When New Zealand microband Draken Watches releases a new watch, you can count on three things: it will be big, it will be tough, and it will incorporate some cool design features. Such is the case with the Draken Kruger chronograph. It is 44mm wide, has a 300m-rated titanium case, and if you read on, I’ll tell you about all the fun bits I discovered when I tested this pair of prototypes.
Your first hint about the Kruger’s purpose is its packaging. It arrives in a rhino-emblazoned Mollie pouch, essentially an extra pocket you slide onto your belt. A broad swath of strong Velcro secures the flap, revealing a wooden tab. Pull that to reveal your watch and strap, as well as a topographical map of South Africa’s Kruger National Park burned into the surface. All of it is securely protected by a simple pine box. Draken also offers an option for fully compostable packaging.
I can think of few watches that establish such a strong theme with their packaging. Unboxing the Draken is an invitation to hop in a Land Rover and explore the wilderness. The image repeats on the case back where it That theme repeats on the case back, where you will find the rhino beautifully rendered and stamped in high relief. By the way, ignore the “316L” written back there. It’s a prototype, after all. The case and bracelet are both titanium, and it will say so on the finished product.
The Kruger is Dracken’s first chronograph, tucking a Seiko VK63 MechaQuartz into a beefy 44mm wide, 49.5mm long, 14.2mm thick titanium case. For the uninitiated, the VK63 mates a quartz timekeeper to a mechanical chronograph module, creating an inexpensive movement with a smooth sweep and satisfying feel. The trade-off vis-a-vis a conventional quartz chrono is its thickness, but obviously, that is hardly a concern here. It’s a large watch that does little camouflage its size. The case sides taper just enough to keep things interesting but still offer enough surface area to carry the brand name. Broad, flat teeth on the bezel offer a secure grip and further enhance the Kruger’s brute appeal.
And yet, Chonky Boi though it may be, the Kruger is hardly unrefined or unwieldy. At just under 50mm long, it manages to fit the confines of my smallish 6.75″ wrist. Those steeply angled lugs keep the bracelet ends from sticking out too far, and bevelling around the upper edges offers a touch of refinement while also tying the case together with the chiseled links of the bracelet. I wouldn’t wear it to a dinner party, but I could happily strap this on for any outdoor adventure. Caught in the blazing sun? The sapphire crystal has ten coats of anti-reflective coating on the inside. Exploring the briny depths? Screw-down crowns and case back coupled with Viton gaskets seal it for a 300m water resistance rating. Waiting in the checkout at your local supermarket? Well, you can look at it and wish you were doing something cool.
Titanium seems to be the watch metal du jour, and I’m all for it. Had the watch and its 22mm, solid-link bracelet been stainless steel, it would have been heavy. Now, that’s not a deal-breaker; I own several big bruisers like that, and they’re a blast. It’s just that lighter-weight watches tend to be more comfortable over time. It’s refreshing to grab a big tool watch and discover it weighs considerably less than a brick. In addition to lightness, titanium is also antimagnetic, hypoallergenic, and has incredible tensile strength, all of which make it particularly well-suited for a tool watch. The bead-blasted matte gray finish doesn’t hurt either. It looks tough, and it is thanks to a 1200hv hardening treatment. Fans of stealth mode can opt for a black DLC coating that takes the protection up to 1700hv.
The crown is proportionately large and knurled for grip. When fully screwed down, it sinks between a pair of angular guards. Where most merely bracket the crown, those on the Kruger wrap neatly around it.
Legibility is vital for any tool watch, and Draken ensures this with stark black, white, and panda dials. I sampled the black and the full-lume white. A navigation triangle and sword hands lend a strong pilot’s vibe to the Kruger. It’s nice to see that none of the numerals are cut off by the subdials. Ok, the 60-minute dial at 9 o’clock takes a little from the 10, but just a nibble. Obviously, there is plenty of room on a dial of this diameter, but it helps that a date window takes the place of the 6 and the small seconds is an unframed crosshair as those choices serve to open it up. The result is clean, businesslike, and eminently practical.
At night, the BGW9 SuperLuminova pops to life, not only on the face and bezel but on the crown as well. The black dial version gets X1-C3 on the hands and markers, and BGW9 on the bezel.
The 120-click bezel is unidirectional and marked diver-style. Equipped with an engraved and lumed matte ceramic insert. I felt its action was perfectly tight, but Draken promises it will be even better in production, and they may sharpen up the tooling as well.
An outdoor watch needs a strap that is up to the task, and Draken supplies two. The first is the excellent titanium bracelet. If you’ve never worn a titanium watch and bracelet combination, then you may be caught off guard by its remarkable lightness, but you will soon grow to appreciate its comfort. It is a proper three-link bracelet in that each link is individually articulated. It fastens with a signed, push-button clasp and pops off with quick-release pins.
I’d probably never take it off the bracelet, but if you want to change things up, you’ll have a single-piece, pass-through strap of smooth seatbelt nylon.
Between the Kruger’s titanium body, high water resistance, crazy lume, and sapphire crystal, there is really nothing for which this watch isn’t prepared. In fact, if you buy one, I’d suggest you wear it on all of your most demanding excursions. A watch like this deserves to be used as intended. Beating it up a bit will only make it look more badass.
The Draken Kruger is available for pre-order now with an expected July delivery date. It’s NZ $577 for the blasted and NZ $628 for DLC (about $392 and $427 US) with free DHL shipping. That’s a good price for a solid citizen like the Kruger. Better still, Draken will donate 7% of the profits to Anti-poaching and Tracking Specialists (ATS), a ranger organization that protects wildlife from poaching and trafficking in eight nations. For more information or to order one of your own, visit DrakenWatches.com.
