Samuel Friedmann and his company, Gevril Group are best known for owning and managing many brands of watches.
While Gevril is a well-known watch brand that has its roots as far back as the 1700’s, the current incarnation of the company is known for its high-end Gevril, Fortis, GV2 brands to fashion watches ala Versace, Ferragamo, Johan Eric, Romano, Haurex, Giulio Romano to name a few.
But the company is well-aware that to get into the mainstream market of watches, the masses look for affordability and many are not inclined to spend thousands, let alone hundreds of dollars for watches.
And while there are brands that cater to the market, Samuel Friedmann created military style watches in hopes to attract a wider audience through his brand, Calibre Watches, which was established in 2002.
Watches under $100, housed in stainless steel via quartz movement, Calibre has attracted many to its various styles of watches.
The Calibre Sea Knight features a stainless steel silver dial, a dark green bezel and sporting Arabic numerals with a small calendar at the 3:00 section and the Calibre logo on the 12:00 position.
Upon receiving the Sea Knight, the watch comes in a black padded box with a nice thick manual (that covers all their Calibre watches) and a plastic warranty card.
Upon trying on the watch, it fit perfectly and there was not much fuss as it uses a black rubber bracelet. While I would have loved to have a stainless steel bracelet, for those who have skin irritations to rubber bracelet may want to look into GoStick Chamois butter which is used to stop chaffing, but works excellently for skin irritations for rubber straps.
The case is a very shiny, well-done stainless steel case with a screw back to make the watch water resistant (up to 330 feet/110M). Pull the crown out from the side to set the watch and to set the calendar date. I like how the Calibre symbol is on the crown but it is very important to screw down the crown for better water protection. As for the movement, Calbire uses Swiss made quartz movements.
As for the watch, I love the look of the watch thanks to its green bezel. The luminous hands were easy to see in the dark, as well as the Swiss cross on the top.
The watch is not too heavy but I like that because you can tell it’s the case and watch is sturdy but because it’s uses a mineral glass for its dial window, I wouldn’t want to mess around with this watch and drop it as it may crack.
While the watch is water resistant, not sure if I would wear this underwater, let alone in salt water. Any watch that is regularly immersed in water should be inspected for water resistance ability every year. Watch cases and bracelets should be rinsed thoroughly in fresh water after being in salt water. Watches should never be put in a sauna or a hot tub since the exposure to heat can easily make the gaskets lose their shape and decrease their water resistance.
Also, I believe that watches should not be worn in the bath/shower. The soap reduces surface tension of the rubber gasket in the watch, which allows water to get in. The soap can also damage the seal itself. So, you have to be careful.
A lot of manufacturers say that they are waterproof but I own a lot of watches and I have seen condensation get into the best of them. Want a watch to wear underwater, look towards something like a G-Shock or something that was made specifically to go underwater, salt water, etc.
With that being said, I’m going to be a little critical. I believe this watch would have benefited from a sub-dial in the 6:00 position, as the all silver in the bottom, makes the watch feel a bit incomplete.
The watch looks almost exactly like a carbon copy of the the women’s Swiss Military Hanowa Sealander 316L watch. Aside from the stainless steel bracelet and logos on the face and crown and reer of the watch and the printed “20 ATM” in the empty portion on the bottom middle, the discontinued Hanowa Sealander 316L (06-7095-04-001.6) and the Calibre Sea Knight (SC-4S2-04-001.6) look nearly alike. In fact, even the ID numbers are almost exact.
So, not entirely sure if the men’s Sea Knights are rebranded versions of the discontinued women’s Sealander Hanowa watches but if they are, would have preferred Calibre releasing the SeaKnight with a subdial near the 6:00 position to fill up that empty space (like the Hanowa Sealander Men’s version of the watch with a stainless steel bracelet).
Overall, this Calibre Sea Knight is a cool looking watch and works great for those wanting a simple diving watch with a catchy green bezel. And those wanting a rubber strap.
It’s an inexpensive and stylish watch but my only knock on this men’s watch (which I will deduct full star) is because it looks exactly like the women’s Hanowa 316L Sealander watch just with a different logo on the face, crown and rear casing.
Otherwise, if you dig the look of the Calibre Sea Knight, then this watch is for you!
