E.C. Andersson North Sea II | Hands on Watch Review

E.C. Andersson North Sea II

The E.C. Andersson North Sea II is of course the second version of this model, the first was funded through Kickstarter.  It is a watch that can be used for all occasions, out on the sea, in the board room, the dining room and with your t-shirt and jeans for a casual day in the town. As the website states-“The Scandinavian way of design is clean, sophisticated, functional and durable. Northerners simply enjoy products that will last, both in quality and style.” Obviously, E.C Andersson is situated in Scandinavia and has set forth to apply their way of life into the design of his watch. I have never been to Scandinavia, but have read enough about it to believe the philosophy of the brand and I would say overall, he has achieved it. Unfortunately, I feel the North Sea II has some quarks that I will discuss below.

E.C Andersson North Sea II Specifications:

• 40mm Stainless Steel Case
• 22mm Lug Width
• 12mm Thick
• 48mm Lug to Lug
• Sapphire Crystal
• 100 Meters WR
• Seiko NH05 Automatic Movement

Price: $586 USD (Converted)

https://www.ecandersson.com/product/north-sea-ref-ns02fd/

The design of the E.C. Andersson North Sea II is familiar, Panerai of course comes to mind.  It has that pillow style case with thin angled lugs and and an old door knob style crown, at least that is what it reminds me of. They have kept the look somewhat industrial with just a touch of polish on the bezel, crown and lugs. Being that it is only 100 meters water resistant I was pleasantly surprised to see it utilized a screw down crown, which is very smooth and I like the way it screws down into the case. At 40mm with its square shape, it is a good size for me and for many who are not wanting to do the over-sized wrist brick these days. Even though it may look a little wonky at first, I give the overall case design an A.

While I love the look of the E.C. Andersson North Sea II, there are some serious things to discuss. A few weeks ago, E.C. Andersson posted on a few different sites promoting this newer version of the North Sea, and stating the upgrades they have done to the case and movement. Larger crown, a double dome AR coated sapphire crystal and they claim they did significant work on the Seiko NH05 movement. Apparently they found some issues with this movement, most notably the second hand would stutter and they decided to investigate. They pulled the movement apart, and all said and done they added a metal movement holder, stronger dial clamps and regulated it to great accuracy.

That all sounds great doesn’t it? Well, the other thing they did was remove the second hand. Now, I am not a genius, some will say far from it, but if you were to regulate it, add dial clamps and movement holder and still have to remove the second hand, something is clearly wrong with the movement, or at least the set of movements that you bought and you need to figure out something so you do not take a loss. When you have a watch that you claim is a sporty, all-occasion type of watch and it does not have a second hand, it is, well-it’s odd. Instead of continuing to harp on it, I will let you, the reader, or more importantly the consumer, decide if a second hand is important to you or just does not matter.

I have seen some express their dislike for the open date wheel in the center of the dial on the E.C. Andersson North Sea. Weirdly, that is something I actually like. Usually I hate open date wheels of any kind, but considering this actually adds to the dial aesthetic, I kind of dig it. I really like the entire dial and applied markers are always a plus. The markers themselves seem to have a good amount of lume application, but the same can not be said with the hands. Refer to the photo below:

As I pointed out in the video the case brushing of the E.C. Andersson North Sea II seems a little rough and uneven to me. I always have to point this out, but it is possible that it is only this sample and I can not say this brushing or the lume are the same on all watches, it could just the be example I have in hand. Unfortunately that is all I have to go on, so I will let you decide for yourself.

The rubber strap is a stock strap, or off the shelf that has been branded for E.C. Andersson and while it is a good size strap, it is one that has to be cut to be sized-something I detest, and has a super strong vanilla scent. I would have preferred a regular rubber minus the scent and a standard buckle. I had personally worn the North Sea II on a canvas strap of my own.

If I look at the E.C. Andersson on paper, it would seem like it has a lot to offer. In the flesh, the subtraction of the second hand, the super reflective crystal, uneven brushing and the rubber strap leaves me feeling there is more work to be done to make this a home run. As I have stated multiple times, I like the overall look and size and think with a few tweaks it could really be a watch that enthusiasts would want. If they decide to do a third version, maybe a different movement would be the way to go and the other issues I mentioned are easily corrected. E.C Andersson is a young brand so there is always room for improvement and I hope they take this review as constructive, as that is how it is intended.

Thank you and please leave your comments below.