A
American Brands
Reactor Watch
Another one of our favorite American-owned brands continues to diversify within it well-established niche as a maker of watches tougher than
your average timepiece. One challenge of putting all of your eggs in the
‘tough’ basket is to create a line of watches that can be sold on the merit
of excellent aesthetics and design as well as robust materials. Reactor’s
owner Jimmy Olmes understands this dynamic well. Unafraid to explore
new designs, Olmes has taken the tough watch to areas once reserved for
lesser fashion brands interpretation. Rainbow finishes, mother-of-pearl and
even abalone dials, as well as models like the Flux, Electron, and Nucleus
that dared to add curvaceous cases to the tougher than your watch tradition, elicit this willingness to be more than just another robust watch in the
round. At right are three Reactor new releases that perfectly highlight the
marriage of style and top-notch components and construction.
The new Gryphon features a 42mm hydro-dipped camouflage case
with matching nylon and OD green silicon strap. According to Olmes, his
Gryphon is one of only two watches (Reactor’s Titan being the other) on
the market that use a 316L stainless steel core under a polymer shell and
mount the crystal, crown tube and case back directly into solid stainless
steel. Other brands typically mount these critical elements directly into the
weaker material. Reactor’s exclusive co-molded nylon and silicon strap
is virtually unbreakable and, like all Reactor watches, Gryphon does away
with the fragile spring bar in favor of threaded stainless steel bolts. On top
is a K 1 crystal for superior shatter and scratch resistance to protect a
Reactor “Never Dark” dial that combines multiple layers of lume and
self-illuminating tritium tubes. Inside is an upgraded Swiss quartz
movement delivered with a 10-year battery. Rated to 20atm, that’s
a lot of watch for only $350.
More newness from Reactor includes an evolution of the
Proton. Previously cast exclusively as a chronograph, Reactor’s popular series now welcomes a new member with the
addition of the World Time edition (pictured at far right).
Also upgraded to a Swiss quartz movement and sharing the Never Dark dial, this new 45mm Proton offers
an easy to use outer bezel to quickly reference the
time around the globe and retails for $550.00
Experimenting with new designs and
shapes is all well and good, but acknowledging trends also makes a lot of sense.
Following the recent popularity of twotone watches with a bias towards the
steel, Reactor’s 43mm Curie (above)
makes for a casual or even a dress
watch that also happens to be built like a
tank. The latest variation features a champagne
dial with steel & yellow gold ion plating in a watch you
can wear every day, without wearing it out.
Military Camo
68 | AboutTime Magazine