Vero Open Water 38 Swell Watch Review

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Vero Open Water 38

The Vero Open Water 38 has been upgraded, updated, and downsized as well, going from the 41mm original to 38mm. But beyond the size differences, there are two new colors, Swell (as reviewed) and Cove (a milky white), a new dial configuration, cerakoted bezels, and a new bracelet, now with female end links and the NodeX on the fly adjustable clasp extension. I chose this Swell because of this greenish/yellow fluorescent color, as it just screams summer, and I have been running a summer series with watches with bright and fun colors, perfect for summer.

Summer is ending soon, so this may be the last of the summer series, but what a way to end it, as this watch is bright, out there, loud, and with 200m of water resistance and a screw-down crown, this is great for whatever summer adventure you want to do with it. Pricing is $799 and uses the Sellita SW200 automatic movement, and watches are assembled in the USA. 

Specifications

• 38mm Stainless Steel Case and Bracelet

• Bead blasted finish

• 46.5mm Lug to Lug

• 10.75mm Thick

• 18mm Lug Width

• 140 Grams in weight

• SW200 Movement

• Sapphire Crystal

• Cerakote Bezel

• 200m Water Resistant

• Screw Down Crown

• NodeX Claps System

Price $795

https://vero-watch.com/collections/open-water-38/products/open-water-38-swell

I reviewed the original Open Water series a few years ago, and since then they have released a few different colors for that version, but this year Vero decided to not only update the model with a new size, but also made quite a few changes, the biggest one being the female end links, and this is significant as the original had extensive male end links that rubbed against the link below, causing it to mark and scratch pretty much right out of the box. With the new end links, there is no rubbing but this watch still has a fine bead blasting finish that is not immune from easy scratching, but more on that later. 

It’s no secret that a pretty large portion of the watch community has been asking for smaller-sized watches the past few years and many watch brands have been trying to appease these enthusiasts. The Open Water 38 has pretty much the same case design as the original, but it has shrunk by 3mm, and from a business standpoint, this makes sense. Many brands, especially microvbrands are making watches under 40mm, and from what I see, these watches sell.

I am not sure what started the trend if people just want more vintage sizing or guys with smaller wrists just want a watch that fits properly, but either way, the small watch train is still rolling, and we will probably see more and more watch brands cater to this smaller sizing. 

While I review these watches, I have never shied away from the fact that I prefer watches for my wear to be over 40mm, 42mm being my sweet spot, but I have been surprised by how some smaller watches wear like the Nordic Marine Instruments SØVÆRN and the Marine Instruments Skin Diver, both 39mm and I felt they wore great on my wrist, and didn’t look small at all. 

The same can’t be said for this Vero Open Water 38. 38mm is small for my tastes and my 7 1/2 inch (19.05cm) wrist, and this bezel, makes the watch dial even smaller, and as such, this watch is just too small for me to wear. Now what’s funny, my wife and a few friends didn’t think the same and thought it looked perfectly proportioned on my wrist, but they did remark on the color. 

And how could you not? This Vero Open Water 38 Swell is a very vibrant, in-your-face bright dial color, and I have to say, while it is so far removed from something that I would normally choose to wear, I have fallen in love with the dial and bezel color. If nothing else, this summer series has expanded my color palette for watches and shown me that I can easily wear watches that are not your typical black, blue, or grey dial. 

This dial of the Vero Open Water 38 is sparse, even more so than the original which I noted for a very clean dial. The original had the brand name and automatic on the dial, this one removes automatic, and under the applied indices says 20atm. Like the original, this is a no-date dial, and no worries, this is a no-date SW200 movement as well, so no phantom date position on the crown. 

The applied indices are now little squares and outlined in black as are the hour, minute, and second hand, and against this bright and vibrant dial are very easy to read. Though this is a small watch, with no chapter ring, no date, and a dial that pretty much has the least amount of text possible, it is very easy to read at a glance and the black and white contrasts well against the fluorescent green dial. 

Let’s discuss this dial and bezel color a little. In person, and in most lighting this is more green than yellow, though the Vero website depicts it as more of a yellowish hue. In certain lighting, it can appear to be more yellow, but this is a green dial and bezel in my opinion, and I think fluorescent green is the perfect description.

That bezel is cerakoted, and this time it is a 12-hour bezel instead of an elapsed time bezel, allowing one to track another timezone if they wanted to. I wish they kept the dive bezel, but 12-hour bezels do have their place, and are probably more functional to many who buy these watches, as most guys really aren’t diving with their dive or dive-style watches. 

The crown guards of the Open Water 38 retain the crab craw look and the screw-down crown stays flush when fully screwed down, and Vero opted to keep the black crown, even though the bezel is no longer black. I think with all the black on the bezel and dial, this still works and flows with the style of the watch. 

The bracelet has new female end links as I mentioned already, and the fit against the case inside the lugs looks good and feels tight. The bracelet is still a 3-link oyster style, though not fully articulated this time. The links use one-piece screws, so easy to size and two links were removed to fit my wrist. 

And if you can’t get the perfect fit when removing the links, the clasp is the NodeX clasp which is a thin clasp that houses an on-the-fly extension that can help you get that perfect fit at the push of a button. Unlike a lot of other tool-less extensions or on-the-fly extension clasps that other microbrands are using, where essentially a link is going in and out of the clasp, this has a thin piece of metal that slides in and out. While it may not look as great when extended, it does lock into place when open and this thin piece of metal allows for a less thick clasp overall and reduces the amount of opening gap.

But this bracelet and the case have a fine media blasting as Vero states, and while blasted finishes are easier to scratch than say a brushed finish, I do find this one scratches quite easily, with marks appearing on the bracelet from photography and around the house wear, and it rubs off pretty easily on the link attached to the NodeX clasp system, from sliding the extension in and out a few times. Remember that the only way to remove scratches on a blasted finish is to have it blasted again. I think this watch would have greatly benefited from the 1200 Vickers hard coating so many brands are using these days. 

I know quite a few people who assumed this Vero Open Water 38mm Swell was a full lume dial, and possibly even a full lume bezel, but it is not. The Swell has standard lume on the hour and minute hands and on the applied indices, which overall glows well, though I find the lume on the opposite side of the second hand to be a little odd. 

If you are in the under 40mm camp of watch enthusiasts, this new Vero Open Water 38 has probably caught your eye. If you prefer larger watches, Vero does still make the 41mm version, or at the very least have a few in stock. Vero states on their website these new 38mm models are built in batches and at the time of publishing, they are on batch 5, and all of their watches are assembled in the USA, in their shop in Portland, Oregon, and the movements are regulated and tested in 6 positions as well.

All Vero watches come with a 10-year warranty as well.  I do dig the new look of the models, especially this awesome dial and bezel color, and appreciate that they took feedback from the original model and updated the bracelet and end links. That said, this finish scratches a little too easily for my tastes, and I would like to see either a thicker blasting or a hard coating applied to these watches. 

See more about the Vero Open Water 38 HERE.