One of the real pleasures of being involved in this hobby is being surprised when a brand you thought you had a good understanding of completely subverts expectations. I like it when watch brands genuinely seek to try something different and new (even if it doesn’t work). It’s so easy, especially once you’ve tasted success, to keep doing the same thing over and over, repeating a successful formula. But a brand that takes risks is inherently more interesting, and I always find myself drawn to those outlier watches – it’s almost as if they have something to prove, and I find that endearing. 

Baltic’s latest, the Prismic, falls into that category for me. And that’s not to say that Baltic hasn’t surprised us before by taking a left turn unexpectedly. I don’t think anyone expected them to unveil a perpetual calendar for Only Watch, for example.  But I don’t think even the most forward thinking watch enthusiasts had something like the Prismic on their bingo card. Baltic, a brand known primarily for their interpretations of a classic sports watch aesthetic, has gone and made something that nods more to jewelry than the divers and racing chronographs they’ve made to this point. 

According to Baltic, the Prismic is a watch inspired by geometric shapes and how light refracts through a prism. The end result is a dress watch with quite a bit more bling than we’re accustomed to seeing from Baltic. This is a watch that’s designed with an aesthetics rather than function first mindset, with plenty of ornate details and uncommon details. 

The case is 36mm in diameter, and inspired by “cocktail” watches, small timepieces that most would identify with ladies evening wear. Case construction is actually quite complex, with a bezel, lugs, and caseback made of steel, all attached to a titanium mid-case. That mid-case has a grained finish, providing a visual contrast to the steel components. Throughout the case you’ll find a mix of polished and brushed surfaces. 

The dials feature multiple finishes and are easily the Prismic’s key feature. In one sense, they harken back to the sector dial designs that Baltic introduced all the way back in 2020. Here, though, the contrasts are far more dynamic and pronounced. We have a central sector with a radiant guilloche pattern emanating from the center, a subsidiary seconds register with a fine grain, and an outer track with circular brushing. We also get faceted hour markers that appear to throw a lot of light, and brushed steel ring outlining the running seconds. Color options available at launch include gray-blue, salmon, green, and purple, in rough order from most sedate to most, well, not sedate. 

To keep the case height slim, the Prismic runs on a manually wound Peseux 7001 caliber with 42 hours of power reserve. The watch comes in at 9.2mm tall, and is just 7.4mm tall if you don’t count the sapphire crystal. It’s mounted to a mesh bracelet that’s a completely new style for Baltic as well, but feels like a natural choice for a watch like this, immediately placing it in a very specific time and place.

Pre-orders for the Prismic are open now and run through February 25. Delivery of the first orders is set to begin July, with further deliveries continuing in October. Baltic