The Cadola CD-1049 Farina

by Tyler Frederick

Racing inspiration

While I was at the Toronto Timepiece Show, I finally had the opportunity to meet the folks from Spinnaker, AVI-8, and the motorsport-inspired brand Cadola. I’ve seen some of their pieces pop up on my Instagram feed, and I’ve been curious about them for a while since they had two watches with designs inspired by the helmets of Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda. However, after reaching out via IG and email, I had no response. After a conversation with Roshan, who works closely with the aforementioned brands, he got me in touch with the team from Cadola. Within a week, I had the new Cadola CD-1049 Farina in Hazelnut Shade, and it’s not what I was expecting, so let’s get into it.

^{Cadola CD-1049 Farina in Hazelnut @horologyobsessed}

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Key Features of the Cadola CD-1049 Farina:

I’m going to be very transparent from the beginning, there are some things that made me scratch my head and feel confused about this watch. However, I understand there is a market for a watch of this stature, so we’ll start with my first impression: damn, this thing is big. When I saw the initial images on the Cadola website, I fell in love; it’s a budget-friendly watch with an integrated look. The dial and bezel looked great, the overall construction appeared generic, but they hit the mark with the racing vibe—it looked fast and ready to race, so I was looking forward to receiving the watch. When it showed up and I opened the box, both eyebrows quickly shot up, and the words “Oh my god, it’s huge” left my mouth.

Case

This is where the confusion begins. Upon initial unboxing, the first thing that went through my mind was “this is supposed to be a racing watch. I can’t see this on the arm of a driver.” My second concern was not only the overall diameter, but also the thickness. The CD-1049 Farina measures 44mm in diameter, 14.5mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 53mm and a lug width of 27mm. I must have missed that when I initially looked at the images. So, yeah, it’s a big one and quite cumbersome for my 6.5 inch wrists. But to be completely honest, size isn’t everything, and it’s not all bad.

Sporty appearance

If you take away the sizing, the CD-1049 Farina is a beautiful watch. The bracelet looks great, the shape is sporty and gives a 70s wedge era of automotive vibe or something partially futuristic and I absolutely adore the colour of both the dial and bezel. The warmth of the hazelnut bezel and the brown of the dial give me fall or Hershey chocolate and it just brings a lot of warmth when I look at it from afar. Not to mention, this is a great watch and you get quite a bit for the $199 price tag: “Integrated” sports watch, Seiko movement, decent bezel action. While the bracelet pulls hair slightly, it looks good and you get a lot for your money here.

SPECS

Case	Brushed 316L Stainless Steel 44mm Diameter 53mm Lug to Lug 14.5mm Thick 27mm “Lug Width” 100m Water Resistance
Dial & Crystal	Flat Sapphire Hazelnut Sandwich Dial Pencil Hands Luminous Markers
Movement	Seiko NH15 Automatic/Self-Winding 21 Jewels 21,600 vph 40-hour Power Reserve
Strap	Integrated Stainless Steel

Cadola CD-1049 Farina

Quibbles

I guess the big one is the sizing of the watch. If that 44mm could come down to 38 or 39, that would be fantastic—a thinner case would be much appreciated to help with the wearability too. This would also allow for a more narrow lug-to-lug and lug width, making it more compatible for those with an average wrist size. As I mentioned, I completely understand there is a market for watches of this size, but for most, this is a lot. I was also hoping to see more cues or design elements related to Formula One since the watch is apparently inspired by the first-ever F1 World Champion, Emilio Giuseppe “Nino” Farina, who won the inaugural F1 championship in 1950. More classic styling in a smaller case size would have made sense, but maybe I’m asking for too much.

Final Thoughts

This was a tough one for sure, and to the folks at Cadola, if you’re reading this, thank you for taking the time to send the CD-1049. It’s a gorgeous watch from an aesthetic perspective, and a little downsizing would go long way here. I’ve noticed that across the board, Cadola likes to size their watches on the larger side, but please consider making this 38 or 39 and keeping it at your current price point. You have a home run on your hands if you make that change; I’m sure of it.

Pricing & Availability

For more information or to check this out for yourself, please head over to Cadola, where you can find this one on sale for only $199 USD (approx. $280 CAD). Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts on the Cadola CD-1049, and until next time, have an amazing day!

About the author

Born into a family obsessed with motorsport, Tyler Frederick became enamoured with speed and beautiful cars at a young age. His love of Formula 1–and all things mechanical–eventually lead him to horology. You can follow him on Instagram.

Off The Cuff articles are full-length, hands-on reviews of the watch in question and represent the opinion of the author only. All photos are original, unless specified otherwise. If you would like to have your watch reviewed on this site, contact us here.