Bern Milford
Manufacturer: Bern Watch Co | Price: $299 USD (€270 EUR, £240 GBP approx)
Introducing the Bern Milford Diver, a truly functional diver, designed to maintain the true purpose of a dive watch. Solid 316L stainless steel case with claw-shaped angled lugs and crown guards to give it a sharp look, complimented by a very legible dial with large arabics and brushed stainless steel indeces which are filled with Swiss Super Luminova® X1-Grade GL-C3 for optimum performance in low light. A trapezoid crested bezel which is simple to grip, in turn, completes the design resulting in a fully functional dive watch ready for its next adventure on land or in the depths of the ocean.
Specifications
- Dimensions: Case Diameter – 41.8mm, Thickness – 13.6mm, Lug to Lug – 47.2mm, Lug Width – 22mm
- Movement: Seiko NH35 Automatic, 21,600vph (3Hz), Hackable, Self Winding, 41hr Power Reserve
- Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel
- Strap: Oiled Genuine Calf Leather with Signed Buckle
- Crystal: Flat Sapphire, Multiple Anti-Reflective Coatings (Inner)
- Bezel: 120 Click Unidirectional, Aluminium Insert, Fully Lumed
- Extras: Leather Dual Watch Travel Case, Silicone Strap with Signed Buckle
- Water Resistance: 30ATM / 300m / 990ft
- Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® X1-Grade GL-C3 (Multiple Layers)
- Crown: Signed, Screw Down Caseback: Screw Down, Stamped Wave Design with Engraved Bern Logo
- Warranty: 1 Year Where to Buy: BernWatch.com
- Options: Case Material: Black PVD, Bronze, Stainless Steel | Dial Colour: Black, Blue, Green, White
Bern Watch Co.
Bern Watch Co are a team of two brothers who have worked together for almost 2 decades, having stood together as a great team because they share a passion for everything they engage in. Yet again, their passion for unique and creative watch designs has brought them together to embark on a new journey to create unique and practical watch designs.
They work collectively with designers and manufacturers to combine the power of innovation and design to create concepts and build working prototypes and turn them into wrist watches that you will enjoy and cherish. They work on the concept of affordable luxury by reducing overheads, working on reduced margins, removing distributor and reseller margins and retail store margins and are able to offer Swiss level quality and reliability at very low prices.
Case & Crown
The Milford Diver has a water resistance rating of 300m, thanks to the screw-down caseback & crown. The proportions of the watch, in my opinion, are prett damn good for my 7″ wrist. The Milford does wear extremely well on wrist and it’s very comfortable even if on paper, you’d think it’d be too large, but with a short lug to lug of just 47.2mm it wouldn’t look out of place on a 6¼” wrist. The crown is also good with minimal wobble when the crown is at its fully extended position. Looking at the proportions of the watch, I would suggest the crown should be a little bigger, maybe by another >1mm.
Straps
The strap that comes fitted to this Bern Milford is a good quality, brown calf leather strap with white stitching and a signed buckle. The strap tapers from 22mm down to 20mm at the buckle. Talking of the buckle, I do feel it is a little on the large side especially seeing as the strap tapers making the buckle appear larger than it uctually is. Overall though, this leather strap is of pretty decent quality. The length of the strap is 115/75mm excluding the buckle. As you can see in my images, I fitted a bond style Elastico G2 LuffStrap to the Milford, a combo that I think works well on this Milford.
Before you all start shouting & screaming at your screens like a bunch of 12yr old girls, “leather on a diver, WTF!!”, the Milford Diver also comes with a silicone strap for those times you want to take the Milford into the sea or swimming pool etc… It is of slightly longer length at 120/75mm and rather handily is it does come with an additional signed buckle, so no need to fumble about trying to change buckles too when swapping over straps. A nice touch that should be applauded.
Movement
The movement fitted to the Milford is the microbrand go-to movement of choice, the super-reliable Seiko NH35. A fantastic workhorse that is a 21,600vph, 3Hz, 24 jewel movement with a 41hr power reserve, self winding and of course hacking. Checking the accuracy after running the Milford for around a week, mainly on my wrist and occasionally in my Barrington Watch Winder, I thought the accuracy was pretty good, with it showing an average of just +7.6 spd.
Dial, Bezel & Lume
As you can see in the images, the hour and minute hands are of an unusual design with a hollow type aesthetic with an extended lumed section. I like them, especially the orange minute hand that are also pumped full of lume. The seconds hand is great too, with a lumed arrowhead and an orange tip at the end matching the orange text on the dial. The lume used on the Milford is Super Luminova® X1-Grade GL-C3 and is applied very well and it does last quite a long time. It isn’t of Zelos or Seiko quality, not a lot of watches are, but the Milford isn’t far off.
Conclusion
The Bern Watch Co Milford is a uniquely styled dive watch. That in itself should be applauded as most microbrands go down the usual homage / vintage style route to play it safe. Bern Watches have took a gamble with their design and I can honestly say, I think it’ll pay off if marketed properly. To summarise, I really do like the overall proportions and the style of the case and hour & minute hands. The price too is, to be fair, extremely good value for what you get. Recommended.
Bern Watch Co – An extremely good effort for your first timepiece. Just a couple of small niggles that need to be ironed out for the production models and you’ve defenitly got a winner on your hands. Great job by the way and I’d love to see a production model once they’re ready so I can maybe come back and edit this review.
