Scriptus Toronto 2026

As usual, a huge lineup for Scriptus!

Thankfully Scriptus let us in five or ten minutes early! It didn’t take long for the venue to fill up

Alright may as well get started with my favourite table of the show, SHAK MD!

Amazingly, SAHK had TWO Namiki Emperor Urushi fountain pens, one in black and the other in my preferred Vermillion finish. The Emperor is an enormous pen, measuring approximately 17.4 cm capped and featuring an equally enormous No. 50 solid 18K gold nib. The body is made from ebonite and finished by hand with multiple layers of traditional Japanese urushi lacquer. It also uses an eyedropper filling system with a large ink capacity.

The Vermillion is one of my grail pens, and it was even better in person than I imagined. First, it was even bigger than I expected (a good thing!). Second, the vermillion finish was even more beautiful in person. I love the simplicity of the design, which really lets the size and gorgeous lacquer finish speak for themselves.

This particular example had a super fine point on that No. 50 solid 18K gold nib

The Montblanc 149 looks like a mini-pen next to it!

Speaking of the 149, SHAK had at least 20 of them on display!

My favourite from The Origin Collection was introduced in 2024 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Montblanc’s Meisterstück. It incorporates several design elements inspired by early Meisterstück pens, including a distinctive clip, the original Meisterstück logo, and a patterned cap intended to evoke ink flowing onto paper. The platinum-coated fittings provide a nice contrast to the black resin, while the solid gold nib features the number 100 and the dates 1924 and 2024.

I particularly liked the unusual clip, the lettering and the swirling pattern on the cap. These details make it stand out from the regular 149, which is already an iconic pen. In fact, this was my second favourite pen of the entire show!

Next, I headed straight to the Esterbrook display, where they were featuring the new Sweetly Haunted collection, a Halloween-themed collaboration with Sweet Kawaii Design. The collection features two Esties decorated with illustrations by Tesia Royer, including cute little ghosts and bats, along with matching ink and accessories. I’ll come back to those shortly.

But first, I wanted to cover the new Esterbrook × Accutron Spaceview Estie, which was one of the main reasons I wanted to attend Scriptus this year.

As a watch enthusiast, I have a particular appreciation for Accutron, especially its famous Spaceview watch, which exposes the electronic movement through the dial. Esterbrook has taken inspiration from that design to create its first demonstrator Estie, with a transparent cap and barrel and a custom Accutron-branded nib.

I was particularly interested in seeing how it compared with the earlier Esterbrook × Accutron Astronaut, which I came very close to buying at Scriptus last year. I ended up buying a Sailor Ninja instead, but I’ve regretted passing on the Astronaut ever since!

i I liked the new Spaceview, but I still prefer the marbled finish of the Astronaut. Ironically, I used to dislike marbled pens and was quite fond of demonstrators. Now I’ve come to associate Esterbrook with its distinctive marbled designs, so the Astronaut actually looks more like an Esterbrook to me.

The real irony, of course, is that the demonstrator design is a much better match for the original Accutron Spaceview watch! Go figure! LOL

Coming back to the Sweetly Haunted collection, the pens certainly fit the Halloween season, with their playful purple and pink colours and cute ghost illustrations. They were fun to see, and I encountered quite a few of them throughout the show, but they’re not really something I would buy.

More Esterbrooks on display

Stylo had a HUGE presence at the show with five tables! They also had lots of Esterbrooks on display

Including the Spaceview

Another Esterbrook that caught my attention was the Estie Avalanche, made from DiamondCast resin containing actual diamond particles. I really liked the swirling combination of white, turquoise, silver and copper, and even the packaging was interesting, with a red plaid pouch featuring camouflage accents.

I subsequently discovered that the Avalanche is also available in an Oversize version, which I would definitely prefer to the standard-sized model I saw at the show. Good thing I didn’t buy it on the spot! LOL

Whew that BUNGUBOX Kachofugetsu Flower LE sure is pink!

Of course, they had tons of other brands on display and I got to check out many on my “list”

such as the Pelikan Souveran 1000 series Green

and Pilot Custom 823 series Amber GT

As well as some others that I was not expecting like the Sailor 1911S Jellyfish SE series Orange GT or “Fried Egg Jellyfish”

Sailor 1911L series Blue GT (which I mistook for a Grape Expectations lol)

There was also a huge selection of Wearingeul inks, including their Glitter Potions, which allow you to add different colours of shimmer to your favourite inks to create your own custom effects.

While I haven’t always waited in the Wonder Pens line, this time I chose to do so, and received a nice gift pack!

While waiting in line, I noticed some rather unusual inks that Wonder Pens was offering, including the wonderfully named Chicken in the Sky with Diamonds! This is actually a Wonder Pens exclusive produced by Dominant Industry, originally introduced at Scriptus back in 2023.

I also loved the Japanese artwork on the packaging of the Nakabayashi Taccia Ukiyo-e inks, inspired by traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Some of these ink bottles are almost worth buying just for the boxes! LOL.

More Esties on display, including the Spaceview yet again!

Another interesting discovery was the Fine Writing International Pencket, apparently in the Blue Note finish. This compact Taiwanese fountain pen features a marbled blue-and-purple cap, a dark-blue barrel and a surprisingly large No. 6 nib. What really caught my attention, though, was the spectacular rainbow-coloured nib, which the Wonder Pens representative specifically pointed out during a demonstration. I’m still trying to establish whether that nib is a special option

Another pen that caught my attention was the Pilot Capless (Vanishing Point) Golden Journey 2026 Limited Edition. Inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, in which broken pottery is repaired with gold, it features a dark blue finish with irregular gold lines. Each pen has a slightly different pattern, and production is limited to 2,026 numbered examples worldwide. I spotted this one at several tables throughout the show.

More Spaceviews at Laywines!

At House of Fine Writing, I came across the rather unusual Monteverde Tool Pen. As its name suggests, this is more than just a writing instrument. Its six-sided barrel incorporates a ruler, spirit level and stylus, while the end houses interchangeable Phillips and flathead screwdriver bits. The pen is also available in several writing configurations, including a fountain pen.

I particularly liked the screwdriver feature, which you can see in the close-up below. Not something you encounter on your average fountain pen!

House of Fine Writing also had TONS of versions of the German-made Diplomat Aero (I didn’t take pictures of all of them!). My personal favourites were the Brass, Rhomb Flame and Flame. Inspired by the streamlined shape of the Zeppelin airship, the Aero has a distinctive tapered barrel with grooves running along its length.

The Flame versions were particularly interesting. Their stainless steel bodies are individually heat-treated to produce those striking blue, purple and bronze colours, meaning no two are exactly alike. The Rhomb Flame adds an engraved geometric pattern for an even more unusual appearance.

Great to see Timber Elegance again with his beautiful handcrafted pens and magic wands! As I discovered at Scriven Montreal earlier this year, the magic wand is actually two pens in one, incorporating both a calligraphy pen and a fountain pen. And let’s not forget the spell-casting tip!

Such a creative design, and there were plenty of other beautiful custom pens on display as well.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get this exhibitor’s name, but one of the pens immediately caught my attention because its colourful stripes reminded me of the classic Hudson’s Bay Company blanket! EDITED TO ADD: I have since found out that this pen is a Delta Inuit Limited Edition from the Indigenous Peoples Collection

David Morris had some rather unusual pens incorporating LED lights. These would have been a perfect match for the LED shirt I wore to Toronto Audiofest just a week earlier!

I also spent some time with my friends Richard and Andrea, who were doing some fountain pen shopping of their own. At Phidon’s table, Andrea was trying to decide between two entry-level fountain pens: a Lamy Safari Red and a Pelikan Jazz Noble Elegance in Rose. After comparing the two, she ultimately chose the Pelikan.

Another interesting display at Phidon Pens was a large selection of TOYO Steel toolboxes from Japan. Founded in 1969, TOYO produces durable steel storage boxes in a wide range of sizes, designs and colours. Although originally intended for tools, they’re also great for organizing pens, stationery and other small items. I particularly liked the larger cantilever-style toolbox with its folding compartments.

Andrea also picked up a book on calligraphy from another exhibitor, so she left Scriptus with both a new fountain pen and something to help her put it to good use!

It even had a page for me!

And that wraps up another Scriptus! As always, it was great to see such a wide variety of fountain pens, inks and accessories, from affordable everyday writing instruments to some truly extraordinary creations.

For me, the highlights were finally getting to see the magnificent Namiki Emperor Vermillion in person, along with the Montblanc 149 Origin Collection. It was also great catching up with familiar exhibitors and spending some time with friends.

Thanks to the organizers and exhibitors for another enjoyable show. Looking forward to the next one!

RL

INTRODUCTION

If you have read my previous Timepiece Show reviews, you may have noticed a couple of observations that I have made in passing that I think deserve a lot more attention!

