The last time we covered Raven (from the same team behind Benarus), we were looking at a vintage-inspired piece (here). Not content to let all the high-spec dive watches to reside under the Benarus flag, Raven has taken the styling found in the brand language, and extended it a watch that carries an absolutely nutty 2,500 meter WR rating. A depth which, unless it’s strapped to a submersible (or a rock), the watch will never see.
Melbourne Watch Company was kind enough to send over 2 copies of their Finders watch for me to wear for a while, one a black dial on a black strap, and the other a ‘white’ dial on a brown strap. Patrick wrote up the watch when it was still in the project phase on Indiegogo, so now it was my turn to get an impression of the watch. And, to cut to the chase, I liked it.
Magrette is offering fans a chance to order a new watch from them, the Leoncino (Little Lion), an automatic that takes its design cues from the styles of the 60s. The case is a squared off cushion style, with lugs that taper from the edges of the case to the strap. The finish is polished stainless steel (brushed on the sides), perfect to go with bright chrome fenders. The dial, however, that is pure Magrette DNA with a clean modern look.
For long-time readers of our site, Magrette is a brand that needs no introduction. Hailing from New Zealand, their cushion-cased watches have been favorably received, offering a great combination of styling and price. Today, we’ll be looking one of their latest iterations of the Moana Professional, the Vintage Brown. Along with offering a new colorway, it also serves to introduce their new travel wallet.
Miró Watches is a relatively new brand, founded in 2012, bringing a clean, minimalist look to their watches. Though the name is taken from a Spanish (Catalonian) Surrealist Artist, the design cues for the watch are pure Scandinavian, simple and functional. Miró was kind enough to loan me a quartz watch in the Creme/Honey combination, but there are 5 different dial colors and 4 different strap options, so you have plenty of options.
This mornings, Touch of Modern (join here is you have not done so already) popped up four watches, three of which are former Kickstarter projects I have reviewed in the past. First up was a favorite I did not pull the trigger on, but am temped to do so now. The Cobre de Calibre is an automatic watch with a Miyota Calibre 9015, a textured ceramic dial and a sapphire crystal. The watch is on sale for $365 to $395, depending on the model, a little less that the Kickstarter campaign price. On offer are 5 models, including the no-date model and the red ricing stripe model. My take on the watches was posted here, and the sale page is here at ToM.
We recently got word from our friends over at Hager about their newest watches in the pipeline, along with some pre-order discounts that are available. If you recall, we took a look at their crowd-funded project about a year ago – now, they’re back, and it’s with production on the watches they were creating for the project.
Benarus is a brand I became familiar with early on in my career here at WWR, and we’ve covered a number of their pieces. I was almost two years ago that I first took a look at their Sea Snake diver (parts one, two) and today, we’re going to revisit the watch, as they’ve recently released a new version of the piece. As the v1 is one of my personal watches, we’re also able to bring you some side-by-side photographs as well.
A new Kickstarter campaign is starting from Zelos, offering a 100M water resistant diver with a couple of unique twists. Common to the line is an internally rotating bezel, which I am seeing on a few higher end dive watches, but not in this price and feature range yet. What is most unique in a relatively inexpensive watch like this is the choice of a bronze case as an alternative to the 316 stainless that is also offered. Fitting for the materials of choice, the watch is named the Helmsman.
If you saw yesterday’s article, you saw Matt’s return to our pages, with both a lamentation of watch projects on…
