However, as this was a significant birthday, I wanted to buy my wife a special watch – something she can keep forever, build memories with and eventually pass on. My wife is clearly not a watch person per-se, but I know she appreciates my love of watches and often has an opinion to share with me. She’s not the sort to pursue anything gregarious or ostentatious and overt displays of wealth are certainly not her pursuits. She is however someone who appreciates elegant simplicity. This is personified in her current watch. As a healthcare professional, monitoring her own movement and heart throughout the day, is something she enjoys however she appreciates not being constantly connected and reminded of every notification. So her daily watch is a Withings Scanwatch, offering 2 hands to show the time and a display that only comes to life to show health data when the crown is pushed. With this in mind I wanted to buy her something for her 50th that was classy, simple and yet elegant. Something that would not necessarily draw unwanted attention, but at the same time fit in perfectly in almost all environments. I was also acutely aware that as this was not going to be worn on a daily basis (and my wife is not used to winding and setting a watch) so quartz would be both a practical and beneficial choice. It seems that in general the watch world is largely divided – on one hand those that believe that a quartz watch should not be regarded as a ‘proper’ watch and those that understand the history and heritage that brands have come through over the last centenary of watchmaking and warmly embrace a purposeful quartz implementation. Moreover I was also aware that I was not buying for myself – something that I think we all forget from time to time as we are trying not to fill the intention of a gift with our own bias’s or preferences.

With all of this in mind I realised that not only did the Cartier Tank embody all that I (on behalf of my wife) was looking for, it was from a brand with true deep heritage in the watch industry, as well as being relatively fiscally and substantially accessible – no waiting lists, no precocious expectations about my purchasing history qualifying me to buy the watch in question, and no financial ruin for the purchase. Fortunately I had the opportunity for my wife to try on a Cartier Tank previously under the guise of wanting to take some photographs of one on a wrist – which allowed me to test the waters so to speak and watch her reaction to seeing and wearing it. Although I didn’t buy it at this point, it certainly helped me to confirm my choice and be sure she would be pleased with it. It also seemed obvious to me to make sure I got an alternative strap option so that my wife can switch this out to suit her attire. Fortunately Cartier adopts the use of quick release spring bars in their straps which allows customers a tool-free experience in this regard. This allows you to take a few extra straps on holiday without being accosted at the airport for carrying something ‘pointy’ in your luggage. I chose Cartier’s Taupe strap and an additional buckle to simplify strap changes. Giving my wife her new watch before the trip meant she would have the opportunity to build and associate memories throughout our travels.

As I was growing up most of my holidays saw me either at home here in England or travelling to France with my family. Since getting married I have travelled more extensively, however usually to more distant locations which has led to a distinct lack of appreciation of countries and cultures closer to home here in Europe (something my wife and I aim to rectify!) As we were planning a trip, we both wanted to travel somewhere that was steeped in history and that neither of us had been to before – allowing us to discover somewhere new together.

We decided to share our time between two of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Croatia – Split and Dubrovnik (both UNESCO world heritage sites) and as this was going to be more of a trip of exploration rather than sitting on the beach, we decided to book a couple of AirBnB’s as this would provide us with the freedom to roam and experience the local culture.

Dubrovnik is one of the oldest cities in the world. It boasts the oldest public healthcare system in the world and as a consequence the pharmacy there has been open since 700 AD. It’s very clean, and the people are some of the warmest and friendliest people we’ve met. The old city of Dubrovnik itself relatively small and its easy to walk round the city in a few hours – if you have the chance to go (and I would recommend you should) I would recommend the roof top walk where you can explore the walls and views over the rooftops of the city. Our AirBnB looked out over the cathedral square which felt an almost idyllic scene in the evenings.

Split’s was founded centauries before by the Roman Emperor – Diocletian who built himself a retirement home (the Diocletian Palace) and moved there in 303AD. Split is much larger than the old city of Dubrovnik. Diocletian shipped spoils of his empire over a thousand miles from Egypt to adorn his palace – including a sphynx that was between 1-2 thousand years old when Diocletian acquired it and you can still see this within the palace grounds. An exploration of the city on foot will reveal an ancient city which has largely survived thousands of years and steeped in history. Climb the tower at Cathedral of Saint Domnius and you will have views across the whole city, harbour and surrounding landscape. Further exploration will have you find St. Martin’s Church through an innocuous doorway which stretches back to the 6th centaury and has been built into the wall that surrounds the city itself – spanning only a few feet wide, its so narrow there are places you can touch both the inner and outer walls at the same time.