First, I am always amazed by how much crossover there is between watch collecting and my other hobbies. Every Timepiece Show I run into people I know from the firearms, custom knife, and EDC communities. I guess that shouldn’t be too surprising as there is a lot of common ground when it comes to an appreciation for design, engineering, craftsmanship, materials and cool gear in general lol.

The second observation is even more relevant to this review: it is AMAZING how many exhibitors at the Timepiece Show make exactly the types of watches I like most! And, as you probably know by now, my two favourite categories are dive watches and military watches!

When it comes to divers, the deeper the better! I have a particular fascination with extreme dive watches rated to 1000M and beyond. I absolutely love the over-engineering required to make a watch capable of surviving those kinds of depths.

Military watches appeal to me for a different reason. I especially like watches with real military provenance. There is certainly nothing wrong with a cool military-inspired watch, but for me there is something extra special about a watch that was actually issued, procured or commissioned by a military unit, or specifically developed in collaboration with one for operational use.

And then there are the watches that combine both worlds.

Probably the best example is one of my favourite watches in my own collection, my Sinn EZM 2B GSG 9 edition. Sure it is insanely technical. I mean its oil-filled case made of submarine steel combined with its anti-magnetic and a-magnetic movement allow it to be used all the way down the Mariana Trench or for EOD! No wonder it is the official watch of Germany’s GSG 9 counter-terrorism unit! Extreme deep diver AND real military provenance? YES PLEASE!

So this year I’m approaching my Toronto Timepiece Show review somewhat differently. Rather than working my way around the exhibition floor booth by booth, I’m going to concentrate on those two genres: the divers and the military watches—with particular attention paid to the watches that manage to be both. And judging by the exhibitor list, I am going to have A LOT to cover!

EXTREME DIVERS:  1000M+

Being an owner of Sinn’s most extreme diver, the EZM 2B GSG 9, I thought they would be the perfect place to start my coverage of 1000M+ divers.

I have always been a fan of the U1 with its iconic blocky design and distinctive “Lego” hands and hour markers, not to mention some insane specs like a case made from German Submarine Steel — the same type of high-strength, seawater-resistant steel used for the outer hulls of the German Navy’s Type 212 submarines! The captive dive bezel uses Sinn’s TEGIMENT technology for increased scratch resistance, while that 1000M depth rating is independently certified by DNV.

Over the years, Sinn has introduced several variants of the U1, such as the “B” version seen here with a matte-blue dial and matching blue silicone strap. It looks good, but personally I would go with the iconic matte-black dial and red-and-white hands.

The Mühle-Glashütte S.A.R. Rescue-Timer was actually one of the watches I was most interested in seeing at the show. Developed with captains of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS), this is a serious purpose-built tool watch rated to 1000M. The first 56 were delivered to rescue crews back in 2002, and some of its unusual design features — including the massive 4mm-thick sapphire crystal and protective rubber bezel — were developed specifically around the demands of maritime rescue work. So it is both an extreme diver and has legit first-responder creds.

While I love the specs and provenance, I was a bit concerned about the compact size and how the integrated lugs would contribute to the overall look and feel. My first impression on the wrist confirmed those concerns — it felt a bit too small for me.

I should mention that they also had a full-lume version on display, which was interesting since my first “real” watch was a full-lume TAG Heuer (as worn by James Bond in The Living Daylights lol), but as with the Sinn U1, I prefer the iconic original.

The first dive watch rated to 1000M used a monobloc design, meaning the case was machined from a single solid block and the movement was inserted from the front! Watch brands have since largely moved away from monoblocs as new technologies became available — and presumably for ease of manufacturing and servicing.

The BALL DeepQUEST is one of the only remaining dive watches I know of that still uses this design. Don’t be fooled into thinking the DeepQUEST is old school though, because it is FULL of modern technology! It uses a patented automatic helium-release valve integrated directly into the crown rather than requiring another opening in the case. This ingenious solution allows the monobloc case to remain intact while still allowing helium that can accumulate during saturation diving to escape during decompression. The overall construction also gives the DeepQUEST an incredible 7,500G shock resistance.

Of course, it uses tritium micro-gas tubes on the dial and hands for the insane lume BALL is known for.

While I was hoping to see the white-dial variant, the black dial was pretty stunning and the whole watch had a SERIOUS presence! Its size and weight are exactly what I love in a chunky dive watch!

The EDOX SkyDiver Neptunian ticks all the boxes for an extreme diver, with a 1000M depth rating, helium escape valve, ceramic bezel and a massive 3mm-thick sapphire crystal. But what really makes this watch interesting to me is its history.

The Neptunian traces its lineage back to the original EDOX SkyDiver Automatic, produced for Swiss paratroopers in 1969. A second generation followed in 1973 before EDOX resurrected the design decades later, eventually evolving it into the 1000M SkyDiver Neptunian in 2020. So despite the somewhat contradictory “SkyDiver” name, there is actually a pretty cool reason for it!

Best of all, unlike several other watches I had hoped to see at the show, they had the exact version I wanted — the green-dial 80120-3NM-VDN. And yes, it looked every bit as good in person as I hoped.

Compared to the BALL, it had a slimmer profile

Cool caseback

Like EDOX, STOWA also has a surprisingly long history of building dive watches, dating back to 1963.

The modern Prodiver carries that history into considerably more extreme territory with a 1000M depth rating, titanium case, helium escape valve and ceramic bezel. And, as I came to learn during my time at their booth, STOWA watches have AWESOME lume!

The version that really caught my attention was the Prodiver Vintage 95 Limited, released in 2022 to celebrate STOWA’s 95th anniversary and limited to just 95 pieces. I loved the vintage-style dial and old-radium coloured lume, although there was one small problem — I literally couldn’t get my hand through the rubber strap! 😂

Thankfully they also had the Prodiver Rhodium on a bracelet, which gave me a chance to actually try the Prodiver on. At 42mm across, 15.6mm thick and just over 50mm lug-to-lug, this is a substantial dive watch on paper, although the titanium construction keeps the weight down considerably.

Last year the Oris Aquis Pro 4000M was my favourite watch of the show, so naturally I was hoping to see it again. No such luck, but Oris did have the newer Aquis Pro 1000M, which offers the same kind of serious dive-watch credentials in much more conventional dimensions.

At 49.5mm, the 4000M is an absolute beast — including an insane 23.4mm thickness (though still thinner than my Surefire/Luminox 2011 lol) — while the 1000M comes in at 46mm and a considerably slimmer 16.5mm. Still a big watch by normal standards, but almost restrained by comparison!

STANDARD DIVERS: <1000M

With the 1500T now discontinued, the 750M SUB 750T is currently DOXA’s deepest diver and, thankfully, retains the chunky dimensions of the outgoing model.

I tried on the Caribbean with its blue dial and matching rubber strap, but I MUCH preferred the iconic orange Professional dial on the beads-of-rice bracelet.

Speaking of iconic DOXA orange, the SUB 300T Clive Cussler celebrates the legendary adventure novelist and creator of Dirk Pitt, who famously wears an orange DOXA in the books. The compass-inspired dial and intentionally distressed case and bracelet give the watch a cool “recovered from an old shipwreck” vibe, with each example individually weathered so no two are exactly alike.

As proof positive of my point about the crossover across my hobbies, I literally ran into a Clive Cussler right after the show at the USN/CKG knife show, where another collector happened to be wearing one!

If you have ever seen the DOXA rep in video coverage of shows, you would know that she is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the DOXA lineup and knows all specs of every variant of every model lol

Jacques Bianchi’s JB300 Indigo Maris has a lot of features that I like, such as a brushed Grade 5 titanium case with a “destro,” or left-side, crown. I also like the way the lume glows blue to match the deep-blue dial. It is limited to just 150 pieces.

The OM200 is a 200M diver created in collaboration with Olympique de Marseille, incorporating the football club’s blue and white colours and logo. I particularly like the blue bezel and matching blue rubber strap.

The JB200 Tide Gauge II adds an unusual mechanical tide indicator to Jacques Bianchi’s signature diver design, showing the progression between high and low tide directly on the dial. A pretty cool and appropriate complication for a watch born in Marseille.

The stainless-steel Maurice Lacroix PONTOS S Diver was among my top-10 watches at Timepiece Montreal 2026

So you can imagine how I feel about the new titanium version because let’s face it, titanium, like bacon, makes everything better!

The PONTOS S Diver Titanium retains the 42mm case and serious 300M depth rating but switches to a completely sandblasted titanium case, giving the watch a much more purposeful tool-watch look while substantially reducing the weight. The distinctive internal rotating dive bezel is controlled by the crown at 2 o’clock, while a second screw-down crown handles the movement. Inside is Maurice Lacroix’s automatic ML115, running at 28,800 vph with 26 jewels and a 38-hour power reserve.

The Jack Mason Strat-o-timer Titanium Diver GMT combines two useful tool-watch complications with a unidirectional dive bezel and a Miyota 9075 flyer GMT movement. The 40mm case and bracelet are made entirely from Grade 2 titanium and it’s rated to 200M. I photographed both the Cobalt and Anthracite versions, but definitely preferred the blue!

