Note: Ares did not provide me this watch. This is my own personal time piece from my own personal collection. I have owned it since late 2023 and have worn it regularly in my daily life, traveling and in my duties as a police patrol officer.
Preface
Talk about setting a tone. A quote like the above really sets the mood for a brand for a customer. Describing your company as an armory and your watch as a piece of kit really hammers home the point of what your watches are about and who they are meant for. Gotta respect that. Anyone who has worked a job where they rely on an armory or a quartermaster gets that mentality associated with kit and its use.
Context and History
Ares first came on the scene in 2018. Founder Matt Graham came from a dedicated life of service as a police officer, Federal Air Marshal and who knows what kind of sketchy work at the CIA. Eventually, Matt left the public sector and went on to have his own firearms training and combatives company before starting Ares Watch Co. Matt wanted to create the watches that he wished he had during his time serving and so he created the brand to make them for others (and himself).His designs are certainly informed by experience and have a strong focus on gross motor function and a high degree of over-built dependability.
Ares has been a great success as a company with watches showing up on the wrists of actors and authors and special forces personnel and selling out every batch faster than the watches can be produced. In recent years Ares HAS had some controversy surrounding some quality control and customer care complaints. I will get into some of this later on the review but I think it is worth saying here and now that my experience has been positive with both Matt and the brand. Once again, more to come on that later on.
Initial Impressions
First things first. These guys know how to pack and ship a watch. I don't just mean securely so some hamfisted UPS courier doesn't mangle it I mean the packaging and everything the watch comes with when you open the box is truly an experience on it's own. I've been collecting watches for well over a decade at this point. It takes a lot to excite me. Ares successfully managed to draw that boy-like wonder out of me the first time I opened the box. For that, I thank them. The Global Mission Timer came in a wonderful custom engraved Pelican hard case. Inside were various papers, timing sheets, extra straps and of course the watch. All were neatly organized using the built in organizer rubberized netting and lift out trays of the Pelican case.
The watch itself kicks it up a notch. Upon first holding it in my hands and doing my initial functions tests, you can tell it is a thing of quality. The PVD coated steel case is a thing of beauty. Machined in the USA you can tell that it's extremely precise. With straight lugs with faceted geometric angels on them, you can tell these are made with pride and with the intent of making your watch feel like a high quality piece of kit. The case is 41mm x 49.5mm x 14mm stainless steel two piece construction with individually serialized, engraved, screwback caseback, in either bead blasted or Deep Black PVD The coating itself is well done and consistent throughout.
The count down mission timer bezel has large gear like teeth on them that make it easy to grip in all conditions, wet, dry, gloved, ungloved, whatever. The case is machined to an impressive 1000m of water resistance AND still manages to have a sapphire glass display case back. This can be credited to the use of double Viton seals and the precision with which the cases are manufactured. The destro style crowns at 10 and 8 o clock are something that Ares has done since day one and honestly, I love it. You see this on a lot of tactical oriented watches but I think the execution on Ares watches is one of the best.
With 120 extremely precise clicks on the fully machined bezel, you know that it can be used to track time precisely. The click action is extremely strong and the bezel has absolutely zero back play. When I say zero, I mean ZERO. It is tough, precise and somehow still smooth. The closest watch I can compare the bezel to is a Tudor Pelagos. It has that level of precision and machining. However, it is definitely louder and each click is more pronounced as the ARES uses a click spring bezel instead of a ball bearing bezel. The bezel has the numbers machined into it and then filled with several layers of C3 Luminova. When I say the lume on this thing is nuts...I mean it. Better than a Seiko. Possibly better than a Pelagos.
Speaking of lume, the lume is also generously applied to the hands and the printed dial. The lume is evenly applied, extremely strong and long lasting. Back to the dial, this is where things get interesting. If you like busy dials on watches, the Global Mission Timer is definitely for you. If you like simplicity and less clutter, consider a standard Diver - 1 or Field -1. Thankfully for me, I'm a sucker for a busy dial. The inner dial has what I would simply call an "Explorer-style" dial with arabic numerals a 3, 6 and 9, the ares logo at 12 o'clock and rectangular plots for the rest of the markers going lengthwise toward the inside of the dial.
There is a date window at 4'oclock with a black date wheel. Love it or hate it, it works on this watch. Underneath the Ares triangular logo is the name ARES proudly under the 12 o'clock marker in white. Underneath the hand stack and above 6 o'clock are the words, "Diver-1 GMT" with "GMT" in Mission Red and below that "1000M" in white. That's it. No 4 or 5 lines of Star Wars intro like text scrolling up the dial. Short, sweet and to the point.
The classic sword style hands are brushed steel and get the job done, the bright steel and white lume stand in stark contrast to the black dial and make the watch highly legible. That's why those hands were designed that way in the 1960's and that's why they work here. Yay, history. The Mission Red GMT hand stands out like Darth Vader's lightsaber in a dark hallway full of rebel scum... (two Star Wars jokes in one review? I'm a menace...a phantom menace... oh jeez there I go again.) The hand is in the simple pointer arrow style that has also been around forever. It works. That's the point. Still under the sapphire glass and around the dial is the internal rotating GMT bezel. This is where things get really interesting: the 8 o'clock crown (anodized in a deep metallic red) controls the bezel. This is your 3rd timezone. This allows you to retain the functionality of the mission timer bezel for diving, erm... mission timing and knowing when to flip your steaks while also checking the time in up to two other time zones. Honestly, I think it's genius and well executed.
