Once in a while, I come across something that looks like it's got promise, and that makes me reach out to the brand, maybe get a sample to feature on this channel to show you guys, but once in about a year, I see a watch that offers so much value that makes me want to go deeper. And maybe I reach out to the owner and maybe we work on a collab project where I get to put my own creative touch into the watch. Now, granted, I'm not skilled enough to design a watch from scratch.
I'll leave that to the professionals, but I feel like I've got enough of an appreciation for watches as art and be able to pull enough elements from watches I've seen in the past to contribute something. This is one of those projects that we've been working on in the background for the better part of a year, and I'm really excited to finally show you guys. When I reviewed version one of the Clemens Fodic three and a half years ago, I already thought that it was great.
In that video, my only criticism was that the crown was a bit small. And guess what? That's one of the many improvements that Tom Clemens made in version 2.
0. The one thing that he didn't much change is the recipe of offering a great diver with perfect proportions and superb value per dollar. Now, if you haven't played with a Photic Diver before, cuz they're a pretty small brand, I hope to show you in this video that not only does this watch check off all the boxes on paper, but on the wrist, you get magical proportions and really unrivaled quality [music] for this price.
Let me hit you with the numbers first. 39 mm wide case, 10 mm thin, down from about 12 on version one, 46 lug to lug, and 20 mil between the lugs. These are like dream sports watch [music] dimensions.
Very close to my IWC Spitfire, but with even better lugto lug. It's 2 mm thinner than a Rolex Sub, 3 and a half thinner than an Omega C Master 300. And I mean, think about it.
We've been praising Tutor this whole time from Watches and Wonders for thinning out the Black Bay 58 down to what 11. 7. This watch is just over [music] 10, accounting for the box sapphire.
That's 2 mm you can definitely notice on the wrist. [music] It's a watch that sits flat and balanced and just wears super well all day long. But there are some nuances [music] to those numbers.
For example, the bezel actually hangs a quarter millimeter off the edge of the case, which is [music] 38 and a half, allowing for better grip when you go to turn the bezel. The lugs, they're short. They have a gentle [music] downturn to curve with your wrist.
And lastly, by not doing the stupid odd lug width thing that like the new Submariner does, you're open to the world of aftermarket straps. Pictured here with our very own ZeroPass strap to get that NATO look without [music] adding back all that height that Tom works so hard to remove. The Fodic 2 already comes in five colorways.
For the sake of fairness, I asked Tom to send me a couple of my other favorite colors. There's the yellow Nemo and then there is the off-white Schaw. But when we embarked on this, I noticed he didn't have anything in the green sort of color space.
And since you know that's my favorite color, together we came up with this anacronist special edition that we call the breakwater. Now in the community there seems to be a distaste for collab watches. I guess I still don't fully understand what happened here is I reviewed a watch.
I really liked it 3 years ago, met the brand owner a couple times in between. Really loved chatting with him and then over a beer or three dreamed up a design that we were both super excited about. Now I think some of the hate for collab watches comes from their limited nature.
So, it often feels like a cash grab and the flippers often buy them up immediately, sell them on eBay. And we've developed a mechanism to prevent this shenanigans with the launch, which I'll get to. But when I approached Tom to team up, the Fodic 2 was already in production, so we had to act quickly.
The supplier notified him that they were only able to add 50 additional pieces to the current run. Tom is based in the UK, me on the west coast of the United States. over a few long Zoom calls playing around with Adobe Illustrator.
We took initially, I'll admit, what looked like an AliExpress special to finally what we felt like was a refined, complex design. Inspirations for a green bezel obviously include classics like a Rolex Kermit, but I wanted a more unique color, something more like a teal. Think the Ceraka 5303.
The bezel is then covered with a curved sapphire cap reminiscent of the vintage belyte bezels. The layout of the dial for the Fodic Diver was already really lovely in my opinion with a combination of a 12 and six Arabic numerals and then batons for the rest of the markers. I feel like the 369 Explorer dial looks amazing but kind of overdone at this point especially by micro brands.
The 12 and six is still a good compromise between sporty and classy, but a combination that you just don't see on other watches. Combine that with a thin bezel gives you like a vintage skin diver vibe. I wanted to keep the dial dark to have a watch that's more versatile, but I didn't want to do just black.
So, I channeled like old7s Omega C Masters uh and watches like the Seikko SNXS for a deep gray sunburst that still looks black in certain light but then does fun things when the light hits it. And Tom decided to add an extra touch of brown undertone to that which picks up in the sunlight to give off almost like a coppery sheen. Like I said, the photo comes in five variants, but the three most fun colors in my opinion are here.