Apparently even the prize watches at this year’s show had to include a serious diver! DELMA donated a Shell Star Automatic for the raffle, and of course I made sure to get my ticket in for this one.

The Shell Star is actually an important model in DELMA’s history, with the name dating back to its first professional dive watch in 1975. The modern version is a serious piece of kit with a 500M depth rating, helium escape valve and Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement.

DELMA makes some seriously cool dive watches — including the insane 4000M Blue Shark IV — so I really hope the fact that they donated a watch for the raffle is a sign that we’ll see them exhibiting at next year’s show!

HIDDEN “WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING” DIVERS

NOMOS is an unusual watchmaker in its own right, producing its mechanical movements in-house in Glashütte and even developing its own proprietary escapement, the NOMOS swing system. But the Ahoi has another surprise — despite looking more like an elegant dress watch than a conventional diver, it’s actually rated to 200M, with a screw-down crown and crown guards.

The white one in this pic is the 40.3mm Ahoi, while the other two shown are the smaller 38.5mm versions. Naturally, I would opt for the larger size!

I rated the Isotope Hydrium Trippy #6 in my top-10 at Montreal Timepiece 2026, but in retrospect I should have given it a higher rating because it was one of the few watches that I actually “thought” about after the show! Its hypnotic dial seems to have worked!

I was hoping to see it again in Toronto but, alas, it is now sold out.

I did get to see the new Hydrium Grey Reef Shark, which, like all the Hydrium variants shown here, is a legit diver with 300M water resistance!

300m with an exhibition caseback that is!

I love the beadblasted finish (used to that from the custom knife world) and it fits great

Great to see Jose, a great ambassador for the industry

And now for something even further from a conventional diver: how about the Out Of Order Shaker, a cocktail-inspired diver with 300M water resistance that can be wound by its accompanying shaker?

The rep (or should I say bartender?) demonstrates winding the watch via the shaker…

and voilà! An After 8, with its green-and-brown colour scheme inspired by the classic after-dinner cocktail.

This “bartender” probably gets pretty good tips, judging by the Angelo Azzurro Automatic GMT Limited Edition on his wrist!

The Out Of Order Ghost 4.0 is another unlikely diver with 200M water resistance, but the real party trick here is the absolutely insane use of lume! Super-LumiNova appears on the bezel, indexes and hands, but they didn’t stop there — even the stitching on the leather strap glows!

Flip it over and the craziness continues, with a lumed Ghost logo on both the sapphire exhibition caseback and the custom marbled-rust rotor. The marbled-rust treatment is also used on the dial, with each individually produced to create its own pattern.

And if all that wasn’t enough, the Ghost 4.0 is limited to just 100 pieces

Yup, I like it!

The Out Of Order Diverissimo Azteco is a legitimate 300M diver and gets its name from the intricate Aztec-inspired pattern covering the dial, but what I really like is how they carried the theme beyond the obvious.

The same pattern continues onto the movement

and even the bracelet clasp, details that are easy to miss until you get up close

VINTAGE STYLE DIVERS

I normally gravitate toward extreme tool watches with equally extreme specs, but every once in a while I come across a watch that makes me forget all of that simply because it is so damn beautiful! The Echo/Neutra 1956 GMT Khaki is one of those watches. I absolutely love the combination of the khaki dial with the red-and-blue GMT bezel and vintage styling.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have some legitimate tool-watch credentials, with a GMT function, screw-down crown and 100M water resistance, but in this case I am definitely focusing on form over function!

The Redwood Tactical V3 takes its inspiration from the original Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, developed in the 1950s for French combat divers. Redwood offers the V3 in several different configurations, including both automatic and solar-powered movements, while retaining that wonderfully simple vintage military-diver aesthetic. And despite the retro looks, these are proper 200M dive watches with sapphire crystals and unidirectional bezels.

The Redwood Marine Engineer takes its inspiration from the golden age of deep-sea exploration, particularly the ambitious Project Mohole expedition of 1961. The vintage looks hide some thoroughly modern dive-watch specs, including 300M water resistance, a 2.5mm domed sapphire crystal and automatic NH38 movement, all packed into a very wearable 40mm case and assembled here in Canada.

MILITARY WATCHES

AIR

When I hear the name STOWA, I immediately think of the Baumuster B, as it is the quintessential Flieger watch to me. Granted, they wouldn’t have had them in bronze back in the day, but that is the variant I wanted to see. Good thing STOWA brought that exact variant because it was STUNNING! This was one of the few watches at the show that actually exceeded my expectations, and its lume definitely put me over the edge.

I LOVE how extensively and coherently the dial is illuminated. Because it’s a Baumuster B / Type B layout, you have that dense outer minute track plus the inner hour indication, so when the lume is activated you don’t just get bright hands and a few glowing hour plots — the instrument-style dial architecture itself comes alive.

This one was automatic

but of course I would get it with a manual-wind movement

The STOWA Flieger Verus Black Forest takes a much more modern approach to the classic Flieger design and is available in three variants. Of the three, my favourite was definitely the green Foxfire.

The watch is inspired by the phenomenon of foxfire, the natural glow produced by certain fungi found in forests, which STOWA recreates through an unusual two-level lume treatment. The hands and 12 o’clock triangle glow brightly, while the black numerals and minute markers produce a much subtler green glow in the background.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one, but it looked much better in person than I anticipated. I might even have picked it as my favourite Flieger at the show if STOWA hadn’t also brought that Baumuster B!

Hanhart is another name that is virtually synonymous with pilot’s watches, with a history of producing aviation chronographs stretching back decades.

But rather than starting with its historically inspired models, I’m going to begin with a couple of Hanhart’s more modern military aviation watches — the FLY NAVY Aerosphere and PRIMUS FLY NAVY.

The FLY NAVY Aerosphere was created in two versions representing German Naval Air Wings MFG 3 and MFG 5. The dials are essentially the same, with the individual unit represented on the caseback by its respective coat of arms.

Normally I am very much a bracelet guy, so I fully expected to prefer the steel bracelet. I was also a little skeptical of the unusual Hook Strap, which has a stretchy textile construction, and wasn’t even sure it would fit my wrist. Much to my surprise, not only did it fit, I actually preferred it to the bracelet!

The PRIMUS FLY NAVY takes a considerably more modern approach, including one feature the Hanhart rep thankfully pointed out to me: flexible articulated lugs. Rather than being fixed to the case, the lugs can pivot through roughly 45–50 degrees, allowing the strap to conform much more naturally around the wrist. It’s the kind of detail that’s much easier to appreciate when you see the mechanism up close.

From Hanhart’s modern military aviation watches we go back to one of its most historically important designs, the 417 ES. The original 417 was developed in the 1950s as a pilot’s chronograph for the newly formed German armed forces, with Hanhart supplying the Bundeswehr for almost a decade. The modern 417 ES recreates much of that original design, including the distinctive fluted rotating bezel, twin-register chronograph layout and, appropriately, a manual-wind movement.

And of course there is that famous red chronograph pusher! One legend says that a pilot’s wife painted the button with red nail polish so that whenever he used the chronograph he would think of her and return home safely. Whether or not that’s exactly how the tradition began, the red pusher has become such an iconic Hanhart design element that I actually said to the rep, “Why would anyone buy a Hanhart without the red button?” 😂

The 417 ES 1954 Heritage Flyback takes things even further, including a column-wheel flyback chronograph movement and a return to the original 39mm dimensions of the 1950s 417. The 417 also has one particularly cool celebrity connection: Steve McQueen famously owned and wore an original Hanhart 417.

And here’s a pic of McQueen wearing his, with more details on the story in Hanhart’s The Watch Book: Hanhart and the German Watch Industry.

While YEMA may be best known for its seafaring watches like the Superman and Navygraf (more on those later!), the brand also has strong connections with the French Air and Space Force, including several watches developed through official military partnerships.

The Flygraf Pilot (shown here on the right, next to a Barracuda) is one of YEMA’s newest releases, developed through its partnership with the French Air and Space Force. It features a highly legible cockpit-inspired dial, French Air and Space Force insignia at 6 o’clock and a military camouflage finish incorporated directly into the steel case. Interestingly, it uses a Seiko VH31 quartz movement, which gives the seconds hand a mechanical-looking sweep.

The Flygraf CPA10 is a more established model, having been designed and developed with the Commando Parachutiste de l’Air No. 10 (CPA10), one of France’s elite airborne commando units. More than 100 personalized examples were made specifically for CPA10 members, while the civilian version features a lightweight Grade 2 titanium case and YEMA’s French-made CMM.10 manufacture movement.