Over ten days relaxing and exploring Split and Dubrovnik we couldn’t have had a better experience. Not only were the cities rich in history and beautiful scenery, but wherever we went the food, hospitality and people were what truly made us feel so incredibly welcome without exception. Spending time in these two beautiful old cities certainly delivered a sense of conviction that we should spend more time exploring and adventuring – discovering future memories and spending time immersed in cultures rich with history. Here lies the personal tension between the discovering new places, and returning to destinations enveloped with fond memories – Croatia is now a place that we’re deeply fond of and looking forward to returning to in the future.

The simplicity and timeless elegance of the Cartier Tank seemed to be perfectly at home in two cities with nearly two thousand years of history and heritage. The Cartier Tank embodies an almost timeless design – whether we were exploring the rooftops of Dubrovnik, eating at restaurant 360 (Dubrovnik’s Michelin star restaurant overlooking the old city) or perusing the streets of Split and hanging out in café’s – the Tank manages to stay elegant and cool at the same time, never seemingly out of place.

Over ten days we spent our time exploring the history of two incredible cities around some of the most warm, generous and welcoming people building memories and taking them with us. I know every time my wife wears her Tank she fondly remembers our time in Croatia and looks forward to building more memories through future adventures that she can be reminded of every time wears her watch.

The Cartier Tank is available here www.cartier.com or other authorised dealers.

As you would expect the new Blue Lagoon is adorned with the same 5-link jubilee style bracelet with the T-fit clasp providing instant on-the-fly adjustment – ideal for the summer weather.

The Blue Lagoon is delivered right on time for the summer weather and we can see this being a big hit – especially for those who have been on the cusp purchasing a BlackBay 54. If the turquoise colour choices from other brands are anything to go by, this will sell out quickly and I can see waiting lists on the horizon, so if you are interested in this piece, I would encourage you to call your local Tudor dealer without delay.

One small word of caution: due to the the size of this watch being 37mm, the T-fit easy adjustability and the colour and appeal of this for both men and women, this may provoke some challenging conversations with your partner who may be just as eager as you to wear your new purchase as you are in the coming months!

The new Blue Lagoon is not a limited edition and is available now from www.tudorwatch.com for £3,590

The Fears Arnos Pewter Blue is the first piece in this new collection, that focuses on modern watches with an angular case shape. The Fears Archive is well stocked with elegant rectangular watches, all with this distinctive tall and thin shape which was last used on the archival 1930 which was limited to just 175 pieces.

The Arnos’ slim and elegant rectangular case takes inspiration from the rectangular watches in the Fears Archive dating from the 1920s and 30s. The Arnos case is expertly machined from 316L Stainless Steel, in Switzerland, to a level usually reserved for precious metals. This precisely milled case has then been finished with a combination of linearly brushed and highly polished surfaces. This tall, slim watch is supremely comfortable due to its elegantly curved profile – the crystal, case and case back all possess the same matching curvature that maps the contours of the wrist perfectly. Complementing the case is a new bespoke (subtly onion-shaped, yet contemporary) winding crown, signed with the Fears Cypher.

Expertly made in Germany, the Arnos Pewter Blue dial features the striking combination of a blue circle within a grey rectangle – the ‘inner dial’ leaves a large negative space that forms the rectangular ‘outer dial’. The outer dial has a distinct hobnail pattern cut by a CNC machine at a precisely-defined angle, then coated in precious Rhodium. The inner dial is constructed from a separate section, which has been machine-turned with a concentric pattern before being coated in galvanic blue. This unique dial then features a set of contemporary-styled roman numerals (the first time they’ve featured on a core model in the modern Fears era) crisply printed in white.

