Across the snowy parking lot, beneath the harsh street lamps, the driver in the dark SUV waved to me. I flashed my lights and dutifully pulled up, tires crunching over ice. My window stuck for a moment due to the cold before rolling down.
“JP?” the other driver asked.
“Jason?” I inquired in turn.
He smiled and pulled on his mask. I did the same before stepping out of the car to join him as he popped his trunk. “Let me show you the watch,” he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice even concealed by the mask and the darkness.
I didn’t expect to meet Jason Yelk, The Sacred Crafts’ head of sales, in a snowbound parking lot in the middle of a bitter Vermont winter, but I’m glad I did. Vermont is the end of the line, at least as far as the global supply chain is concerned. The Dark Seas, part of the company’s La Grande Mér line, traveled a good chunk of the world to wind up in my hands. It’s especially incongruous to meet someone here from a microbrand that exudes such tropical vibes, but it’s little surprises like that that make life so fun.
The Sacred Crafts was founded on the principles of conservation and sustainability, specifically targeting ocean waste including fishing nets and boat debris. Anyone who has followed watch industry news over the past year will have likely heard of Oris’s much-lauded use of reclaimed ocean plastic in their dials. The Sacred Crafts have been doing it even longer, using reclaimed bronze and steel from old boat propellers in their cases and bracelets. They also use a proprietary compound they call Terrazo in their bracelet center links and dials, made in part from discarded fishing nets and sea glass. Turning waste into watches is a cool way to advocate for sustainability, and that seems core to how this company operates.
The first thing that greeted me was a sizeable box wrapped in a kerchief covered in symbols and writing in Thai and English. Unknotting the kerchief, I found a gorgeous blue box with The Sacred Crafts’ logo applied in metal. I prefer minimalist packaging, ideally made from recyclable or compostable materials. Like many watch enthusiasts, I have a pile of unused watch boxes and watch rolls that I hang onto in case I sell something. If you’re going to make a watch box, though, you might as well go big, and The Sacred Crafts went very big indeed. The handsome blue box is made of wood reclaimed from boat hulls in Thailand, and I absolutely love it despite the size. This is a box I will find a use for.
Within it, was a watch so aggressive in its design that it took me a moment to realize there were other items in there with it, including a rubber waffle strap and a leather rally strap, as well as two neat little lapel pins. The box also includes a plaque with the watch’s model and serial number.
I mentioned how the brand utilizes reclaimed bronze in some of their watches, but this isn’t one of them. The Sacred Crafts Dark Seas is black. Seriously black. Except where it’s green. It’s also big at 44 mm. This is not a watch for the faint-hearted. Maybe it’s a watch for you. The case is made from PVD-coated stainless steel but it also uses carbon fiber in the bezel, as well as the crown guards and a plate on the opposite side of the case. The sides of the case also feature rectangular cutaways along the lugs and circular ones that appear to be drilled lugs but … aren’t. It’s an interesting choice, but the finishing throughout is top-notch. The Dark Seas is rated for 300m, which is pretty impressive. The sapphire crystal is faceted around the edge rather than domed, which gives it a real sense of depth without adding too much to the 13mm height.
The screw-down crown nestled between carbon fiber crown guards is easy to operate and is capped with The Sacred Crafts’ logo. The crown itself is angular and looks like it came off the Death Star. In fact, the whole watch looks like something Darth Vader would gladly wear.
The dial is equally bold, made from pale green reclaimed sea glass. Sea glass in a dial is a first for me, and I like it. The veins of green give it an almost marble-like quality that is quite attractive, and when I charged it with a UV light for lume shots, they were quite striking. Like any other natural (or nature-assisted) material, there are textural imperfections in the dial, but that’s part of what makes it unique, and it’s a very cool execution.
The applied circular hour markers and pill-shaped hour markers at 12, 6, and 9 (with a truncated one at 3 to allow for a date window) are very nicely done and they are well-lumed. The way the cardinal hour markers are set back into the sloped rehaut gives the dial a nice sense of continuity. Text is mercifully limited: The Sacred Crafts logo sits below 12 o’clock, while “Grande Mér” and the 300m depth rating occupy the bottom of the dial. I’m unabashedly not a fan of date windows, but I confess it would have been nice if this one had been framed to match the hour markers. What I really like about it is that it’s otherwise small and well-integrated into the dial so that it doesn’t throw off the symmetry, which is my usual complaint.
The handset features exaggerated plongeur-style hands that almost look like paddles. They are accompanied by a lollipop second hand, which I always welcome. Like the hour markers, they have plenty of lume and a beautiful texture that looks almost silky up close.
The carbon fiber bezel is an interesting case study in design. Just overhanging the sides of the case, it is very easy to operate, with a satisfying tactility and just the barest hint of back play. Designed to evoke a boat propeller, it has an almost circular saw-like silhouette that makes the watch seem a bit more brash than it might have otherwise. On the bronze versions, I think that execution works much better but I understand their desire for consistency. The numerals and the first 15 minutes’ hashes are embossed – again, in bronze, the execution may be a little smoother. Here it’s a tad rough but doesn’t feel unfinished in any way. There’s a lumed pip at 12 o’clock which is good for nighttime legibility.
Around back is an exhibition caseback revealing the ETA 2824 automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve. It’s a solid movement, though not featuring much in the way of decoration beyond the absolutely beautiful custom rotor, which features perlage finishing and resembles a boat propeller or perhaps a nautilus shell. It’s one of the coolest I’ve seen, and for once I welcome the exhibition back. Around the edges is some basic info including the power reserve.
The bracelet is as much of a standout as the dial. The outer links are PVD-coated to match the case, while the inner links are made of carbon fiber and that Terrazzo compound I mentioned earlier, which includes reclaimed ocean waste in the form of fishing nets incorporated in the material. This makes the bracelet lighter and also gives the inner links a very distinctive, almost wood-grain appearance, except for the translucent green strip down the center.
Changing out that bracelet initially posed a bit of a challenge. The end links are fitted so snugly that they almost didn’t want to come out. Once they were out, swapping in either the rubber or the leather was a cinch, though I feel this watch looks and wears best on that beautiful bracelet. Resizing wasn’t too much of a project, though the pins were a little more snug than I’m used to. Once it was on, however, it felt great. It absolutely dominates my 6.5” wrist and is certainly on the outer edge of what my preferences will allow, but it feels light.
I said before this isn’t a watch for the faint of heart. It’s a bold piece and definitely follows the “more is more” philosophy of modern watch trends in terms of size and, dare I say, wrist presence. That said, it wears quite well on a variety of wrists, especially for anyone who likes to make a statement with their watches. In practice, it was commented on often, and any time I explained the origin and backstory, people were intrigued to learn more about the watch and The Sacred Crafts. Mission accomplished.
Like all of the brand’s pieces, The Sacred Crafts Dark Seas is produced in a limited run. It’s priced at $1599 USD, which is on the pricier side but considering the attention to detail and the unique aesthetic and materials, feels reasonable. Explore the Dark Seas and their other watches at thesacredcrafts.com
