Nezumi Voiture VM2 Review: The Racing Chronograph Grows Up
The Racing Chronograph Grows Up
Nezumi is one of those brands where when they release something, you listen. It is a small habit I have picked up over the years, and it is not one I extend to many microbrands. The Stockholm studio operates at a cadence that never feels forced, releases stay tight and coherent, and each new reference tends to sharpen the identity rather than dilute it. Ever since the Aviera GMT landed, I have been quietly waiting for the next step. The Voiture VM2 is that step.
Founded in Stockholm and building watches designed in Sweden and assembled in Germany, Nezumi Studios has spent the last decade carving out a very specific corner of the microbrand landscape. Vintage motorsport, mid-century instrument design, and a graphic sensibility that owes more to classic racing dashboards than to modern watch marketing. The Voiture was the first Nezumi watch, launched in 2015 as a compact racing chronograph shaped by classic cars and 1960s and 1970s chronograph language. In 2021, the limited VM1 turned that idea mechanical for the brand's tenth anniversary.
The VM2, launching September 30 2026 at €850 excluding VAT, is the mechanical Voiture made permanent. It is not a replacement for the mecha-quartz Voiture, and it is not a limited edition to chase down. It is a properly built automatic column-wheel chronograph slotted into the core collection, offered from launch in two references (VM2.202 and VM2.1102) with a choice of leather, canvas, or a solid link steel bracelet. There is a lot to unpack, so let us start with what makes this release quietly unusual.
Case and Proportions: Slim by Design
Mechanical chronographs have a habit of announcing themselves through thickness. Column wheels, extra bridges, an oscillating weight, and, in many designs, a chronograph module stacked on top of a base calibre tend to add up in the metal. The Voiture VM2 pushes hard in the other direction. The brushed 316L stainless steel case measures 40mm across, 47mm from lug to lug, and just 11mm in the metal, with the 1.9mm double domed sapphire crystal bringing the total to 12.9mm.
That is a real number. For context, the existing mecha-quartz Voiture sits at 11.1mm before crystal and 12.75mm including its dome. The VM2 comes within a couple of tenths of a millimetre of that despite carrying an automatic column-wheel chronograph inside. Nezumi has clearly refused to let the mechanical evolution become the visual one.
The 39mm bezel sitting inside a 40mm case is the trick that pulls the whole thing together. The narrower bezel diameter lets the profile taper toward the dial, so from above the watch reads even slimmer than the numbers suggest. Add a 20mm lug width, brushed flanks, a push/pull crown flanked by two chronograph pushers, and a fixed tachymeter bezel, and the VM2 lands squarely in the classic 1960s racing chronograph silhouette without any of the modern bloat. Five ATM (50m / 165ft) of water resistance rounds out the daily-wear brief (the mecha-quartz Voiture matches this figure, so nothing has been sacrificed to get the movement in).
For a 40mm chronograph on a 20mm strap, this is exactly the kind of proportion collectors have been asking for.
A Dial That Reads Like an Instrument Cluster
The VM2 keeps the layout that has always defined the Voiture: a recessed 3-6-9 tri-compax with a 30-minute counter at three, small running seconds at six, and a 12-hour counter at nine, all crossed by a bright central chronograph hand. The 3-6-9 geometry is inherited from the Voiture family, but the counter functions themselves have been rearranged around the mechanical calibre and read differently to the mecha-quartz Voiture on the shelf next to it. It is the automotive timing instrument idea in its purest form, and it stays instantly readable at a glance. Around the perimeter, applied brushed steel indices, a stepped chapter ring, and that fixed tachymeter bezel finish the instrument-panel language.
Where the mecha-quartz Voitures sit relatively flat on the dial, the VM2 leans into depth. Nezumi has added more layering, a stepped chapter ring, and greater dial depth to give the whole surface a more developed mechanical character. The sub-registers sit noticeably below the main dial plane, which is exactly the kind of detail that changes how a chronograph reads under raking light.
