It is always a little strange writing about one of our own watches. As most of you know, Wren is our own brand, so take everything I say here with that in mind. But I have been wearing this one for the past few weeks, and I have to say, it might be my favorite Diver One Titanium to date. Today we are releasing the Wren Diver One Titanium Glacier. Let’s get into it.
When we released the Vessel last month, I made a promise. The Vessel is our first watch that isn’t a diver, and it looks nothing like anything we have made before. So I understand why some collectors worried that we were moving on. But I promised that we would not stop making the divers so many of you love, and I meant it. The Glacier is our first release since the Vessel, and I think it is fitting that it is a diver.
The Glacier follows the Snow and the Dusk in our titanium lineup. And while it shares the same case, bracelet and movement as those models, it has a completely different personality on the wrist.
As is the case with most of our watches, the star is the dial. The Glacier has a light, icy blue center that fades to a dark gray around the edges. The name pretty much says it all. It is a gradient dial, which has become something of a signature for us, but this one changes with the light more than any dial we have made. The hour markers and hands are white, so the watch stays very legible against the blue. And there is no date window, which keeps everything symmetrical. I know the date versus no-date debate will never end, but on this dial I think no-date was the right call.
The bezel is ceramic in a dark gray that matches the outer edge of the dial. It is unidirectional, as every dive bezel should be (bidirectional dive bezels are a pet peeve of mine). And like all of our recent divers, the entire 60-minute scale is lumed, not just the pip at 12. We use Swiss Super-LumiNova BGW9 on the hands, hour markers and bezel scale. Lume is one of those things I have always cared about as a collector, so it is something we spend a lot of time on.
Getting into the details, the Glacier is 41mm in diameter by 47mm lug-to-lug and 12.4mm thick, including the sapphire box crystal. Those are the same dimensions as our steel Diver One, with one exception. The steel model is 13.3mm thick, so we shaved off nearly a full millimeter for the titanium version. We are always trying to improve and iterate, and I do think you notice the difference on the wrist. I felt that it was a great fit on my 6.75 inch wrist.
The case and bracelet are made from Grade 5 titanium. I will let you in on a little secret here. Our first titanium prototypes were actually made in Grade 2 titanium, and I just didn’t like the color. It had a yellow tint to it. So we upgraded to Grade 5 for production. Grade 5 is stronger, and ours looks remarkably similar to steel, which is exactly what I wanted. You get the look of a steel diver in a watch that is noticeably lighter. The case and bracelet also get our clear DLC coating for scratch resistance. Steel is around 200 Vickers in hardness, and the coating takes the surface to about 800.
The Glacier comes on a flat link titanium bracelet with a microadjustment built into the clasp that can be used while the watch is on your wrist. If you have read my reviews, you know how often I complain when a watch doesn’t have one. So there was no way we were leaving it off our own. We also include a gray FKM rubber strap in the box, which is something I would like to see from more brands. The gray works really well with the dial, and to be honest, I have been going back and forth between the two.
The watch runs on the Swiss made ETA 2824 automatic movement with 38 hours of power reserve, beating at 28,800 VPH, or 4Hz. It is a workhorse movement, and one that just about any watchmaker can service. The caseback is closed, with a Wren pressed into the titanium. The Glacier also has a screw-down crown and 200 meters of water resistance, so it is a real dive watch, even if most of us (myself included) will never take it diving.
This first batch of the Glacier is 100 pieces, and each of the first 100 is individually numbered on the caseback. As we have done with our last few releases, previous Wren customers were given 24 hours to purchase the watch before anyone else. I think it is important that the people who supported us early get the first shot at anything new.
Overall, I am really proud of this one. And as promised, it won’t be the last diver you see from us. I know I am biased, but I think the Glacier is the best looking Diver One Titanium we have made, and at 12.4mm thick in Grade 5 titanium, it is a watch I could wear every day. You can pick up the Wren Diver One Titanium Glacier now at wrenwatches.com for $1,495 USD, which includes both the titanium bracelet and the gray FKM rubber strap. Shipping starts November 20.