The Oris ProPilot Altimeter may not have the military provenance of some of the other watches in this section, but it has one of the coolest aviation complications: a mechanical altimeter built directly into the watch! By unscrewing the crown at 4 o’clock, outside air enters the case and an aneroid capsule measures changes in atmospheric pressure, allowing the watch to display both altitude and air pressure around the perimeter of the dial.

The current version can measure altitude up to 6,000 metres / 19,700 feet, which Oris says is higher than any other mechanical watch altimeter.

GROUND

The Sinn EZM19 was one of the biggest surprises of the show for me, particularly because I wasn’t even expecting to see one there, so props to Sinn for sending two samples! Like other watches in Sinn’s Einsatzzeitmesser, or “mission timer,” series, the EZM19 was designed around the requirements of a specific operational role — in this case fire-service command personnel. Sinn developed the watch with the involvement of Thomas Stanke, a senior German fire-service officer, with the unusual timing system designed around the way incidents are actually managed.

That explains the rather unusual bezel and dial. Rather than simply timing elapsed minutes, their markings allow an incident commander to keep track of specific operational intervals, including the 35-minute reporting cycle as well as longer periods extending out to four hours. It’s a great example of function dictating design — those strange-looking markings actually have a purpose.

And being a Sinn, of course, there is plenty of technology packed into the watch beyond the timing system, including Ar-Dehumidifying Technology to improve functional reliability and prevent fogging, along with the kind of rugged construction you expect from an EZM.

Not only is the unique bezel/dial combination highly useful, it also results in some absolutely GLORIOUS lume!

When I returned to the show on Sunday, I discovered another Sinn that I somehow completely missed on Friday — the EZM 3 S. This is the blacked-out version of Sinn’s classic EZM 3 mission timer, with a Black Hard Coating on a TEGIMENT Technology basis, and underneath that stealthy exterior is a seriously capable 500M dive watch with 100mT magnetic-field protection, temperature resistance from −45°C to +80°C, and Sinn’s Ar-Dehumidifying Technology.

Compared to my EZM 2B GSG 9, it is smaller (41mm vs. 44mm), and that is noticeable on my wrist. That said, I do love this watch from both the technical and provenance sides, not to mention its awesome lume!

I love you too Sinn!

The Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 has some of the strongest modern military credentials of any watch at the show. It was developed in response to a request from a specialist branch of the British Armed Forces, with prototypes undergoing extensive field testing before the first production watches were delivered for military use in 2017.

The 101-001 was assigned NATO Stock Number 6645-99-303-0677 and carries the subdued grey Broad Arrow on its dial identifying it as British military property.

Calling a watch “bomb proof” sounds like typical marketing hyperbole — except Elliot Brown actually tried blowing one up three times, culminating in 500g of explosive placed directly beneath it. The battered watch was still running. They’ve also run a Holton over 15 times with a Land Rover Defender, while another standard 101-001 continued operating down to an incredible 1,921 metres underwater before finally giving up. Elliot Brown Watches

Between the legitimate military provenance and those absolutely insane torture tests, the Holton is one of those watches that actually became more interesting to me the more I learned about it. In fact, after writing all of this, I kinda want one! lol

The success of the Holton has also led Elliot Brown into a fascinating world of Special Projects, producing bespoke watches for military, government, security and intelligence organizations around the world — many of which the company deliberately doesn’t publicize. They had a couple of examples on display in Toronto, including a very cool U.S. Secret Service version and this considerably more mysterious example whose insignia I couldn’t identify.

MICROMILSPEC! I finally get to see them in person!

The MICROMILSPEC Field Testing Unit is particularly interesting because it was the company’s first watch and essentially became the starting point for everything that followed. In 2019, MICROMILSPEC distributed 30 watches to serving personnel in the Norwegian Armed Forces, who were asked to actually use them in the field and report back on their performance and accuracy. The watches were deliberately stripped of decoration on the bezel, crown and caseback so that the wear and damage accumulated during testing could be easily documented.

I love the whole concept because rather than simply designing something that looks like a military field watch, MICROMILSPEC literally gave them to soldiers and said, essentially, “Go beat the shit out of these and tell us what happens.” 😂

The MICROMILSPEC MILGRAPH was originally developed for Special Operations Forces. The watch combines chronograph and GMT functions with some very purpose-driven design features, including its left-side controls and QuadGrip bezel, whose four deep recesses make it easier to operate while wearing gloves.

One detail the rep specifically pointed out to me was the heavily textured rubber strap, which carries over the repeating diamond/pyramid grip pattern from the bezel, giving it an almost firearm-grip-like texture — something I can definitely relate to.

The MICROMILSPEC Fieldmaster grew out of the Field Testing program, incorporating feedback gathered from 30 serving military personnel between 2019 and 2022. That feedback resulted in some interesting choices, including oversized hands and indexes for legibility, small seconds so that nothing crosses the main timekeeping hands, a lightweight titanium case and no rotating bezel because it was considered unnecessary.

Nice lume on their watches

Patches representing their military collaborations

Marathon needs very little introduction when it comes to military watches. The company has been producing timing instruments for Allied Forces since 1941 and continues to supply government and military customers today, with a large number of its watches carrying NATO Stock Numbers (NSNs). Unlike watches that simply borrow military styling, Marathon’s designs are built around actual government and military specifications.

I covered the award-winning ADANAC SSNAV-D at Timepiece Montreal 2026, and here it is next to its American counterpart, the new U.S. 250 SSNAV-D (let’s see if we can get my buddy to buy one of these too lol). Disclaimer: no new trade wars were created by their proximity!

Out of all the Marathon watches, I was most anxious to see the 41mm USMC GSAR. They didn’t have one at the show itself, but thankfully one of the Marathon reps brought one along to The 2026 Toronto Marathon Watch x The Grey NATO Hangout after-party on Saturday night specifically so I could finally check it out — so a big thanks to him for doing that!

The USMC version takes Marathon’s already military-proven Government Search and Rescue (GSAR) platform and adds official United States Marine Corps markings, including the USMC emblem on the dial and “U.S. MARINES” deeply engraved into the side of the case. The bracelet configuration I tried also carries its own NATO Stock Number (NSN 6645-01-699-5587). Underneath the USMC treatment it’s a serious tool watch, with 300M water resistance, tritium illumination and a Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement.

Interestingly, once I finally got it on my wrist, the 41mm case looked smaller than I expected (although, in fairness, the bracelet was adjusted for a smaller wrist, so I couldn’t position it exactly where I normally would). I still really like the watch, but I actually preferred the way another 41mm Marathon looked on my wrist!

And it was this one! The 41mm TSAR Duvdevan was one of my favourite watches at the show.

Actually, technically it wasn’t on display at the show! Neither the Duvdevan nor the larger 46mm JDD YAMAM (covered next) was out on the Marathon table, but thankfully the Marathon guys were kind enough to pull both out from under the table when I asked about them — so a big thanks to them for the special exhibits! lol

The Duvdevan is part of Marathon’s Official IDF Collection and carries the unit’s insignia on the dial and caseback, along with the very cool “IDF SF 217” deeply engraved into the side of the case, identifying Duvdevan as IDF Special Forces Unit 217.  Duvdevan (Unit 217) is an elite IDF commando unit specializing in urban counterterrorism and undercover operations, which certainly adds to the appeal of the military markings for me. Technically, it is based on Marathon’s 41mm TSAR (Tritium Search and Rescue) platform, essentially the quartz counterpart to the automatic GSAR, with a high-torque Swiss ETA F06 quartz movement. Apart from the movement, the TSAR and GSAR share the same basic dimensions and specifications, although visually the Duvdevan felt different to me thanks to its simpler minute track and subtler dial markings — and perhaps the rubber strap versus the bracelet played a role as well.

The other watch the Marathon guys pulled out for me was the considerably larger 46mm JDD YAMAM. Like the Duvdevan, this one becomes a lot more interesting once you know something about the unit whose markings are on the watch. YAMAM is the elite unit of the Israel Border Police and Israel’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit, specializing in operations including hostage rescue, counterterrorism, sniping, breaching and bomb disposal. The more I learned about the YAMAM while writing this, the more I liked it. In fact, given YAMAM’s counterterrorism role, this would make a pretty awesome counterpart to my Sinn EZM 2B GSG9! lol

The watch itself is based on Marathon’s 46mm JDD (Jumbo Day/Date) platform, and “Jumbo” is certainly appropriate — it measures 46mm across, 18mm thick and 55mm lug-to-lug. The YAMAM edition adds the unit insignia to the dial and “YAMAM” deeply engraved into the side of the case, while one particularly cool detail is its bilingual English/Hebrew day display.

I noticed when preparing this review that, unfortunately, the hour hand in my photograph was blocking the Hebrew day display, a key feature of this watch! I reached out to Marathon, and they graciously provided me with a close-up, along with a pic of the caseback that I forgot to take. Once again, Marathon went above and beyond — something I’ve come to really appreciate about dealing with these guys.

