Halios Universa Pastel Blue - Another winner from Halios - Beans & Bezels

Disclaimer: I purchased this watch new from Halios for around $760 USD and was not externally incentivized in any way to make this review. This review is in no way sponsored by Halios or any other entity. All opinions here are my own.
If you watched my review of the pastel blue Seaforth a few weeks ago, you'll know how impressed I was with that watch. Since then, I've purchased two Seaforth watches of my own, and I've been waiting for this Universa ever since I heard about it's existence a few months ago. This watch belongs to the same design family as the Fairwind, and can be thought of as a fixed bezel Fairwind, however there's more to it than just the bezel, as we'll see in a bit.
The pastel blue dials for the Universa were released in small amounts for this release, and I believe only 100 of these dials were made as a trial run. Jason has stated that this dial will return in the next release. The bathyl blue and slate grey dial options are still available, and are being released in small batches every 2-3 weeks. Due to the current COVID situation, Jason has moved assembly to Canada, and these watches are being hand assembled to order by Roldorf & Co, hence the throttled release.
These watches cost $735 USD, with an additional $25 to ship it to the United States. And while I maybe slightly biased since I'm somewhat of a Halios fanboy, hopefully by the end of this video you'll see why I think this is a very reasonable price for what you're getting.
Don't forget to check out the full review here - www.beansandbe...
And you can find more photographs of this watch and others on the Beans & Bezels Instagram page: / beans_and_bezels
Strap #1 - Nomad N2W Emery Dress Epsom Leather Strap in Tan - www.nomadwatch...
Strap #2 - Monstraps Camo Leather Strap Dark Khaki - monstraps.com/...
Strap #3 - Monstraps Vulcanized Rubber Tropic Strap in Light Grey - monstraps.com/...
Strap #4 - Artem Sailcloth Watch Strap with Grey Stitching 20mm - artemstraps.co...
Strap #5 - iWantAStrap Sailcloth Strap with Orange Stitch - www.iwantastra...
Strap #6 - William Wood Upcyled Firehose Strap - williamwoodwat...
Strap #7 - Nomad N2W Classic Horween Leather Strap in Chromexcel® - www.nomadwatch...
Strap #8 - Hadley Shrunken Grain Leather in Tan - www.wearhadley...
#Halios #Universa #Watch #Review #BeansAndBezels
keywords:
halios, universa, pastel, blue, micro, brand, microbrand, watch reviews, watch, reviews, watch review, beans, bezels, beans and bezels, beansandbezels, delugs, vario, hadley, nomad watch works, nomad n2w, watch bandit, straps, leather, artem, monstraps, iwantastrap, roldorf & co, canada, canadian microbrand

[@roldorfco]

Many thanks for the shout out. Very glad to see you like the watch. We have some 'behind the scenes' videos of the Halios watch on our channel if you're interested.

[@BeansAndBezels]

The behind the scenes videos are excellent, and I'll pin this post so that folks can check it out.

[@jamesblonde2271]

rgr that

[@bestboy897]

Amazing macros. Fantastic gada. Reminds me of Rolex Tiffany Blue

[@mono1no1aware]

Another great review, B&B. Halios continues to impress! What a fun color for Spring and Summer, and it looks really great.😎👍

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for coming back and watching another review! Absolutely, I think this dial's entry to my collection was perfectly timed for Spring/Summer!

[@mrheartbane]

Fantastic review! The macro shots show how good Jason's quality control is. Just amazed how good this watch is for the price. Hits all the key areas. This is my first proper watch and it just maybe my last...oh who am I kidding - down the rabbit hole we go 🤣

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching, and yes absolutely. The dial QC is beyond impressive, and I think some credit needs to go to Roldorf & Co. for that. I'm really picky about dials, and this one did not disappoint. Haha, don't fool yourself! The number of watches you need = number of watches you have + 1. Always!

[@nikkolomakaveli8295]

I miss these in depth reviews!!!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words and support. Maybe one day!

[@SinnerAndSaint]

Great watch, I really dig the style of the watch and the tiffany blue dial is awesome! Thanks for presenting this lovely watch on your channel. All the best from Germany!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching!

[@AndyinSG]

Excellent video of an excellent watch. The case design, clasp and dial... very nice! Thanks for doing this.

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching!

[@tristanthorne7007]

Awesome review, and very much appreciated. Been looking at the bathyal blue version for quite some time, and your impressions have convinced me to put it at the top of my list of future acquisitions!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Glad I could help!

[@cecilyau4440]

Thanks for another great review and a superb watch to end on for a while. My collection is beyond full right now, so the Halios will have to wait. Definitely in my top 3. Take care, man!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for the kind words, and for the continued support! The Seaforth Gen IV might be worth looking into towards the end of the year (or whenever it releases).

