For better or for worse, the watch market continues to be flooded with dive watches, which given their practicality and functionality, is hardly surprising. Whilst a lot of brands are so uninspired that they take a certain famous Rolex diver and fiddle with the design slightly, there are some brands who have truly taken all that is great on paper about dive watches, and have distilled them into their own unique interpretation.
Spinnaker; I must admit, are not a brand that I am particularly familiar with. That being said, whenever I have seen them in person, their bold and playful designs have always stuck out to me. This watch in particular, whilst not exactly my style, certainly falls into that category.
The Cahill comes in at 43mm, that being said due to a 13mm profile, does not have as much heft as you may think. The case construction on this piece is immaculate. A largely brushed case with high-polished bevels along the lugs gives this watch the ability to blend ruggedness with elegance perfectly. I have been lucky enough to review a fair few dive watches in my time, and one thing that jumps out to me with the Cahill in particular is the benefit of the 43mm case. The dial feels as if it is squeezing as much real estate out of that case as possible, which for diving is exactly what you want. Whilst the size is certainly on the large side for me, I can completely understand the choice of 43mm. The legibility of this watch, even taking into account the dial design, is second to none. The dial features a light blue outer ring, containing a gorgeous deep red dial adorned with of all things, a giant squid.
As you can see an immaculately constructed case and a beautiful dial...
To produce these eye-catching dials, Spinnaker and the Marine Conservation Society; hence the MSC limited edition, teamed up with acclaimed wildlife artist and scientific illustrator Rachel Brooks, who created the animal images that are present on the dial and case back of the watch. The applied hour markers are fat circles with elongated rectangular markers for the 12, 6 and 9 positions. One thing that also gets banged on about in this industry is date windows. In the case of the Cahill, the date window is deeply recessed adding another dimension to the dial, and the bright pink date to tie in with the deep red dial is a nice touch.
Unusual? Yes. Stunning and fun? You bet it is...
As I mentioned, the centre piece of this watch is without question the dial. Slightly raised from the rest of the dial sits an image of a giant squid, to tie in with the Marine Conservation Society. The nice touch here is that the squid is printed in colour, and the tan hue gives the squid a real pop, and is certainly an attention grabber! Speaking of the squid being an attention grabber, Spinnaker have taken this one step further, and have fully lumed the entire squid. Whilst the markers, hands and bezel are lumed in the traditional way, adding lume to the squid makes the whole dial pop as you can see below.
The beating heart of the Cahill 300 is the Seiko NH35 automatic movement. The facts are comfortingly familiar, with an frequency of 21,600vph and a 41 hour power reserve. Whilst I have been spending time with this watch, it has not been on my wrist all day everyday, sadly the case size and dial design are too much for it to be a daily wear for me. That being said the 41 hour power reserve allows me to wear and enjoy it, put it on my bedside table and pick it up a few days later, and not need worry about giving it a good old Seiko shuffle. The myriad benefits of the NH35 make it a fantastic choice for a dive watch of this price range. Whilst the movement is nothing earth-shattering in terms of looks, it is incredibly reliable and affordable to maintain, and seems a fitting choice for the Cahill.
This watch is all about details for me, the subtle, and sometimes less subtle, ties to the collaboration, the vague whiffs of famous dive watches of old, comes together here brilliantly. Take the case back for example, neartly enraved with all of the usual 'hallmarks' of a dive watch, alongside a beautifully engraved squid to match the dial.
Beautiful attention to detail...
A refreshing difference with the Cahill, as opposed to other dive watches in the same price category, is that you get an additional strap to the stainless steel bracelet. An H-style bracelet with solid end links is what keeps this piece on the wrist, and despite utilising friction-fit pins (a pet hate of mine) and a divers extension that does not allow for on the fly adjustment, something a sweaty persomn like me uses constantly, it is a lovely bracelet. 22mm tapering into 18mm at the case does help somewhat with the overall case size, and does mute the bright coloured dial, which would help this as a daily wear!
A refreshing change from an 'Oyster' style bracelet...
The nato strap itself is really wear the collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society really shines through. The nato strap comes in the signature dial colours of burgundy and light blue. Complete with brushed stainless steel hardware, the strap feels very premium. You would be hard pushed to work out on your own that the strap is made entirely of material reclaimed from discarded plastic. A really nice initiative and a way to represent the collaboration.
A fantastic and comfortable nato strap...
Sadly, at the time of writing this review, the watch is entirely sold out. The 300 pieces clearly went down a storm! You will be pleased to hear, if you have indeed read this article and now want one, a few exchanging hands on the secondary market for around retail, so fear not!
You may be asking what my closing thoughts are on this piece, and I suppose I can share those with you. First and foremost this watch is a hell of a lot of fun, it makes me think of the Watermel0n by Studio Underd0g, which conveniently I have reviewed here. For a weekend beater, something to chuck on with jeans and a t-shirt, or to enjoy on holiday, it is certainly a contender for its price. The only reservation for me, and what would be a barrier-to-entry, is that the dial is just a bit out there for me, as an everyday piece. Now clearly 300 people at least disagree with me, it is just my opinion at the end of the day, and you know what they say about opinions... The only other personal gripe is, unfortunately, the case size. When I have worn it on the bracelet, I can just about manage with the 43mm size, although a bit of curvature to the case a la Seiko Turtle, or a 38/39mm case size wouldnt go a miss, but especially on the nato, it is just huge for me. I am fairly ambiguous when it comes to size, I in fact use to own a turtle back in the day, and the 43mm size felt perfect to me.
However, this in 38mm would be an absolute home run, and may completely alter my opinion!
Felix Arnold
Editor & Founder