Micro-Brand Digest: A Selection of Cool Divers, a Dial Made from a Demolished Bridge, and a Young (Very Young) Watchmaker to Keep an Eye On

 

It's about more than watches, it's about memories!

Watches are meant to be worn. You have probably heard that before and I am very much guilty of repeating that phrase multiple times. It is not to say that a watch cannot be a safe bound collectible, I mean there’s nothing wrong with that. Gerry: No, no, of course not! People's personal watch wearing preferences are nobody's business but their own! However, there’s more to this than just wearing it for the sake of wearing it.

Over the years, I have come to see my watches as talismans of our shared history. At any given moment, if I see an old picture of one of my watches, memories come flooding back. For example, a couple of weeks ago, someone posted a picture of an Omega 2254.50 (the black one that came out right after the Brosnan Bond model) on the Worn & Wound+ Slack Community and I immediately thought of the America’s Cup version (same watch, but with white gold bezel) I wore during the birth of my first child.

Felt like it was just yesterday, timing contractions on my Omega and the anticipation of meeting my little man for the first time. Labor was a lengthy thirty hours and wound up in an emergency c-section. Once the nurse took my son from my arms and I was asked to leave the O-R, I was still in a state of shock. I remember backing out into a side room and falling into a bench frame that was missing the seat. There I was, no one else around, I was stuck and so overjoyed, crying and I looked at my watch. It was 4:30pm on Jan 4^th, 2002. Happiest day of my life.

After this event, I had vowed to have a chronograph, should I ever find myself in the same position again. Timing contractions with a dive bezel was challenging. Fast-forward two years later and I was racing to the hospital with my wife, sporting a Credor Phoenix time only watch. Go figure, the horological Gods were playing a joke on me. Not even a timing bezel this time! Not that I would need one, this time it was only 45-minutes and voila, my second micro-dude was brought into the world.

Even though I do not own either of these watches anymore, the memories associated to them will always make me smile. This is why I started my Instagram page. Not to gather followers, or get watch news, but to catalogue my journey through watches. This way, I could scroll down and as I see my collection ever changing, I can remember the good and bad times I had while wearing those watches. Like the time I found out my father-in-law had cancer, on the same day I received my Omega Planet Ocean 8500. Or when my mother passed away in January of 2018. I was wearing an Omega Seamaster 300 when I was cleaning out her apartment and got a pretty big scratch on its clasp while moving some furniture.  

Our watches follow us everywhere and are worn more consistently than any piece of clothing. Some of us even wear them to sleep and we stare at them incessantly, sometimes without even noticing the time. While I truly admire the craftsmanship, the details, the accuracy, and the precision of watches, it is the memories I have built into them, as life passes by, that I love the most. Allow me to offer one more recent story.

In September of 2019, just as the school year was starting up again, I wanted to take the family on one last small trip to mark the transition from summer break to the grind of the school year. I was trying to find some place not too far away and something he had never done before. That is when Google steered me to Mont-Mégantic dark sky preserve and its observatory at the top of the mountain. I have always been an astronomy fan and I figured the kids would really get a kick of seeing the night sky away from the city’s light pollution.

So, I booked tickets and a quaint bed and breakfast at the base of the mountain. On the Friday at the end of my boys’ first week of school we set off. We picked up the kids from school and started our 3-hour trek to Mont- Mégantic. We did not tell the kids where we were going. They were so excited but were really getting puzzled the further and further we got from Montreal. By the time we had picked up McDonald’s for supper and got within the dark sky preserve they were starting to get worried. Why are there no streetlights and why are some of the house lights red and pointing downwards?

When we got to the base of the mountain, I popped the trunk and told the kids to suit up. All our winter weather gear was in there. The temperature difference from the base to the peak was 10 degrees C and the observatory scope was open to the elements, as the scope’s lenses would/could fog up if there was a temperature difference between the outside and inside. That is when I told them where we were and why we were there. Their eyes lit up and they were so happy. I guess all those years of listening to the Star Talk Podcast with me must have ignited some curiosity.

We got very, very lucky with this trip. Not only was it a clear night with no clouds, but it was also a Moonless night, which meant that we could see even more. It had been a long time since I had seen the sky this way, not since my childhood in the scouts and the rest of my family had never seen the milky way with their own eyes, in the open sky. It was even more impressive than I remember. There was barely any black in the sky, just white dots everywhere.

