Spinnaker Bradner Release: Guilloché Fumé Dials Elevate This Affordable Automatic Dive Watch

Spinnaker has been a crowd favorite - particularly in the past two years - for their robust divers at affordable price points. During a time when Seiko, who was once the Budget Diver King, has seemingly raised prices across the board outside of their Seiko 5 collection, Spinnaker seems committed to filling this vacuum with their own watches. Their Bradner Automatic collection at its sub-400 USD price has been popular, but if there was any room for improvement, it would have been the dial. Although I personally liked the dials already, I know a few people who still wanted something more visually arresting - something different. Well, Spinnaker, as they often do, listened to that feedback, and they have delivered four new models - the Amber Dawn, Burgundy Surge, Marine Breeze, and Clover Wave - with each one featuring a guilloche fume dial. How's that for visually arresting?

Spinnaker Bradner: Depth in Every Way

With its 180 meters of water resistance, the Spinnaker Bradner is no stranger to depth, but in this case, they have added that meaning to the dial itself. The compressor style design means that it has an internal rotating bezel, which you can control with the top crown. Just to make it a little bit more different, the color of the crown matches the dial. It's all about the details, and they've paid great attention to each and every one.

Because of the compressor architecture, the dial already has a lot of depth, but the guilloche texture is designed to look as if they are rippling out from the handset itself, while the fumé adds a smoky gradient effect, which means that the dial gets darker as it moves away from the center. This makes the applied indices pop out even more, and allows the generous lume to shine brighter than they would otherwise.

Not Your Average Diver

With a retail price of 370 USD, I think this watch compares quite favorably to other divers in the same price point such as a Seiko Samurai or an Orient Mako (which is cheaper, to be fair) or a Citizen Fujitsubo. I don't think there is anything wrong with opting for a mainstream brand, because there is a certain level of "security" in buying a watch that can be found at a dozen different stores around your city.

But, that's not what this diver is meant to be. It's not really meant to be the safe choice - it's definitely not meant to be the boring choice. It is meant to be the pop of color in your life. It is meant to be the watch that makes your non-watch enthusiast friends stop and say, "Hey, what's that watch?"

In that regard, I think the new Spinnaker Bradner Guilloché Fumé watches succeed with flying colors. If you are interested in seeing one of these watches in all its glory, check out notable Watch Photographer & Videographer Arul on Instagram.

Finally, check out the Spinnaker Bradner collection at the following link: Learn More.

Spinnaker Bradner: Specifications

Case Diameter: 42mm

Case Thickness: 14mm

Water Resistance: 180M

Crystal: AR-coated Sapphire

Crown: Screw-down

Bracelet: 20mm Beads of Rice

Movement: Miyota 8215