The Nemo, the sort of yellow dial that's definitely the loudest. It's got a great contrast with black markers and hands against a yellow dial that actually has a silvery sheen to it that plays with the light. If I was going on like an island vacation, this is the model that I would take to scuba dive with.
Then there is the monochromatic shaw which is probably the most unique color way because it looks white but it's more subtle than that. You have to get a little closer to appreciate its muted colors. Combines a grayish dial with a moody mysterious dark gray sapphire ghost bezel.
This is the color that is more likely to come from architectural design magazine than a watch shop. Uh, the Schaw is for people, I think, who enjoy discussing panones over Chardonnay. And I know I'm biased, but I think the Breakwater really splits the difference.
It's fun enough with the teal bezel to take a chance, but it's classy enough with the dark gray dial to not be too loud. One thing that's always hard to show over the internet is a watch's fit and finish. And this is always something I recommend people to go and feel and touch the watch themselves.
But it's also a place where micro brands often fall apart. So frequently things look great in heavily edited studio photos. But but in the hand a watch case [music] might feel kind of hollow or a bezel might feel imprecise or the bracelet [music] might be kind of creaky.
Luckily fit and finish is I think the strongest point for the Fodic Diver where it separates itself from other watches in the sub,000 price range. The case tolerances are tight, so you feel like everything is screwed together solid. There's a pleasant heft to [music] the watch head.
The bezel, well, not at like tutor level, still has a satisfying feedback. When you point a macro lens at the dial, it doesn't fall apart. The hands and markers are sharply finished, and the printing is crisp.
But the elephant in the room is always the bracelet for these cheaper [music] watches. What do I always say about cheap watches? They cheap out most on their bracelets.
For example, not until you get to like the prospecs level are the bracelets for Seikko even tolerable. But if I was to compare the Fodic Divers bracelet, I would [music] say it's better than like a Christopher Ward. On par with something like a Formax or long [music] jeans watches that easily cost two to three times as much.
Each brush link has [music] polished chamfers cut into the edges. The entire clasp mechanism is mil, not stamped, and houses on the fly adjustment without extending the clasp too long. And look at the links on either side of the clasp.
Why do they have this weird triangular [music] profile? Well, that's so that you don't end up with that unsightly gap when the clasp is closed. I always complain about this, especially on Seikkos, cuz it looks like you can open beer bottles with the edge of the clasp.
And this level of attention to the small stuff, you know, can only come from a brand owner who obsesses over every detail. The Fodic Diver utilizes Miyota's highbeat 9039 movement, which allows the removal of the ghost second position on the crown for this dateless design. It runs at four hertz, has 42 hours of power reserve, and particularly I love a no date diver.
I always found the idea of checking the dates when you're like 200 meters deep in the ocean kind of a [music] funny thought. No, the FODC doesn't have the full 300 meters of water resistance of a Submariner, but I take the trade-off of a much thinner watch as a compromise any day. My name isn't James Cameron.
Now, you might say, why not go with a Swiss movement instead of Japanese? Tom could have stuck a Celita in there, and would you get a better watch? In some ways, no.
First, the Celita is actually quite a bit thicker of a movement, so it would have eliminated one of the best features of this watch, being 10 mm thin. Next, that move would have likely driven up the price to over a,000 and would lose this crazy price proposition. And in everyday wear, the Miyota is every bit as good as a Celita.
I don't think you would notice any differences. And the Miyota is also regulated in the UK to plus or - 12 seconds a day in three positions. [music] So, it'd be equivalent to even a higher grade of Celita.
And it's got a custom movement enclosure that provides resistance to both shock and magnetism. Hopefully, I've been able to show you how hyped I am about this diver and the collab that we did. This whole package, I think, just offers amazing value.
And I've explained our limitations on production. So, we only have access to 50 numbered pieces. So, here's how we're going to launch it.
Since leaving Watchrunch, I've built a great community of a few thousand watch lovers on our anacronist Discord channel. appreciate all of you who stuck with me. Uh, and to reward you, I have already offered the collab watch 2 days before the launch of this video to those on the Discord.
So, if there's any left, that's where you need to go. The link is in the description to find the order page. Now, I'm recording this about a week beforehand, so I don't know if there will be any of the 50 numbered watches left.
These watches will feature the anacronist logo on the case back with a limited number engraved and it will also come with a complimentary Bond zero pass strap in the box. Either way, I feel honored to have had the chance to collaborate with Tom. I learned a lot about his process behind the scenes and I feel really good about supporting his business.
You guys should stick around with us. Uh connect with us on Discord where you'll be notified first of future projects like this. I'm already cooking up some ideas for next year.
Can't wait to see the breakwater on your wrist. Take care.
