Mike
I'm the founder of Draken Watches - a boutique watch company focused on creating tough adventure watches. I have a passion for the outdoors, where I enjoy going mountain biking, hiking and diving.
Draken Watches now shipping from SA direct!
We’re excited to announce that Draken Watches now has a dispatch office in South Africa! This means that South African orders will be packaged and shipped locally, so you won’t have to deal with import taxes and duty fees. The other big change is that you can now shop and pay in South African Rands. […]
Looking ahead to 2024
Hey folks. I have been giving some thought to what models we will release in 2024, and started a couple of discussions on our social channels about some of our past models. In a previous email, I shared some designs for an updated version of the Peregrine, a pilot-style watch we originally launched in 2017. […]
Peregrine Reimagined
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 […]
Watch Movements
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 […]
Case Construction
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 […]
Water resistance
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 […]
Luminous Paint
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 […]
Materials and Finishes
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 […]
A case for longevity
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 […]