The Arnos is powered by a top-grade Swiss-made, automatic Sellita SW1000 movement (that has been customised for Fears to display just hours / minutes). This small but mighty movement offers a power reserve of 46 hours and features a Fears Blue decorated rotor (which as per Fears tradition, also features the flower of Bristol motif).

The Arnos is presented in a slim, rectangular, wooden box made of solid ash and stained in our bespoke shade of blue. This luxury box was inspired by traditional slim Fears watch boxes used in the past, in which the watch lies flat. Recognising the company’s heritage, we called this box the Amos, after the names of both the 2nd and 3rd Managing Directors.

The top of the box is discreetly engraved with the Fears logo and features a gentle bevel around its edges, whilst the interior is lined in genuine cream suede. The box is secured by a polished chrome push button, keeping your watch safe and secure.

Pre-orders for the Fears Arnos is available now with the first batch shipping from July 2025 from
Available from www.fearswatches.com for £4350

In the 1960s, the world enjoyed a magical season of design and artistic creativity. A new era of international travel and exploration was taking hold, and diving using Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus – or SCUBA diving as it became known became a recreational activity. Divers needed reliable, legible watches for their underwater adventures and so in 1965 Oris created its first dive watch. It had large, luminescent numerals and promised high levels of performance.

The new watch pulls across some of the original design cues including the original quirky dial design, domed sapphire crystal and the bi-directional rotating bezel as well as the use of their historical Oris Logo including the word ‘Waterproof’ below the logo.

The new 60th anniversary edition is not a limited edition and is presented as a 40mm no-date variant with a 20mm lug width, an aluminium bezel insert, on a steel bracelet with an additional leather strap. Like the rest of the Divers65 range it’s water resistant (rather than waterproof) to 100m/10bar and is powered by the Oris calibre 733-1 a no-date iteration of a Sellita movement.

This edition now joins the rest of the Divers 65 and Divers date line up that totals some 95 models which is a lot of choice for a single model!

The new watch is available here for less than the existing range at £1950 here:
https://www.oris.ch/en-GB/product/watch/divers/divers-sixty-five/01-733-7772-4034-Set

Horwood House has been part of the Buckinghamshire landscape since the 18th century, although the current manor house was built in 1911, adjacent to the original rectory. Horwood is now a grade II listed building having recently undergone a £6 million renovation to preserve the unique features of the manor house and surrounding courtyard of thatched cottages. Great care has been taken to create a luxurious, modern environment which provides every comfort for guests, while retaining Horwood’s deep rooted heritage.

We’re on a mission to create the kind of welcome you’d get from close family, albeit on a grander scale.

Horwood House

This provided a beautifully serene setting to be able to relax, unwind, and switch off which then led to the inevitable question of which watches to take with me. As I don’t own an IWC I thought this would be a great chance to spend some time with something a little less familiar – which then left the question – which IWC would I like to spend some time with?

One of my best friends owns an IWC Pilots Chronograph which is a beautiful watch, however i find the dials of chronograph watches overly cluttered, with superfluous sub-dials and information that (in the real world at the very least) no one ever actually uses as 99% of chronograph owners never actually time anything with them. I’m sure within the enthusiast community, that number probably looks a little better, but from personal experience we end up looking for a reason to use it rather than exercising a ‘need’ to time something. So generally speaking, chronographs are not my thing. However, the IWC Pilots watch is an altogether different proposition which has for some time eluded me – until now as IWC kindly offered me the new Pilot Mark XX to spend some time with while away enjoying some rest and relaxation.

So where do we start? The new Mark XX is definitively evolution over revolution with each iteration over the years finessing subtle characteristics while maintaining its deep heritage, together delivering a near perfect balance of attributes. The changes from the Mark XVIII are subtle: the lugs-to-lug measurement is about 2mm shorter, the case is 0.2mm thinner, the dial layout has been tweaked with shorter minute markers, and the water resistance has been increased from 60m to 100m. None of these refinements are earth shattering but together the sum is greater than the parts. Overall the new Mark XX is more wearable across a broader population of wrist sizes, more usable, and an easier ownership with the new EasX-CHANGE strap system (but we’ll come onto that later!)

The heritage of this watch stretches back to WWII where IWC produced Pilots watches for the British RAF but it wasn’t until 1948 when IWC settled on the design language of the Pilot Mark 11 that you can see echoed today in their latest release the Mark XX.