There was an astronomer there, with a laser pointer, explaining what we were looking at outside. Jupiter, some of its moons and Saturn were easily visible to the naked eye. They have a large telescope outside, on the ground that we could take turns looking through and then inside the observatory, we could climb the stairs and look through the giant scope. It is one thing seeing Saturn and Jupiter online and in books, it is an entirely different experience seeing them through a scope, clearly. We spent hours there.

Much later that night, sitting up in my bed at the B&B, talking with my family about what we had just witnessed. My Omega Railmaster was resting on my lap. I could not help but feel blessed to have shared this incredible experience with my family. The next morning, we visited the even larger research scope at the very top of the mountain, the one reserved for university scientists and then made our way back home.

That Railmaster meant a lot to me, until I was the victim of a Watchuseek.com scam and it wound up in the hands of an Icelandic thief, but that is a story for another day. My point is wear your watches, enjoy them, allow them to accompany you through life’s adventures. Put some scratches and bumps on them. Build in your memories, just like Blake Buettner’s Rolex Submariner reminds him of his son’s sporting events and recently Chris Antzoulis wrote a terrific piece about his friend’s pocket watch and how it got him out of a funk.

Watches are meant to be worn. Wear them!

Chance to bid on Geddy Lee's watches & help a charity!

If you are not familiar with Dan Tanenbaum, perhaps you recognize his Instagram handle @watchpartsmotorcyle. His artwork made of watch parts has been catching my attention for years and when I heard that he was organizing a charity auction I had to find out more. However, first I had to know more about his art.

I directly messaged him on Instagram and asked how it all got started. “I’ve been collecting watches for over twenty years; I was captivated by the intricate movements within these timepieces. I love the sentimental journeys these watches have taken, the significant life events they have witnessed… I couldn't bear the thought of their final resting place being a garbage heap. This is what led me to breathe new life into them, via a different artistic form.”

I figured acquiring all those watch parts would not be easy, so I asked him how he does it. “My quest for parts takes me to numerous antique shows, estate sales, and flea markets. Additionally, various watchmakers send me pieces that are no longer in use or are damaged. It's important to note that no watches are harmed or dismantled for the sake of creating my sculptures.”

If you have seen his sculptures, you must wonder how he makes them look that way. Here is what he had to say. “The primary challenge is that all watch parts are flat, while some of my artwork requires a delicate bend to conform to specific shapes. Preserving the integrity of these watch components while incorporating them into pieces with intricate curves demands strategic bending and manipulation.”

Having satisfied my curiosity, I figured I should finally ask him about his charity auction since that is why I contacted him in the first place. “My twin boys were both diagnosed with Crohn's disease, 18 months apart, and having experienced firsthand the impact of this condition, and wanting to raise not just funds but also awareness, I decided to organize this Charity Watch Auction to support Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. I've been fortunate to gather support from remarkable collectors, brands, and micro brands, including a very generous donation of five remarkable watches from Geddy Lee of Rush, an avid watch collector.”

From Geddy Lee’s vintage Heuer Camaro chronograph, to a MB&F M.A.D. 1, to a brand new donated Zenea Ula Diver, there is something in this auction to please every horological palate. Why not treat yourself and help a great cause? For more details and to bid, follow this link below. The auction is March 10th at 4:00pm Eastern Time.

A MATTER OF TIME - A CHARITY WATCH AUCTION

Typsim 200m - Photo Essay

I was lucky enough to get two chances to handle one of these Typsim 200m retro-dive watches. The first was a prototype, which had been handled many times before it got to me. Unfortunately, as a result, it was slightly damaged and the bracelet did not have enough links to fit my 7.5" wrist.

The second one that was a final production model, which had a few improvement tweaks and a bracelet that could fit a proper Canadian Sasquatch. I think I removed a total of 6 links to make it fit, which was not easy. As much as I adore how supple the bracelet is, this suppleness made it extremely difficult to size the twin screw head links. Mind you I managed without scratching anything. 

Once on wrist, this one really shines. It just melts on there and it is the perfect size for me. Anyway, I did not get a chance to properly review it, but I did take a bunch of pictures. So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more about these super cool watches follow the link below.

