Spinnaker Fleuss GMT Automatic Review | Big, Bright and Bold
(This page features affiliate links, for more information click here.)
From Rolex to Christopher Ward to many more affordable microbrands, a definite trend in reduced-sized watch releases has occurred over the past couple of years. The Spinnaker Fleuss GMT laughs in the face of this trend. At 43.3 millimeters in diameter, and coming in a range of bright bold colorways, this particular model is less of a shrinking violet and more of a Jolly Green Giant.
Strapping it to my 16.5cm wrist, it felt almost comically large. Switching it between the metal bracelet to the extra chunky rubber strap didn’t seem to help slim this big-boy down. There was no getting away from the fact that for the duration of this review, it was going to feel like I was wearing “Daddy’s watch”.
Dial Design
Besides the obvious proportions, the first thing that struck me was the amount of color used; 3 shades of green on the bezel and dial, a red seconds hand with red accents on the chapter ring, a yellow and black GMT hand, and large yellowish fauxtina hour markers and numerals. This isn’t a watch for the shy, retiring type. With more colors than a Swatch group collaboration, there’s surely a combination for everyone.
Each of the 9 versions from Spinnaker are supplied on a beads-of-rice bracelet with a complimentary color-matched strap. The datewheel has white text on a black dial which works well on this dark green dialed version but looks a little out of place on the lighter dialed variants. Looking even more closely, you might also spot that the finishing on the GMT hand leaves a little to be desired, with the yellow paint peaking out from under the black paint. This is when you can start to see where the budget runs a little thin.
There is little expense spared on lume though, with generous applications on the bezel, hands, hour markers and a fully lumed chapter ring - which really stands out in low light. When fully charged, the lume is plentiful, but it does run out of steam relatively quickly, so don’t expect this to glow all night.
The Fleuss takes several design cues from the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms; most notably the rounded ‘sapphire’ bezel (actually not sapphire on the Spinnaker), diamond-shaped bezel markers, and large lumed Arabic numerals at 12, 6 and 9. The main handset is similar too.
Case Construction
The case is mostly brushed, with a decently sized polished chamfer on the face of the lugs, and a micro bevel running along the bottom of the case which is a nice touch. The lugs angle down gently and overall the case is a handsome shape. The solid case-back confirms its water resistance to 150m, and displays an etched map of the world, or at least half of it - sorry Asia and the West Coast of North America..
The bezel has a 24-hour GMT scale, allowing you to track different timezones. The bi-color bezel helps the user to determine daytime (lighter green) and nighttime (darker green) in the second time zone. I found the bezel knurling wasn’t quite as grippy as I’d like, and I struggled to get a decent purchase on the bezel to adjust it with dry hands. With wet fingers after a swim, adjusting the bezel was impossible. This may ease up over time and use, but it certainly wasn’t a great user experience out of the box.
Bracelet
The Beads of Rice bracelet tapers slightly from 22mm to 20mm at the clasp, and features brushed edge links and polished central beads. There’s a bit of rattle and bend in the bracelet from new, but it is passable. A really nice feature is the quick release tabs built into the end-links of the bracelet, allowing you to swap out the bracelet with a quick pinch of your fingers and without need for tools and the inherent risk of scratching the case or bracelet with a wayward springbar tool. A nice touch from Spinnaker.
The bracelet links thankfully drop away vertically from the 51mm lug-to-lug case extremities, adding no additional width to the watch beyond the lugs, meaning I could just get away with wearing this on my relatively flat, 6.5” wrist. As Ben demonstrated in his “In the Loupe” unboxing video, 6.5” is probably the limit here. Folks with 7”+ wrists would feel much more comfortable wearing this watch than I did.
The tolerance between the bracelet and lugs was very good, with a tidy joint between case and end links. Unfortunately, the clasp is not nearly as neat and tidy as the rest of the bracelet. With a very cheap feeling pressed metal clasp body. This particular example had a defect with the fold-over security tab which never completely fastened in place. Looking at the fasteners, I’m surprised if this design ever works properly. But I hope and assume, this was just a one-off defect.
