Tutima Introduces the M2 Seven Seas in a Yellow-Green Dial and PVD Coated Case

Tutima know a thing or two about surviving. They’ve got through Germany’s galloping inflation in the early 1920s, seeing Glashütte bombed during WW2, then getting sacked by the advancing Russian army in summer 1945, the quartz crisis and, lately, COVID and the uncertain post-viral world. Proof, if you needed it, that you can’t keep a good watchmaker down.

It seems fitting then that their latest offering is built to take a beasting. OK, so the M2 Seven Seas S isn’t quite ready to take on the G-Shock for sheer indestructibility but it’d put up a pretty good show. Maybe this is the watchworld equivalent of ‘who’d win in a fight between…’

The M2 Seven Seas S line has been around a while, but this is the first time it’s turned up in PVD with a ceramic bezel and a smaller than usual 40mm case. If you find the standard Seven Seas on the chunky side at 44mm, this could work a treat. 

The case on the new watch is stainless steel (rather than the titanium Tutima have previously used) and coated in what the firm says is ‘…harder than the stainless steel case itself…’ PVD. Quite the claim. We’ve not put it to the test yet, but it certainly looks as though it could look after itself in a tight corner. 

The unidirectional bezel’s inlay is, similarly, ultra-hard ceramic to shrug off scratches. Likewise the sapphire crystal – slightly thicker than a dollar – gets a Mohs Hardness Scale rating of 9. That’s the same as a corundum grinding wheel. You’ll not be surprised by now to know that the crown screws down and the case back, of course, screws in. All in all, that means you can take your lovely new M2 down to 500m. That’s the sort of depth where the stuff you meet looks like it’s walked out of a science fiction movie and would probably eat you for fun. But hey, it’s good to know that you can leave your watch on at the swim-up bar on holiday. 

All this grr stuff is fine, and handy too, but the star of the show is that dial. Tutima have a thing for what they call ‘dégradé’ dials. Imagine the finish on a ‘58 Les Paul Standard and you get the idea. It’s far too elegant for a knockabout watch like this, but we’re not complaining. It adds depth and colour to what would otherwise be a plain, functional bit of kit. The applied and lumed (SL, of course) indices stand out against it and the silvered, lumed hands are a snap to read at a glance. The red second hand works against the coloured background and gives the whole look of the watch a bit more visual interest too. 

Tutima have thought about the strap too, rather than just rummaged in the ‘Miscellaneous Strap’ box to fit any old thing. It‘s a leather and rubber combination (Tutima are calling it a ‘biocomponent’ strap – there’s posh for you) that flares neatly into the lugs and fastens with a clasp. That said, and although most people won’t get their M2 wet all that often, we might stick it on a NATO instead – it’s just a bit more functional on a watch like this. The lugs are drilled, so changing straps is easy whatever you decide to do. 

The movement is the self-winding Tutima Calibre 330, with genetics firmly in the ETA2824 family. And, as we’ve often pointed out, none the worse for it. There’s a lot to be said for a stone-reliable movement that you can have serviced anywhere and for which you’ll never need to worry about spares.

So should you shell out $1980 for a PVD M2? Well, Tutima are a niche watchmaker that, like fellow German firms Sinn and Damasko, has quite the following.  So if you’re into your Tutimas, the answer is likely to be a resounding yes. If you’re after a solid, reliable do-anything-go-anywhere-but-not-flash watch, it’ll be a yes too. For just over half the price you could snag a mech Seiko SPB143 or a quartz Marathon Tsar, and a Longines HydroConquest is a few hundred dollars cheaper, but at the $2,000 mark it’s got a character and appeal all of its own. Tutima