I do not remember when I first came across Canadian brand Halios, but I do remember being struck by their Tropik line of watches. They’ve had a few different iterations, but the one that has stuck with me was the white-dialed version. They’re just-announced watches – the Halios Seaforth – seem like they might be trying to unseat that Tropik from my mind, though.
For starters, the Halios Seaforth has very much a vintage diver look to it – a fairly narrow bezel surrounds the domed sapphire crystal on the 40mm case, which makes for proportions that are just delightful. You want to go extra vintage-feel? Then you will want to opt for the gilt dial, then. For me, the real star of the dial show is the pale blue. While I tend to like bolder blues (such as they have on their sunburst blue Seaforth), something about this shade just spoke to me, set off as it is against the lumed indices and darker handset.
The dial is not the only (potentially) difficult choice you will face with the Halios Seaforth, though. You see, you have three choices on the bezel front as well. You have the fixed (aka smooth) steel bezel, a rotating steel bezel (with the standard 5-minute marks), as well as a sapphire-topped bezel (which is only available on the black and gilt dials). So, yeah – between four dials and three bezels, you are not spoiled for choice.
Regardless of what you choose, the Halios Seaforth watches are all powered by a Miyota 90S5 automatic movement, and are priced at a rather tasty $675 (plus shipping), with availability expected in May 2017. I may not have yet seen a Halios in person, but I’ve friends who do own them, and speak rather highly of the watches, so I can only imagine the Halios Seaforth will continue down that same road. halioswatches.com
- Brand & Model: Halios Seaforth
- Price: $675
- Who we think it might be for: You like your vintage divers, and you like ‘em modern
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: Indeed, these are tempting!
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Wondering how things would look if the crown guards were deleted
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: That light-blue dial and the bezel choices
- Case material: 316L stainless steel
- Dimensions: 40 width, 12mm thickness, 47mm lug-to-lug, 20mm lug width
- Vintage-style domed sapphire crystal with underside AR coating
- Available in fixed, rotating steel and rotating sapphire (black and gilt dial variants only) bezels
- Japan-made Miyota 90S5 automatic movement
- 300M water-resistance
- C3 (green) Superluminova-coated hands and dial markers for optimal low-light visibility
- Ships with choice of leather or rubber strap with HALIOS signed buckle