With the wonky security tab flipped open, two buttons on either side of the clasp case release the deployant clasp. This mechanism works well - holding the clasp closed securely thanks to higher-quality machined components. There is no on-the-fly adjustment, but there are 3 micro adjustment holes for fine-tuning the more permanent sizing, and there is a 14mm fold-out diver’s extension, should you wish to wear the watch over a wetsuit.
At this point, I should point out that a brightly colored, dive-capable, GMT watch seems born to be a summer watch. Flying to hot locations, ducking in and out of air-conditioned restaurants, and cooling off in a pool or the ocean should be second nature to this timepiece. But when moving between these temperature extremes, your wrist will swell and contract considerably and an on-the-fly bracelet adjustment mechanism is an absolute must.
Indeed, whilst reviewing the watch, I took a flight and my wrist swelled to the point I had to try and resize the bracelet manually. If the spring-bar had escaped at that point I’d have been testing a pocket watch for the rest of the trip. Not ideal. Given the free rubber strap and quick-release bracelet feature, I wish Spinnaker had forgone the diver’s extension and added some on-the-fly micro-adjustment instead.
Specifications
|
Case Diameter (inc bezel) |
43.3mm |
|
Lug-to-Lug |
51.1mm |
|
Lug Width |
22mm |
|
Case thickness (incl. Crystal) |
13.2mm |
|
Water Resistance |
15 atm |
|
Movement |
Seiko NH34 GMT |
|
Accuracy |
+40 / -20 seconds per day |
|
Power Reserve |
41 hours |
|
RRP |
$588 USD |
GMT Function
On the topic of travel; the movement within the Fleuss GMT is Seiko’s NH34 GMT module allowing you to track different time zones. Unscrewing the crown to the 1st position, there’s a manual wind option. In the 2nd position you can wind the crown clockwise to adjust the GMT hand independently of the local time without hacking the seconds, or you can wind counterclockwise to quick-set the date. In the final 3rd position you can hack the seconds and set the local minute and hour hands.
This configuration lends itself more to someone remaining in their home timezone who wants to track other timezones. Rather than a ‘traveller’ GMT function where you can adjust your local hour hand without interrupting the seconds hand and timekeeping. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of the NH34 ‘office/caller’ GMT style complication is that it retains the quick-set date feature. Traveller GMTs usually lose the quick-set date, which can be painful if you leave it unwound for a week or two.
Spinning the local hour hand around the dial multiple times is the only way to adjust the date. Personally, since I travel a lot for work I prefer the traveller GMT solution. And given that my collection is relatively small, I wear my GMT watch regularly so the date remains relatively current and isn't a major concern for me. But the downside to a Flyer GMT is not lost on me.
Crystal
The sapphire crystal is heavily domed, playing with the light and almost always bending the large Arabic hour markers on the dial as they stretch out close to the perimeter of the dial face. Whilst very legible, I found the applied Arabic hour markers too large and too close to the dial extremities. They felt unnecessarily squashed up against the chapter ring and despite their size, they still left considerable blank dial space closer to the center of the dial.
Putting my amateur watch dial designer’s hat on; I would have liked to reduce the typeface by a font size or two and brought them a hair closer in from the edges of the dial. The chapter ring already provides some interest bordering the dial so one could afford to center the hour markers a little more.
Watch Movement
The movement is the increasingly popular Seiko NH34 GMT movement based on Seiko’s 4R34 GMT movement used in the Seiko 5 GMT – the NH34 being the off-the-shelf unit available to non-Seiko brands such as Spinnaker, Nodus and Boldr to name but a few. Seiko recommends servicing this movement every 3 years which is a relatively short interval and according to Seiko’s guidance on the 4R34, it should be quite strictly observed. So do factor this run-cost into your decision.
