There’s a particular rush to review the debut model of a new microbrand just before its launch. I’ve been following Zealandic Watches for some time and eagerly awaiting the release of their Iceborne field watch, so it was with more than a little excitement that I unboxed a prototype of their Burgundy colorway for review.
Zealandic Watches was founded in 2021 and is based in, you guessed it, New Zealand, aka Aotearoa. The brainchild of Derek Chuan, a mechanical engineer by trade with a passion for design and watches, the Iceborne takes its inspiration from the island nation’s natural beauty. It’s as good a backstory as any and sets the stage appropriately for this straightforward yet distinctive timepiece.
There is a crisp simplicity to the Iceborne: the 39mm 316L stainless steel case is uncomplicated though it features nice horizontal brushing and chamfered edges. It easily slips under a shirt cuff for dressier occasions and feels more svelte than its advertised 12 mm thickness. It’s still got a rugged side, rated for 200 meters of water resistance and featuring a screwdown crown with a corkscrew edge that’s easy to use. The crown is capped with Zealandic’s nature-inspired triangular logo.
More and more, I’m finding that 39mm seems to be a sweet spot for unisex designs that span dress watches and tool watches alike. The Iceborne wears very nicely on my 6.5” wrist and I suspect it would look equally at home on wrists both larger and smaller. The lug width is 20mm, and the lugs are drilled to make strap swapping easy. The included brown suede strap was wonderfully supple and comfortable right out of the box, and features a signed pin buckle. I think the Iceborne also looks great on darker straps, for instance, a black sailcloth strap that really helped the red dial pop and gave it a sportier feel.
The Miyota 9039 housed in the Iceborne is a known commodity and is becoming a ubiquitous midrange movement for microbrands, and with good reason. It’s a self-winding movement that features hacking, hand-winding, and a 42-hour power reserve, all at an accessible price point. It’s far from the most dramatic movement, and it’s not much of a looker, so I’m glad Zealandic opted for the engraved caseback rather than an exhibition design. That caseback features a gorgeous engraving of New Zealand, including some whimsical representations of sea currents that give it a much more dynamic vibe than many similar executions.
Textured dials have been in vogue for ages, but recent years have seen a trend in designs inspired by the artful randomness of the natural world, and I am here for it. The Iceborne’s stamped dial texture is inspired by the walls of the frigid ice caves of the Tasman Glacier and I must say they are well represented. I also see a resemblance to ocean waves on a choppy sea, or a mountain range, depending on the colorway.
I did note some minor imperfections on the prototype, which are visible close-up, including some smudging on the hands, logo, and indices. These are the result of reworking the prototype, and will not be present on the mass production model.
The lively texture is most subdued in the Burgundy version. I initially thought that burgundy was an odd choice for a watch inspired by a glacier, but Zealandic’s muse for this particular color is the Central Otago region renowned for its Pinot Noir. It does bear a resemblance to a sloshing glass of red wine, or a sunbaked landscape of red clay. While red is not a major component of my normal wardrobe, I could see myself wearing this darker, more somber shade. My favorite out of the trio is lush, forest green.
Heavily textured dials often sacrifice legibility for the sake of aesthetics, but that’s not a concern here. The sapphire crystal is AR-coated, and the bold, applied arrow indices and skeletonized sword hands are all nicely polished to stand out quite clearly in any light. In fact, they occasionally felt a hair large for the daily, but I took that as a concession to the Iceborne’s field watch intentions. The applied arrow indices nicely counterbalance the arrowhead seconds hand, and I’m grateful that Zealandic eschewed a date window. The lume on the Iceborne is excellent, emitting a cool blue that lasts the night thanks to Swiss Super-LumiNova C3.
The Iceborne is a solid, well-designed watch that is plenty robust without going out of its way to win over the spec-hounds. I’m growing less interested in the specifications of a watch than the experience of wearing it, and here is where the Iceborne really stakes its claim. It’s comfortable and unobtrusive to wear while still being eye-catching enough to warrant a lingering glance when I check the time or start a conversation with fellow watch lovers and neophytes alike. After following Zealandic’s journey in developing the Iceborne, I was a little worried that it wouldn’t live up to my own expectations, but I am happy to report that not only is this worth a look, I am eager to see what else this young brand has in store.
The Iceborne launches on Kickstarter on August 15th and will retail for USD $589. Kickstarter backers will have the opportunity to buy at a discount as low as $441. Visit the Zealandic Watches site to learn more about the Iceborne or sign up to be notified when it launches.
