It has been several years since I last had my hands on a Triwa, and in that time, the Stockholm, Sweden-based company has taken some interesting turns. Always outspoken, the brand has taken bold steps to promote social issues through its products. These include Time to Talk, a collaboration with Mind to promote mental health care; Time for Oceans, made with recycled ocean plastic; and the collection from which the Triwa Humanium hails, Time for Peace, which is made from upcycled metal from illegal firearms.
I know some people want to keep their watch hobby separate from politics or controversial issues. I am not one of them. It’s not that I investigate the opinions of every watchmaker, but when a brand makes its owners’ positions known or incorporates them into its products or marketing, I won’t ignore that fact. As a reviewer and a consumer, I’ll choose how I feel about that stance and whether it makes the brand and its products more or less appealing. I know I’m not alone in this, so when a brand goes so far as to make an issue-themed watch, they do so knowing that they may gain a certain segment of consumers while almost surely losing another. So far, I’d say it is working out pretty well for Triwa.
Humanium Metal is a product of IM, an international humanitarian organization based in Sweden. In a nutshell, IM obtains confiscated firearms and smelts their metal components in local foundries to form a stainless steel alloy which is then sold to partners like Triwa. After expenses, 70% of the money raised goes to programs to prevent gun violence and support survivors. IM started the project in El Salvador in 2016, then partnered with Zambia in 2020 and the United States in 2021. That last one should be fertile ground for Humanium. The U.S. has the dubious distinction of being the country with the greatest number of small arms per person by a staggering margin and an equally appalling rate of gun violence. I applaud IM’s efforts in this area, not because Humanium is reducing the number of firearms (the guns they melted would have all been destroyed anyway) but because their swords-into-plowshares symbolism resonates with me. I also like how they are spending the profits. In addition to the money IM raises through Humanium metal sales, Trwia donates 15% of the profits on each watch (about $150,000 so far) to IM’s gun violence and victim relief efforts. Since the Russian invasion, Triwa’s donations have been directed to IM’s Ukrainian relief efforts.
Still, the idea behind a watch only goes so far, no matter how noble. If I am going to spend my money, I want it to be on something I’d enjoy regardless of its backstory, and I do indeed enjoy this one. Triwa employs Humanium in the watches cases, which are brushed and polished (on the bezel and crown) and remarkably thin thanks to the low-profile Miyota quartz and automatic movements they employ. They offer the series in 39mm cases for the chronograph, automatic, and quartz models, and a 34mm case (Miyota GL10 quartz only).
I ordered the smallest one just to mix things up in my collection a bit. Even though I have a fairly small wrist (6.75″), most of my collection skews to 40mm or larger, and I sometimes forget how well the little ones wear. This one measures 34mm wide by 42mm long and just 8.5mm thick on a 16mm strap. That’s trimmer than even my HMTs and nearly all of my vintage pieces. The flat crystal and narrow strap visually shrink the watch more than I had anticipated. I suspected I might like 39mm a little more.
WatchRecon.com to the rescue. In a couple of days, I had a used, silver dial Humanium 39 on my wrist, and y’know what? Smaller is better. I can certainly wear either watch comfortably but I much prefer the compact 34.
Whichever you choose, the Triwa Humanium’s case is simple and nicely executed. In a nod to the watch’s raw material, the crown recalls the shape of a revolver’s cylinder. A red dot recessed into the head ties to the date and second hand. Triwa cautions that individual units may vary slightly in appearance due to the nature of the metal, but I saw no sign of anything other than clean stainless steel on either watch. Triwa says it is equivalent to the 316L grade you normally find in watch components.
Humanium watches are intended for everyday wear, and as such, they have an everyday water resistance rating of 50m. This makes sense on the 34 but it surprised me that it was the same for the 39 as that version has a screw-down crown.
In contrast to the sleek case, the sandwich dial appears almost raw with its vertical brushing and deep, pronounced grain. The red date is a real eye-catcher, tying nicely with the red-accented crown and second hand. Even though the rest of the cutouts are unfinished, I appreciate the polished and recessed date window frame.
Triwa has two logo designs on its watches. One is the simple block print, the other has the brand name in a shorter typeface with more kerning, set below a large stylized “T.” I prefer the Big T, but as I learned from my 34 order, you cannot know which batch you might get.
I rather like the Humanium periodic table logo. You will find it in a pronounced engraving on the case back as well as the lower section of the dial. It wasn’t conceived as a watch dial decoration, but its compact, symmetrical design serves well in this capacity. If you buy a 39mm, you will see it engraved on the left side of the case too.
The polished baton hands are lumed, but that is all the glowy stuff you will find here. That bottom layer is not lumed at all, and I must say, that was a missed opportunity. Granted, this is not a tool watch, and lumed hands are certainly better than nothing, but proper lume beneath those cutouts would have looked fantastic and made the watch far more useful.
Several straps are available. My 34 arrived on a Triwa Green Canvas Super Slim made of recycled PET, the plastic used for disposable water bottles and other food containers. I found it to be well-made and quite comfortable. The 39 arrived on a Milanese mesh, which was nice enough, but I’m not a big fan of the style so I popped it onto a spare leather strap.
Among its other positions, Triwa is also committed to the environment. Under the banner “Time for Transparency,” the company uses the 2030 Calculator by Doconomy to estimate each product’s carbon footprint. For the Humanium 34 with a recycled strap, that would be 2.31kg CO2e (1.66kg for the case, 0.3 kg for the strap, and 0.35kg for the battery). As you might have already guessed, the packaging is also designed for low environmental impact.
If you head over to Triwa.com now, you can pick up a 39 Quartz for $299, a 39 Chronograph for $419, a 39 Automatic with a Miyota 9015 for $699, or a 34 Quartz for $for — oops. No, you can’t. The 34 is sold out. Those prices may be on the higher side for this type of watch, but you must consider the unique material used and the fundraising purposes it serves.
All in all, I found the Triwa Humanium to be a well-thought and cleverly designed piece, lack of lumed markers notwithstanding. A cool watch and a good cause? Count me in.