There have been a few reports of the quick-set date feature failing on the NH34 in general (not necessarily Spinnaker-related). Whilst this is something to be aware of, it should also be noted that replacement parts for Seiko movements are very reasonable - a whole NH34 movement can be picked up for less than a leather strap these days. So this isn’t something that should put you off a purchase. But it is something to keep an eye on and to report to Spinnaker or the retailer at the first signs of trouble.
What I liked
The colors were fun, and combined with the beads-of-rice bracelet, it gave off a very ‘summer watch’ vibe.
The fully lumed bezel, arabics and chapter ring made this a very enjoyable watch to wear in low light.
150m water resistance is a nice touch – advertising slightly deeper capabilities than the ubiquitous 100m, made me feel more confident that this watch was truly designed to be used in and around water.
The white-on-black calendar wheel worked well in this color combination and framed by the thin yellow printed border at 3 o’clock, the dial felt relatively well balanced. I usually prefer dive watches without date complications, but for a GMT summer watch, knowing the date can be important.
What I didn’t like
The overall scale of this watch was too much for my 16.5cm wrist. I have been able to get away with 42mm watches in the past, but this is a chunky boy both in diameter and in overall case height, and in my eyes, I think it needs a larger wrist to frame it properly.
The bezel action was not good, if this had been a personal purchase, I think I’d have been contacting Spinnaker for a replacement under warranty.
Similarly, I was quite disappointed with the quality control on the bracelet clasp. The thin pressed metal components felt cheap and become easily misaligned, which in turn compromises the design of the closure.
As opposed to traveler GMTs, office GMTs add more complication when traveling. I had to stop the watch, set the local hour hand to the local time, and then adjust the GMT hand back to GMT or ‘hometime’. Once it is all set, it’s still a very useful function, but I personally find the Flyer GMT complication suits actual travel, better.
Alternatives
Seiko 5 GMTs contain the same basic movement. If you want a splash of colour and a GMT, check out the Seiko SSK005K1 and SSK003K1. San Martin also offers a wide range of styles and colors of office GMT watches with similar levels of quality to the Spinnaker. Within the Spinnaker family, I would probably look at something a little more conservative, like the Bradner GMT which is a 42mm case sizing but still comes in some fun colors.
Summary
As a minimalist, my watch collection is rather monochromatic; favouring contrast and legibility over color and ‘fun’ - it sounds dull, and arguably it is. It works for me, but it does tend to bias my views on bright colorful timepieces.
Similarly, my watches are on the smaller side to suit my thinner wrist. So when Ben sent the 43.3mm Fleuss GMT to me, I was amused at how over the top it was, and I was sure I would hate the wearing experience. But the obvious reasons to dislike it, haven’t actually bothered me that much; The nods to the Fifty Fathoms are not as bad as Swatch’s own garish homages, the Spinnaker Fleuss GMT somehow elevates itself above the Scuba Fifty - A far better movement and less sea-slug imagery likely helps here. The Fleuss was always going to wear very large, but that’s more of a problem for my wrist, than the watch itself. The bright colors worked really well together – as can be attested by a certain tinned sweetcorn brand. It felt joyful and cohesive.
The quality control issues were a disappointment. I am convinced these issues would be resolved by Spinnaker with a quick email. If it wasn't, a 30 day return policy protects consumers who are unhappy with their watches.
Maybe the dreary British summer is getting the better of me, or maybe I’m soaking up something subliminal from the beads of rice on my arm, but I’m starting to long for sun, sand, and Hawaiian shirts. This watch screams ‘Beach’ and the bright colors and brash dimensions remind me of obnoxious cocktails at a cheap and cheerful holiday resort. It sounds bad until you try it.. but after a while you begin to embrace the vibe and it turns out to be heaps of fun.
This probably isn’t a color pallet you would want to wear every day. You couldn’t really wear this under a cuff to the office. But if you’ve got the wrist for it, some flip-flops and a floatie, this could be a great summer-watch for the collection.