William Wood Valiant

William Wood Watches would like you to know that they are serious about firefighting. And about watches. Named for and inspired by the founder’s grandfather who served as a firefighter in the British Fire Service for over 25 years, William Wood makes watches loaded with tips of the hat to firefighting. While the British brand has a dressy quartz watch, I suggest you ignore it and get right to the good stuff.

In addition to their new Triumph chronograph, that good stuff includes the Valiant dive watch. The Valiant is packed with elements that take inspiration from the firefighting world and it makes a great effort of balancing utility and class. Does such a watch make the wearer feel like a real deal firefighter? Definitely not. But let’s see whether it delivers on its mission as a dive watch and an homage to Britain’s blaze-battling first responders.

The eye-popping fire hose straps may try to steal the show, but for me, what pops the most is the applied logo. Partly because of its high shine, partly because at first it’s hard to tell what it is. But that’s just because you don’t see a ton of fire helmets on watches. The sandwich dial doesn’t hurt either.

First up in the string of firefighting elements is the very cool crown. The inset is crafted in London’s jewelry district from a brass firefighter’s helmet from the 1920s. The crown guards are quite prominent and do their job perhaps better than many other dive watches’ guards, as they partially cover not just the sides, but the top of the crown. The brushing and edges are crisp and have great definition

I’m a big fan of the rounded lug ends and I love how the lugs on the William Wood have a slight slope inward on the exterior side. The bezel on this particular model (“The Rose Model”) features rose gold plating (matching the hands and presumably rose gold tone and PVD plating) and has a satisfying click, but far too much wiggle. And in this photo, you can see how absurdly high the dome is. You’ll see throughout the review that the dome drastically increases the reflections and at times distorts the dial with little discernible benefit.

Despite the vertiginous height of this watch, it wears rather well on the wrist. Chalk that up to the shorter lug-to-lug (relative to the height), and the slope of the bezel, which reduces the visual heft of the watch. The rubber straps help it conform to the wrist, too.

The sandwich dial is really where the hot action is. It’s here that you’ll find the majority of the firefighting inspiration. Available in five colors for a total of six variants (the black dial comes with a red or black bezel), I had a chance to handle The Rose Model, so named for the rose gold accents throughout. (Yes, you can put a NATO on the Valiant. Yes, it makes it sit very tall on the wrist.)

Let’s run through the Valiant’s firefighter stuff. Apparently, the 12-hour marker–the two stripes–represents the rank insignia that a Crew Manager would have had at the turn of the century in England. Which, I guess is a thing. But it’s also a very common style for a 12-hour marker. Next, you have the checkered minute track along the periphery, which was pulled from a British fire engine. Again, fine. But also again, we’ve seen checkered rings on tons of watches (though most are racing-inspired). The issue isn’t that these elements are bad or look bad, just that they aren’t clearly firefighting-inspired, and so it seems like the inspiration is a bit forced. Less so, maybe, is the bell chime counterbalance on the second hand. I love the look of the hollowed-out outline, and it adds a needed bit of character to the rather flat handset. And man do I dig that fire helmet logo.

Here you can really catch the sandwichy goodness and the checkered ring, plus you get a great feel for the sizeable crown. But you also get a clean view of the date window, which can only be explained by them putting so much thought into the firefighting designs that they didn’t have any left for the date window. It’s just there and a cutout and why not just add a beveled edge? Maybe you don’t care, and maybe I shouldn’t.

The lume (most likely C3, but not specified) on the Valiant is just fine. The hands shine brighter than the sandwich indices (which is not uncommon on such dials). While the lume doesn’t wow, it also doesn’t disappoint. It’s just there, doing what it’s supposed to.

I really would’ve loved a solid caseback with a high-relief design. For a watch that goes so full tilt with the firefighting inspiration, it seems like a missed opportunity. Or at least a more customized rotor–the tiny helmet etching is underwhelming. The watch comes with your choice of a Seiko NH35 or a Swiss Sellita SW200 (both undecorated movements that provide further reason for a solid caseback). The Sellita exceeds in almost every aspect, but both are exceptionally reliable movements. The price disparity between the options (almost $700) presents an issue, though. Unless you have a snobbish need for a Swiss movement in your microbrand watches, I’d go with the Seiko.

One of the signatures of the brand is its fire hose straps, available in a slew of colors (which you choose at the time of purchase). On the back you’ll find text that reads “Made from recycled materials,” as the straps use a rubber base with cast-off British fire hose rubber stitched in (specifically Angus Duraline, which I’m sure means something to someone). Obviously, the portions that are used on the straps vary wildly, but if you’re lucky, you’ll get one with some black print, which I think adds a bit of charm. I found them to be soft, flexible, and comfortable on the wrist. Quick-release springbars make strap swaps a snap. The watch also comes with a bracelet option, which I didn’t try and didn’t miss, because if you’re buying this watch, I imagine part of the reason is the fire hose straps.

The William Wood Valiant is an undeniably cool watch. Firefighters are cool. Fire hose straps are cool. Brass crown insets are cool. Old-timey firefighting helmet logos are cool. While some of the dial elements are a bit contrived, I think the overall design is a winner. It all comes together and the firefighting elements are not too in-your-face to be distracting. Further, there’s legitimate heritage and inspiration here: the catalyst for the brand and its designs are the founder’s grandfather, an actual career firefighter. That’s cool.

I think the biggest obstacle for many will be the pricing. I already mentioned the puzzling disparity between the two movement types–just get the Seiko. There are custom elements and a strong overall design that give the watch a boost, and as I mentioned, it has a legitimate heritage that other brands lack or attempt to manufacture. At the same time, I think the lume could be better, the bezel a bit tighter, and the domed crystal less domed. Is the watch worth its ask? You’ll need to do your own math for that. While you crunch the numbers, head over to the William Wood Watches site to explore the full Valiant range and check out their very cool chronograph.