One of the coolest Marathon watches I encountered actually wasn’t on the show floor at all. At the Marathon after-party, the folks from MICROMILSPEC introduced me to Brock Stevens, a U.S. Navy Diver and member of the Watches of Espionage photography team, who was wearing one of the new Marathon × Watches of Espionage Titanium SAR Limited Editions. A big thanks to Brock for letting me try it on and get some close-up shots!

Limited to just 200 pieces, the watch was unveiled only a few days before the Toronto show and is inspired by Marathon’s original early-2000s SAR, replacing the familiar GSAR tritium hour markers with large MaraGlo indices and eliminating the date altogether. The Grade 5 titanium case also makes this a rather different animal from the standard steel Marathon divers.

There are some wonderfully subtle W.O.E. details on the dial, including the small red WOE signature at 6 o’clock and four red minute markers near the beginning of the minute track. Those aren’t arbitrary: they reference the espionage concept of the “four-minute window” for a clandestine meeting between an intelligence officer and a source.

Marathon also supplied this 41mm Arctic Red Maple GSAR as one of the prizes at the Toronto Timepiece Show. Based on the familiar GSAR platform, the Arctic edition features a stark white dial with a red maple-leaf appliqué, celebrating both Marathon’s Canadian roots and Canada’s military heritage.

Canadian brand Whitby Watch Co. had several watches on display, including these Wounded Warriors Canada editions of its Arrow and Ambassador models. The collaboration supports Wounded Warriors Canada and gives both watches a nice connection to Canada’s military and first-responder communities.

SEA

Next up is another watch that, like the Sinn EZM19, was designed around the very specific timing requirements of military and first-responder operations. But while the EZM19 accomplishes this primarily through its specialized dial and bezel markings, the Elliot Brown Beachmaster takes the concept even further, adding a dedicated mission-timing hand and independently adjustable internal timing bezel to create what is essentially a mechanical mission planner on your wrist.

The Beachmaster NIVO 0H0-623 was originally conceived following a request at a Royal Marines event, with the resulting watch taking four years to develop. Even the name comes directly from amphibious operations: a Beachmaster is the officer responsible for the disembarkation phase of an amphibious assault. And even the unusual grey-green dial has a military connection: NIVO stands for Night Invisible Varnish Orfordness, a camouflage colour originally developed for British night bombers to reduce their visibility at night.

This is where all those additional hands and markings start to make sense. The Beachmaster’s patented mission-timing system can be configured to count down toward H-Hour, while simultaneously allowing the wearer to establish another future event or rendezvous point. Once H-Hour arrives, the system transitions from counting down to tracking the time elapsed since the operation began. Even the conventional-looking external dive bezel is actually a countdown bezel, rather than the more common count-up type.

The Beachmaster is individually tested to 300M and fitted with a whopping 3mm-thick domed sapphire crystal — here you can really see just how substantial that crystal is as well as their movement suspension system.

Next up is the YEMA Navygraf Barracuda CMM.20 Limited Edition, developed in close collaboration with the Marine Nationale and specifically engineered around the requirements of French Navy submariners. Limited to just 400 pieces, it takes its name from France’s Barracuda nuclear attack submarine program and incorporates several details inspired directly by submarine operations.

The forged-carbon dial and bezel feature a 20-minute countdown sector highlighted in red, corresponding to synchronization protocols used aboard submarines, while the red accents continue onto one of the coolest features of the watch — its red-tinted sapphire exhibition caseback. The red crystal references the tactical red lighting used aboard nuclear attack submarines, which allows crews to read instruments while preserving their eyes’ adaptation to darkness. The caseback is also engraved with the insignia of the French Navy’s Submarine Forces.

YEMA also had a couple of other Navygraf models on display, including the Navygraf Marine Nationale 400th Anniversary Limited Edition, created to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the French Navy, as well as the standard Navygraf.

Last but most certainly not least in my coverage of military watches, Squale! In fact, I actually made it a point to visit their booth first on VIP & Media Opening Night!

Squale is one of THE pioneers of modern dive watches, with a history that goes back to the 1950s when Charles and Hélène von Büren established their watchmaking company in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Both were passionate about diving and water sports, and Charles became an early specialist in designing and manufacturing high-pressure dive-watch cases, initially supplying them to other Swiss watch companies. He officially registered the Squale name in 1959, and those early cases could often be identified by the little shark logo appearing on the dial or caseback.

Squale’s watches subsequently became genuine tools of underwater exploration. Italian freediver Enzo Maiorca wore a Squale Master while setting a world record at 67 metres, while Jacques Mayol wore a Squale 2002 during his own record-setting dives. The company also developed a long relationship with the Italian Navy, winning contracts in the 1980s to supply professional dive watches to its elite Gruppo Operativo Subacquei (G.O.S.) diving unit at La Spezia. These weren’t simply military-themed commercial watches — the Navy established the operational requirements and Squale produced watches specifically for them.

Here are some examples of the Squale lineup on display in Toronto.

As you might expect, however, I was particularly interested in the company’s military collaborations, including the 2001 Marina Militare.

The 2001 Marina Militare has the kind of provenance I love because this isn’t simply a civilian watch dressed up with military markings. The project was developed at the request of the Italian Navy, with the original watches reserved exclusively for Navy personnel before Squale subsequently produced a limited civilian edition. The distinctive case was designed specifically around the Navy’s requirements and features an unusual bidirectional bezel that can only be rotated after it is pressed down, preventing it from being moved accidentally during a dive. The watch is rated to 600M, while the dial and caseback proudly carry Marina Militare markings.  THIS was exactly the kind of Squale I came to the show hoping to see!

Squirrel! Moment Watches

As I mentioned at the top, my goal wasn’t to cover the entire show, but rather to concentrate primarily on dive and military watches. That said, I did have a few “squirrel!” moments along the way where something completely outside those categories caught my attention, so I wanted to include those here.

First up in my “squirrel!” category is a watch that has been generating a ton of buzz online — the new Oris ProPilot X Gonzo Edition. And this isn’t simply another fun Muppets-themed watch: at C$14,500, it was also one of the more expensive watches I encountered at the show!

This is the third watch in Oris’s Muppets series, following Kermit and Miss Piggy, but this time Oris went considerably more upscale, using the 44mm titanium ProPilot X Calibre 115 with its skeletonized, manually wound movement and enormous 10-day power reserve. And they’ve had some fun with it: Gonzo’s face gradually appears on the mainspring barrel as the watch is wound, while the power-reserve indicator uses a tiny chilli pepper-shaped hand — because apparently a conventional power-reserve indicator simply wasn’t Gonzo enough.

Staying with Oris but moving in a completely different direction is the Big Crown Pointer Date Lou Gehrig Limited Edition, created in honour of legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig. Appropriately, the watch is limited to 2,130 pieces, representing Gehrig’s remarkable streak of 2,130 consecutive games.

There are some great little details hidden in the design. The blue number 4 on the date ring represents Gehrig’s uniform number — the first number ever retired in Major League Baseball — while the vertically brushed silver dial references his famous “Iron Horse” nickname. Even the brown leather strap with its contrasting white stitching is designed to evoke an old baseball glove, something the Oris rep specifically pointed out to me at the show.

Flip the watch over and the caseback carries an engraving of Gehrig delivering his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium, along with the individual limited-edition number.

Another watch that caught my attention was the STOWA Chrono Black Forest Moon, which STOWA refers to as its most complex mechanical watch, combining a chronograph, complete calendar and moonphase. But what caught my attention was the design: the dial has a three-dimensional embossed texture intended to resemble the surface of the Moon, while the moonphase itself represents a blood moon and glows a spectacular orange-red in the dark.

The watch Farr + Swit calls the Vice Edition immediately reminded me of one of my favourite scenes from Kung Fury, where the hero travels through time by running across a surreal glowing neon grid straight out of an ’80s vision of the future. The pink-and-blue grid pattern on the Vice instantly brought that scene to mind.

Funny enough, I’d previously come across a STAY RAD patch featuring almost exactly the same retro grid design through my EDC/tactical communities, so naturally I had to photograph the watch and patch together! I even brought an extra patch for the guys at Farr + Swit as a little show of appreciation for their design.

Continuing the ’80s nostalgia is another Farr + Swit watch that I specifically wanted to see, the brilliantly named Retro Digital VHS – KILL COUNT. This time the inspiration comes from the slasher movies of the 1980s, with the face of the watch designed to look like an old VHS cassette complete with blood splatter. Even the packaging is on point with the watch presented inside a reusable VHS cassette housed in an appropriately cheesy horror-movie-style sleeve.

As someone who actually grew up during the VHS era, I absolutely love stuff like this. It’s inexpensive, completely ridiculous and FUN — which is something I sometimes think the watch industry could use a little more of!

And apparently I wasn’t finished with the ’80s nostalgia quite yet! Canadian brand Whitby Watch Co. had its Triumph 50th Anniversary Ambassador on display, celebrating 50 years of the legendary Canadian power trio that formed in Toronto in 1975 and became one of the defining arena-rock bands of the 1980s.