[@cecilyau4440]

@@BeansAndBezels If it’s end of year or early 2022, that would be near perfect timing. Thanks, and again, take care!

[@MrZanzibar123]

Another impressive review: informative, thoughtful, and critical (which too many KZbin watch reviewers aren’t)! Very helpful. Nonetheless, I was a little confused by the fact that you seem to dislike the stiff stem action at the beginning and then say you liked it at the end…?

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching, and for the continued support. Sorry if that came off as contradictory. I like the stiff stem action, I just don't like the crown design given the stiff action. A flatter and larger crown would've suited the action slightly better.

[@Andrewl1]

Great review, enjoyed it a lot. Helps make the wait for my slate grey Universa bearable. Cheers.

[@BeansAndBezels]

Glad I could help! And I think you'll be more than pleased with your Uni.

[@jayebirdjb7143]

Excellent review for a very well thought out design and execution.

[@BeansAndBezels]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching.

[@buck-pucker]

Awesome review. You cover everything.

[@BeansAndBezels]

I appreciate that!

[@timefliesby-jleo474]

Great job! Love the video and I believe Jason said they should be shipping my grey Universa this week! Thanks buddy!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Congrats! The grey one is the most elusive so far, and I think I've only seen a couple of photographs of it. Please share videos/photographs when you recieve it :D

[@timefliesby-jleo474]

@@BeansAndBezels I will we have already communicated on Instagram regarding this model. I have only seen the blue one once and pastel blue and silver however not the grey one so I’m excited about it for sure

[@BeansAndBezels]

@@timefliesby-jleo474 I'm looking forward to seeing it too!

[@Andrewl1]

@@BeansAndBezels What could be the reason for this? I was under the impression the pastel blue en silver/white are limited and the blue and grey are 'common' - produced in higher numbers. Any idea of a number produced on the other dials colours?

[@b.vonschnauser207]

Outstanding review. Beautiful watch. The arabics remind me a bit of the Smiths Everest PRS-25.Can't wait to receive my Bathyal Blue Gloss!

[@shrirajp]

Finally! Great review of a great looking watch!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks man! Hope you get yours soon. You're going to love it.

[@bendskelton]

Great review! I'm excited to receive my Selenic Silver Universa 😁

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks! The Selenic looks great, I'm sure you'll love it.

[@alexandrecharra38]

To me this looked like the perfect one watch collection. 38 mm, handwound (love the relationship with the watch and the thinness), quick adjust bracelet, glossy dial and applied markers, beautiful crystal with vintage distortion. Where it exceeds my expectations is in the light play, both from markers/dial and bezel/bracelet. Possible upgrades would be yes thinner clasp as it can get caught in a shirt (but really happy with the quick adjust, tradeoff worth it imo) and the crown action as you mention is not the most pleasant, though it feels really really secure. The brand ethos is also a huge bonus and I feel like if the same watch was made by a brand under the watch group it could have easily be priced 1.5 times higher. Oh and did I mention that light play? ;) I'm in love. Congrats to Jason and the team at Roldorf. And of course thanks for the review, will be waiting for the Ming and the Atelier Wen in a few months :)

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching, and for your continued support! I really appreciate it. Those are all great observations, and I hope you're enjoying your Universa as much as I'm enjoying mine.

[@HorologyinSanity]

The more I see these, the more tempted I am to want one. But, I'm trying to hold strong for the new Seaforth.

[@BeansAndBezels]

Get both, haha. I plan on picking up a Ti Seaforth as well!

[@alexandrecharra38]

Watching the review with the Universa on. 😏

[@BeansAndBezels]

That's the way to do it!

[@JustAboutTime]

Very nice .. picking up this exact watch tomorrow. By the way I live 10 mins walk away from where this watch was assembled (Roldorf and Co).

[@BeansAndBezels]

I love those videos, and I hope there's more on the way! Looking forward to your video on the Universa.

[@JustAboutTime]

@@BeansAndBezels We are hoping to do an interview with Jason Lim at some point .. fingers crossed on that one. But for sure there's more videos in mind. I'm putting a 'Supercut' version on my channel combining 6 of the short videos. And for sure .. I will be doing a 'romancing the watch' video for the Halios Universa. I just got back from taking it out for a spin at the gym. Quite amazing how much I couldn't stop looking at the thing. The Sapphire high dome crystal is REALLY nice .. the whole experience of this watch is excellent. If I only could have one watch .. this might be a contender (though it is hard to think about giving up my Bremont S2000 ((Yellow)) .. to which I just got the bracelet for). But thanks for your review. I feel somewhat blessed to own one of these .. right place .. right time .. and the right job to earn one :D

[@phil5611]

I always enjoy your well thought out and articulated reviews. Your comments are objective and easy to understand. For me the winding experience is a negative which can not be appreciated any level. I have a Universa and Fairwind and think they share the same winding crown so there may be some economizing here. Nonetheless I am a fan boy for the brand but not quite a soul mate!

