REVIEW: Monta OceanKing

I have been fascinated with Monta, as a brand, from the very beginning. In fact, I remember when I first saw the OceanKing on ablogtowatch.com, I was quite smitten! That is until I reached the end of the article and I saw the price. 3500$ for a start-up dive watch? Really? Sure, it had a ton of great details and even housed an Eterna movement, instead of your standard ETA or Sellita, but it was swimming in some pretty deep waters at that price range.

Still, I kept track of Monta over the years and the prices did drop a bit to further encourage sales and those that bought them seemed to very pleased.Then came the updated version. The OceanKing now had a sub-2000$ price tag and it appeared that Monta listened to their critics, as well as their fans, and made many improvements / refinements.

Despite all of this, I was still quite critical / skeptical of the brand and its offerings. The clasp seemed too long, the hands too short and the "too good to be true" feeling I was having overcame my desire to own one. Fast-forward to a few months ago and something clicked. Could have been a picture I saw on Instagram or a story Monta posted, I just had to find out first hand what the OceanKing was all about. 

Now, I know, a ton of reviews have been written and videos made about this watch, but I needed to see, wear and fondle one for myself. After going back and forth with the folks at  Monta on IG DM and by email, though I have never met or seen Justin, I firmly believe this is what he must look like. I mean, with all of the goodies they managed to pack into this watch. He can only be a John Hammond clone!

I have now had the pleasure of wearing the Monta OceanKing for about a month. Not only am I impressed with it, I think I may even purchase the OceanKing GMT once I am though writing / publishing this article. In the meantime, sit back, pull up a chair, and I hope you enjoy  my full review.

CASE

The OceanKing's 40.7mm stainless steel case is very sleek at just a hair under 12mm thick. It is also just under that magic 50mm lug to lug length, coming in at 49mm. What does this mean? It means it can slide under any shirt cuff with ease. In my humble opinion, Monta has hit the nail right on the head with in the size department. It is pure perfection on the wrist. Not too big and not too small, it is the Goldilocks of watch sizes.  

The shape is unlike any other I have seen. Oh sure, it draws inspiration from many dive watches from yesteryear and it is round, but it has been re-imagined in a modern, contemporary Monta way. The lugs seem to turn upwards from the back. Every edge has been finished to the nth degree. There are no sharp or hot spots whatsoever. This is the level of finish usually reserved for watches costing much, much more.

The screw-down crown is a little on the small side, but its conical shape provides plenty of purchase for manipulation. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to grip, despite being so deeply nestled between its shapely crown guards. I thoroughly love it when the guards are shaped to curve around the crown and not just a pair of steel bars on either side, or simply flat up against the crown. This is a quintessential example of the little touches Monta gets so right.

The screwed-down case back is nice an flat, and is smooth feeling on the wrist. The engravings are deep, with the Monta logo and all the standard text, which includes the serial number. It does not open with the "normal" case wrench, but similar to Breitling, it seems to require some kind of 12 sided (dodecagon) key tool. I just double checked and Breitling use a 15 side (pentadecogon) shape. At any rate, it is not your standard case back. All of which keeps the OceanKing seaworthy to a depth of 304m. Funny enough, it says the latter figure on the dial, but 300m on the case back.

DIAL & BEZEL

The dial is where the Monta really shines, figuratively and literally. Every little detail that make WIS smile appear on this dial. From faceted applied markers, to cutouts for said markers in the chapter right (rehaut), to the matching applied surround on the date display. You can stare at this dial for 20 minutes and then someone will ask you the time and you will have absolutely no idea. It is that captivating. The flat sapphire crystal, which has 7 layers of anti-reflective coating to help make it disappear at certain angles. Unfortunately, at other angles it reflects like a mirror. I am completely OK with this, as I prefer not to have any coating on the surface, as it always gets marred and thus completely negates any advantage. 

Not to mention the blue colour itself, which seems to change with every angle and every lighting condition. From not quite Smurf to nearly purple. It is that dynamic! My earlier critique of the hands, which do appear a little short, seem to work in the real world. It is one thing to look at watches at 10x the size on 24" monitors and another when it is sitting on your furry wrist (in my case). The hour hand is perfect, but the minute could be a smidgen longer. That said, again, in the real world, it is just long enough to reach the minute track and does not completely cover up the gorgeous markers. So in the end, it works very well indeed. 

The bezel is a thing of real beauty and just like the hands, must be appreciated in person. The font type, which seemed a little odd to me, works in real life, as the bezel is nice and thin. The latter comment helps create an effect that the watch is larger than its stated measurements. In fact, if you would visit my IG page, you will see the Monta OceanKing directly compared to my Seiko MarimeMaster. The Seiko is a BEAST of a watch at a whopping 44mm in diameter and nearly 16mm thick, but next to the Monta, it is does not look so big, or rather, the OceanKing Does not look so small. 

I also have to say, the Monta's bezel action is superb! The only watch I have found to be better is the Tudor Pelagos, which feels like it is in a world of its own. That said, the 60 click action is extremely crisp and satisfying to turn. The teeth on the edge are so refined and perfectly executed, you would think Rolex made them. As is the ceramic insert. Oh, and HOW ABOUT THE LUME?

I have been a LUME fanatic ever since I started this hobby (disease) and I have owned all of the heavy hitters. From Seiko divers to Ball Watch. Now this is no Seiko diver, but it is still remarkably impressive and I so adore a fully lumed bezel. Don't you?

