This watch review was contributed by a watch enthusiast from Finland. I am proud to continue you to present you with a world-wide, watch lover perspective. You can once in a while get a break from my snarky tone and listen to a different perspective on reviewing a watch. Ezteem is a newer Swedish watch brand (about 5 years old). I personally enjoy their smooth designer look. This is certain a suave modern dive style watch. The writer below is Santtu Määttänen, a Finnish national and marketing professional, as well a and watch hobbyist who can give you a northern European perspective on our “horological imperative.” By the way, please let me add that English is not the writer’s first language, so please take that into consideration when reading his review:

Ezteem is a new Swedish watchmaker (from 2005) and the model I review here (Lynx Aqua) is their current offering for divers and desk-divers alike. I was intrigued by the brand since I haven’t handled a lot of Swedish watches before and Sweden is known for great design. So I expected a lot from them.

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When I first handled Lynx Aqua it was clear to me that this piece is a serious watch. It really shows the heritage of Swedish design and is both modern, funky and utilitarian, as well as classic and timeless in design. It made me think of Bruno Mathssons furniture (Specially The Grasshopper and Anna as pictured) The fluid shape of hard material is the key here. Watch case is both round and soft looking as well as rigid and tough. There’s the key to this watch, fluid essence which comes out in firm form. This watch is a bold statement which seems to be yelling “Tool watches want to be elegant too”. It’s hard to say which came here first, the form or the function, but they both work together amazingly well.

The watch has common modern size of 42mm with out the crown, which is large by my personal standards. But the round shape and great lug design
makes it fit like a glove. Case is made from 316L stainless steel and is polished on sides and brushed on top. It has large dial compared to the outside diameter thanks to the narrow bezel which makes the watch look larger then it actually is. It really is a great looking piece with serious attitude to it, bit like a beast in a tuxedo. Straps coming along the watch suite the watch perfectly, in the black and orange version I got there’s both orange and black strap provided (both made of high quality rubber).

Movement ticking inside is 25 jeweled Swiss automatic movement ticking away 8bps (Ed. Note – likely an ETA 2824-2 or equivalent movement). Ezteem doesn’t list the manufacturer on their site and I didn’t ask. What I do know is that it’s proven to be accurate (no scientific measurements done) and robust since my watch has taken the beatings of downhill biking, construction work, diving and usual playing around with the kids with out any issues.

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Sapphire crystal is bit domed which gives it a personal look, it doesn’t distort the vision of the dial as high domes do. But it gives the watch more of the look of it’s own. Dial of the watch is clean, bold and utilitarian. Time is easy to read at glance and the hands are easily distinguished from each other. Bold orange color starts to be bit of a cliche at the watch industry since everyone and their niece is doing them. But in this particular watch the color, which is nice sunset orange, gives it some character and sort of reminds me of northern lights, warmth of the midsummer sun and fire in the fireplace when having a cup of coffee after a dive in icy waters. It’s not that it’s terribly unique choice for a dial, just that it has been carried-out in a way which makes it just right.

This watch has been made to go down to the depths, which it surely does. I’ve taken mine down to 42m which it takes as a walk in the park as it should with a 200m WR rating. Large dial makes the watch easy to read even in perfect darkness since the lume is amazing and long lasting to my experience. But here lies the weak part of the watch as well. Since the bezel which looks stunning, thin and makes the watch appear elegant and balanced, is so thin that the lume tip is actually rather small one and out-shined by dial lume in darkness. So I wouldn’t count on this watch as sole timing device under water, specially in situations where there’s near perfect darkness.

There are plenty of small things in this watch which makes it stand out. First of course is the shape of the case and the beautiful thin bezel, but there are few other things to notice too. Like the logo on the crown which is on black surface, nice and elegant touch. And there is a pretty engraved back, with all the crucial info about the watch. Also the logo on dial is applied and shiny which makes it stand out in a good way compared to printed logo. Bezel action is unlike any I’ve handled personally before, it’s firm, easy to turn and clicks with muffled click (60 clicks per rotation) which made me think of the doors on high end cars (you just know which brand it is by banging the door shut, Porsche and BMW simply ain’t the same not to mention some cheap Japanese car) These are the kind of small touches you would expect from quality Swedish design.

As Fredrik Gisle from Ezteem watches put it “At a glance it seems simple and straight forward. Yet there are many details thoroughly planned, which makes the watch both bold and elegant. We hope this gives warmth to the owner, from a Sweden that is otherwise cold a large portion of the year.”

In the end you have a warm cozy watch from cold and harsh north. It’s a elegant choice but it has it’s own attitude. This is not a show off piece, it’s a real working mans watch that looks good enough to wear with a suit. I know I’ve been wearing mine from below the surface to the meetings successfully. One of the best things about this particular watch is that it’s something different. It’s unmistakably Ezteem and unmistakably Swedish when you think of it. Nothing else I know looks like it although the elements are familiar. And that’s the beauty behind the watch in question.

(Back to Ariel again. I wanted to also note that the Ezteem Lynx Aqua watch retails for $1050, and is available from Ezteem’s website here).


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