A month ago I talked about possibly bringing back an old model, the Peregrine. This updated version would resolve many of the quirks of the original. It is still in the design stage but I wanted to share with you a few 2D renders to get some feedback.
The first thing you’ll probably notice is the crown on the left. This wasn’t just a random design decision (cough, Rolex GMT Master II, cough), but necessary to bring the power reserve indicator (PRI) of the Miyota 9132 down to the 6h position. The PRI is then neatly and subtly shown as a hand instead of a disk. This will drastically reduce the height of the watch and also make it more reliable.
Above the PRI is a feature missing from the V1 Peregrine, the date complication. No more ghost date! We’ll have to do a custom date ring to be able to get it in this position, most likely a luminous date as we did on the Tugela.
To balance the dial design, there will now be a ’12’ in Arabic on what I am calling ‘version A’ of the Peregrine. This dial will have most of the same design elements seen on the original Peregrine.
Due to popular demand and to align with our current design language, I have added a ‘version B’ dial. This dial will have the triangle dots symbol at 12h, and Arabics for each hour in the same font seen on the Aoraki and Kruger. You could say that this ‘version B’ is a larger version of the Aoraki ‘Flieger’, except that the second hand is in the middle, it has a date and PRI, and will have small square applied hour indices on the outer track.
To keep things simple, we will only offer the two designs in black, and in two finishes – matte and sunburst black. I might do a stretch goal with a fully lumed dial and black paint-filled indices. Keen to hear your thoughts on this and whether there is a demand for it.
Other specs:
- Brush-finished 42mm case. Thickness TBC
- Flat sapphire with inner and outer AR coating
- Brush-finished applied indices and handset
- 22mm olive sailcloth strap with Draken buckle. No bracelet option at this stage.
One more detail I need to mention is the case back. Initially, I talked about doing a Faraday cage for anti-magnetism, meaning a solid case back. A Faraday cage would require a dial 0.8mm thick (0.4mm soft iron below the top dial). However, I want to keep the dial as thin as possible to minimise occlusion of the date (deep-set date = shadow).
For this reason, I have decided to not go down the Faraday cage route and instead do an exhibition case back. This will also make the case thinner, potentially under 12mm, and align with the V1 Peregrine which also had an exhibition case back. We are reviwing options for a decorated rotor.
I’m pretty excited about this design. There are a lot of great features packed in that will make it a very useful and interesting pilot-style watch.
Keen to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment below.
Kia kaha.
Mike
I Love the look of this watch – 42 mm is probably the smallest case I can get away with as I have large arms! I would love this to have the chunky feel of an IWC aviator so for me a thicker case is desirable
The B dial is sharp. I do like the one with the slightly smaller font.
I also like the left side crown, kinda simple yet kinda bold way
to stand out. Personally, I would prefer no power indicator.
The rendering of the fully lumed dial would be cool to see.
Thanks for asking our input and best of luck with the launch.
Great design
One of my favorite watches in my collection
Reimagined
I think version A is the better option. I do believe there will always be a demand for a full lume dial, so you should go for it and make a full lume version.
Love the look and the reverse crown is great. Would happily place and order especially if the fully lumped dial makes an appearance. That would be the one for me.
Mike:
Great looking designs, hearts on version “b” with the matt black finish and the triangle and 2 dots at 12.
Ive always liked calendars at 6 rather than 3
Well designed in my eyes.
Love my TUGELA GMT SW330-2 Super Blue
Very Interested in this model with all the Arabic Calligraphy,the numbers and minute markers all in the BWG9 Blue lume like the TUGELA.
With the myiota I’m better feeling than an NH Seiko movement
Probably too late in the process, but a modern interpretation of the type-b dial would be pretty cool to see. Keep the square indices and minute hashes as-is, swap the hour numeric indices for smaller minute numeric indices and lume paint a circle around the sunken portion and add hashes, 12, 3, 9 or the 1-5 and 7-11 hour markers around the inner circle.
