Welcome to the first part in our series entitled ‘5 Things to Know Before You Buy a Tool Watch’. Today, I would like to focus on movements. Some call it the heart of a watch because it beats. Others call it the brains of a watch because it moves everything we see. Listen up as this part […]
At Draken, we have always prided ourselves in creating unique, original designs, but first and foremost our watches need to be functional. Easy-to-use bezels, highly legible dials and handsets, and reliable work-horse movements mean that Draken watches will not just be fit for purpose, but excel in outdoor environments. Our case design has become a […]
There’s a common misconception: if you have a watch rated to 50m water resistance (WR), it should be good for scuba diving, right? That would make sense, but in reality you’re not safe going 17m deep with a 50m WR watch. Many of these watches are engineered to a relatively loose standard (ISO22810) with lower […]
A key aspect of a tool watch is it’s legibility. For daytime use, maximum legibility is achieved by using high-contrast dial designs that incorporate bold and easily discernible shapes and anti-reflective coated crystals. If done well, their effective utility is enhanced during low-light and nighttime situations. The history of luminous painted dials started with the […]
There is more to a watch than just the movement you put in it. Sure, putting a low-quality movement in a great-looking watch is a real shame, but putting an expensive movement into a poorly made case is even worse. A really cheap watch (the ones you might find at a Walmart) is probably made […]
We settled on a case size of 39mm to get that sweet spot in proportions between diameter and thickness. Given that we knew we wanted to add and anti-magnetic ‘Faraday’ cage, we couldnt go any smaller than 39mm or it would look too tall. To further break up the height of the side profile, I […]
Most of you have now seen the different dial options for the upcoming Aoraki. In this post I’ll talk about the design decisions behind each of those variations. One of the early inspirations for the Aoraki was the Tudor Ranger. With its baton markers, Arabic numerals and a handset that was simple yet distinctive, it […]
It’s time for an update on the next Draken: the Aoraki (“au-ra-kee”). For a lot of you, this might actually be the first time you’ve heard about it. Being a tool watch company, we’ve tended to produce watches in larger sizes. We’ve done dive watches, a pilot watch, a military-style watch and a chronograph, all […]
Hey Team Draken, This is going to be a bit of an update on what’s happening at Draken. It has been a busy couple months with the Kruger production landing, the Kruger SE being announced, and now the Tugela GMT shipping imminently. Tugela GMT On that last point, we are experiencing a slight delay due […]
While creating the instruction booklet for our upcoming GMT, I realised how random and silly some time zones are. Similar to country borders, or the side of the road you drive on, many countries have been locked into a particular timezone just because that was what was decided by some leader decades ago. For example, […]