11 minute read
IN FOCUS
AN AUTHENTIC DIVER, A CHARITABLE TRIBE AND A DOUBLE CHRONOGRAPH ALL GO UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
THE WATCH CREATED BY DIVERS, FOR DIVERS
Divers are a mainstay of the watchmaking world, a subset of timepieces in which pretty much every watch brand, big or small have dabbled in at one point or another. Hell, if you take a glance at the number of microbrands leaning heavily on water resistant designs it seems like there’s an insatiable thirst for tool pieces designed for depths.
Yet where most fall down is that they’re designed by… well, watch designers. I’m not saying a horologist can’t create a fantastic dive watch, it’s just that there’s a bit more gravitas to a watch created by an actual professional diver – and Paul Scurfield is about as professional as it gets.
Forget diving for pleasure; Paul spends up to four weeks at a time living at the bottom of the ocean, saturation diving. It’s dark, dangerous and not for the faint of heart. Horrific for those of us not used to the deep, but the perfect proving grounds for Scurfield’s own semi-eponymous brand, Scurfa.
Since 2013, Scurfa has been offering a cool array of no-nonsense quartz timepices with an emphasis on survivability. They’ve done well, with the Diver One leading the way as an accessible, utilitarian watch.
It’s worth noting however that Paul himself is a huge collector of vintage Tudor and Rolex, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Revolution’s Ross Povey and with a preposterous array of pristine vintage pieces squirrelled away. He’s been collecting about as long as he’s been saturation diving, and someone with that level of appreciation for fine watches was never going to stick with quartz alone. So now, like many a brand before them, Scurfa have graduated to mechanical with the Treasure Seeker.
The Treasure Seeker isn’t strictly Scurfa’s first automatic piece. A short run of the Diver One and the blacked-out Bell Diver 1 both offered mechanical movements in a limited capacity. It’s just that the Treasure Seeker is upscaling that into a fully-fledged collection of seriously lovely – yet still accessible – watches.
The focal point of the Treasure Seeker is the dial, which is a fantastic honeycomb of embossed hexagons. It’s subtler on the wrist than you might expect, even in the professionally bright orange and yellow variants. It’s the white however that’s become the frontrunner for the collection. Complete with large, applied indexes, it’s sleek, incredibly readable and equally cool.
Around that dial is built an otherwise pretty straightforward diver. The 41mm stainless steel bumper bar case is solid enough to survive the
Scurfa’s Treasure Seeker is a diver designed by an actual professional diver, Paul Scurfield, and features an intriguing dial and an automatic movement for the generous price of just £442
rigours of the ocean – with a few sharp rocks thrown in – while the five-link bracelet sits comfortable on the wrist with Rolex undertones. It’s also water resistant to 300m, so well suited to professional diving.
It’s a workhorse case and is therefore fittingly paired with the Miyota 9015 calibre automatic movement, solid if relatively unfinished. Not that you’d notice; the Treasure Seeker’s solid caseback has plenty to look at without any sapphire crystal. The rear engraving of a working saturation diver was created by Jock Patterson, himself a diver and award-winning artist.
Paul still hasn’t given up his day job. Despite running a successful watch brand, he still spends a solid month every now and then living underwater. If there’s one watch though that’s set to ensure he needs to surface a damn sight more often, it’s the Treasure Seeker – especially when the lens of accessibility is applied.
Despite serious specs, an intriguing dial and an automatic movement, the Treasure Seeker will set you back just £442. Though you might be in for a wait if you’re after the white version. Apparently it’s not just our favourite.
Find out more at scurfawatches.com
A FAMILY AFFAIR
When Tribus first stepped onto the scene in 2020 they did so with a serious attitude. If the surname Ward is familiar to you, it’s likely because of watchmaker Christopher Ward and the eponymous British brand he founded – and is now no longer a part of. Tribus founders James, Jonny and Jake Ward are his sons. That’s a horological tribe if ever there was one.
Indeed, the name Tribus comes the idea of tribalism – and not the kind that includes dodgy tattoos, but the use of personal and cultural heritage to solidify our place in the modern world, without being afraid to challenge traditions.
The idea of creating an international community with watchmaking at its heart is shown by Tribus’ work encouraging support in a range of areas including sport, music and charity. When the brand was still taking its first steps they took the huge leap of becoming Liverpool FC’s official watch partner, a dream come true for the Merseyside brand. Since then they’ve gone on to support other teams and are currently working closely with Brentford. Tribus’ home turf connection is also maintained by their collaboration with Jamie Carragher’s 23 Foundation, helping children across the world.
However, it’s not just in the UK and Switzerland (where the brand is based) that benefits from this tribal community. Their partnership with 303 Squadron helps to raise awareness of Europe’s forgotten soldiers who lost their lives in World War II, particularly the Polish air force’s 303 Squadron who played a vital role in the Battle of Britain but were, depressingly, denied the right to participate in the British Victory March in 1946. To coincide, they took the tried-and-tested Bremont route and produced a special edition pilot’s watch, the TRI-05, from the remnants of downed World War II planes.
