Review by Eric of @Ricoswatches
Disclaimer: I love Arken Watches. The founder of the brand, Ken Lam, was a friend of mine before the founding of Arken. I’ve been there since day one with the brand supporting them. I did not pay for this watch as reviewed. The price of the model is 599 GPB. The Alterum comes in both limited and unlimited models. This is the limited edition “Stealth” variant. I would encourage all readers to go check out the Arken website at Arken.uk for more details.
Introduction/History: Arken Watch Company was founded in October 2020 when owner, Kenneth Lam, decided that after years of modding and taking apart and putting back together Seikos, he wanted to challenge himself to start his own brand. Ken was completely self taught with no prior experience in the watch industry. No small undertaking but Arken’s motto of, “ Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam” (I will find a way or make one) in Latin, rang true from day one. From that, Arken Watch Company was born and with that, the first model of the brand: The Instrumentum.
Arken quickly took the watch community by storm. The Instrumentum was something fresh and new. Full titanium, integrated bracelet, original design that blended clear British styling along with Teutonic elements and utilitarian design. Most of all, Ken did all this at an affordable price point. After the success of the Instrumentum, Ken was able to take a step back and further define what Arken was going to be about. He built out a community around the brand, doing podcasts, having articles written about the brand and starting his own sub community: The Arken Armoury.
The Armoury is where those who are passionate supporters of the brand can get access to limited exclusive models and gear that isn't available to the general community. Access is granted by invitation only. While all this was happening, Ken continued to innovate and design. Born from the love and support of the community and the seed that Instrumentum planted, came the Arken Alterum. An execution of the ubiquitous GMT complication in a manner that is unheard of at this price point.
Unboxing/packaging: Upon receiving your Alterum, you're greeted by a custom outer cardboard box with a unique Arken sticker label that is specific to your watch. Inside the box is the hard plastic Pelican style case that the watch is in. Small, compact, and impressive. A custom hang tag is attached to the case, once again unique to your watch. Inside is the watch, proudly seated in molded foam, off strap, with a metal warranty card. The strap is tucked into a slot in the foam. Clean, simple, utilitarian and emotes the sense of purpose this watch has.
Case/ Strap integration: The case of the Alterum is offered in the same material and general shape as the Instrumentum. The 40mm case is made of brushed titanium with an anti scratch treatment.The bezel is 38mm, flat around the inner edge of the sapphire crystal then slopes down to the edge of the case. On the 3 and 9 o'clock sides of the case are “lobe” like structures, reminiscent of a Patek Phillipe Nautilus. On the 3 o'clock side is an oversized crown that sits tucked into the case flaring (acting as crown guards). Below the crown is a pusher with a screw in bezel around it. This is used to manipulate and adjust the date on the watch. At 12 and 6 o'clock on the watch, the lugs narrow and curve down around a fixed bar. This gives the watch a 46mm lug to lug that makes it extremely wearable and wrists of all sizes.
The reason for the fixed bar is to allow for quick strap swapping. The Alterum utilizes a unique style of strap similar to those offered on modern Cartier and IWC watches. The nylon strap has a button that is depressed at the lug end that opens up a beak style hook that bites around the bar and holds it securely in place. Ingenious if you're keen on OEM straps and want to build out your collection of Arken straps. Pain in the butt if you prefer aftermarket straps or traditional lugs. I do think that when you consider the price point of this watch and the sheer level of innovation it offers and tech that is only seen in far more expensive luxury brands, we can forgive the Alterum for having it’s stylistic quirks. The nylon strap tapers aggressively to the buckle. On the inside of the strap is suede like material that feels extremely comfortable against the wrist. I do find that the strap seems a bit long. I have a 7 inch wrist and this stap sits on the second tightest hole and has a lot of tail left over. The sliding keeper allows that tail to be tucked away with relative ease.
As Arken means for these watches to be made and sold as professional tools, I suspect that the extra long strap allows it to be worn over top of gear/jackets for more extreme operational environments. The case of the Alterum is a very wearable 13mm thick and the screw in caseback and crown/pusher grants the watch a 200m water resistance. All together this creates a compact, wearable professional tool package that is hard to beat. My Armoury exclusive “Stealth” model boasts a black coated base and hardwear.
Dial: The dial of the Alterum once again is packed full of luxury while presenting a capable tool. The dial has a unique “frosted” texture that grabs the eye without reflecting light. It reminds me of black fine grit sandpaper or the grip tape you might put on the handle of your pistol. In stark contrast to the deep black of this Alterum variant’s dial, are stark white markers. This level of contrast between dial and lume is something I have only really seen achieved in the Tudor Pelagos. You need to experience it to understand it but the readability of the watch is impeccable. Around the outer perimeter of the dial is a railroad style minute track. On the inside part of the track, moving toward the dial sits the 3D BGW9 lume hour plots. The lume plots are circular with the cardinal points of the dial using upside down teardrop style plots. These cardinal plots match the shape of the small date indicator hand that sits on the date subdial at 6 o'clock.
Located at 8:30 and 3:30 on the dial are two apertures that function as AM/PM indicators for your local and secondary timezone. This is an incredibly cool function to see at this price point and one adds a lovely bit of complexity to the dial without overcrowding it. Speaking of, other than the numerical text of the date subdial, the only other text on the dial is “ARKEN" and “AUTOMATIC” located at 12 o'clock. This dial is very clean and balanced with no clutter.
The hands of the Alterum are a further expression of stylistic and design excellence. The minute and hour hand are aggressive sword hands. They somehow manage to look like something new and old at the same time. Like they came off an old pocket watch but also are also inspired by the modern Teutonic design of the watch. They are framed in a dark metal and then filled with the same strong BGW9 lume we see on the dial. The second hand is a thin stark white strand that extends all the way to the outer edge of the minute track. The counterbalance of the second hand is a narrow teardrop. The GMT hand on this watch is unique. As it functions in unison with the AM/PM indicators of the watch, it's a 12 hour GMT not a 24 hour one. A stunning blued metal on this model with a large lume lollipop at the end that perfectly overlaps with the round hour markers and it circles the dial. The dial is housed underneath a sapphire glass crystal with internal anti reflective coating… as all crystals should be.
Movement: Inside the watch beats away the Arken ARK9015DT movement. At it’s roots it is the venerable Miyota 9015 movement. If you know anything about the 9-series Miyota movements, you know that they are pound for pound as serviceable and performative as their Swiss counterparts. The movement is then modified with a module that allows for the unique GMT function. This module was designed by Ken and speaks to the genius of Ken and innovation behind Arken. To be designing custom movement modules for your second model ever is insane. This simply doesn't happen in watches.But as Arken’s motto states, “I will find a way or make one”. Time keeping for my Alterum has been spot on at about 2 seconds a day.
Final Thoughts: Well, here we are. The end of another review. Time for my final thoughts. As mentioned in the disclaimer, I am an Arken OG. I love this brand, the Owner is someone I consider a very close friend and I always have and will always support him. So of course, I will tell you to buy this watch. It is fantastic. It’s a great watch made by a great dude who cares about and supports the watch community. If that reason alone or the rest of this review isn't enough to convince you, then let me try one last time. Simply put, Arken is going places. You simply won’t find the kind of innovation or complication per dollar as you will with the Alterum. You’re getting a highly capable professional grade tool watch with a unique style of GMT complication for less than $1000. Go ahead and find that anywhere else. Arken’s models are highly collectable (go check out pages like @thegrailnato on Instagram if you don't believe me) and they are made in limited production with extremely high demand. His stuff is good.
But hey, that’s just me.
(I LOVE IT)