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Wren, the watch brand founded by Wrist Enthusiast’s Craig Karger, has released a new version of their Diver One in collaboration with Ben Cook, founder of the Ben’s Watches platform, which you’ve almost certainly seen if you’ve logged into TikTok or Instagram recently and have even a remote interest in watches (he was also recently on the Worn & Wound podcast). This is actually the pair’s second collaboration, a natural extension of the first, which casts the dynamic orange dial they debuted last year in a different light.
The Diver One Obsidian’s standout feature is its unique orange fume dial, which like other watches in the Wren lineup has a mostly classic dive watch layout with large lumed circular and triangular indices. Karger has a knack for choosing interesting, evocative colors for his divers, and the orange here looks great and feels very much in the tradition of other classic orange dialed divers from Doxa and Seiko, among others.
The Obsidian gets its name from the DLC treated case and bracelet, creating a dark backdrop for the brightly colored dial. The Diver One measures 41mm in diameter and a little over 13mm thick. At 47mm from lug to lug, it exists in a well understood sweet spot for modern dive watch sizing. The shape of the case makes these watches wear a bit smaller than the measurement in my experience – it’s all very ergonomic and has case lines that will successfully hug most wrists.
The watch presents very differently depending on whether it’s worn on the DLC coated bracelet or the orange rubber strap that matches the dial. One is sleek and tactical, and the other feels very much like a summer (or perhaps Halloween) watch.
The Diver One Obsidian runs on a Sellita SW200 automatic movement with 38 hours of power reserve. The crown, of course, screws down, and the case has 200 meters of water resistance.
The retail price for the Diver One Obsidian is set at $1,195. The first batch is limited to 100 numbered pieces, with the first 30 available at Windup in Chicago this weekend. Wren