TYPSIM

Micro-Brand Digest: Single Hand Watches, Tough Tools, and a New Take on Solar Power

New Monthly Column, where I get to chose 5-6 brands to highlight:

 Stay tune for the next edition coming mid-end of March.

REVIEW: The Findeisen NauticMaster

 My review of 2 NauticMasters from Findeisen is up on Worn & Wound:

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

REVIEW: Monta Oceanking (Version III)

 My Monta OceanKing V3 review is up on Worn & Wound:

Hope you like it!

Our 2023 Watches of the Year

 Collaboration article on W&W:

So much fun!

REVIEW: Nodus Sector DEEP

INTRODUCTION:

Nodus began in 2017 and in its short 6 years of existence they have made quite the splash, pun intended. Also, in this time they have established themselves among the “good guys” within the micro-brand space in our community and rightfully so. Their models range from field / sports watches to full on divers. Earlier this year they released the Sector Deep, which is their version of a hyper-focused tool dive watch. I was smitten the minute I saw it and it was only a matter of time before I got my grubby mitts on one to review. If you are a dive watch fan, as I am, there is a lot to unpack with this one, so suit up and let’s Backward Roll into it. 

 

CASE:

The media-blasted stainless-steel case measures 38mm in diameter and a swelt 13.6mm thick, which is quite reasonable considering it is water-resistant to 500m. The most important and requested measurement these days is the lug to lug and this one is 47mm. The latter should make it easily wearable for most wrists, though the end-links do add a little girth, more on this later.

The case is finely sculpted, with chamfers along the edges on both the top and bottom. This modest detail helps slim it out considerably. Tudor uses this on their Black Bay GMT, with a chamfer on the bottom of the case. If you compare it to the standard non-GMT model, you can immediately see the difference. Nodus’ execution of these chamfers creates a greater illusion than Tudor, especially since the case back sits nestled into the wrist.

Speaking of case back, this one is quite the whopper, which is expected for a dive watch rated to this depth. At its center, there is a nicely engraved quadruple Venn diagram (4 intertwined circles), which represents the 4 styles of watch the collection launched with: Sport, Dive, Field, and Pilot. The entire collection uses the same mid-case and can be adapted to suit a variety of needs by changing dials, bezels, hands, and movements. Surrounding the logo are the watch’s attributes, including the serial number. 

The left sided screw-down crown has some of the grippiest knurling I have ever felt. It is fully DLC coated and has a red circular arrow and the word lock on it, to show the user which directly to screw it in. Neat touch, however, when unscrewed the stem feels rather wobbly, but when screwed in it is extremely secure and reassuring. The left side crown is something I have always liked. Especially with one that has this much bite. I prefer it away from the back of my hand and it really works on this model. 

The first watch I ever had with a left sided crown was a Citizen Promaster from the mid-90s. I remember purchasing it because it was so different and kept it because it was so comfortable. More watches should be made available this way. In fact, I wish my Titoni Seascoper was left sided, I still have the scar on the back of my hand, and it has been a year since I moved that watch. Left sided crowns are not just for left-handed people. (fight me)

 

 

BEZEL, CRYSTAL & DIAL:

The precise 120-click, DLC coated, fully lumed bezel on the Deep is something quite special. I have seen other watches with bezels that overlap the case, but none that do it like this one. It is a full 4mm wider than the case, which means there is a 2mm lip that provides a ton of purchase. Forget dive gloves, you could easily manipulate this one with full-on Arctic exploration mittens! It is also 5mm broad, beveled and features a 12hr scale, along with a traditional dive counter. While I do appreciate the 2 scales, it might get tricky if you are travelling to a different time zone to go diving. Mind you, that would be a cool problem to have.

The flat sapphire crystal measures 31mm in diameter (can you tell I got new calipers?) and sits just below the apex of the bezel. There is blue anti-reflective coating underneath, which provides an incredible view of the dial and at certain angles it disappears completely. There is even a bezel on the edge that creates a reflection of the indices, making them look longer than they really are. Very cool effect. 

The deep black dial and hands are very distinct and seem to combine the best elements from a Tudor Pelagos and a Seiko Diver. Like the Pelagos, there is an angled rehaut with cut-outs for the applied square and rectangular markers. The hands are very similar to the ones used by brands like Seiko and Citizen, but not quite. Rarely do you see this style of hands outside of these Japanese companies. The result is quite original and the word “extreme” barely describes its legibility. You could likely read this one from across the room, especially in the dark due to the copious amount of Swiss Super-Luminova® BGW9 Grade A.