This is actually officially licensed Triumph merchandise and is limited to just 50 pieces, making it a pretty cool little piece of Canadian rock history to wear on your wrist while you Fight the Good Fight!

And to finish off my “Squirrel!” moments, how about some watches that aren’t actually watches at all! Horological artist Dan Tanenbaum creates sculptures using repurposed watch parts, transforming gears, movements, dials, bracelets and other components into some absolutely wild pieces of art.

Time Bomb (he donated one of these as a raffle prize as well)

Game controller

Love the shades made out of watch bezels

His display was certainly one of the more unusual things I encountered at the show — and provided a pretty appropriate way to finish a section dedicated entirely to things that made me stop and go “SQUIRREL!” lol

And now for my personal show awards! I have picked one show favourite in each category. As always, one important caveat: these aren’t necessarily my favourite watches each company makes, or even the exact versions I’d personally buy. They’re my favourites among the EXACT watches that were actually on display at the Toronto Timepiece Show 2026. So, for example, in some cases if the runners-up had brought a different dial colour, or a strap instead of a bracelet, the result could have been different!

Award	Winner
Extreme Diver	BALL Engineer Hydrocarbon DeepQUEST
Standard Diver	DELMA Shell Star
Hidden Diver	OOO Ghost 4.0
Vintage Diver	Echo/Neutra 1956 GMT Khaki
Air	Oris ProPilot Altimeter
Ground	Marathon 41mm TSAR Duvdevan
Sea	Squale 2001 Marina Militare
Squirrel!	Farr + Swit Vice Edition
Best Lume	Sinn EZM19
BEST OF SHOW	🏆 BALL Engineer Hydrocarbon DeepQUEST

Unlike last year, I had a lot of time to do some pre-show research, and given the expanded list of exhibitors — including several brands that I had wanted to see in person for a long time — my expectations for this year’s show were extraordinarily high!

And Timepiece Toronto did not disappoint!

I was so happy to finally handle a Mühle S.A.R., and to see watches from Squale, BALL, EDOX and MICROMILSPEC in person for the first time, among many others. More importantly, there were plenty of watches that surprised me once I actually had them on my wrist — which is really what attending a show like this is all about.

A huge thank you to Jason and his team, all of the exhibitors, and the brands they represent for putting together another fantastic show!

My swag

RL

I have been attending Scriptus Toronto for years but this was my first time attending Scriven Montreal.

My first impression was, wow what a beautiful venue!

Our first stop was Stylo, my favourite pen store, who were sharing a table with Esterbrook, my buddy Ingo’s favourite pen brand.

It didn’t take long for our first purchase lol. Ingo was actually looking for an Esterbrook Rockstar

and it exceeded his expectations (note the Estie King of the Night in his pocket).

A quick nib test and it was a done deal

Stylo brought a wide assortment from Pilot and Nahvalur

The Vanishing Point Raden was my favourite. Always great to see the crew from Stylo, they are so nice and helpful!

As you may know, I love Japanese Maki-e so Muze pens was our next stop.

I loved the Taccia Empress Serpent! Definitely my favourite pen of the show!

That said, the classic Goldfish was awesome too!

Muze also had another pen that I REALLY liked, the Muze x Cypress 5th Anniversary Cobra! First, it is made our of Micarta! I love that material and have it on several of my custom knife handles as well as the grips on my Ed Brown 1911. You can see the layers of Micarta in my pic of the tip below. Secondly, it has a really cool Cobra shaped clip.

And now for something different, a Magic Wand pen from Timber Elegance Pens!

Actually, two pens as the wand contains both a calligraphy pen as well as a fountain pen.

Not to mention the spell casting tip!

Very creative Timber Elegance!

Speaking of creative, some pens turned out of cactus and other materials in resin by Creation Denis Durocher. Absolutely beautiful.

More displays from Ranga Pens

Tangent Pens

Stacked

The prize table

With a chance to win an Esterbrook Bungubox! They had some available at the show but of course those sold out immediately.

Another prize from Timber Elegance

I picked up one of the show special Leuchtturm journals

Got it stamped

and embossed! The same gentleman who embossed the one I got at Scriptus did the setup

while his son did the actual embossing!

of course he starts with a test before doing my actual journal

the before

and after

nice job by the father and son team

Meanwhile, Ingo stopped by xplio nibs to have his Waterman checked out. He bought it new but it didn’t seem to be writing properly.

Sure enough, the prognosis was “mis-aligned and too tight” so he will definitely make good use of the four squares in this pic which are grinding stones of different grits.

Here we go…

And the finished product.

Ingo said it was a “night and day” difference.

I am sure you must be wondering how this show compares to Scriptus Toronto? Well, they are very comparable in size and selection so I really couldn’t pick a “winner” from that perspective. It was great to see some familiar faces as well as discover new ones. The venue was beautiful and it was super convenient to have on-site embossing and nib repair. Either way, the people were just as nice. I have many many hobbies and attend 20+ shows per year and have always thought fountain pen people are among the nicest. I hope to be back next year.

Oh and it was nice to be captured by CBC lol

There was a collector get-together at Poutineville planned for 5pm and we left a lot earlier but in that spirit we did stop in for some poutine! I got the Fire Breather with hot sauce and 3 hot wings on top.

Ah Montreal…

RL

Following the success of the Timepiece Shows in Vancouver and Toronto, founding organizer Jason Hutton has expanded with the inaugural Montreal Timepiece Show 2026!

As if attending a watch show wasn’t great enough, I was fortunate enough to attend VIP and Media Opening Night! This is a great opportunity for content creators to interact with the exhibitors one-on-one and take pics before the crowds arrive. Given the huge crowds at the Toronto show I attended last year, that is a big advantage. And please do keep in mind when you see “empty” pics that those were from media day. I will include some comparison pics to show you the difference!

The venue itself is beautiful! This is just the entrance!

It was great to meet Jason, the show organizer.

By way of background, Jason is the founder of Zenea watches, a brand he was showcasing (with his colleague) at the show, along with Timepiece World Journal

The Yema Navygraf Marine Nationale CMM.10 was my favourite watch at the Toronto Timepiece show. I spent so much time ogling it that I missed the Superman Titanium Tourbillon CMM.31 Limited Edition so I wanted to visit the Yema table first.

They did not have that specific variant of the Navygraf but we are in luck with the Tourbillon!  Engineered with enhanced shock resistance up to 5000 G’s and 200M water-resistance, this is no ordinary tourbillon and I absolutely love it!

Yema did have some novelties at the show such as the Navygraf Phantom CMM.10 Limited Edition, a fully blacked-out version with yellow hands for high contrast.

As much as I like all black “tactical” in this case I actually preferred the Navygraf Pearl CMM.20 Limited Edition. The pearl dial and bezel were stunning!

I also liked the dial on the Superman Titanium MoonTide CMM.11 Limited Edition. The entire watch, including the case, bracelet and textured lunar dial are crafted entirely from Grade 2 titanium.

At the opposite end of the lightness scale, the Superman Bronze CMM.10 Limited Edition was cool too

In addition to the dive/military watches, Yema did bring some more lifestyle/sports models such as the Wristmaster Slim Small Seconds CMM.29 Camo shown on their booth backdrop.

As I mentioned in my Toronto review, dive watches, particularly “deep divers” (1000M +) and military watches are my favourites so it should be no surprise that I love Marathon! They had, IMHO, the best lineup of the show with pretty much every one of their models on display! And I would be happy with any of them! Of course, there were some that stood out, such as the CSAR!

I Iove the huge presence of the 46mm case and its 17.5mm thickness, which you would think is chunky…

But compared to my Surefire/Luminox 2011 even that looks thin lol

I like bracelets but of course you can get the CSAR on a strap if you want a lighter option

The limited-edition ADANAC Red Maple 41mm SSNAV-D Auto won Best Tool Watch at last year’s Toronto Timepiece show so I wanted to have a closer look at that one. Yup, love it!

Really cool display of the evolution of the Navigators from steel to composite, back to steel and now with a CeraShell plastic & ceramic powder composite case paired with an aluminum bezel! This configuration is very robust and allows for a very smooth rotation of the bezel. Other watches in the lineup will be transitioning to this material.

Two variants of the 41mm NAV CeraShell® shown here, one with date and a sterile version with no date or Marathon marking on the dial, which was my preference.

OSAR-D dive watches ranging from 36mm to 46mm

SAR also ranging from 36mm to 46mm

I have always liked the JSAR Red Maple, shown with and without lume activated

Last but certainly not least, the 36mm GP (general purpose)

It was practically impossible to get to the Christopher Ward booth for closeup shots at the Toronto show given the crowds. Here is an example of media day

vs. the first few minutes (and all day) on show day

Again, I was very grateful to have been invited to the media event!

Can you guess which Christopher Ward was my favourite? Hint, you have two chances lol!

