Tockr Air Defender
Manufacturer: Tockr | Price: $1,850 USD (€1,655 EUR, £1,425 GBP approx)
When I first seen images way back when, of the Tockr Air Defender I thought to myself, I really have to reach out and see if they’ll send me one for review. I initially asked for one of those in yer face, hydro-dipped versions, but unfortunately they didn’t have the blue carbon fiber version available at the time. Many emails later and checking every version of the Air Defender that was in stock, I requested they send me this HULK version. Around 3 days later it arrived. #FrigginBeast !!
Specifications
- Dimensions: Case Diameter – 45.4mm, Thickness – 14.8mm, Lug to Lug – 48.1mm, Lug Width – 22mm
- Movement: Custom Valjoux 7750 Automatic Chronograph, 28,800vph (4Hz), 25 Jewels, 42hr Power Reserve
- Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Sides
- Strap: Green HiX Nappa Leather
- Crystal: Flat Sapphire, Multiple Anti-Reflective Coatings (Inner)
- Bezel: Internal Bidirectional (Crown at 10 o’clock)
- Water Resistance: 10ATM / 100m / 330ft
- Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® C3
- Crowns: x2 Screw Down, 2x Pushers Caseback: Exhibition Display, Sapphire
- Warranty: 2 Years Where to Buy: Tockr.com
- Options: Leather Strap, Stainless Steel Bracelet | Colours: Black, Blue, Hulk, Panda, PVD, Silverado
Tockr - The Company
Tockr traces its origins back to World War II when Tockr founder Austin Ivey’s Grandfather, Eugene Xerxes Martin, Jr., was serving as a Lieutenant in the Army Air Transport Command. Beginning his service as a P-51 Mustang flight instructor, Lt. Martin went on to fly C-47 Skytrain transport planes over the “hump”, the infamous eastern end of the himalayan mountains between China and India. He successfully flew 52 missions for which he was awarded the China War Memorial Medal. After serving his country with distinction, Eugene would continue to fly and eventually inspire his grandson, Austin in ways he could never have imagined. The two of them would spend countless hours in Eugene’s plane, flying around Texas.
30 years later, Austin’s passion for flight remains as strong as his love of watches. Inspired by his airborne adventures and his success in other business endeavors, Austin set out to realize his vision of creating a watch brand which would embody the excitement and wonder of his grandfather’s time, as well as the innovation epitomized in Swiss watchmaking which he had come to appreciate. After partnering with international watch consultant Sophy Rindler, to accomplish his goal and finding the manufacturers who could measure up to their exacting standards, Austin and Sophy co-founded Tockr in 2016. Since then Austin has not looked back, except to think of his grandfather. It is individuals like his grandfather, their boldness and the remarkable aircraft they flew, that motivated Austin to launch Tockr. We embark on this adventure in honor of Lt. Martin and those like him.
Tockr is based in Austin, Texas, a city that stands at the intersection of the latest advances in art, technology, design, music along with numerous other areas. Austin has rapidly become a center of progress as it takes its place on the international stage, making it a fitting place for the launch of this ground-breaking line of watches. Furthermore, as Tockr insists on producing watches of the highest quality, all mechanical components and complications will be manufactured exclusively in Switzerland by some of the most experienced individuals in the industry. Those who choose Tockr can rest assure they’ll own a stylish timepiece built for accuracy, durability and longevity. We would accept nothing less, neither should you.
Case, Crowns & Pushers
The proportions of the watch, in my opinion, are rather large for my 7″ wrist, not the diameter or the lug to lug, it’s the thickness and case shape that makes it feel large and a bit top heavy. The crowns are both screw down and have zero wobble when they are at their fully extended positions. The pushers too, feel very solid (in a good way) in operation.
HiX Strap
The strap is from HiX Design, nicknamed the stealth strap, although, personally I don’t think there is much “stealth” going on here, it’s rather in yer face, but I like it, I like it a lot. The strap measures 22mm at the lugs but expands out another 6mm on each side. The upper part of the strap is dark green leather with green stitching and there are holes in the green leather that show the black leather underneath. The leather used for these HiX straps by the way, is top quality Nappa.
If you’re not a fan of the HiX strap you can always opt for the solid stainless steel bracelet option. The bracelet is of exceptional quality with solid end links, screw pins for adjusting / resizing as well as a very nice milled clasp with 3 micro-adjustment holes. The bracelet is unique to the Air Defender as you can see in the image below, as it tapers from the widest part beyond the lugs all the way down to 20mm. The sides and centre links of the bracelet are polished with the rest of the bracelet being entirely brushed that matches the case perfectly.
Movement
The ETA/Valjoux caliber 7750 is one of the most recognizable and widely used automatic chronograph watch movements. It was based on the manual wind Valjoux caliber 7733, which itself was based on the Venus 188. Today, it is part of the “Mecaline” of ETA movements. It was officially introduced to the watch world around 1973/74, but after the first run was manufactured, the caliber wasn’t produced again until 1985 (thanks to mechanical timepieces gaining popularity once again). The 7750 was partially designed on a computer – which was a first for the watch industry. Tockr take it a step further though with the perlage finishing throughout and the very nicely done custom rotor.
Dial, Bezel & Lume
As you can see in the images, the hour and minute hands are of a combination of fence post style and large syringe. The chronograph hand is great too, being black in the centre and a matching green that reaches all the way out to the markers on the inner bezel. The lume used on the Air Defender is Super Luminova® C3 and it’s surprisingly bright!
Conclusion
I really like the Air Defender HULK and if I was in the market for a green chronograph, this HULK version would be the one I’d go for. Me being Scottish though and a tight fisted bastard, I doubt I’d spend over 1400 quid on this. I do think it’s slightly on the overpriced side of things. I think a price of £1200 would have been a fairer price.
If the price of the Air Defender doesn’t bother you then I’d say go for it. It is a very nicely styled chronograph. If I had to change something other than the price, it would be the style of the case. I would have preferred a slimmer case or even one styled to look & feel slimmer on the wrist with curved lugs etc as I feel in its current form it wears too top heavy.
Tockr Watches – Great build quality and I love the overall black & green style. And the HiX straps are fantastic!