The black dial itself just screams dive with me, reminds me of a wet neoprene wetsuit, the effect just screams dive with me. The lack of an abundance of text is also welcome, with the brand name at 12 o’clock, the line name in smaller print beneath it and under the pinion is the model is printed in red, with 500 designating the depth rating beneath that.  The color matched date is at 6 o’clock, thus creating perfect visual symmetry. Despite having an affinity for color matched date wheels, I feel that the reverse would have worked, as the large 12 o’clock marker would have offset the white at 6 o’clock. Not that I am complaining. 

 

MOVEMENT:

The movement in the Deep is the Seiko NH35. This movement is not known to be very accurate, with an out of the box rating of -20 to + 40 seconds per day. However, Nodus regulates every one of them and manages to trim that down to +/- 10 seconds per day, which is quite an improvement. The loaner I have on hand, which has travelled all over the place and been fondled by many a reviewer, is keeping +2 sec per day when worn 24/7 and according to my Accuracy Meter app, it is keeping -2 sec/day dial up. These figures are remarkable and far better than I was anticipating.

What this movement lacks in accuracy anecdotes, it sure makes up in ruggedness. I have known people with watches with this caliber going decades without service and still running strong. I do not know why more companies using this movement do not bother regulating them like Nodus does. It is obviously capable of better performance and its cost is relatively low, which helps keep the overall price of the watch very reasonable.

Specs are as follows:

• Manufacturer: Seiko (Seiko Instruments Inc. aka SII, Time Module Inc. aka TMI)
• Caliber Number: NH35A (aka NH35)
• Movement Type: Automatic, self-winding mechanical
• Diameter: 27.40mm
• Casing Diameter: 29.36mm
• Height: 5.32mm
• Jewels: 24
• Vibrations Per Hour: 21,600 bph
• Shock System: Diashock
• Power Reserve: 41 hours
• Rotor Direction: Bi-directional winding (Magic Lever)
• Hand-Windable: Yes
• Functions: Central hours; central minutes; central sweeping seconds; date calendar at 3:00 (sometimes other locations depending on the dial design)
• Hacking Seconds: Yes

 

 

BRACELET:

The stainless-steel bracelet is completely media-blasted, just like the case. It articulates very well and is sized by one sided screws, which is by far the easiest way to size a bracelet. It is 20mm at the lugs and tapers down to 18mm, jumping back up to 20mm at the clasp. The links are 3mm thick and sized for me, the watch on bracelet weighs 159g. Funny enough, the bracelet alone (again sized for me) weighs 79g, so you can see how well balanced it is.  

I was able to easily weigh them separately because the bracelet has quick-release pins built in. Mind you, I could have easily removed the bracelet anyway, as the lugs are drilled through. You can tell the designer had enthusiasts in mind when putting this one together and this watch has strap monster written all over it. On thing I am a little confused about is the end-links. They are solid and female, but the male parts of the bracelet do not fully articulate, therefore making them just like solid male end-links. So, the effective length of the watch jumps from 47 to 50mm, which is not that big a deal, as it wraps very well over the wrist.

 

The twin-trigger clasp suits the watch very well and has a built-in extension, which ratchets out to 4 positions. Two of them covered by the clasp shell and 2 that extend beyond, which in my opinion does not look too good and seems to have some side-to-side play. Luckily, sized for me, I have the extension system completely pushed in and it fits perfectly on my 7” wrist. The only thing I would change is the curvature of the clasp, it is a little too flat for my liking. I also think there may be something wrong with one of the triggers. It seems to stick when pressed in and easily pops open if the second one is pushed. I believe this may be the result of this piece having passed through so many hands over the last year.

 

CONCLUSION

I have owned and reviewed many, many contemporary styled dive watches and for 599$ USD, I cannot think of another that packs in as much dive watch goodness. Sure, there are deeper rated ones, there are more dive specific ones, but there is no other that straddles the line between pure diving tool and everyday sports watch better than this Nodus. If you have ever dreamt of a Tudor Pelagos and/or wanted a Seiko Tuna but did not have the funds or the wrist to pull off the latter. This Nodus may just be the watch for you!

NODUS