Swiss Watch Company Automatic 300M Dive Watch Review - Launched Today on Kickstarter

Background on SWC

Swiss Watch Company is a new company based in Switzerland founded by the Roemer family. The father and CEO of the business has worked in the Swiss Watch Industry for the better part of his life and has always wanted to release an affordable high quality Swiss Made watch of his own. Some companies he has worked for include the Swatch group, Mido, Rado, and many more. This is their first release and it will be available via the Kickstarter link below September 3rd for Pre-Order.

Case

Link to Campaign for Pre-Order

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Comprised of solid 316L Stainless Steel this 44MM brushed case minus the profile polishing on the sides has a real solid feel in hand. It feels tough, robust, and certainly durable for an everyday sports watch. The case is tested for 300 Meters of water resistance, so this is a very capable watch in terms of diving. The thickness comes in at 13.2MM which isnt too bad considering the movement this watch utilizes. For a 44Mm case, the 49.5MM lug to lug distance helps this watch really wear like a 42.5, very similiar to my Omega Planet Ocean which is only 42Mm. There are rather large integrated crown guards which really protect the crown from shock and threat at all angles which is a nice touch. The crown itself is not signed on this model, but the production models will have an SWC signed crown. Under 400$, we are also getting a nice genuine Sapphire crystal with 5 layers of anti reflective coating over this green dial, which I found really helps in sunny conditions. Flipping the watch to the caseback, we can see it is screwed down and has a nice oil pressed design with logo and specifications. Alright, enough chit chat - on to the dial.

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Dial

The Green dial in my iteration came out really wonderful, it is not too dark nor too light in color. Large sword hands filled with lume match up in size ratio quite nicely to the swiss superluminova filled markers. A nice detail is the horizontal stripes in a square shape at the center portion of the dial, for some excitement and visual appeal. The 120 Click Bezel I found to be very precise with absolutely no backplay. Although the scalloped bezel does remind me a bit of the Seamaster 300, I do not think this watch is a homage in any way what so ever. The ceramic bezel insert features detailed radial lines and raised polished numerals. This shows effort was put forth into creating and designing this timepiece..something we always wish for in smaller brands. I was told by the owner that the Superluminova will be increased on the hands by .1 and the markers will stay the same. If there is one thing that stands out the most besides the unique bezel, it is the lume. This lume is certainly equal to the infamous Seiko Lumibrite, and I mean that.

Movement

Now - the movement in my prototype example is actually an ETA 2824-2. The movement that will be in the final production models is the swiss made Selitta SW200 which features a 38 hour power reserve, 26 jewels, hacking and hand wind capability. Selitta movements are essentially equivalent to the ETA movements and are super reliable, easy to maintain, and will last a lifetime if serviced properly.

Bracelet

The 22MM bracelet is solid brushed steel minus the center links where we get nice polished lines on each side. In no way does the bracelet feel cheap or flimsy. It is just as tough as the watch in every way. One thing I would of liked to see is perhaps the use of screw links insteas of caps and pins, similiar to the seiko bracelets. It was not really hard to size, but screwed links always do it for me. The bracelet also contains an integrated divers extension as well as a milled fold over clasp. I am told the actual clasp will be changed on final production pieces, So I will speak no further.

Conclusion

Furthermore, the SWC diver definitely FEELS like a Swiss Made watch. It just has that extra edge some of the smaller micro brand factories cannot live up too. From the small details such as the fine brushing and carefully finished lugs to the higher quality bracelet, this watch which is priced under $400 for pre-order will be quite successful in my eyes. I can definitely approve of it, and you should too if you are looking for a Swiss Made affordable automatic diver with quality components. Thanks for reading, and do not forget to check out the hands on video on my YouTube channel.