MOVEMENT

Now this is where there is a little controversy when it comes to Monta. First launched with an Eterna movement, attempt to use it to justify the high price, then rethink the model and come back with a lower price tag and some would say, a lesser caliber. Do I agree with all of this? That is a good question! 

First we must ask ourselves is the Eterna caliber a superior movement? Is it more exclusive? Likely. Does it have any benefits over an ETA 2892? Other than the power reserve (65 hrs), not really. Now here is the biggie. Is it easier to get serviced? Absolutely not! And BINGO! This will be a HUGE factor for most buyers. 

Let's face the facts here. The buyer that is purchasing a Monta OceanKing is a person that is going to be wearing his(or her) watch through thick and thin. He(or she) is not buying it to store it like some 5 figure Audemars Piguet or Patek Philippe. It is not going to sit in a safe and wait for its value to increase. It will be worn, enjoyed and perhaps even abused. As a result, it will eventually need servicing. The ETA 2892 movement is the perfect caliber for this watch. Extremely easy to service, robust enough for everyday use and thin enough to give the OceanKing its slim profile. I wholly endorse the decision to use this movement over the Eterna.

Clearly my test model needs some of that servicing love, as it likely had gone from one reviewer to another. Travelling in packages all over the world. As you can see by my testing data, it is losing on average 6.6 sec / day. This is certainly NOT typical of others I have read about. I even checked in with @a_girl_and_her_watches on IG from the famed @tennandtwomedia podcast (a must listen) and hers performed a heck of a lot better than mine.

BRACELET

I know I said that the dial is where the Monta shines, but the bracelet is where the OceanKing REALLY, REALLY shines! I am a die-hard bracelet  guy. I do not like straps, I never wear my watches on strap (except Panerai) and I rarely if ever buy accessory straps. Even if they are fantastic, like most Everest straps are. I just prefer bracelets and THIS is why I was hesitant with the OceanKing. It was not the movement. It was not the hands. It was the clasp, that made me most nervous.

It looked too long. It looked too flat. It looked too strange, but it did remind me of another clasp like it. One that used a hole to click closed. I just could not put my finger on it. Until, I found it! It was similar in function to a 2000's Rolex Daytona clasp! (picture shamelessly lifted from Google images) Hey, if it was good enough for Rolex's flagship chronograph, I had to give it a shot! Boy, am I ever happy I got to fondle, I mean play with it. It is my humble opinion, that there is no clasp on the market more satisfying to snap shut, than this Monta clasp. (PERIOD) 

I was also able to examine in up close and personal, which really impressed me further. The glide-lock system, which not quite as smooth as the Rolex, is far superior to the one Chirstopher Ward uses, which is very good and better than any of the ones I had on my Omegas (Seamaster 300m Ceramic dial and Seamaster 300). It is really that good and just look at that machining. All milled, no stamping here whatsoever. Everything snaps shut reassuringly and the fit and finish is outstanding. I would like to invite you to visit my IG page again, as I have a couple of videos where I operate the clasp.

The links are all brushed, except for the edges, which are bevelled and polished. You will also note that where the end-links meet the case, the bevel transfers from the edge of the link to the inside edge of the lugs. This one little detail, which could have been left out, is what makes Monta so special. Nothing that could be done was left undone. They spared no expense! They know their audience and packed in as much as they possibly could into this watch, without going overboard. A very delicate balance indeed.

Another factor about this bracelet that makes it stand out, is not only the screws that allow for easy sizing, nor is it the added pair of half links, it is the fully articulated construction. I dare anyone to try on any Monta and claim they cannot get the perfect fit or that it is uncomfortable. Just like my aunt used to say "it's like butter". Oh, I have had fully articulated bracelets before, but none with the combination I just mentioned... Perhaps the Formex Essence comes as close to this. None other. 

My gripe about the clasp being too long earlier is quite founded. It is a little longer than it should be, I cannot hide that fact. That said, when worn, it does not protrude from the back side of my wrist as I feared it would. It is just about as long as the watch itself and I am afraid because of this length, there is a whole lot of real-estate for scratches and scuffs to take residence. I noticed that the SkyQuest, their GMT model, uses a smaller clasp "shell", but this would likely give it somewhat less adjustable positions on the glide-lock. Not sure if the trade off is worth it. I guess if you are a diver, perhaps you may need all of that extra length to fit over a wet suit.

CONCLUSION

I went into this review with a skeptical mindset, but I was really hoping I would like the OceanKing. I was not disappointed. All of the terrific praises I read about and watched on YouTube were well founded. Kudos to Monta for such a young company to produce such a complete product. Like a young Shaolin monk that is wise beyond his years, Monta is making watches that it logically should not be able to, but they are!

You can tell that the person and people behind Monta are real watch nerds. Just like us. They care about the little details. They care about the feedback from their customers. They care about supporting, contributing and communicating with the watch community. They go the extra mile and it shows in their products. I am very happy and honoured to have had the opportunity to review this OceanKing and I look very much forward to seeing where Monta will be in the next 10, 20 and 50 years! 

If you are looking for an everyday diver, or GMT or field style watch, I wholeheartedly recommend you give Monta a careful look. I bet you will be as impressed as I am when you strap your Monta on for the first time.

Thank you for reading!

Monta Watch