Two references arrive at launch and they play very different roles. The VM2.202 is the moodier of the two: a mostly black main dial with cream 3-6-9 sub-registers, a black tachymeter bezel, and a subtle warm cream tone across the running seconds and hour indices. It reads like a panda-adjacent racing chronograph from the funkier end of the 1970s, restrained but not shy. The VM2.1102 is where the personality gets loud (in the best possible way). A graphite grey main dial, cream and grey sub-registers with orange numerals inside the 12-hour and 30-minute counters, and an orange central chronograph hand that ties the whole colour story together. It is the one you notice first across a room.
Lume across both dials is Swiss Grade X1 Super-LumiNova, filling the hour and minute hands and applied indices. This is a chronograph designed to be legible day and night without overloading the dial with markers.
The Peacock SL-4801: A Column-Wheel Foundation
Nezumi has chosen the Peacock SL-4801 automatic column-wheel chronograph movement for the VM2, and the choice is worth taking seriously. This is a proper column-wheel calibre, meaning the start, stop, and reset sequence of the chronograph is coordinated by a rotating column rather than by cams, which is the traditional and enthusiast-preferred construction. Beat rate is 28,800 vph (4 Hz), and power reserve is roughly 55 hours.
Two things matter here. First, the calibre is slim, which is precisely why the VM2 could be built to those 11mm case proportions in the first place. A thicker chronograph movement would have forced a taller case, and the whole slim-mechanical promise would have gone with it. Second, each Peacock calibre is inspected, lubricated where needed, regulated, and tested in Germany before the watch is cased up and passes final quality control. Swedish design, Chinese calibre, German watchmaking and QC, and a column-wheel construction typically reserved for pricier watches.
The push/pull crown carries an engraved Nezumi logo on its face, and the caseback is a brushed solid steel disc stamped with the full Nezumi Stockholm signature, the “EST 2011” mark, and the brand’s “Creating Bonds Since 2011” tagline running around the perimeter. It is a caseback that treats the back of the watch as a piece of design in its own right rather than a shortcut to an exhibition window (there is a small confidence in showing off your logo and tagline instead of the movement, and it fits the Nezumi register perfectly). It also keeps the case profile clean and helps the VM2 hold its slim proportions.
Strap Choices and the Colin 2.2 Bracelet
Nezumi is offering the VM2 on three different strap and bracelet options, which is more choice than you usually get at this price point. The Rindt leather rally strap comes in black or brown, with a punched perforated pattern that ties the chronograph automotive fit together beautifully. The Juno canvas strap is available in black, navy blue, or moss green, for anyone who wants a lighter and more casual wear. And then there is the Colin 2.2 solid link steel bracelet.
The bracelet is the one I keep circling back to. A properly designed solid link bracelet on a 40mm racing chronograph is a very different watch to the same reference on a rally strap, and the price difference between choosing the strap or the bracelet configuration at checkout is quiet: €850 excluding VAT gets you a strap configuration, €902 excluding VAT gets you the same watch on the Colin 2.2 bracelet. That is a €52 delta between the two configurations, which is close enough to a rounding error that if you were on the fence I would push myself toward the bracelet configuration (or ideally, buy the strap version and grab a bracelet on the side, so you can rotate depending on the day).
The leather buckle deserves a mention too. Nicely designed, cleanly engraved, and it ties the whole strap presentation together in a way that a lot of microbrands still get wrong. Details like that add up.
Why It’s Special
The VM2 is worth paying attention to for reasons that go beyond spec-sheet arithmetic. This is a considered release from a brand that has spent a decade building toward exactly this format.
- Slim mechanical proportions at 11mm in the metal: at 12.9mm total including the domed crystal, the VM2 sits genuinely close to its mecha-quartz sibling.
- A permanent mechanical Voiture, not a limited edition: the VM1 was a tenth-anniversary drop that came and went. The VM2 is designed as an ongoing core-collection reference, which means the mechanical Voiture is finally a watch you can actually go and buy without hunting the secondary market.
