Guest Bum, Matthew Kessler-Cleary reviews the Momentum Sea Quartz.
I’m always surprised when I’m interested in something that is liked by others, or in rare cases, popular. I grew up loving to read sci-fi and fantasy novels and thought I was an outlier because I didn’t personally know many people who shared that passion. Little did I know, in those nascent days of the internet community, that both genres have massive followings. For a while, I felt this way about watches in general – I saw myself as someone who had an oddball interest in objects that I assumed were viewed by the general public as outdated affectations. Reflecting further on that, I may have been right, we watch people are a niche community of sometimes lovable, and oft unreasonably critical nerds. Still, as I explored more of the horological blogosphere and forum communities during my 2018 dive into the deep end of horological insanity, I was both shocked and elated to find that others had as deep an affection for timepieces as my own.
The recent release of the Momentum Sea Quartz 30 was a similar experience. I grew up watching Magnum P.I. reruns (questionable content for a child, but I made it through childhood to be a semi-functioning adult) and was hit with a strong sense of “must have” when I first saw Momentum’s renders of their re-issue of the Sea Quartz Tom Selleck wore in the earlier season of the show. Finally, I could have a watch to complete my questionable vacation shirting choices, also inspired by Magnum’s own delightfully-flamboyant tropical printed button-downs. To my surprise, the Sea Quartz has turned into a thing and is in the early running for 2023’s most popular affordable watch.
Serendipitously, the watch arrived just prior to a Gulf Coast vacation my wife and I had lined up to escape the dullness that is Mid-Atlantic winter. All I needed was a Ferrari and a better mustache, and my Magnum P.I. vacation cosplay would be complete.
First, some context on our destination. For the very first vacation I took with my now wife, then girlfriend waiting for me to get myself together and propose to her, we went down to Fort Lauderdale, as East Coasters of modest financial means do. On our first day there, while eating at a restaurant that I can’t recall the name of, we asked our waitress what the best things are to do in the area. In hindsight, I cringe at having asked such a touristy question, but deeply appreciate her primary suggestion: drive down to Key West.
We had a rental car with unlimited mileage, and the youthful combination of energy and naivety to not be daunted by a roughly 400-mile round trip for a day trip. The drive itself was amazing – panoramic, immersive coastal vistas, waters in sea glass shades of blue and green, mangrove forests – such a panoply of beautiful sights that your eyes get lost trying to choose what to focus on. Upon arriving in Key West, we were so swept up in the edge-of-the-known-pirate vibe of the town, that we decided to stay overnight. Were you to propose, to my now-older self, a day trip with the possibility of staying overnight on the off chance that we actually find a place to stay upon arrival, I might well question your sanity. In those younger days, though, it was magical to an extent that lured us into doing the trip again the year after. in a tropical storm. Again, youth, naïveté, and wonderful memories.
Why is this of any relevance to a vacation destination other than Fort Lauderdale or Key West? To beg a moment more of your patience, the connection is tethered to an open-water snorkeling excursion during which one and a half of us almost drowned. It turns out that even a one-foot swell absent the sight of land can induce an unexpected level of disorientation even amongst those who believe themselves comfortable at sea. While cruising back to Key West, pumping free Dr. Peppers to mask the abundant flavor of involuntarily digested seawater, some of our fellow adventurers told us we had to go to Destin one day.
It only took a decade, but we finally followed their advice in 2021, when air travel was still uncomfortable, as COVID-19 continued to scorch all expectations of normalcy. On that first excursion to the Panhandle, after roughly 1,000 miles of driving over two days, we were greeted by a stellar light show delicately hung above the Gulf of Mexico, whose waves languidly lapped against quartz sand in a cathartic rhythm that immediately struck the thought of road-trip soreness from my consciousness.
From that first moment, we were hooked, and have returned to the 30A area – the run of smaller towns east of Destin – for each of the past three years. On each of our trips, I’ve spent many a blissful morning sitting on the Gulf’s fine, powdery beaches, letting the cadence of the surf draw the speed of my heart and thoughts into a meter unachievable in my regular work-driven lifestyle. I’ve grown accustomed to the sound the wind generates as it drags fine particle crystals across one another, and the ebb and flow not only of waves but of the fishing dives of pelicans. In many ways, it is a location perfect for testing out a watch whose existence is rooted in a seaborne lifestyle.
It was while sitting in the sand, listening to the thrum of an unusually turbulent sea, that I came to fully appreciate the Sea Quartz 30’s dyed-in-the-wool, neck-beard-sporting, ‘I subsist exclusively on canned beer and fresh catch’ kind of tool-y rakishness that dive watch fans like me go mad for. The oddness of the hour hand’s sizing compared to the visual boldness of the minute hand, taken on its own, would usually put me off of a watch, but when considered within the focus-on-the-minutes diving roots of the Sea Quartz 30, only added to the charm.
The famous Monnin-style case -measured at 42mm x 47mm x 11mm – wears as comfortably as you’ve heard about, and the quartz movement makes for a lightweight wrist presence, while still offering the reassurance of 300m of water resistance. It isn’t finished impeccably, but it is more than commensurate with the price range the watch plays in. The case’s comfort, combined with the modest heft and finishing, make for a watch that I didn’t have to worry about throughout the day – it is there when you need to tell the day, date, or time, but otherwise doesn’t command sensory awareness.
Sure, the bezel action is excessively stiff, if precise, and the coin edge is a bit too shallow to allow for enough grip to overcome that rigidity. I had to resort to using the top-down claw method (think of the arcade game that almost no one ever gets the prize from, and you’ll easily visualize what I mean) to rotate the bezel. If you’re looking for a serious diving instrument, this may not be your watch. For my purposes, however – which included not tracking the elapsed time of anything because I was on vacation and had zero interest in reminding myself of the pace with which the experience was passing by – the bezel’s action was a non-factor.
I admit to having been a skeptic, even a critic, of the grab-and-go quartz watch idea. I’ve said as much to a friend and fellow watch collector, to whom I know publicly acknowledge my ignorance and recant my critiques: Mike, you were right. I don’t mind winding a sleeping mechanical movement, but while stumbling out of the early-morning darkness of our rental – one-half of our marriage, me, is annoyingly a morning person – I greatly appreciated the simplicity of grabbing and strapping on the Sea Quartz 30, not having to worry thereafter if it was set to the right time. The watch’s more than sufficient lume, as evidenced by the photo below, was also of great help in this scenario, helping to ensure that I could find it in the dark.
The most enduring evocation the Sea Quartz 30 has left me with is the blissful combination of ease and cool that the watch affords. It doesn’t shout for the wearer, or those you encounter, to continually give it attention, but it is full of charm when looked upon. It also doesn’t necessitate coddling or fettling to maintain its appearance or keep it running, it is simply present and capable when called upon. In my time thus far with the Sea Quartz 30, I’ve found it to be a perfect companion for moments when I want to wear a watch, but don’t want the wearing of a watch to consume my attention. Like the best of vacation companions, the Momentum Sea Quartz 30 is an unassuming companion with which to while away leisurely hours.
Matt is a lifelong watch lover but fell deep down the rabbit hole of horological madness in 2018 while listening to watch podcasts during 4-hour roundtrip commutes to work. His collection is mostly sports watches, likely due to an unfulfilled childhood dream to be Indiana Jones, and ensuing delusions of grand adventure. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wonderful wife, who, through sheer strength of spirit, manages not to fall asleep as soon as he starts talking about watches. You can follow him on Instagram at @Mattkaysea.
