Formex Unveils The Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective Watch

For its newest new launch of 2023, Formex has teamed up with California-based retailer Collective Horology to create a brand new retail-exclusive model of its fan-favorite Reef dive watch. Formex isn’t any stranger to restricted editions and collaborations, and neither is Collective Horology, who has beforehand teamed up with manufacturers resembling IWC, Urwerk, H Moser & Cie, Czapek, and Zenith (amongst others) to create numerous different collaboration watches. For its newest partnership with Formex, Collective Horology has labored with the Swiss producer to create a brand new model of its fan-favorite Reef diver, though the actually attention-grabbing element concerning the new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective is that the dial fitted to the watch is made out of a sheet of completed bronze.

Whereas bronze has change into a moderately in style materials for watch instances on account of its skill to accumulate a patina, seldom does the metallic get used for the dials of watches, and it as an alternative is often used for exterior parts such because the case or bezel. That mentioned, bronze affords a novel heat coloration that sits midway between rose gold and copper, and it nearly affords a darker and metallic tackle the ever-trendy “salmon” dial coloration that may be discovered all through a lot of the watch trade. Formex operates its personal in-house dial producer positioned in Switzerland’s Jura mountains, and for the brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective, it was determined that the watch would characteristic a dial that was truly made out of bronze and that it might showcase the metallic’s pure heat coloration.

Most watch dials are made out of brass, and since bronze is a comparatively related alloy, the metallic itself is definitely pretty well-suited to being machined right into a watch dial. Identical to brass, bronze will naturally oxidize and darken over time, though this usually isn’t an element as a result of layers of paint, enamel, or lacquer that sometimes cowl the metallic base layer of a dial. Nonetheless, because the goal of this explicit dial was to showcase the pure bronze metallic itself, Formex makes use of a proprietary clear lacquer on its floor to protect its brilliant metallic coloration and stop oxidation. Moreover, to assist convey out the pure aesthetic qualities of the metallic, the floor has been given a vertical brushed end with black printing and confronted markers which are crammed with BGW9 Tremendous-LumiNova. Moreover, identical to different Reef fashions, the bronze dial fitted to the brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective includes a date window on the 6 o’clock location with a calendar disc that’s color-matched to the bronze hue of the dial.

Past its new bronze dial, the brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective may be very a lot the identical dive watch that we now have come to know through the years, and for those who’re in search of a full assessment of the unique mannequin, you’ll find that proper right here. Which means you get the identical angular case made out of 316L chrome steel that measures 42mm in diameter by 11.4mm-thick, with 22mm lugs and an total lug-to-lug profile of 47mm. Because the exterior case is shared with the opposite current-production Reef fashions, you get an anti-reflective sapphire crystal above the dial, a stable screw-down caseback fitted to the reverse aspect of the watch, and a signed crown protected by giant crown guards, which screws right down to the case to assist create a reasonably beneficiant 300 meters of water resistance.

Inside the brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective is identical COSC chronometer-certified Sellita SW300-1 that may be present in its standard-production siblings, which runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with an influence reserve of roughly 56 hours. Moreover, whereas the brand new bronze dial collaboration mannequin is fitted with a matte black zirconium oxide ceramic bezel that includes a raised 60-minute scale, the brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective additionally options the up to date Reef assortment’s signature interchangeable bezel system, which permits customers to take away the bezel with none instruments and swap it out for one of many different choices that Formex sells by means of its official web site.

Identical to different Reef divers, the brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective is offered with the choice of both a chrome steel bracelet or a rubber strap. The rubber strap is fitted with Formex’s carbon composite deployant clasp, whereas the flat three-link fashion bracelet options a chrome steel folding clasp, and each choices embrace quick-release connectors on the lugs to allow tool-free strap/bracelet adjustments, together with built-in fine-adjustment methods inside their clasps that allow on-the-fly incremental adjustment. Whereas these are the identical strap and bracelet choices which are out there for the usual Formex Reef divers, the important thing element right here is that consumers of the brand new collaboration mannequin will nonetheless have the selection with regard to which choice will come fitted to their watches.

The brand new Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective is accompanied by an official retail value of $1,935 USD when bought on the rubber strap, or $2,065 USD ought to consumers go for the chrome steel bracelet, and this makes it simply barely costlier than the conventional variations of the Reef diver which are fitted with conventional dials (the precise value premium is a complete of $105 USD, on the time of writing). Moreover, whereas the brand new collaboration mannequin isn’t a restricted version the place manufacturing shall be capped at a particular variety of examples, solely 50 watches shall be out there this yr, and the brand new fashions shall be solely out there from both Formex’s personal web site or the Collective Store. For extra info on the Formex Reef Radiant Bronze for Collective please go to the model’s web site.