Today’s Guest Bum is J.P. Ishaq. Apart from an incurable watch addiction, JP leads the product management team at an east coast tech company and occasionally writes a novel. He’s not very active on social media, but his Instagram is @johnny.piranha.
You may be asking yourself, “Who is this guy, and why is he taking up space on my favorite watch site?” Let me shed some light on that to justify my existence in these hallowed URLs.
I have loved watches as far back as I can remember. In fact, I like most things that move, be they horological or automotive. When I was twelve, I pestered my parents for a Seiko Kinetic. It was the most expensive thing I had ever saved up for, but my allowance wasn’t enough, so I asked them to front me. My mother worried I would break it or lose it, as dumb preteens are wont to do. I still have it, 24 years later. It’s worn, the crystal is scratched, but that oh-so-nineties black and gold colorway still pops with faded majesty. I even have the commercial seared into my brain, recited by a woman with a sultry, exotic accent: “If you’re going to create electricity, use it….” That was my first exposure to the automatic watch. As time went on, I discovered it wasn’t a new invention, but it is still one that continues to fascinate me with its endurance in this age of disposable electronics.
I digress. For many years I was a watch collector, just without much of a collection. A one- or two-watch person, with a slightly dressy daily and maybe something ostentatious but cheap, tucked away for special occasions. My collection has grown bit by bit over the years, a Longines Conquest here, a vintage Caravelle Devil Diver, or Tissot Seastar there. But recently, that collector itch has resurfaced, and my sights fell on the Uræd.
One thing ties my eclectic collection of divers, dress watches, and pilot’s watches together: a story. And the Uræd has quite the yarn. To prove that his enclosed lifeboat prototype was a safer alternative to the prevailing designs of the day, Norseman Ole Brud and a few bold crewmates left Norway for New York in 1904. After weeks at sea, braving storms, they made it and were celebrated as heroes. The name of the prototype vessel was the Uræd. Decades later, his design was widely adopted and still forms the foundation of the lifeboats used across the world today.
That’s a heck of an inspiration to offer as the foundation for a dive watch. It imparts a bit of pedigree to the product to help it stand its ground in the saturated world of dive watches with big bezels, big specs, and big expectations. So, it’s got a cool name and a cool backstory, but how is the watch?
Here’s the best part: beneath the admittedly effective marketing veneer, the Uræd tool watch from Norwegian microbrand Von Doren is excellent and great value for the money. Inspired in design as well as name by the prototype lifeboat that sailed across the Atlantic more than a century ago, the Uræd is a mix of classic elements and modern sensibility with more than a little Scandinavian flair. In a nutshell, I love it.
The lines of the 40mm case are surprisingly supple and organic, a far cry from the chunky, blocky look of many dive watches. This is a not-so-subtle callback to the egg-shaped vessel that inspired the Uræd (a drawing of which is etched on the case back crystal). Even the signed and fluted screw-down crown emerges fluidly from the side of the case. An average-sized watch for this day and age, it wears just right on my 6.5″ wrist. The finishing is great, brushed all over, and it’ll look just as fetching years down the road once it’s picked up a few battle scars from my adventures around the office.
The day/date function has the date at 3 o’clock and the weekday at 12. You can opt for it in English, and that’s fine, but Søndag brunch just feels more adventurous than Sunday brunch. I chose to have the weekdays in Norwegian on a disk color-matched to the dial.
In my case, that dial is Green Sea, a stormy, mossy sunburst dial that darkens to a black vignette before reaching the concentric black ring housing the applied indices. Depending on the light, it can range from rich emerald to nearly gray. The watch is also available in Atlantic Blue and Lava (black), both of which look equally nice. White hands stand out starkly and make telling time a cinch. It’s a surprisingly effective look, and I was won over instantly despite my usual ambivalence toward green dials. Everything is clearly visible beneath the gently domed and AR-coated sapphire crystal. Apart from the weekday window, the dial text is understated, just the Von Doren name beneath the company’s simple logo at the top of the dial, with Uræd, Automatic, and the 100m water resistance below. I’m no fan of busy dials, but I think they could have afforded to upsize it just a bit. As it is, the text looks a little lost at sea … maybe that was the idea.
The BGW9 Super-Luminova lume is adequate and consistently applied, plenty legible in low light situations, at least on the dial. The handset, which for the hour and minute are a syringe design, are well-lumed, including the tip of the seconds hand. The bezel was a little faint. Given that I would categorize this watch as a dress diver rather than a full-fledged dive watch, I give it a passing grade. Lume-lovers (lume-atics?) might disagree.
As for the bezel action, it has a satisfying 120 clicks without any wiggle. It’s a 12-hour rather than a dive timer which I have naturally set to Oslo time. If I have a nit to pick with this watch, it’s that the bezel emerges so abruptly from the otherwise smooth and flowing case. However, I won’t complain too loudly because it keeps the Uræd’s height at a tidy 13.4 mm, allowing it to just sneak under a shirt cuff.
Around the back, a screw-down display case back reveals the STP 4-13 automatic movement. It’s a tidy movement with blued screws and Von Doren’s minimalist logo on the rotor. Visually it’s a bit cluttered and obscured by the aforementioned print of the Uræd prototype. I must admit, I would have preferred an all-metal case back engraving or relief to better showcase the vessel illustration and offer a truly heritage-inspired design in the vein of the old Tissot Seastar T12, but it’s always neat to see gears and rotors.
The Uræd ships with a hefty but well-made bracelet with a secure clasp and a chunky rubber strap (both with quick-release pins and signed buckles), as well as a black and white NATO. All three are well made and give off the proper vibe. The package also includes a Wolf-designed watch roll, the inner lining of which opens to reveal the Norwegian flag, which was a colorful and welcome surprise. Even the box it comes in shows an attention to detail, with a dynamic illustration of the Uræd lifeboat braving a stormy sea.
As for the bracelet, it may be blasphemous to some dive watch purists, but I mainly wear my Uræd on a brown leather strap that, coupled with the green dial, visually shrinks it and gives it an earthy color scheme as reminiscent of old Norweigan forests as it is the ocean.
Good Scandinavian watch brands are few and far between, but the team at Von Doren’s Oslo studio has created something special here that I think stands out from the crowded and homage-filled dive watch market. Perhaps the greatest signifier of its success is that I find myself reaching for it more than any other watch in my weird little collection. Moreover, and I am almost surprised to find myself saying this, the Uræd feels like a bargain at its just over $1600 price point. To explore the Uræd or Von Doren’s other watches, visit their site at www.vondoren.com.
Skal!