[@sauravgiri715]

After 2 weeks I feel the winding is a lot smoother

[@TennesseeMike]

Great Review. Brand is getting my attention. Great clasp.

[@amannurmohamed4374]

Nice review! I'm interested in the watch, but was concerned about the size on my 6" wrist. I'm glad to hear your "hack" may be able to work for my wrist size. However, I'm also concerned about the long lugs (as my sweet spot is usually 45.5mm). I'm wondering, does the slim case height and overall design mitigate the long lug to lug on slim wrist?

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching! I wouldn't recommend this bracelet for 6" wrists, but you can attempt it with the "hack". It might not be perfectly balanced, but I think it could fit. As for the lugs, I wouldn't worry about that at all. The lugs wrap around the wrists well, so you are unlikely to have any overhang on a 6" wrist. The slim case really helps tighten things up in terms of wear-ability.

[@cashinhand]

Question about your bracelet sizing hack. On this watch (Halios Universa), the original last link that's attached to the clasp on the 6 o'clock side is a sleeve/pin type link (it is not a screw type link). How did you manage to attach the last non removable link to the clasp once you removed the pin/sleeve original link attached to clasp, since the link next to the original last link has a hole in the middle that's bigger (to fit the sleeve) than the hole found in the next link? the sleeve from the pin/sleeve type link does not fit the next link (the link that's a screw type link) since the middle link hole is smaller. Did you make the hole bigger with a drill or something like that? I'm very interested to know how you solved this.

[@BeansAndBezels]

Sorry for the late reply. I didn't use a drill or make any permanent modifications. I just used a mallet and knocked out the pin. And used the same pin for the link that I attached after.

[@marusso12]

Excellent review

[@BeansAndBezels]

Glad you liked it!

[@bestboy897]

Great review

[@MrZepharus]

I can't even get on the subscription list. 4 emails and no response. I want to be understanding but it's not getting easier 😅 Great video as always

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, unfortunately Halios isn't great with the communication. But if you've sent the e-mail, you can be sure that you'll get a notification when the next batch drops. A reply on Instagram from yesterday stated 2-3 weeks for the next batch to go out.

[@lonibytyqi6093]

You mentioned Jason will be releasing this dial colorway in the future. I haven't missed this supposed release have I?

[@BeansAndBezels]

No you're right on time. I believe there's a batch going live this week as well as on the 22nd. I recommend emailing him right away to get on the list!

[@lonibytyqi6093]

@@BeansAndBezels cheers! Just did!!

[@BeansAndBezels]

@@lonibytyqi6093 hope you get one!

[@Kydos37]

Nice watches but the ordering process is just a clusterf*** Added this one to basket and by the time I put in my payment info and address I was told they were gone and the one in my basket didn't exist anymore. Jason seems to be aware of how difficult it is to buy a Halios and he did warn in his email that items in your basket wouldn't be reserved. I don't really understand that though, Helm do it that way and it seems so much more reasonable. Even if it's difficult to get them, at least you don't have to go through the whole checkout in record time just to see if you even have the option to buy. I like their watches and would love to pick one up but right now it seems like you need to program a bot to buy one for you if you want to have a chance so it's hard to entertain any real interest in them. Hopefully they can come up with some way of mitigating the problem in future.

[@BeansAndBezels]

I've designed systems like this before, and I think 'First Come, First Served' systems are the simplest and most fair, and won't result in the system getting locked up or risk under-utilizing resources. So I'm on their side with this one, and I think a lot desirable product sales follow the same strategy. This was also the first batch of many, and the next set of 50-100 Universas will become available for order in 2-3 weeks time, and I suspect will be a lot less busy as the first. I won't deny for a second that the Seaforth releases were an absolute mess, but based on how the Fairwind release has been going, I think this has been quite fair and I don't know anyone that wanted a Fairwind and didn't get one. And there's more on the way for that one too, so the only requirement is a little patience. No bots required.

[@Kydos37]

@@BeansAndBezels Many desirable products follow this strategy but they probably just don't care what happens as long as they sell out. Just look at Ticketmaster. Right now there is a pastel blue Universa on ebay with a current bid that is $290 than the price direct from Halios. I know Jason is aware of this problem because he asks people not to buy from these resellers but I think that is the inevitable result when the initial sale is just a mad scramble. I signed up to the Universa mailing list over a year ago, and even that was late to the party. Then when they finally go on sale there's a few seconds of chaos and they're gone before I've typed my address. I have to believe there's a better system than that. Let me put down a deposit to guarantee that one is reserved for me to buy when they go live. At the very least reserve it when I add it to the basket so I don't have to go through the checkout process only to be told I can't buy it anyway. Appreciate the reply and the channel as always.