Yup, the two from their military line, the C63 Colchester and C60 Lympstone. Note these are the only two on display with “Christopher Ward” written on the dial (vs. just the logo).

The Colchester was inspired by the demands of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment and is named after its iconic HQ. It has an injected-carbon case, a forged carbon dial with “landing” crosshairs, a really cool pop-out hidden crown (shown in my pic below), and a maroon seconds hand that perfectly matches the colour of the Paras’ official beret! The badge of the Parachute regiment has been deep-stamped into a coin, which rests on the exhibition caseback!

Yup, definitely my favourite from Christopher Ward and easily one of my show favourites.

The C65 Super Compressor Elite was also super cool! It has a Super Compressor mechanism that increases water resistance as you descend to allow divers to go deeper without their watch malfunctioning. The way it works is that there is an ultra-thin compression spring – just 300 microns wide – placed around the perimeter of the case. When a diver descends, it uses water pressure to press the caseback against the O-ring gasket, increasing water-resistance. The dial has a decompression scale originally designed by physicist, mathematician and extreme diver Dr Hannes Keller, that helps you calculate decompression stops before a deep dive. I wish I looked at this one in more detail!

The iconic Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto striking hour!

The striking mechanism is shaped like a songbird. When the red beak is raised the system is engaged and the bird’s tail will strike at the hour mark. Very original.

The green variants were most popular with everyone, including me, picking up the Lumière

Looks great under blue light with a Globolight® ceramic ring above the dial and a sunray-patterned platine, embedded with two shades of Super-LumiNova® and a white rubber strap infused with Super-LumiNova®

Given my preference for dive and military watches, I was super anxious to check out Jacques Bianchi.

My first “good” watch was also a full lume (Tag Heuer)

More great dive watches like the JB200 Medusa, Poseiden, and Poulpro

I was hoping to see the Deepsea collaboration with Brock Stevens, a diver in the U.S. Navy. No luck there but they did have the closest thing, a titanium JB300 Poulpro

Shown here with the colourful JB200 Aquastrike

Thanks for the giant patch!

Maurice Lacroix was another booth like Christopher Ward, swamped by crowds all day!

Very expansive lineup from sport watches to the complicated

Including dive watches for me! I liked the classic style of the Pontos S diver with inner rotating bezel and 300M water resistance

A few variations of the AIKON Master Grande Date

Several pieces from the Masterpiece series, such as the AIKONIC Chrono and Master Grand Date Skeleton

The Masterpiece Skeleton Label Noir

Now for some great discoveries. Straum was founded by two industrial designers in Norway and are designed to capture Norwegian natural beauty.  

For example, these two from the Jay Mayen line represent the Stormy Seas and the fiery basaltic lava interior of the volcano Beerenberg

The Stormy Seas dial is meant to represent the terrifying beauty of a Force 9 gale in the Greenland Sea. Its radial texture captures the chaotic, violent waves of the ominous grey blue sea. Meanwhile, the Fluor Orange seconds is a nod to the fluorescent survival suits typically worn by those braving the ocean.

The Meltwater

And my personal favourite, the Glacier White that manifests the glacier surface of the Beerenberg volcano sculpted by relentless blizzards.

Great features too such as the expansion clasps on the bracelet

While the curved FKM Rubber Straps follows the wrist’s natural shape and has a raised profile to maximize ventilation.

Another surprise show favourite, the Mara, the first dive watch from Paulin, a watchmaking brand hailing out of Scotland.  Designed in collaboration with and field tested in the rugged Scottish coastline by journalist, diver, and adventurer Jason Heaton

Good for 300M, I liked every element of the design including the double-domed sapphire crystal with three layers of anti-reflective coating, the lacquer painted dial, the geometric hour markers combining circles and triangles and the shape of the hands.

If you are into watches with a unique design, Isotope is a top choice!

Their Moonshot chrono won an award at the Toronto Timepiece 2025 show. This year’s Thunderclap version is the first Isotope chronograph to feature a telemeter. It was created together with artist and designer Matt Smith-Johnson (Teenage Grandpa). Note the subdials that show elapsed time by rotating discs.

vs. last year’s winning watch

The OVNI Jumping Hour is unique design. Rather than having a window in a fixed position with a rotating hour disc underneath, here the underlying hour disc is fixed and the window revolves to reveal the time.

I like the caseback with a UFO (OVNI in French) beaming up a cow lol

If the mushroom hands on the Hydrium Trippy aren’t trippy enough, how about the hypnotic kinetic dial! Perhaps that can put the sharks to sleep when you use this watch to go diving 300M!

Another option for playful watches, Worden, such as the Afterlife

Via Negativa, Bubble Gum, and Sunnyide

More unique pieces from Makoto

Such as the Shibuya inspired by the Shibuya Crossing in Japan, the worlds busiest pedestrian crossing.

Track Two – Vinyl Record, a collaboration with ANDOANDOANDO, Yu Ando, from Japan

Now THAT’S a caseback on the Senshi with Seiko Meca-Quartz!

The new Boken adventure watch in Ti with 300M water resistance

Atlantic brought several limited edition watches

Such as the Worldmaster Hybrid with dual movement (one quartz, one mechanical)

Open heart

Worldmaster 150 year anniversary

My personal favourite, the Worldmaster Limited Edition Mechanical Manufacture Calibre ATL-1 featuring the new Atlantic in-house movement. The gloss black case looks stunning.

Serica

This pic captures my three favourites, the diving chronometer good for 300M (and left hand crown), the Parade (with 100M WR) and the GMT

With more variants

I love that the first image on Match Lab’s website is a guy holding a revolver lol. I did run into several fellow shooters at the show! Not surprising that there is a lot of crossover for my hobbies.

The new AMT2 XS

Cool green window on this caseback

And leopard pattern on this dial

I am sure you wont be surprised that their Belza “Surfing” watches were my favourite, shown here in bronze and my preferred titanium

Humbert Droz, Carlingue, and Sye were sharing a table

Here are my favourites from all three, Humbert Droz HD11 Paul Kenton-Time captured in the City-17

Carlingue Diver Watch 01 Mandala Tattoo

SYE Automatic 24 [CUT 7] steel watch in black DLC inspired by the racing legacy of the iconic Jaguar E-Type CUT 7

Studio Underdog with their iconic Watermel0n

Jose Cermeno Losange with quilted lambskin leather dials

For those seeking custom or customized watches, talk to the man behind Wilk Watchworks, Steve Wilk as he makes every watch with his own two hands.

This gold dial caught my attention

I liked the one with huge minute markers and skeleton dial

The black dial version with lume was even cooler

Cimier with their 711 Heritage Chronograph inspired by a 100 year old design. The dial stands out with the unusual positioning of the 30-minute and 12-hour chronograph counters at 11 and 7 o’clock. It has a telemetric scale on the outer edge of the dial and a tachymetric scale is coiled at the center.

I liked the pink dial the best

Baltic watches

Hermetique field watches

Scalegraph chronos

Aquascaphe dive watches

Tesse watches with lots of variations of their Michel watch.

I liked the Michel Architect in Blue Vector.

And studio pink.

Venezianico

I liked these two with engraving

and the ultra black dial

with Black Hole on the caseback

They make sport watches too

Haim watches

The Annum with month, day, date and complete calendar module with moonphase

More my speed, the Descent featuring a unique “Duo-Bezel”, combining the functions of both a 60 minute timer and a GMT on the brushed steel rotational bezel. It also has 200m of water resistance and a helium escape valve.

Sartory Billard, no Cheese Grater but they did have the Disco Ball version of their SB-10 Jumping Hour

Echo Neutra

I wanted to go back on show day to retake some of my pics of their booth but, you know…

Doussot watches (sorry I didn’t have a chance to go back)

Solios solar powered watches

Heron with some classic divers

Pinion

Beaubleu with a unique way to show time

Alanti with dials made of natural materials such as Abalone

Sinziana Iordache with incredible watch artwork

StrapsCo with watch straps made of seatbelt and sail material

And now for my personal top-10 list!

1. Yema Superman Titanium Tourbillon CMM.31
2. Marathon 41mm NAV CeraShell® Sterile
3. Christopher Ward C63 Colchester
4. Marathon CSAR
5. Marathon ADANAC Red Maple 41mm SSNAV-D Auto
6. Isotope Hydrium Trippy
7. Yema Superman Bronze CMM.10
8.  Jacques Bianchi JB300 Poulpro Ti
9. Paulin Mara
10. Maurice Lacroix Pontos S

Thank you once again to Jason Hutton and crew for putting on such an amazing event and for having me at VIP and Media Opening Night. Thanks to all the exhibitors for bringing such great watches and all the discussions. Sincere apologies if I missed any tables, I do try to get them all. See you all in Toronto!

RL

The 10^th Anniversary Scriptus Toronto show was amazing and I came home with some epic scores!

