Instead of a traditional date wheel, the Fire Exit Watch features seven rotating images of our blocky friend’s weekly experience. Over the course of the week, you will see Fire Exit Sign Man (really need a shorter name for this guy) at work, commuting, working out, partying, and even nursing a hangover. The date wheel is finished with luminous material and is visible through a green glass dial that is an exact Pantone match to a fire exit sign.
But that’s not where the connection stops. There are plenty of other nods to fire safety signs around the watch, including the use of the sign’s arrows as the marker at the cardinal positions, and a rather entertaining case back, which not only offers a luminous caseback engraving reading “Fire exit” (I’m a sucker for lume in unexpected places) but also a spinning animation of the Fire Exit Sign Man running. Our bold hero also makes an appearance in his most classic position on the crown, which also has a pop of the signature green on the stem.
Looking past these special touches, what you have is a pretty handsome dive watch. The stainless steel case is finished in gunmetal gray and fully brushed, and is water resistant to 100m. Per the brand, the Fire Exit Watch comes in at a reasonable 41mm across, 49.5mm lug-to-lug, and 13.5mm thick.
The Fire Exit Watch is powered by a Sellita SW-220, whose day-date function makes this watch possible. Oh, and there is still a date on this watch — but some of you won’t like it, the color-matched date wheel is visible through a round cut out at 4:30, though it’s about as innocuous as a 4:30 date execution can be.
The Fire Exit Watch comes on a British Racing Green two-piece rubber and fire hose strap. The recycled fire hose comes from the UK Fire & Rescue Service and is reportedly a relatively uncommon shade for fire hoses. A luminous arrow buckle comes fitted to the buckle. The watch also comes packaged with a thematic green three-watch case.
The Fire Exit Watch is available from William Wood Watches in a limited edition of 300 for £1,495. William Wood