Time Locker Kermadec Review

Manufacturer: Time Locker | Price: €300 EUR ($335 USD, £270 GBP approx)

Introducing the Time Locker Kermadec. A 42mm watch inspired from the combat divers of the 1950’s, although it’s been totally updated and modernised for use in 2019. For the last few years, Time Locker has been working on mainly producing dive watches; The Kouriles, The Tonga and The Kermadec that we have here today. Each of the Time Locker dive watches listed have been named after a deep-sea trench.

Specifications

Dimensions: Case Diameter – 42.5mm, Thickness – 13.9mm, Lug to Lug – 49.6mm, Lug Width – 22mm
Movement: Seiko NH35 Automatic, 21,600vph, 24 Jewels, Hackable, Self Winding, 41hr Power Reserve
Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Accents
Weight: 98g Extras: Leather Carry Case, Strap Changing Tool, NATO Strap
Strap: Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather with Signed Buckle
Crystal: Double Domed Sapphire, AR Coating
Bezel: 120 Click Unidirectional, Ceramic, Lumed
Water Resistance: 20ATM / 200m / 660ft
Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® C3
Crown: Signed, Screw Down Caseback: Screw Down, Stainless Steel
Warranty: 2 Years Where to Buy: Coming Soon to Kickstarter
Options: Dial Colour: Black, White | Straps: Italian Leather / Black & Blue or Black & Yellow NATO

Packaging

As this will be a Kickstarter only project with a run of only 500 watches, Time Locker are offering an exclusive offer for those that back the project including a numbered, limited Kickstarter edition watch, a very nice leather travel case, an extra NATO strap and a strap changing tool.

The Case

The case of the Kermadec has a diameter of 42.5mm. The lug to lug is 49.6mm and the overall thickness, including the double domed sapphire crystal I measured at 13.9mm. The entire case, bezel, caseback and crown are all 316L stainless steel. The Kermadec also has a water resistance rating of 200m / 20 ATM, thanks to the screw-down caseback & crown.

The finish of the case is brushed with chamfered polished edges and I have to say the case finish is one of my favourite parts of the watch as you can tell it’s been done very nicely with great attention to detail. The proportions of the watch are, in my opinion, a little bit large but still wears nicely, even on my 7″ wrist. Although it’s 42.5mm, I’d say it wears and feels bigger when on the wrist.

Strap

The black silicone strap that I received fitted to the watch, although nicely made, it is massive and attracts dust & bits of lint easily! It’s so big in fact that I didn’t want to wear it with a huge dangleberry hanging off the edge of it. It looked like I was a kid wearing my Dads watch with this strap fitted! *Edit* This is a prototype strap and not included for backers.

You will receive an Italian vegetable tanned leather strap & a spare NATO with the watch though, so if you have a wrist size of 7″ and below, at least you’ll have options to fit something more appropriate to your wrist. As soon as I received the watch, I quickly swapped it out for a Luff Straps Elastico G2 that you can see in the pictures.

Movement

The movement fitted to the Kermadec is the microbrand go-to movement of choice, the super-reliable Seiko NH35. A great workhorse that is a 21,600vph, 3Hz, 24 jewel movement with self winding and of course hacking. Checking the accuracy after running the Kermadec for a few days, mainly on my wrist and occasionally in my Barrington Winder, I thought the accuracy was fine and well within tolerances, with it showing an average of +8.6 spd.

The movement has a 40 hour power reserve meaning a fully wound Kermadec will last for almost 2 days while off the wrist or not in a watch winder. There isn’t much else to say about the NH35 movement, it is what it is. Reliable, a total workhorse and inexpensive to get serviced when the need arises.

Dial & Bezel

The Kermadec has a 120 click unidirectional bezel with a lumed ceramic insert. It is of great quality and everything does line up perfectly. The bezel action is also great, with a nice solid feel and relatively easy to grip with zero backplay.

The dial has applied indices all round with applied arabics at the 3, 6, 9 & 12 positions. The printing of the watch which includes the Time Locker logo, the word automatic and the depth rating underneath are done exceptionally well. Even under a macro lens I struggled to find any discrepancies what so ever.

Last but not least, the dial features a date complication at the 4:30 position. A rather large no-no from me I’m afraid. I would much rather have seen the date complication at the 6 o’clock position to give a much more balanced aesthetic to the dial. Another negative from me is the date wheel isn’t colour matched to the dial either. It just stands out like someone eating a bacon roll at a vegans wedding. If however, none of the last paragraph bothers you, then just ignore it and enjoy the watch as the rest of it is truly excellent.

Conclusion

A great diver watch from Time Locker. The build quality, fit & finish are just fantastic and right up there with the best.

However, I can’t get over the elephant in the room. The date window. With it not being colour matched and with the 4:30 date position, personally it’s actually a deal breaker for me. I’ve actually avoided purchasing watches in the past with a 4:30 date position, no matter how good the rest of the watch is. If the date was positioned at 6 o’clock and colour matched I’d definitely buy this one for myself.

Time Locker – Great effort, but aesthetically it’s not for me.

Hopefully, if you ever produce a Kermadec version 2, I’d no doubt be all over it and I’d be throwing money at you.

 8/10

8 / 10 – RECOMMENDED (If you don’t mind the date window position)

A huge thank you to Brice from Time Locker for sending out the Kermadec for review.

To view the Time Locker website, or to join their mailing list to be informed of updates or new models, visit Time Locker.

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