is familiar. A youthful watch maker by the name of Georges-Emile Eberhard, having decided his skill and knowledge were sufficiently prodigious, took the time honoured decision to open the Eberhard watch making shop in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1887. The mechanical quality and opulence of young Eberhard’s pocket watches soon earned him a good reputation among some of the more discerning watch collectors of the day. The manufacture turned their attention to wristwatches some twenty years later and as a result of their success, Eberhard became Eberhard & Co. when Georges-Emile’s sons followed in his footsteps.

Now the company have decided its founding should be celebrated with the Chrono 4 Géant special titanium edition. It will be limited to 1887 models for reasons you can probably guess. (Hint: look at the date).

Eberhard describes the titanium model as ‘an exclusive chronograph with explosive energy, generating a strong and decisive impact with every aspect of its design details.’

At 46mm the ‘Géant’ part of the watch name is no misnomer. The titanium case has a satin finish with a rotating bezel studded with six PVD-treated screws and, engraved on the satin caseback are the name of the model and the rather ominous motto: “never forget who you are”. The watch is water-resistant to 200 metres, with an anti-reflective sapphire crystal.

The titanium Chrono 4 Géant displays a circular metal plate, with a “Côte de Genève” décor. The date window is at 12 o’clock, just above the retro Eberhard logo.

Luminescent applique indexes and the central seconds hand figure prominently. The in-house 53 jewels calibre EB 251 automatic chronometer movement powers the cool in-line racing style sub dial displays with contrasting red hands, (minutes, hours, 24 hours and small seconds).

Reinforcing its unmistakeably masculine character, the Chrono 4 Géant comes either on a vertically sculpted rubber strap, or with a titanium bracelet.

So what we have here is a hefty chunk of titanium timekeeping with an in-house chronometer movement, “Côte de Genève” décor and snailed counter displays; all the attention to detail of a major Swiss watch marque. While we don’t have a price for the titanium limited edition yet, judging by existing models in the Eberhard Chrono 4 Géant range, the asking price is likely to be significantly below that of the major players.

It just goes to show that great value in quality Swiss watches is there for the taking if you are prepared to search a little harder.