I’ve wanted a Kobold watch for pretty close to three years now. The first Kobold I fell in love with was the Polar Surveyor since it has both a chronograph, and a 24-hour hand. When I went through a military watch phase, I was dying for the Kobold Phantom. And I’ve always been a huge dive watch fanatic, so the Kobold Soarway Diver SEAL was a big temptation. But when I was recently fortunate enough to get my hands on almost the entire Kobold collection at one of the very few authorized Kobold dealers, the one that seemed to make the most sense for me was the Kobold Soarway Diver (non-SEAL version).
Kobold watches are known for their substantial cases which are usually between 41mm and 44mm wide (without their prominent crowns), and 15mm to 17.75mm tall. That’s a pretty big watch for my relatively small arm. The Kobold Soarway Diver uses the very slim ETA 2892 movement, however, which allows the case to be a mere 10.25mm high — in my opinion, the perfect size.
I was also lucky enough to find a very special Soarway Diver. It turns out that James Gandolfini of Sopranos fame is a big Kobold fan, so when the show ended last year, he ordered 400 custom made Kobold Soarway Divers for the cast and crew. A very small number of these watches ended up being sold by crew members who, having little appreciation for fine timepieces, decided they’d rather have the cash than the souvenir. Being a huge Sopranos fan, when I was lucky enough to come across one, I snatched it up immediately.
The caseback bears the following inscription:
THE SOPRANOS
1997-2007
“REST IN PEACE”
THANK YOU
-J.G.
Here’s a breakdown of the custom-made “Sopranos” version of the Kobold Soarway Diver:
- Polished titanium case.
- Brushed titanium, uni-directional, engraved ratcheting bezel.
- Screwdown crown and caseback.
- Date between the 3 and 4 o’clock positions.
- Anti-reflective (inside only) synthetic sapphire crystal.
- Luminescent hands, hour markers, and bezel “pearl”.
- Waterproof to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.
- Antimagnetic case.
- Retail price of $3,450.
The Kobold Soarway Diver is an unusually simple and elegant timepiece, especially with the black canvas Zulu strap that I use in place of the brown calfskin band it came with. Although Kobold has a very passionate following, it is not a mainstream brand which means you can have a beautiful and well constructed automatic watch, and still fly under the social radar. Even though this watch is only 1 in 400, and a gift from the most famous on-screen gangster since Marlon Brando, people admire it for what really counts: its beauty.
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- The luminescent paint on the Soarway’s bezel.
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- This is all the branding on the dial of the watch. Rolex could learn a thing or two from this design.
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- The Kobold Soarway Diver’s caseback.
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- The distinctive shape of almost all Kobold watches means a nice curve around your wrist.
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- The Kobold signed crown.
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- The bezel is engraved rather than just painted. Nice.
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- The Kobold Soarway Diver on my wrist.
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- The inscription on the back. Thanks, J.G.!
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- Using a Zulu strap on a watch like this is unconventional, but I love the look. I prefer canvas to leather, in fact.
By Christian Cantrell
Fuzzbuster111
I own a Kobold Polar Surveyor, which is a stunning chronograph. My Polar Surveyor has the arctic blue dial – a unique silvery blue that I’ve never seen before. The Swiss 7750 base movement has several unusual complications beyond just the chronograph, only found on the Polar Surveyor: Date, GMT/24 hour hand; a 2nd 24 hour hand which also acts as a day/night indicator. So, you can actually have two different 24 hour time zones, one of which is synchronous with the 12 hour hands. This is a very useful function!
In addition to that, this particular model uses a special lubrication which enables it to be used in very cold, harsh climates for extended periods of time. The bezel on mine does not rotate – nor do I want it to rotate because it is actually part of the 24 GMT feature. Some later produced Polar Surveyors have rotating bezels, but that’s not for me – defeats the purpose of this watch. My polar surveyor does not have a display back – that’s because it’s a serious tool watch. Some do have display backs, but that sort of defeats the watch’s purpose. Supposedly the entire Swiss movement had been reworked by Kobold – I don’t know to what extent, but I can tell you it is an extremely smooth winding, smooth operating and accurate movement – much more so than my Omega Seamaster Chronograph.
The chronograph pushers have screw down pushers that not only actually screw down (some are just for show) but do so easily. It is also antimagnetic, shock resistant and 300m water resistance.
The Polar Surveyor Case was made by Walter Fricker, a German engineering/manufacturing/design firm that produced watches for microbrands, like Kobold. Fricker cases were the best, and I do mean the best, watch cases for genuine tool watches. Too bad, Fricker stopped producing watches and watch cases in 2019. Solid Stainless steel bracelet with high-quality folding locking clasp. There will be no more Polar Surveyors with Fricker cases, and therefore, no more Polar Surveyors, unless Kobold has a few Fricker cases squirreled away.
Sometimes, someone just makes the perfect tool-watch; the Polar Surveyor is it for me. I wouldn’t mind adding a UTS Munchein Chronograph to the collection, but wouldn’t trade my Polar Surveyor for it – no way!