We’ve become quite the fans of Benarus here at WWR (see John’s writeup on the Megalodon), and I not too long ago brought your attention to their newest model, the Sea Snake. Thanks to the fine folks at Benarus, we’re able to bring you a hands-on review of the Sea Snake.
For those who didn’t see the earlier preview post, I’ll give you a quick rundown of the specs on the Sea Snake:
- Movement: ETA 2824-2 automatic (hand-wind, hacking)
- Case: 316L stainless steel; 44mm diameter, 14mm thick, 24mm lugs
- Crystal: double-domed sapphire
- Water resistance: 500m
- Strap: comes with stainless steel bracelet and rubber strap (optional mesh and rubber available)
- Bezel: unidirectional, lumed
- Hands: polished, or with orange minute hand
- Dial: black or blue
- Price: $730 plus shipping
Make no mistakes about it – this is a dive watch, pure and simple, and it carries quite a presence on your wrist. I really liked the alternating brushed and polished features on the case. Also, on the aesthetics front, take a close look at the date wheel. It’s color matched to the dial. Not so surprising for the black dial, but very unexpected for the blue dial we received.
In daily wear, the watch was quite comfortable (though, it is as heavy as you’d expect a stainless steel watch to be), both on the bracelet (which has a built in divers extension in the clasp) and the rubber strap. Just bring some patience to the table when you’re wanting to swap the bracelet out.
The clearances on the end pieces are very tight, and can be a bit tricky to slide the spring bars loose. When I asked about this, I was told that future revisions may see the tolerance opened up a bit, as well as the case being drilled through so you can compress the bar in that manner. Always good to see a maker working to improve an already excellent product.
And that’s where we’ll leave things for today. Tune in tomorrow, when we’ll wrap up the review.
