Spinnaker Spence Drab Automatic Dive Watch Review

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Case

The all new iteration of the popular Spinnaker Spence series dubbed the “Drab” is housed in a solid 316L solid steel case with a coat of IP black plating in a matte finish. It is certainly a smooth finishing and looks clean to my eyes. The actual dimensions are rather nice as well coming in at 41MM x 14 x 48MM. It is definitely a robust watch and even features a flat sapphire crystal on the front whilst mineral is used on the exhibition caseback for a view of the movement at work. The crown is something to take note of and is very tough feeling with zero wobble and has a nice pop out once unscrewed. The case itself is water resistant to 200 Meters making this a very capable dive or sports watch.

Dial

Our dial is done in a greenish forest tone with applied lumed Superluminova markers and a nice set of arrow hands to go with a rather thin pointer seconds hand. As seen in the photo, there are no alignment issues on this example which shows decent quality control. I do like the yellow hint of color in the “AUTOMATIC” above 6:00 and feel it plays along well with the green colors on the Drab. Our 1950’s style Spinnaker logo is applied in Silver as usual below 12:00 and matches the framed markers perfectly. I like how Spinnaker kept it simple here without much clutter or overuse of writing. The 120 Click Bezel contains 0-15 minutes which is matte finished and contains some nice lume as well. I can almost see a “Minimalist” style bezel here...almost.

Movement

NH35. Need I say More? Most watch enthusiasts reading this article are very familiar with this Seiko automatic 24 jewel movement, and it is considered one of the most reliable affordable automatic movements for the coin. It also does come with a decent power reserve of around 40 hours and generally keeps decent time at around +5 seconds a day on this example I have.

Conclusion

The Drab definitely offers something way different than its older brother, the standard original spence. It has all those good components, and some new tricks such as a lumed bezel and a super legible no nonsense tool watch styling. Personally, I do like this color combo and almost reminds me of something I would take camping, swim with in a lake, or just hop on a boat with. The affordable pricing of this timepiece also allows folks to get a decent well made automatic watch for under $300, which is a win in my book. Thanks for taking the time to read and please do check out the hands on video review on YouTube.