I have been attending Scriptus for years and it is always busy, this year even more so! As I have stated in the past, this means I cant really do my usual type of review with shots of every table as there are just too many people.

Don’t worry though, I got some great closeups to share, starting with the raffle/swag tables

And the 10^th Anniversary ink

I headed straight for stylo.ca’s tables. They are my favourite pen store and I got lucky with them last year with a Sailor 1911L Wicked Witch of the West. This year I took it a step further by requesting stylo.ca bring two pens for me to look at! Thank you so much to stylo.ca for accommodating my request!

The two pens are the Sailor 1911L Ninja In and Esterbrook Astronaut collaboration with Accutron!

Some closeups of the Ninja In

And the Estie Astronaut

Both of these pens are crossovers with some of my other hobbies, namely collecting custom knives and watches and I really liked them. Choosing between the two was a very hard decision but ultimately I went with the Ninja for now and plan to get the Estie down the line.

Another closeup

Compared to the Wicked Witch of the West I picked up last year

And in its more natural habitat lol

Speaking of Esterbrook, there has been a lot of buzz about their just released Peanuts collection so I wanted to check them out before they sold.

Charlie Brown

Snoopy, my personal favourite

Lucy

I didn’t get a closeup of Sally but you can see the pink pen at the bottom right

More great pens from Esterbrook

My favourite on the table (next to the Astronaut)

Thanks to Scriptus’ excellent social media, I knew that Leuchtturm 1917 would be custom embossing at the show!

ceriksson picked up one of their Bullet Journals in black at Phidon Pens

While I got one in Turquoise25 from Toronto Pen Shoppe

Now to get them embossed!

Each letter is laid out or typeset manually

Ready to emboss

And the final result!

I should mention that he does a test stamp first

And here is mine! So great to offer this service on site. It definitely pushed me over the edge into buying a journal lol.

But wait, there’s more! My purchases weren’t done yet. I also pre-ordered with Penablers, a set of Colorverse Schrodinger-Cat.

Thanks to Penablers for doing pre-orders and for the extras in the package

I missed out on Honest Ink’s Poutine ink last year and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again!

I checked back at Straits Pen’s table several times as the rep had to step out to deliver a seminar/workshop. And we are in luck!

They also had a Peameal Bacon special this year.

Apart from my “planned” purchases, I did make a couple of impulse buys. I was really impressed with these cigar boxes converted into pen trays by Hall’s Pens and Things. Many of the boxes are sourced from military personnel who serve in or travel to South America, which adds to the appeal. Also, the maker was really nice and had great prices so it was pretty much a no-brainer to pick one up.

My last impulse buy was a patch from Hot Leaf House

Did you guess correctly which one I got? Lol

Alright, now for some more pens! How about these custom beauties from London Pen

The gold glitter was my personal favourite

3D printed pen stands from stack3D. Love the giant pens

Beautiiful wood pens and desk accessories from Timber Elegance. I especially liked the letter openers.

Finally got to meet Andrew from House of Fine Writing!  I have been on their email list for years.

Tons of ink options from Gourmet Pens

Some of the more unique pieces on display

So that covers the main floor. I didn’t take as many pics in the lower level, mainly just of Art Line Pens. Some really impressive, rare, high-end pens here.

Oh and stamps at Circumflux Stationary along with their famous crab pen holders.

And that’s a wrap! Here is a recap of my scores

Thanks again to the organizers and all the exhibitors. I ended by review last year by pointing out that everyone seemed passionate about pens and happy to share their hobby. The same was true this year. Here’s to the next ten years of Scriptus.

RL

I was thrilled to learn about The Toronto Timepiece Show 2025 yesterday as I have been wishing for a wristwatch show for the longest time! More surprising still, this is the second year of the show! Thanks to Clayton Erickson for the tip and for attending/photographing with me today.

Given that I only had one day notice, I did not have a huge amount of time to do my usual show prep although I did manage to visit the websites of all 80+ exhibitors and create a list of watches that I wanted to see.

I should also caveat that I did not have a media pass or early access so it was more challenging to do full table shots, especially since it was PACKED! Seriously, there were TONS of people all day!

Alright let’s get started! In case you did not know, when it comes to watches, deep divers are my favourite. I am talking 1000M+, the deeper the better. Also, I really like a military pedigree, as reflected in my choice of daily watch, the Sinn EZM2B UX GSG9 edition. I was so happy to hear Sinn would be represented at the show!

Some of the amazing lineup

I love their whole EZM lineup and the U1 was my favourite Sinn of the day

Again, really happy to see Sinn at the show.

Right next to Sinn, Doxa, another good chance of seeing a deep diver here.

Sure enough, a Sharkhunter Sub 1500M

My absolute favourite watch of the day though was at the Oris booth.

Namely the Aquis Pro 4000M!

It’s thick! Note that you can read the time on my Sinn even at this extreme angle thanks to the oil filled case.

Now my second favourite watch of the day may be a bit of a surprise as it has a water resistance of “only” 300M and it is smaller than my usual style at 39mm but wow does it have some military heritage!

The YEMA Navygraf Marine Nationale CMM.10 diver is an updated version of the 1970s model developed in collaboration with the Marine Nationale military personnel. It currently serves as the official watch of the French Navy and also won 2024 French Watch of the Year from UBH (Union de la Bijouterie Horlogerie). I want one!

Another amazing military watch from YEMA, the Flygraf CPA10! Per their website, this was “designed and developed in collaboration with the special forces of France’s most elite airborne commandos the Commando Parachutiste de l’Air No. 10 (CPA10).” It now serves as the official watch of the French Air Force and the CPA10.

Ok now this one is not exactly military but I loved it all the same. INSTANTLY recognizable as a collaboration with Alain Silberstein

Before switching from divers to other types of military watches, I should give a shout out to some great microbrands. First, Spinnaker.

In particular, the Piccard with its domed crystal in homage to the original Rolex Challenge.

At 22mm thick, it is not quite as extreme as another homage watch, the H20 CH1 (which is 28mm) but it still does a great job of paying tribute.

It looks incredible under lume

A real statement piece

Introduced in 1965, the Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster was developed for professional divers and military personal operating in high-pressure underwater environments. Advertising at the time claimed that its1000M water resistance was tested todeeper than any other underwater watch.

The larger 42mm “Pacman” named after the shape of the hour markers

They didn’t have any of the Jellyfish limited editions, but here is what they look like.

More fine watches from Nivada Grenchen

When it comes to milspec, it is hard to beat Marathon as they have been making military grade watches since 1941, covering air, sea, and land.

Given their expansive lineup, I will start with some table pics and then do some closeups.

This one was being raffled off

Ok now for some of my favourites, starting with the CSAR chrono.

Next the 34mm General Purpose Mechanical (GPM) field watch in desert tan

The SSNAV or stainless steel Navigator

The OSAR-D. This was originally issued to Canadian SAR (Search and Rescue) in the early 2000’s.

Speaking of SAR watches, Shelby Watch Company had another one of my show favourites, the Medic. Designed in Canada by a First Responder, the watch features a pulsometer for counting pulses and an asthmometer for respirations.

Display caseback

Breakdown of the components

I put my door prize ticket toward the Medic

Established in 1882 as a maker of pocket watches, Hanhart focused their production on pilot’s watches in the 1940s with the introduction of the “Caliber 41” two-button chrono. This 417ES chrono in 39mm with its iconic red pusher is a prime example

I also liked their Primus Pilot

It is impossible to talk about pilot watches without mentioning Breitling, another top-tier brand I was looking forward to seeing at the show.

Endurance Pros from their Professional line

Navitimers

Chronomat

If jet planes aren’t high enough for you, how about a watch inspired by outer space, the Isotope Hydrium NASA, officially endorsed by the organization? It has a lot of incredible features like Cerakote coated case and full-lume dial and bezel. I am convinced you can see that lume in outer space!

More space inspired watches from SPACEONE, at least in a Men in Black style

I was not familiar with Echo/Neutra prior to today so I was glad to discover them at the show. I like their “timeproof” concept of classic ageless designs. Some really nice pieces.

Interesting designs from CIGA

The Makoto Shibuya was inspired by the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing located in Japan.

Haha loved this display

Avedis Gabriel contest giveaway

I think these were 3D printed

Incredible watch art from Sinziana Iordache

Turn any watch into a smartwatch with Ganance

And now special recognition for Gem Bijou, a Platinum Sponsor of the show. They had a great display showcasing multiple brands such as Rado

Longines

Love that ULTRA‑CHRON (wish I would have asked them to take it out of the case for a wrist check)

Seiko

Zenea

Mido

Watches competing for Timepiece World Awards

My swag from the show

So there you have it. The Toronto Timepiece Show was everything I hoped for in my first watch show! To recap my favourites (based on the variations that were on display):

• Oris Aquis Pro 4000M
• YEMA Navygraf Marine Nationale CMM.10
• Shelby Watch Co. Medic

RL