That thought aside, really cool design and while maybe not for me, I think a full lume dial stretch goal would be desirable for others. While anti-magnetism is cool, under 12mm thick I agree wins out. Overall, looks great!
Top left is my preference, dial is easier to read and is less cluttered with indicators, BUT I can’t get used to a left side stem, still favoring a right stem even though I wear watch on right wrist…..
I like it a lot. I am not a fan of fully lumed dials but that is just me. I really like the clear easy read dial and simplicity of use, a watch doing its prime function with class. Fully brushed case with an aged leather strap would look very sweet indeed. Looking forward to seeing the final product.
I’d like to see experimentation with some different materials used for the cases of your timepieces. Maybe in the future there can be a limited release of watches encased in composite fibreshell, titanium, or forged carbon.
Yes, I like your thinking! I’m really liking the type A and would like it as thin as possible.
When will we be able to purchase please?
Some comments or suggestions….
1. The left-handed crown will be the favourite of left-handed people. Since it is not clear if it is a waterproof watch, it is “usually” arranged this way for diving watches, because of the wetsuit. Since it will not be a “big” watch, the traditional arrangement of the winding crown will not rub one’s hands. Therefore, it is of no significance, just part of the design.
2. The backup display is very small. Anyone using reading glasses will definitely not see the hands. You need to buy a magnifying glass for the watch. Or it should be painted a different colour to make it stand out from the counter. I know that the Miyota 9132 movement (rotated 180 degrees here) and the date window is why the winding crown is on the left side, but that’s what made it a PRI mini. The watch, for example, would have been unique: winding crown on the right, large power reserve display at 12 o’clock, date window at 9 o’clock….and the 24 hour hand would have been placed there.
https://miyotamovement.com/product/9132/
3. The blue colour of the seconds hand would also blend in with the black dial. I would suggest a yellow or orange colour.
4. You wrote that there will be many new and useful features in the watch. What is a lot? The Miyota movement allows for 24 hour display, here that has been eliminated. If you are talking about pilot style, then 24 hour display would be a requirement.
5. Summa summum: the first Peregrine was more interesting, more unique. Here that is lost. Draken watches are DRAKEN watches because of the unique design. This is not a Draken, in my opinion. There are countless similar watches on the market.
Good luck with the watch, I will skip this one for now. Sorry for the strong criticism, but you asked for a review. Anyway, I like your lessons.
Mike, you have a great logo and I like the greater prominence of it in the original version. It would be interesting to see the dragon at the 12 position. Maybe just my eyesight but I don’t see the blue second hand on a black dial very well. A white dial with black markings would be interesting. Good luck with the roll-out.
Kevin
Cheers Kevin. Appreciate the feedback.
Mike, I like the direction, but the power reserve almost appears as an afterthought. I think the dial and overall appearance would be cleaner without that function…
Thanks Richard. On the contrary, the whole design and purpose of this model revolves around the power reserve. I think it is one of the cleaner implementations of a power reserve that I have seen on a watch, especially given that it will still be quite affordable.
Will this be I titanium, Like the Kruger? I no longer have interest in steel watches.
This will be in steel. Personally, I am still in camp ‘steel’.
I really like the looks of this, at it checks off most of the boxes for my ideal watch. I like both version A and B dials, but I’m partial to numbers, so that’s the one I would go with. As for fully lined, I have that on my Kruger, and it is awesome. I highly recommend going that route, too.
I’m also a fan of exhibition case-backs, as well as canvas and leather straps. Hopefully the olive canvas strap on the Peregrine V2 will be interchangeable with the Kruger. The left handed crown seems odd, but I have a feeling it will grow on me.
Hopefully one of these days you’ll consider an internal countdown ring…and maybe a magnifier. More things to look forward to on my next and subsequent Drakens!
Cheers Vance. It is looking like there is demand for a full lume version. I like the idea of the exhibition case back too as this is something we haven’t done on any other model. A magnifier is an interesting idea, but opinions are very divided on the old ‘cyclops’ so I would have to do it well. There have been big advances in what you can do with crystals now. Would be cool to explore this in future!