The proportions on paper alone suggest an incredible wearability with a case size of 40mm, a lug width of 20mm and a thickness of 10.8mm. Traditional pilots watches from the WWII era would easily have been much much larger than this, however in time they adjusted to the more modest proportions of the Mark 11 and this is directly where the mark XX’s heritage stems from.

Overall the whole visual aesthetic is incredibly unassuming. The dial is simple with clear large arabic numerals, traditional sword hands, minute markers and a date window at 3. It has no applied markers and even the lume is limited to subtle 12,3,6,9 markers and of course the hands. There is absolutely nothing about this watch that says “Hey! – Look at me!” Notably, Ed Sheeran famously bought two of his friends smaller IWC Pilot watches as they would have felt extremely uncomfortable wearing a more exuberant brand watch. To this day this still wear them for everything they do from swimming to hiking and everything in between as their day to day watch. This does mean that it has a great ability to blend in subtly and adaptability to be worn with nearly anything. One of my friends who owns a Mark XX with a black dial uses it as his go to watch when the necessity for a Dinner Jacket arises!

However it is under the hood that this watch excels in all the technical details. The sapphire glass has anti reflective coating on both sides and is secured against a drop in air pressure (a typical requirements for perils of pilots). The movement (which is the most notable upgrade over its predecessor the Mark XVIII) is now in-house delivering 120 hours of power reserve; that’s 5 days to you and me! The aforementioned changes to the case proportions and water resistance – ensure all concerns of water ingress under normal conditions are dealt with.

Interestingly IWC uses pressure depths to signal its water resistance and the Mark XX is rated to 10 Bar – however in the manual on IWC’s website ‘10bar’ is not listed: 1,3,6,12,20,100 and 200bar are listed.

IWC have also invested in engineering a tool-less design for changing straps. Now bear with me here as I’m sure you will have already noted that many leather straps now come with quick release spring bars – and while these are incredibly useful, they are a solution to only half of the problem. What IWC has engineered has allowed them to create a secure mechanism that will mount to a standard spring bar and build this into the end links of their bracelets. They have then taken this same design and used it for the mounting mechanism of their leather straps. This is not only great for those who travel and want to be able to take a number of straps with them without tools and without the risk of scratching the underside of the watch, it means you can also take the same approach with the bracelet. One last benefit of this design is that it is inherently backwardly compatible with not only older IWC Pilots watches with a 20mm lug width, but also any other watch.

I took the opportunity to try this with my CWC Royal Navy divers watch which has welded bars. This normally prohibits the use of anything other than a NATO or pass-through strap. However, lo and behold – the IWC strap snapped into place perfectly, and released with the same ease!

The only criticisms that could be observed are that the design is typically implemented in monochromatic colour tone. The starkness of the black dial and white numerals is cold and lacks any level of warmth – however this is entirely expected for a watch that is designed with a singular purpose; legibility. IWC have released the Mark XX in a number of dial colours including a sunburst green seen here and a sunburst blue which definitely address that particular elephant in the room.

All round, the Mark XX is an understated, over-capable jack of all trades that packs a serious punch. It is easy to read, can be worn with nearly anything from a suit (or dinner Jacket) to pool-side attire and everything in between. In celebration of the 75 anniversary off the IWC Pilot’s watch, IWC have just released a new silver dial variant which is now available, however our favourite has to be the classic ‘Petit Prince’ combination of blue sunburst dial and brown leather strap which exudes a sense of colour, class and casualness that works so well with denim as well as a staple blue suit!

From the moment we arrived to our departing farewells, our time at Horwood House was exactly what we needed. The staff created a fantastic atmosphere and I’m sure in time we will take the opportunity to return when the opportunity arises. If you’re looking for a great place to relax and unwind for a couple of days, I would thoroughly recommend Horwood House. for more information, head over to www.horwoodhouse.co.uk

The IWC Pilot Mark XX is available in black, blue, green or now silver for £5,050 on leather or £5,700 on a steel bracelet. For more information or to purchase, please visit: www.iwc.com

However it was many years before this in my twenties – long before I got married when I felt I wanted to leave a future son something of value – something that represented and embodied one of my values and so I bought my first ‘proper’ watch. I’ve always had the mindset that I’d prefer to buy something of quality that will last rather than “buy cheap – buy twice”, and so I bought a COSC certified Breitling.

