Clemence Returns With New Colorways For The Photic Diver

We were introduced to Clemence when they first came onto the scene with their take on the dive watch called the Photic. Of course there is a slight hesitancy when we come across a brand that is attempting to find its footing on Kickstarter, and doing so by using a watch design platform that for the most part, has seen the same uninspiring design redone over and over again. That said, we took notice early on with how Clemence was distinguishing themselves with the Photic through certain refined details and practical features, at a price point that makes it difficult not to whip out the credit card. And then our thoughts were reaffirmed when our very own Blake Buettner went Hands-On with the Photic. Like it did with us, it has most certainly struck a chord within the enthusiast community, since their initial release of the Photic diver line has long been sold out. Now in their Sophomore year, Clemence is back and looking to build out the range of their Photic diver with five new dial colors.

If you’re not familiar with the Photic diver, here’s a bit of a refresher. The Photic diver is a properly proportioned dive watch for the modern wearer, measuring 39mm in width, 47mm lug to lug and 12.2mm from the caseback to the top of the domed sapphire crystal. It sports a narrow bezel which widens up the display of the dial. I’ve been a proponent of jotting down the actual dial widths of watches when I’m able to, so when Buettner highlighted the dial width of the Photic compared to the Halios Fairwind and the Seiko SPB (I got more excited than I probably should have), it really gives an insight to how the diver would wear when combining the other case proportions in relationship to your wrist size. In this case, the Photic’s 32mm dial display might appear larger on wrist, despite the 39mm case width, but with that you get a dial that highlights its gradient coloring, applied markers and overall, more legibility.

Following the oceanic theme in the name, the Photic now comes in several different colorways that add a welcomed brightness to the current line. The Reef, Anemone, and Kelp models maintain a similar design language seen within the original release; bar shaped hour markers with gilt surrounds, a dauphine hand-set and the familiar fumé dial that fades to black right at the edge of the dial. The other two colorways, dubbed the Nemo and Orca, are a collaborative release with Horologium, an independent watchmaker based in the UK. Both are a slight departure from what makes the original Photic a “refined diver”. The Nemo and Orca forego the fumé dial for a matte finish, and sports black surrounds around the markers and hands, giving the diver a more sportier and casual aesthetic.

Whichever dial color you opt for, the Photic will still come equipped with 200 meters of water resistance, terrific lume (8 layers of Swiss C3), a solid automatic movement in the Miyota 9035, and the icing on the cake, a steel three-link bracelet with on-the-fly adjustment capability. We’re starting to see more brands across the price spectrum offer the ability to provide the “perfect fit” via seamless micro-adjusting built into the clasp. Clemence however, has added a set of accessible tabs within the clasp that allows the bracelet to extend approximately 8mm without needing to remove the watch. Although Clemence is not the first to do this, it’s totally a practical feature and adds significant value to watch that’s clearly offering a lot of watch for what they’re asking for. Speaking of which, the new range of Photic dive watches come with a price tag of £449 which at the time of this writing, converts to $525.

Clemence is slated to release the new range of Photics on September 24th during an in-person event at World Time UK. If you’re keen on snagging one of these new releases, and happen to be international, Clemence will provide a private link to their virtual booth during the day of the release. Stay tuned to the Clemence space for more details.