Green Watches - A Round Up

There seems to be two camps when it comes to watch colours. Those who appreciate some subtly and those who like large bold pieces. There’s a simple black faced diver or a fake gold Invicta. A simple tool watch like the Rolex Explorer 1 or a bright Daniel Wellington watch with five colours just on the strap.

But there’s a middle ground. A tasteful watch with a touch of colour. It could be as simple as replacing the black dial on the divers watch with something a bit brighter. Or maybe not even that. Maybe just a bit of colour on the bezel.

There’s a few different colours to choose from, but here we’re going to have a look at some watches with a touch of green.

Glycine GL0091

Glycine made their name in the watch world when they supplied US Air Force pilots with their Airman watch during the Vietnam War. Since 1967 this Swiss brand has produced a ‘Combat’ collection - currently featuring the classic, vintage, chrono and sub lines.

The Combat Sub range are classically designed divers watches very much in the Rolex Submariner heritage and come in quite a variety of designs. This model has a green bezel, but otherwise has a very simple black and silver look. There’s enough green to catch your eye, but it’s not a bold style. It has Glycine’s GL224 automatic movement, a 42mm case and sapphire crystal. As a functional divers watch it also has 200M WR and a screwdown crown.

Seiko SARB017

We’ve featured Japanese giants Seiko a number of times already. They are among the biggest watch manufacturers on the planet. Founded in the late 1800's the company has progressed from its initial production of clocks to the forefront of wristwatch design and manufacturing. Along the way the company released the world's first quartz watch, the first quartz chronograph and introduced the innovative Kinetic models – a marriage of mechanical automatic watch features with quartz accuracy.

They have a number of green watches in their massive range, including the vintage inspired SNKM97 which we featured here. The SNK805K2 is also a great green watch if a military piece is more to your tastes. However, the model we’ve chosen to highlight is the popular SARB017 - one of the Alpinist range.

The first range of Alpinist watches were released in 1961. Designed as a Japanese Domestic Market only model this current watch wasn't meant to be worn in the West. Specifically, it was aimed at the 'Yamaotoko', or Japanese 'Mountain Man'. The kind of man who spends his weekdays in the office and the weekends climbing mountains.

The result is a beautifully constructed automatic watch, with a deep green dial and a quality leather strap. With 200M water resistance it's a rugged timepiece, but with the aesthetics that make it ideal to wear with a suit.

Orient Bambino FAC08002F0

The Bambino is Japanese manufacturer Orients most popular minimalist design. There’s a number of generations and versions and this model is a version 4.

The watch has an almost Bauhaus styling and is reminiscent of some of the more affordable German brands like Junghans and Junkers.

At 42mm it’s probably a little larger than you’d expect, the Junghans Max Bill for example comes in at 38mm. However, the styling, other than the date window, is very plain and symmetrical. All clean lines and subtly. If you’re new to watches and have already contemplated a Daniel Wellington or similar, we’d really suggest considering the Bambino as both a cooler and higher quality daily dress watch. This model has a gold toned case to compliment the green and black sunburst dial.

The addition of both a domed dial and crystal are touches you’ll not find on modestly priced high street brands.

Bertucci 16502

Bertucci burst onto the watch scene with the 2004 release of the A-2T, their bestselling titanium field watch. From there the company released a series of similar styles, all sharing key attributes. The guiding principle was to make a watch for a customer who only wanted one watch. In the companies literature they state that this one watch “would need to possess the qualities of durability, value, singularity of purpose, and versatility. Designed to balance form and function, to be equally rugged and refined”.

In practice this means that there's a consistency to the Bertucci range. This single purpose has lead to a very strong house style.

So regardless of case material, their watch cases adhere to a patented Unibody construction. It's a comfortable case with fixed strap bars designed with durability in mind. The strap pins can't be knocked loose as they are part of the cases construction. Although well known for their titanium watches there's also stainless steel and poly-resin models throughout the range.

The A6-A Experior is housed in an aluminium case and is a chunky watch. This variation has a marine green dial, green strap and 100M water resistance.