A watch to me represents the observance of the inevitable; Time moves on. So to be wise, we need to be intentional about what we do with this time. As we get older we start to understand the finality of time. Each person is given a different amount. None of us knows exactly how many years, months, weeks, days or hours we have and so we start to understand that time is valuable. This very concept hit me like a sledgehammer when my son was born. And so although he was only a few months old, I bought a pair of baseball gloves and a ball in anticipation of what was to come.

With house moves, job changes and unfortunate changes in personal circumstances over the years, the gloves and ball moved from one loft to another, ever waiting for the right time when my son was old enough to start having some ‘deep-and-meaningful’ conversations while passing the time chucking a ball to each other.

However last year I grabbed the gloves and walked up to my local field with my son and spoke to him of how I had dreamt of that very day some 12 years earlier. We mucked around, laughed, spoke and generally just hung out without much of an agenda other than spending time together and building memories – one of the most valuable things we can do with our time. It also struck me how much my relationship has evolved with him. He is no longer a small child who needs nurturing, but is growing his identity and forming the values that he cares deeply about and he will carry with him for the rest of his life.

This brings me to the most important lesson I want to teach my son. Each of us have talents, abilities, strengths, gifts and experience that we gain over time. So what will our legacy be? How can we impact those around us to leave the world and the people in it a little better off than when we arrived? This for me is the question of legacy that drives and motivates me. Because if i’m honest, there’s never been a selfish role model that I’ve ever looked up to, and my experience has always been that there is far more pleasure, satisfaction and meaning in life when we choose to positively impact others than when we just pursue personal happiness.

In September 2020, Oris launched a limited edition watch to commemorate and celebrate the life of Roberto Clemente – called the ‘Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition’. This is a Big Crown Pointer date with a white dial, and embossed case back and a themed strap with the leather and stitching reminiscent of a baseball glove. It’s a beautiful watch and many have commented that it is arguably Oris’s most beautiful watch with classic proportions and an unobtrusive subtleness. The connection of both time and baseball reminded me of my son and our time hanging out together in a field on a summers afternoon.

However what struck me most when looking into Roberto Clemente wasn’t his baseball achievements (even though these are clearly why he is considered a baseball legend) it was his humanity. Here was a man who had a healthy relationship with time. One of his most famous quotes puts that into a challenging perspective:

He was a passionate humanitarian and activist and lived to serve others by bringing real change in his home country and his local community. His love for humanity marked his fate as he lost his life in an airplane accident attempting to aid earthquake victims in Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve in 1972. He chose to personally escort a shipment of aid after learning the previous shipment never got to where it was needed, and sadly the aircraft crashed after takeoff due to being overloaded.

Each day when I put on one of my watches i’m reminded that I don’t know how much time I have left – so don’t waste what I’ve been given.

Each of us has at our disposal the most valuable, irreplaceable resource – time. So what are you going to do with it? What are you going to be known for once you have made your impact on the world?

Now in 2020, Bremont is introducing the Broadsword Bronze timepieces adding to the original lineup of Bremont’s Armed Forces Collection.

The new bronze editions are available in three different coloured dial and strap variations. These are ‘slate’, ‘sotek’ (a military green/teal colour) and ‘tobacco’ with complementing straps. The new Broadsword case is made of CuSn8 bronze, a solid solution strengthened copper alloy with 8% tin. The high tin content adds to strength, wear and resistance to corrosion. The caseback is the same as the steel variant – namely a 316L steel caseback with embossed detailing of the three services – The Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air force. Inside, the watch is powered by the same ISO 3159 Certified Chronometer movement that powers its steel sister – the modified BE-95-2AV beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour.

Having spent some time with the new Broadsword Bronze over the last week prior to its launch along with the regular Broadsword, the difference that the material of the new Bronze case makes is remarkable. Where every intentional design line, crease and shape on the original steel case is sharp and crisp, here the case feels notably warmer and softer to the touch. Over time this will continue to patina and change as the Bronze case matures and is handled over the years granting each individual watch its own persona – wearing its life for all to see and admire.

