Designing and creating your own watch is a dream for many collectors and enthusiasts. Think about the questions and topics of conversation that pop up at watch meetups over and over again and how often they trace back to this idea of what you would do if you could make a watch. Little changes to handsets, the perfect case size, and favorite dial colors are all potentially on the table if you’re making your own watch. So it’s fun to observe the results when a friend and colleague in the watch community actually follows through and makes their own watch, which is what we’re able to do with the Wren Diver One, the first watch made under the Wrist Enthusiast banner.
Wrist Enthusiast was founded by Craig Karger in 2015 as an Instagram account, but has expanded in a major way just in the last few years, adding a blog, a YouTube channel, and a podcast. Over time, the Wrist Enthusiast Instagram account has developed a massive following of roughly 500,000 followers, and they touch on every major corner of the watch world, including covering new releases from both large and small brands. The new watch, according to Craig, comes from a desire to create something that he and his team would want to wear everyday, applying their combined knowledge and interests into a single piece.
The Wren (for WRist ENthusiast, if you didn’t catch it) Diver One has the broad outlines of a classic dive watch, which I think is to be expected given that this type of watch, specifically, has been at the forefront of the industry during the entirely of Wrist Enthusiast’s existence. But there are many small touches that reflect the preferences of a true enthusiast, and of someone who has spent a lot of time handling watches professionally. The case is in that Goldilocks zone of proportion and comfort, measuring 41mm in diameter, 13.3mm tall, and 47mm from lug to lug. For the sake of comparison, those dimensions are just a bit more tidy than the current iteration of the Tudor Black Bay, which has the same diameter but is a few more millimeters lug to lug and about 0.3mm thicker.
The bracelet is a flat-link design with quick release spring bars and an entirely brushed finish. The final production version of the Diver One bracelet will have a significant taper, going from 22mm at the lugs to 18mm at the fold-over clasp. The stated goal with the bracelet was to achieve a close, low profile fit to the wrist, allowing the watch to easily fit under a cuff. A black rubber strap is also included with the Diver One for a slightly sportier look.
The single most dramatic feature of the Diver One is certainly the dial, which is rendered in a color that is somewhere between green and blue with a gradient effect that sees the tone getting progressively darker at the perimeter, which is effectively all black. The dial’s surface has a distinctive brushed texture, which is meant to catch the light in all kinds of interesting and unexpected ways. It’s also a sandwich dial, with a layer of cream-colored lume below each hour marker aperture. When fully charged, the lume glows a bright aqua color that complements the dial tone nicely.
The Diver One runs on a Sellita SW200, a movement chosen by the Wrist Enthusiast team to keep the watch affordable. It’s covered by a caseback with a deep engraving of a wren, mirroring the brand’s logo.
Craig describes the Diver One as a passion project, and on that level alone, it’s exciting to see it come to fruition. It’s never easy to get the ideas in your head into a final version of a watch, so it’s always worth celebrating when a new brand is able to bring something to market that they are genuinely proud of and passionate about.
The Wren Diver One has a retail price of $895, and it’s a limited edition of 100 pieces. It can be purchased via the Wren website with delivery expected in June.