- A column-wheel chronograph at €850 excluding VAT: column-wheel construction is normally reserved for movements that push a chronograph well into four-figure territory. Getting one in a Swedish-designed, German-assembled 40mm case at this price is quite uncommon.
- Two dial personalities from launch: the VM2.202 leans classic and restrained, the VM2.1102 leans loud and motorsport. Nezumi is letting you pick a mood rather than forcing a compromise dial.
- Three strap and bracelet configurations with quite a minimal delta for the Colin 2.2 bracelet: at €52 excluding VAT between the strap and bracelet configurations.
Verdict: The Voiture Finally Arrives
The Voiture has always been the watch that set Nezumi's direction. It was there in 2015, it defined the graphic, purposeful, automotive language that runs through everything the brand has released since, and it stayed in the catalogue as a mecha-quartz reference while the VM1 gave a taste of what a mechanical version could look like. The VM2 is the version that finally locks it in.
Starting at €850 excluding VAT for a strap configuration, and €902 excluding VAT if you choose the Colin 2.2 bracelet at checkout, this is a properly priced automatic column-wheel chronograph in a slim 40mm case with two very distinct dial personalities and three strap or bracelet configurations. If you have been circling the mechanical Voiture idea since 2021 and could never quite justify chasing a limited VM1, this is your entry point.
Between the two references, I keep coming back to the VM2.1102. Something about those orange chronograph accents against the graphite grey dial hits the exact register a 1970s racing chronograph should. But if you prefer the moodier route, the VM2.202 is right there waiting. Either way, this is the Voiture Nezumi has been building toward for a decade, and it is finally here to stay.
Specifications
- Brand: Nezumi Studios
- Model: Voiture VM2 (references VM2.202 and VM2.1102)
- Case Material: Brushed 316L stainless steel
- Case Dimensions: 40mm diameter, 39mm bezel, 47mm lug to lug, 12.9mm thick (11mm case + 1.9mm crystal), 20mm lug width
- Water Resistance: 5 ATM (50m / 165ft)
- Strap: Rindt perforated leather rally strap (black or brown), Juno canvas strap (black, navy, moss green), or Colin 2.2 solid link steel bracelet
- Crystal: Double domed sapphire with AR coating on the inside
- Movement: Peacock SL-4801 automatic column-wheel chronograph
- Power Reserve: Approximately 55 hours at 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Lume: Swiss Grade X1 Super-LumiNova on hands and indices
- Limited Edition: No, part of the permanent Nezumi core collection
- Origin: Designed in Sweden, assembled and quality controlled in Germany
- Price: From €850 excluding VAT (strap configuration), €902 excluding VAT (Colin 2.2 bracelet configuration)
- Launch Date: September 30 2026
More information about this exact watch model on Nezumi Studios.
Image Gallery
About Nezumi Voiture VM2: Key Questions Answered
Is the Nezumi Voiture VM2 a limited edition?
No, and that is one of the more interesting decisions Nezumi has made here. The original mechanical Voiture, the VM1 from 2021, was a limited run tied to the brand’s tenth anniversary. The VM2 has been designed as a permanent part of the Nezumi core collection, which means the column-wheel chronograph now sits alongside the mecha-quartz Voiture as an ongoing reference rather than a one-off drop.
What is the difference between the Voiture VM2.202 and the VM2.1102?
Both share the same 40mm brushed steel case, Peacock SL-4801 movement, and 3-6-9 recessed dial layout. The VM2.202 runs a moodier, mostly monochrome dial with cream sub-registers and a black tachymeter bezel, leaning into a classic panda-adjacent look. The VM2.1102 is a graphite grey dial with orange chronograph hands and orange accents inside the registers, which is the more overtly motorsport of the two.
How thick is the Voiture VM2 on the wrist?
The case itself is 11mm in the metal, with the double domed sapphire crystal adding another 1.9mm for a total of 12.9mm. That is genuinely slim for an automatic column-wheel chronograph, and the 39mm bezel sitting inside a 40mm case tapers the profile toward the dial, so the visual impression is even flatter than the numbers suggest.
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