[@BeansAndBezels]

@@Kydos37 I agree that it's not a perfect system, but a first come first serve payment gateway coupled with a staggered release over 2-3 months is a pretty fair strategy if you ask me. But obviously you're not going to be able to please everybody and meet all expectations, but it is a massive step up from how things went down with the Seaforth, and a massive step up from other "highly desirable watches". More Universas are on their way though. And yeah I noticed that one on eBay, but there have also been 3 others on Watchuseek and Reddit over the last 2 weeks that have been around retail (+$50/$100), which isn't too bad. And based on how the Fairwind has been performing on the secondary market, I think prices will be pretty fair once the initial hype settles down.

[@shipmate3577]

Screw Sinn and their price hikes, get a Halios!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching!

[@redcard1990]

So tempted, but I got the Seaforth with the SS bezel and bathyl blue..a big motivator to save up for the upcoming Seaforth in titanium if Jason is up to it.

[@BeansAndBezels]

Yeah the Gen IV Seaforth is definitely on my list too. I need a Titanium SF to finish my Seaforth collection haha.

[@shahbros3753]

How did you got it from Halios site, they're always out of stock 🤔

[@BeansAndBezels]

Sign up for the mailing list and send an e-mail to Jason telling him you're interested. You'll be notified when the next batch is released, which I think is in 2-3 weeks.

[@mnt6458]

Great review. Keep going with the good work my firend! Having said after the recent shitty show with Jason and Huckberry for the second released of this watch, Halios is dead to me

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching. I heard about the botched release and I think it is a real shame. Given how meticulous Jason is, I'd say this was more of a Huckberry blunder, but it is a real pity for anyone that couldn't get one. What bothers me more is Huckberry's failure to address this issue in their Instagram post earlier today.

[@theburbs2386]

I like it but I have 7.5inch wrists. Afraid it might look too small. Any thoughts?

[@BeansAndBezels]

I have a few friends with larger wrists 6.75-7.5" that own this watch and it looks totally fine.

[@OneDogKnight]

OK, so tiny wrist people want to know, how did you get the last link out (the non screw one) and how did you get it back together?

[@BeansAndBezels]

I just knocked out the pin like you would any pin/collar bracelet, and then attached it directly to the last link using the same pin. It isn't a perfect fit, but I managed it without any issues.

[@cedarcanoe]

Check out the blue dial Orion Hellcat if you are into light blue dials (I know I am!). Nice video, thanks!!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks for watching, and for your continued support! I love that hellcat dial, but I'm not a fan of the blasted case there. That reminds me, I need to try and get a Hellcat to review when I start doing them again. Love those dials.

[@anthonysmithyman372]

Hi, do you have any links for the straps you have suggested? thanks...Tony

[@BeansAndBezels]

They're in the description!

[@anthonysmithyman372]

@@BeansAndBezels ok thanks!

[@hjander]

I appreciate your disclaimer. I stopped watching videos by Teddy Baldassarre because he "reviews" watches that he sells on his website - i.e., his reviews are in fact advertisements. KZbin should require him (and other sellers/reviewers) to disclosure the same conflict of interest. Keep up the good work!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Thanks. KZbin made it mandatory to include these disclaimers. I too have "sponsored" videos, where brands sent me watches to review (without needing to return it), but those are marked accordingly.

[@mikevac1978]

SaleenDriver sent me over

[@nintendokings]

I like Halios but think this would look a bit kiddish on my 7.3in wrist

[@BeansAndBezels]

A buddy of mine picked up this exact watch and has a 7" wrist. It doesn't look small on him at all, so maybe 7.3" could work too?

[@beyondtheclouds95]

I wish i could just buy one but it seems impossible to get my hands on halios watches :’(

[@BeansAndBezels]

Send an email and sign up for the waitlist. It's not that hard.

[@beyondtheclouds95]

Already subscribed to the restock email but haven’t heard anything didnt want to spam him w emails, but did reaching out help?

[@BeansAndBezels]

@@beyondtheclouds95 yeah in that case I'd say don't hesitate to reach out again!

[@jamar959]

No clue how you get one. Nothing available on their web sight for at least the past 6 months!

[@BeansAndBezels]

Sign up for their mailing list AND send them an email indicating your interest. You'll hear back as soon as orders go live (likely 1-2 weeks) again.

[@jamesblonde2271]

Great non diver option, little expensive but not bad value....

[@BeansAndBezels]

Absolutely!