Introducing the Pancor P03, an Affordable Diver With Excellent Specs and Old-School Vibes

Pancor is the brainchild of Marc Schutten, a self proclaimed watch enthusiast and entrepreneur based in the Netherlands. While the brand technically may have launched on Kickstarter, there are a few things that set Schutten’s watch designs apart from the dozens upon dozens of upstart generic watch brands that have found their home on the crowdsourcing platform. The brand’s latest, the Pancor P03, has the appearance of a product made by a real watch guy, with extra care taken to ensure that it is functional, well made, and versatile. 

Pancor P03 Diver

• Case Material: Stainless steel, with dark gray PVD option 
• Dial: Green, blue, black
• Dimensions: 39mm
• Crystal: Sapphire 
• Water Resistance: 300 meters 
• Crown: Screw down 
• Movement: Seiko NH38
• Strap/bracelet: Leather and rubber tropic dive strap
• Price: 329 Euros (full price after Kickstarter); 249 Euros Early Bird pricing through Kickstarter 
• Reference Number: P03 DIVER SS-G, P03 DIVER SS-B, P03 DIVER PVD-B, P03 DIVER SS
• Expected Release: March

Schutten created the P03 to be functional as a diver but not lose a step as a day-to-day watch on dry land. We see a lot of tactical and technical divers that look like something that belongs deeply submerged, but those designs sometimes appear clunky and out of place in, let’s say, an office. The P03 makes no bones about being a transitional watch that works in a variety of settings (as opposed to being made for a hyper specific task, something of a trend these days) but, critically, it stands up as a tool with a full 300 meters of water resistance, a unidirectional bezel with a ceramic insert, and plenty of lume.

With short, straight lugs and a case finished with a combination of brushed and polished surfaces that’s conservatively sized under 40 millimeters, the P03 hits many of the expected touch points for a classy update on a vintage style, but it’s not a cookie cutter homage. Schutten points out that the case was built to his own specifications and isn’t an “off the shelf” option. The result is a clean and honest design that gets small details right, like the knurling on the bezel and the long pencil hands.

The P03 really sets itself apart, though, in the dial details. Available in four different variants at launch, you can have the P03 in green, blue, and black in a stainless steel case, and also with a black dial/dark gray PVD case option. All dials come in a matte finish (a really nice touch), and all but the blue version use an “old radium” color treatment for lumed hour markers. Those lume plots are large and dynamic, and, at least in photos, have a distinct 3D quality. While the darker shades cover a lot of traditional bases, I think the green version is the standout. Something about the combination of the faux-patinated lume with the green dial just works, not unlike the limited edition Bravur Geography we looked at a few weeks ago.

The P03’s Kickstarter campaign is currently active, and watches are expected to ship in March 2020. For more information, visit Pancor’s Kickstarter here.