Introducing the Wren Diver One by Wrist Enthusiast - Wrist Enthusiast's First Watch
In its earliest form, Wrist Enthusiast started as an Instagram account in 2015 from the creative mind of the founder - Craig Karger. Craig is a longtime watch enthusiast and former practicing attorney based in New York City. In 2021, Wrist Enthusiast expanded to a blog, and since then a YouTube account and Podcast have also been added to the ecosystem. All aspects of Wrist Enthusiast have grown, especially through watch enthusiast education, such as Buying Guides, Reviews or Watch Spotting. As the Wrist Enthusiast has grown, so have partnerships and other aspects of the brand. And now, Wrist Enthusiast has opened its online shop, starting with selling their own Swiss Made automatic watch, the Wren Diver One. We developed this watch based on our experience in the industry, connections we had, and a desire to create something we loved, and that we knew our readers would love. After a year in development, Wren (WRist ENthusiast) is finally here.
Why did wRist Enthusiast start a watch brand?
The team at Wrist Enthusiast has been watch collectors for a long time. Decades in fact. Craig has been running Wrist Enthusiast’s Instagram account since 2015, and has been meticulously growing it to nearly 500,000 followers. It’s been an often painstaking process that has given him some special insight into what enthusiasts want in a product while also cultivating his own stylistic choices as a collector. It wasn’t Craig’s goal to start a watch brand.
Wren was born out of Wrist Enthusiast’s desire to create a brand by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. The team knew what feature sets they would have liked to see in a watch, and didn’t necessarily find them. At the end of the day, Craig and team wanted to design a watch that they themselves would want to wear every single day. So the team put their heads together and designed the Wren Diver One.
The Wren diver 1 case and Bracelet
The case is always one of, if not the most important part of a watch enthusiast’s first impressions. Therefore it was important for Wrist Enthusiast to create something that felt good on the wrist, and wasn’t intrusive or invasive. The team settled on a 41mm x 13.3mm PVD-coated (for hardness, not color) stainless steel case with a domed sapphire box crystal. This gives the overall profile a 47mm lug-to-lug. Those measurements include the crystal. The team opted for a simple, vintage-inspired black uni-directional 120-click sapphire bezel with a coin edge, minimal markings to keep the overall design concise and void of any unnecessary clutter to really highlight the dial. The pip at 12 o’clock is lumed for better visibility at night or under the water.
Since it was important to ensure a comfortable fit and wear, Wrist Enthusiast opted for an integrated flat-link bracelet with fold-over clasp with 3 adjustments. This ensures a close fit to the wrist, without making the watch too heavy or thick enough that it can’t slide under a cuff when needed. The bracelet has an easy-to-use quick-release spring bar that allows for the user to easily pinch the bracelet off, and swap it to the included black rubber strap. Wrist Enthusiast knows that when it comes to steel sport watches, the bracelet and it’s fit and finish are incredibly important. Both the case and the bracelet are brushed with a slight polished chamfer on the tapered edges.
The Wren Diver One Dial
Special attention was paid to the details of the dial, despite a number of major challenges. First, the most obvious feature of the dial is the brushed textured gradient dial. When development of the dial was first started, the entire team at Wrist Enthusiast wanted to create something that was out of the box from a design perspective, but instantly recognizable to someone who spots it in the wild. The team settled on an acid brushed texture with shadowed edges and a unique aqua color. Is it green? Is it blue? The team isn’t even sure. But the dial catches light so many different ways, it’s hard to not become mesmerized by it at different angles.
To add further depth to an already elaborate dial texture, the dial is a lume filled sandwich dial. The indexes are cream-colored, and add a striking contrast to the dial that elevates the overall design language of the watch. The hour markers are a vintage-inspired “crosshair” style without the actual crosshair breaking up the texture. Further, the Wren Diver One has minimal text on the dial so as to not distract or break up the more interesting aesthetics that the dial design offers.
The wren diver One movement
Inside the WREN Diver 1 is a simple Sellita SW200 movement. In order to keep the watch as affordable as possible and accessible to everyday enthusiasts, the team felt that this workhorse movement would be perfect to power the inaugural release. This automatic movement offers a modest 38-hour power reserve, which will allow for everyday use without needing to wind it or set the time every day.
On the caseback of the watch, there is a deep, oil-pressed engraving of a Wren to tie the whole thing together.
What were some of the challenges of designing and creating an entire watch?
There were actually quite a few challenges the Wrist Enthusiast team ran into when creating the Diver One. The biggest, and most unexpected, was the dial color. Because of the exaggerated dial texture, adding color to it became a bit of a cat-and-mouse game because the different colors took to the texturing in a flurry of ways. The team went back and forth with their manufacturers to make sure both the index and dial colors were perfect, resulting in multiple iterations of the dial prototype. The final result was an aqua-blue/green color that tends to shift and change depending on the lighting conditions - Something the team found to be incredibly unique among the dials they had experience with (and probably the most commented-upon aspect of the watch).
What the team also learned is that a simple white or fauxtina against the brushing on a sandwich dial could feel either very sterile or very dated - And not dated in a good way. As touched upon earlier, getting just the right cream color for the indexes was unexpectedly difficult - the colors would come out either too brown or too yellow. That being said, the creamy off-white you see on our dial now was the result of a number of attempts to get it “Just Right”.
Another major challenge, and one that a lot of brands get wrong, is the flat link bracelet. The team always knew that they wanted to fit the Wren Diver One with a flat link bracelet, but there are a number of challenges with utilizing a flat link bracelet. The major challenge is that they can come off bland and too thick for the watch itself. This almost requires an integrated bracelet that fits well within the overall design DNA of the watch, without detracting from our more eccentric dial design. The Wren Diver One went through a number of iterations of the bracelet and clasp until the team finally settled on a bracelet that was utilitarian but also luxurious, with a tapered design and polished, chamfered edges. As of right now, the final bracelet is still being manufactured, and will be ready for the final production.
Overall, Wren itself was a project born out of passion. Wrist Enthusiast has long had a finger on the pulse of enthusiasts and collectors, and Craig and the team wanted to create something that they felt was an everyday watch for everyday enthusiasts. At it’s very core, the Diver One is a watch by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. The team has had its share of challenges in the process of bringing this project to life, but they are proud of what they created and the product that’s in front of you today. Wrist Enthusiast hopes that their readers share in their enthusiasm.
How much is the Wren Diver One?
Price for the Wren Diver 1 is $895 USD and is limited to only 100 pieces. You can check out the pre-order page here.
Specs
Swiss Made
Lug-to-lug: 47mm
Thickness: 13.3mm including box crystal
Case and Bracelet: PVD coated retaining steel color for scratch resistant
Movement: SW200 Automatic Movement with 38 hours of power reserve
Water Resistance: 200m
Crystal: Sapphire Box Crystal
Caseback: Hydraulic Press caseback engraving of a Wren
Bezel: Sapphire unidirectional rotating bezel
Bracelet: Flat link bracelet
Limited Edition: 100 pieces