A green dial isn’t something that I would have naturally chosen. Although i do like variety of styles and colours so that I have a watch for almost every occasion, I could be accused at times of ‘playing it safe’ with my choices so far being predominantly black or white dials. However this sotek teal dial is quite frankly a superb choice for complementing the warm tones of the Bronze case and the brown strap. In differing lights, the dial takes on a dark grey persona and in much brighter lighting the deep rich teal can easily be seen.

With an almost vintage feel but with modern specifications, the aesthetic and identity of this watch feel unique yet reassuringly familiar. Putting it on a NATO feels right at home as the watch is just 12.5mm thick allowing it to be worn on a good quality NATO without being overly high on the wrist.

The more time I spend with this watch the more time I want to spend with it. This might be seen as a bold move for Bremont as the Broadsword has been in high demand (something we predicted) since it launched early last year and although Bremont have ventured into precious metals (including platinum, gold and rose gold) – this is a tool watch through and through – one which just happens to suit bronze remarkably well!

All three dial choices pair beautifully with the new case and straps. but we can only speak from our experience of the teal dialed sotek which received a huge admiration from those that saw it. The Bronze case adds a charm and character that will continue to patina over time without detracting from the existing appeal of the Broadsword and its tool watch abilities. However we would thoroughly recommend a trip to Bremont to take a look in person at the three and make up your own mind. – Just be prepared to add one to your wish list!

Technical Details:
– 40mm wide Solid CuSn8 Bronze case with 20mm lug width & bronze screw down crown.
– Domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal
– Metal Dial with white SuperLumiNova® numerals
– Hands in Bronze satin finish with white SuperLumiNova®
– 31 Jewel ISO 3159 Certified BE-95-2AV movement with

The Bremont Broadsword Bronze is available online at www.bremont.com and in their boutiques now at £2995.

The watch features the classic 42mm Stainless steel ‘professional’ case. Surrounding the glass is a blue ceramic bezel with the tachymeter scale in white enamel. The three subdials are blue and an embossed silver Snoopy medallion features on the blue subdial at 9 o’clock.

The watch features Omegas Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 3861. This is a modern iteration of Omega’s legendary hand wound chronograph movement fitted with a free sprung balance with a co-axial escapement.

Omega have really gone to town on NAIAD LOCK caseback. Here a scene pictures the view from the far side of the moon looking back at the earth. However this scene is animated. Firstly you will find the earth itself revolves once per minute as it is attached to the back of the small seconds register. However, start the chronograph and you will see snoopy in the command service module appear from behind the moon and fly round the caseback.

The watch’s blue nylon fabric strap matches the other blue elements of the watch, and even features the trajectory of the Apollo 13 mission, embossed on the lining.

The watch comes in a special presentation case – a somewhat scaled down version of the traditional “luggage” that Omega supplies with its Moonwatch – this time in blue to match the theme of the watch. The bottom section of the case can be removed and transforms into a small travel case for the watch itself. Included inside are a loupe, a snoopy cleaning cloth, and the METAS certificate.

Overall this is an incredibly beautiful watch and we can see that this will be an immediate hit. Thankfully and rather unusually, although this is an anniversary edition watch this is not a limited edition piece and is available to everyone.

Details:
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary
Reference: 310.32.42.50.02.001
Further details: www.omegawatches.com
Price: £8250
Available: End of October 2020

So what happens when a strap company starts to make watches? We reached out to Crafter Blue’s founder – Steve Chan who kindly sent us their Mechanic Ocean to spend some time with and put it through its paces.

Design

To start with, the Mechanic Ocean is clear in purpose. It is a dive watch through and through. At 45mm across and over 16mm in height there is no getting away from the fact that this is a large watch. It is not going to ‘slip under a cuff’ or be worn subtly with a suit. Nor should it. It was designed to be highly robust and reliable when faced with the rigours of the ocean, and the design language clearly speaks to this. For example the crown has been placed on the left hand side of the watch. Not to allow this to be worn on the right wrist, but to ensure the crown doesn’t dig into the back of your hand when swimming. In addition it is far less likely you will strike the crown on an object when its pointing up your arm.

