microbrand
Audaz Octomarine Diver Review
Audaz Octomarine Diver If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive dive watch, or even as some would call it, a bargain, the Audaz Octomarine Diver might be a watch to look at. Believe it or not, it is hard to even for me to keep up with all the watch brands out there these days. It seems like every day I find a new brand on social media, or through an email from them directly. Now, this is go...
Venturo Watches Field # 2 Review
Venturo Watches Field #2 If you are a fan of microbrands, than chances are you are familiar with Gruppo Gamma. The Venturo Field #2, is the latest from the Gruppo Gamma sister brand, and is their second field style watch but also their second watch to date. The idea behind Venturo is to try and offer some different style watches than what Gruppo Gamma has offered in the past and also produce a qua...
Maranez Tao Watch Review
Maranez Tao If you are new to the microbrand watch world, you may be thinking that Maranez is a new watch brand, but the company has been around since at least 2013 and has produced a lot of popular budget microbrand watches. Today, I have one of their newest offerings in hand for review, the Maranez Tao. The Tao is inspired by a few brands, most notably a Seiko Turtle and with the bezel, the comp...
A Look At The Gruppo Gamma Divemaster MKII
Gruppo Gamma Divemaster MKII Over 3 years ago, I reviewed the original Gruppo Gamma Divemaster. At the time, I considered it to be their best watch to date. Recently I was able to get my hands on the updated or second version, now called the Gruppo Gamma Divemaster MKII. At first, I thought the changes were minor, and while they are subtle, the changes are not only welcomed but make it a much bett...
Ventus NorthStar Watch Review
Ventus NorthStar Many watch enthusiasts feel that microbrand watches should be inexpensive. Inexpensive can be subjective as well, but I have seen it many times when a microbrand releases a new model and it is over $1,000, there is a lot of yelling about the price. Zelos watches, who is the sister brand to Ventus has dealt with this themselves recently. The Ventus Northstar and other Ventus models...
Esoteric Bathyal Hands-On Review
Esoteric Bathyal It seems these days most brands (micro and otherwise) are inspired by vintage pieces, especially watches from the 60s and 70s. It makes sense, seeing as how many amazing watches came from that time period, especially when it comes to diving watches. Many mainstream brands are hopping on this trend as well, releasing modern interpretations of their past iconic watches. One brand th...
A look at the Zelos Hammerhead II
Zelos Hammerhead II Long-time fans of Zelos surely know the Zelos Hammerhead, a chunky cushion-shaped style dive watch that has proven to be one of their best selling models. Because of that, Zelos has recently released the Hammerhead II. While the Hammerhead has had a few variations through the years, this second edition is updated with a slightly new dial, a Helium Release Valve and a new ...
Marloe Morar Beacon | Watch Review
Marloe Morar Beacon Dive watches are some of the most popular watches out in the market, and that probably will never change. The dive watch is functional, sporty, generally attractive and can be worn in almost any setting or any activity. The Marloe Morar is Marloe Watch Company’s take on a dive watch, and while it may look derivative at first, I feel they put their unique spin on the dive ...
Raven Solitude | Watch Review
Raven Solitude If you have always been a fan of Raven, but maybe they were just a little too expensive for you, the Raven Solitude should be a little more within your grasp. Yes, this is a budget model from Raven, but when I say that, it makes the watch sound cheap. I don’t believe this to be a sub-par watch compared to other models, but yes, a few things were done to get the price down lowe...
Ocean Crawler Dream Diver | Watch Review
Ocean Crawler Dream Diver If you are a fan of dive watches, Ocean Crawler is a brand you want to check out. Their latest model, the Dream Diver, is a bold offering, with a 44mm case, large indices and hands, 600 Meters WR and a helium release valve. Internally, you are looking at a Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement. Ocean Crawler releases quite a few models each year and shows no sign of slowing ...
Boldr Expedition 2019 Edition | Watch Review
Boldr Expedition 2019 Boldr Supply Company is quickly becoming one of the most popular microbrand watches companies out there, and for good reason. Their latest model, the all-new and redesigned Boldr Expedition is a fresh take on their field watch and integrates some elements from their Odyssey lineup yet retains much of the original Expeditions’ DNA. The brand has also kept the price affor...
Bern Milford Diver | Watch Review
Bern Milford Diver The Bern Milford Diver and the journey to their Kickstarter Campaign have not been an easy one. One of their first prototypes, (shown in this review) did not have a rotating bezel. It also was not QC’d very well either, as you can see in many of my photos that there is a lot of dust under the crystal. Yes, that is the watch that was sent to me for review, but knowing ...