Personally, I used my ARES GMT as a standard and 24 hour clock. I don't move the internal bezel much unless I feel like playing with it or if I'm travelling. I keep the GMT hand set to local 24 hour time. This plays into Ares' motto of "Your life is your mission. Ours is to time it." Hot. I know. The front sapphire glass of the watch is flat. It has an internal anti-reflective coating and that is all I need. I get it that an external anti-reflective coating is nicer out of the box. But hot take: Your Breitlings, Sinns, Omegas, Oris and other watches all look like garbage after that outer coating starts to accumulate scratches on that outer coating. Just wait when you find out what those companies want to charge you to replace those crystals too...there is a reason Tudor and Rolex only use internal reflective coatings. Don't @ me. I don't care.
The Movement
There isn't much to say. ARES ETA 2893-2 automatic movement with 21-jewels; custom movements feature ARES filigree & enamel. It gets the job done. It's easy to service and it's a tested movement that has been around forever. One thing that Ares doesn't talk about enough is that they regulate and test their movements IN WATCH over a series of days to ensure great time keeping. Mine is always within 1 or 2 seconds a day. It is nice to look at through the display caseback and as mentioned earlier, I think it's bad ass to have a 1000m display caseback. It's not unheard of but it's certainly uncommon.
Straps
This is an area that I am extra impressed with Ares. Ares has no bracelet options. They use strong shoulderless spring bars that lock in almost like a fixed bar and that can be removed via the drilled lug holes. They offer two strap options. Either the Nylon LASH strap and the rubber strap. The Rubber strap is SERIOUSLY nice and seriously expensive. At $175 USD they aren't cheap. But they are offered in a myriad of tacticool colors that match their watches and are made of high quality FKM rubber. The LASH strap is essentially a single pass ballistic Nylon strap. However, they are extremely comfortable, cut to the perfect length so that you don't need to worry about folding it back on itself like other straps with excess material and as you wear it, the strap moulds to your wrist and becomes even more comfortable over time. I also think that they compliment the high speed, no nonsense look of the watch more. But hey, that's just me.
Personal Ownership Experience
Alright, Eric, congrats, you can read the owner's manual and crack some Star Wars jokes. But tell us HOW you are enjoying and wearing YOUR watch. Well alright, since you asked so nicely, I will. It's been bittersweet. Buckle up, remember early on in this review when I said that there had been quality control and some customer care controversy surrounding the brand's reputation? Well I experienced a bit of that. Now, now, before you start getting all excited and worked up, let me elaborate. I have actually owned 2 Ares watches. A Diver-1 super quartz that I picked up in a trade (later gifted to my patrol partner because I'm corny like that) and my Global Mission Timer.
The Diver-1 was flawless. I could find nothing to bemoan with it. It was great. The GMT has some issues. Shortly after getting it, I noticed particulates on the dial. After a dial of high risk vehicle take down and tactics training, I noticed a lot. Like as if a dust bomb had gone off inside the watch. I'm not sure how or why, it is what it is. It wasn't there, then it was. I contacted Ares, spoke to Matt directly, no questions asked, they had the watch sent to them, fixed up and sent back to me within about 2 weeks. I was kept in the loop every step of the way and when it was shipped back out. I didn't have to pay any shipping or taxes and as a Canadian, that actually means a lot. That's awesome.
Now, they got it back to me just before Christmas, when it arrived, the dial was perfect, no dust anywhere. But the GMT hand was out of sync with the main hour hand. The watch had been checked and tested before leaving and had the associated documentation showing as much. Stuff happens. I contacted Matt again, he was gracious, apologetic and understanding. I'm Canadian, we are nice people and we don't like to complain. We feel bad when we do. Matt made it clear that I wasn't being unreasonable and that he would ensure the matter got resolved quickly. This time, Matt said he would make me and entirely new watch and only when I was satisfied with it, I could send back the old one. He did so, I was so. I did so.
So there ya have it, I had some QC issues with one watch, they fixed it, they were good about it. I'm happy and so are they. BUT WHAT ABOUUT... BUT.... BUUUUTT. Shaddup. Let me tell you about the last 4 watches I've bought, I have an Oris Depth Gauge that needs a new crystal. The customer care from that company is so abysmal it's amazing they can coordinate ordering toilet paper let alone parts for a watch.
I've been dealing with Oris for 8 months and still don't have my watch back in acceptable condition. I have had a Seiko turtle that, aside from the classic misalignment issues that plague Seiko's, the date wheel stopped moving after a day. I have had Tudors and Omegas with dust under the crystal and on the dial. Almost no brand at any price point is free of QC issues, what matters is how they conduct themselves.
With that in mind, I cannot fault or condemn Ares, rather I applaud them. In a world of copy and paste micro brands and cold big names that don't really care about the watches they make or the people that wear them, why not give a brand like Ares a try? A brand built on a lifetime of experience and service for those who serve and experience the world.
I wear my Ares to do life in, I wear it at work, I wear it home, I wear it to be with my family, I wear it out to dinner with friends. My life is my mission. Ares times it. You should let them time yours too.