On the right hand side of the watch is an automatic helium release valve that sits flush with the case. If you want to know more on our thoughts of helium release valves take a read of our article here.

The textured dial features applied markers and offers an unexpected level of detail. The hands are easy to read and are filled with a generous quantity of lume!

Movement

Powering the Mechanic Ocean the Calibre 3531 which is a modified Seiko NH35 adorned with a decorated red gold rotor with Geneva waves. Unfortunately this detail is completely lost on owners as the Mechanic Ocean is fitted with a solid caseback which is what you might expect from a ruggedized dive watch. But the bigger question is why adorn the movement with a level of Swiss finishing for a watch with no Swiss connection – nor the ability to appreciate it? However, the NH35 is a solid movement which is easy to service, highly durable and overall a great choice for a watch in this price bracket.

Strap

As you might expect, the mechanic Ocean is fitted with a CrafterBlue rubber strap that the company is renown for. In this particular instance it is a block-integrated bi-colour vulcanised rubber strap which is made in line with CrafterBlues’ signature design aesthetic – namely a flat tang buckle with twice as many holes as you might expect. This allows for a much finer adjustment on your wrist ensuring a good fit and comfort all year round. in addition the strap is a good length allowing it to be worn over a wet suit. It also allows the watch to be worn without having to have links removed from a bracelet.

However it’s not all plain sailing. Look a little closer and you’ll see that the crown guard doesn’t actually guard the crown – it protects the stem leaving the crown exposed. For a watch of substantial proportions, the dial itself is smaller than you might expect. For comparison the dial on the 40mm Oris divers 65 is actually 5mm larger than the mechanic ocean, even though the Oris case size is 5mm smaller.

Throughout my time with the Mechanic Ocean, I had a troubling thought in my mind. While the Mechanic Ocean is a very capable and robust watch, its a newcomer to an already saturated market which therefore poses the question: “Why would I choose this watch over a comparable watch from Seiko who are probably the undeniable champions in this sector with a proven history of dive watches for over 50 years”

This becomes an even more prominent question when you consider the Mechanic Ocean is in fact more expensive than an ISO 6425 certified divers from Seiko such as the Turtle or Samurai which use the very same movement – but in the Seiko it’s an in-house movement.

If you re looking for a dive watch for under £1000 then quite frankly your options and choices are far and wide with countless microbrands offering a seemingly unlimited choice, and often very little to differentiate one watch from another as design queues often point to the same inspirations.

This watch however does not follow the herd and is clearly not another watch trying be be something it’s not which is a refreshing change. It is has been designed for a singular purpose and in that regard it does exactly what it says on the tin – its a capable, solid, reliable divers watch with no pretence.

So if what you’re looking for is not something that follows the trend of historical divers and boldly embodies its own more contemporary design language, then the Mechanic Ocean might just be for you.

The CrafterBlue Mechanic Ocean is available from:
www.crafterbluewatches.com
Price: $425

Limited to just 310 pieces worldwide, the new MBIII Limited Edition features a titanium barrel and for the first time a white dial with a red warning triangle in the lower half with a reminder: “Danger Ejection Seat”. The case back features a beautiful detailed etching of the Martin Baker MK16 seat from the F35 Lightning.

10 years ago in 2009, Bremont launched the iconic Martin Baker I with a red barrel designed and tested to withstand the tremendous forces that pilots undergo upon ejecting from a modern jet fighter. Exclusively available to prior ejectees, the MBI is easily identified by its red barrel and can only be purchased once you have been verified as having survived a live ejection. Subsequently Bremont launched the MBII available to civilians and with a variety of barrel colours available including orange, green, black and blue (paired with a white face) and identical to the MBI from a technical perspective.

The MBIII adds a GMT hand and differs from the MBII as it includes the date but not a day complication. Until today, the MBIII was only available with a black dial.

The new MBIII 10th anniversary limited edition is available to pre-order today for the same price as the regular MBIII – £4195 including VAT According to Bremont, they have already taken a number of pre-orders for the new MBIII in the first an hour this morning, so they wont be around for long!