That leads us very nicely onto the watchmaking side of things. Their watches are built around four collections, handily (if not particularly imaginatively) called TRI-01, TRI-02, TRI-03 and TRI-04. However, while each of the models are individual there is one thing that unites them, which is the fact that all their movements are COSC certified chronometers. So the base level of technical mechanics is well assured.
TRI-01 is the most understated piece they produce from a technical standpoint, with a simple time only function with a small seconds subdial at six o’clock. That being said, the dials are available in numerous bright and bold colours, including yellow, salmon and teal, as well as more subdued khaki and black. The 41mm diameter case is made from brushed steel, with options for a gunmetal PVD coating.
Adding another complication to the mix, the TRI-02 is also known as the GMT 3 Timezone. The case is virtually identical to the TRI-01 with the exception of an additional pusher, and the same material options are available. However, the dial is far more complex with the addition of a 24-hour chapter ring, 24-hour timer and GMT hand, all presented in a black and yellow colour scheme.
The TRI-03 adds a second subdial into the mix with a vertical bi-compax layout consisting of a power reserve indicator at 12 and a second time zone at six. It owes more to the TRI-01 for its style with the return of a wider choice in dial colours, despite having more in common with TRI-02. Unlike the previous watches, this one doesn’t house a Sellita calibre, instead opting for a Soprod C115 with a 42-hour power reserve, and it of course has COSC chronometer certification.
Lastly, the TRI-04 is a sports version of the TRI-03. It has a radically altered aesthetic due to the bolder lines and more impactful colour schemes of black and red or black and orange, both of which are full of contrast. The result is that they’re far more reminiscent of a classic dashboard instrument and generally have more of a badass attitude.
Tribus is still in the early days as these things go, but from their own family tribe to the number of watch lovers sitting up and taking notice – either thanks to Tribus’ partnerships or the innate quality of the watches – theirs is a tribe that’s set to keep growing.
Find out more at tribus-watches.com
Tribus was founded in 2020 from the roots of a watchmaking luminary by James, Jonny and Jake Ward; the sons of celebrated British watchmaker, Christopher Ward
ROLL OF THE DICE
Forget Rattrapante; why split the seconds when you can just have two of them?
The humble chronograph is a core complication, the kind that most watchmakers worth the name have dabbled in at some point. Whether it’s bi-compax, tri-compax, flyback or monpopusher, the basis are pretty much the same.
Then, however, there’s the rattrapante, which is a big step up. Considered one of the grand complications, the split-seconds chronograph is a serious feat of fine watchmaking, one that’s surprisingly enough becoming a touch more common. It’s designed to allow the timing of two different events, generally lap times or the like, which can be useful.
Cyrus on the other hand has taken a much different route, and one that might just make that kind of timing even easier.
Founded in 2010, Cyrus might be relatively young as these things go but has proven to have the horological chops to go after the big leagues. The independent brand – and their watchmaker, the award-winning, near-legendary Jean-Francois Mojon – has been making some big waves and the Klepcys DICE may just be their tsunami.
DICE stands for Double Independent Chronograph Evolution. You can take off that last word and get a pretty clear inkling as to what the new watch is. Rather than a single mechanism that splits, the DICE offers two different chronograph complications. So, rather than allowing the timing of two events, one after the other – i.e. laps – it means you can time two different events at the same time.
Want to know the exact time taken by two different racers? The DICE is the one. Otherwise, for a single racer you can swap between chronographs each lap, noting down the times and resetting one chronograph each time round. It might not be as visually slick as a rattrapante, but in some ways it is indeed more useful.
Visually, it would be easy to turn the double chronograph concept into an aesthetic mess, so to keep things simple, each hand is colour coded red or blue, corresponding to which of the twin monopusher crowns operates it. The 30-minute timer at three o’clock follows the same system for its double hands, counterbalanced on the other side of the dial by a small seconds subdial.
Because this is Cyrus and Cyrus just can’t help with excessive haute horology flair, the dial is open worked. On the one hand, it’s a treat to be able to see what’s going on underneath. On the other, it makes it a bit harder to read. Still, the bright blue
Cyrus’s DICE (Double Independent Chronograph Evolution) offers two different chronograph complications, meaning that it can time two different events at the same time, rather than allowing the timing of two events, one after the other
and red colours do go some way to alleviating that and they’ve picked out key components like the double column wheels in corresponding colours to highlight them. Additionally, the arrangement of components provides a better dial side view of the chronograph mechanism than most skeletons.
All that chronographic goodness is contained within the Klepcys’ signature cushion case, measuring 42mm in diameter and feeling a touch smaller and more wearable than we’ve gotten used to from Cyrus. It’s available in polished titanium or with a black DLC coating, which really makes the red and blue of the hands pop. And of course, both sides are adorned with one of the twin monopusher crowns.
The calibre, which is so prominently displayed, is the CYR718. It’s made from 443 components with almost half of those being dedicated to the double chronograph module alone. And as it’s on display there’s your usual assortment of classic high end finishes such as snailing, microblasted PVD, rhodium plating and sunray finishing.
With only 50 of each case variant available and given the complexity and rarity of the function (it has seldom been seen since 1873), it’ll be no surprise that you’ll have to enquire if you want the price.
Find out more at cyrus-watches.ch