Vostok Amphibia

The company that we know now as Vostok can be traced back to WWII and Russia’s involvement in the conflict. At the tail end of 1941 one of Moscow's watch plants was evacuated, in 150 railway carriages, to Kazan in South West Russia. From there the story goes, the equipment, workers and their families covered the final 100KM to the city of Chistopol in a convoy of three thousand carts pulled by horses.

By April 1942 the factory was up and running and producing its first items for the military. However, wristwatch production didn’t begin until after the end of the war. Of Vostok’s well known models, the Amphibia is arguably the best and is rightly seen as a style classic.

The brief for the Vostok team who designed the Amphibia was no small task. It was to create, for the Russian Navy, something to compete with the Rolex Submariner and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms that were being used by the British and French navies. But on a miniscule budget.

These unfavourable conditions forced the team to innovate, to find cheaper solutions to familiar problems encountered by mechanical dive watches. That’s just what they did. As designer Novikov said “Seemingly the Vostok Amphibia is not so different from the regular watches. But in fact almost every element in it is exclusive and each of them required a lot of work”.

There’s a large number of Amphibia variations, with a number of dial and case options. All the models have an inhouse automatic movement and 200M water resistance.

Pantor Sealion

Hong Kong based Pantor's mission is to further the great tradition of mechanical timepieces. They offer purpose-built instruments that feature innovative and original design solutions. Their premier model is a mechanical dive watch with an emphasis on utility. In keeping with the tenet of "form follows function", every design and engineering decision was based on how to maximise the usability and efficiency of each component.

The Sealion is a substantial dive watch in a 42mm cushion case. It has 300M WR, a sapphire crystal and a Seiko NH35A automatic movement. Both the dial and the bezel are green.

Oris Divers Sixty-Five

Swiss manufacturers Oris have mined their own back catalogue to produce this watch. Divers Sixty-Five is described as “a revival of an iconic diver’s watch that first appeared in the Oris collection 50 years ago”.

The watch is almost a replica of their original design, although the company are keen to point out that it has been modernised by the use of current watchmaking techniques. This includes a case made of anti-corrosive stainless steel and a vintage-inspired bubble-curved glass made of scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. The result is a stunning watch.

It’s deceptively simple. There’s nothing too ornate in the styling, rather it’s a case of everything done well. That includes the movement - a Swiss Selitta SW200 that has been modified by Oris inhouse. The vintage aesthetic is enhanced by the use of “Old Radium” Superluminova.

It has 100M water resistance and it comes with a couple of strap options.

Bulova Caravelle New York 43B129

Now that Bulova is owned by Citizen they're a part of the biggest watch manufacturer in the world. Historically Bulova is an American brand most widely known for its military watches, involvement with the Space program and the production of the Accutron - a watch that used a tuning fork, rather than a balance wheel, to regulate the timekeeping.

The Caravelle line is a distinct brand produced by Bulova and inspired by the fashion of New York. The 43B129 is an attractive watch with a deep green dial. It’s very much a fashion piece and is therefore powered by a quartz movement. At 44mm it’s on the larger end of the watches featured here.

Hamilton Pan Europ H35415761

Hamilton was a US brand with a fine history producing watches for the railroads, the US army as discussed here, and their marine chronometers that were used by both the US and Allied navies in WWII. Having ceased manufacturing watches in America in 1969 the company is now Swiss owned – a part of the Swatch group of brands.

Both it's American heritage and Swiss ownership make this a well respected and popular brand that is usually available on the high street.

The green version of the Pan Europ is by far the most expensive watch on this list. It does however feature Hamilton’s H-30 automatic movement. With an 80 hour power reserve it can be left off your wrist for double the time of the Pantor for example. The watch itself has a vintage and automotive aesthetic which is complimented by a black leather racing strap, lined with green.

The stainless steel case is 42mm and as expected there’s a sapphire crystal. There’s only 50m water resistance, but this style of watch was never designed for use in water.