Tockr is a brand that (unfairly or not) I’ve not had a lot of exposure to. I’ve never seen one in person, and I had just never had a release grab my attention. At least, that is, until the news of the Tockr Air-Defender Lume crossed my digital desk.
At it’s surface, the Tockr Air-Defender Lume is a variation on a watch we’ve seen time and again. At it’s heart, it has the storied Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph movement, which in turn dictates some things like dial layout. So, how do you mix things up? Well, for starters, you come up with your own chapter ring and twist on the case design (which here looks like a modified cushion case). The real fun comes in with the treatment for the case.
In this case, the Tockr Air-Defender Lume has a hydro-dipped treatment. If you’re not familiar with that (I used to work for a company that did that on some of the auto parts we made), it’s not that entirely different from how you may have colored eggs in the past. With eggs, you’d drip the colored dyes on the surface of the water, then dip the egg through to get the swirls and whatnot. With hydrodip, you instead have a patterned sheet that is floated on the water, with a backing of some sort that’s dissolved, leaving the pattern floating. You then dip your piece through that, and voila, your pattern is applied.
In the case of the Tockr Air-Defender Lume, they’ve mixed luminous material into that pattern, which frankly just looks cool (then again, maybe I’m a bit of a lume-head). In this case, they’ve got either a camo or marble pattern involved. Oh, and not only that, they’ve got a strap option that also has luminous contrast stitching, for even more glow.
While this all looks very cool (they also have non-luminous dip patterns) my one concern with the Tockr Air-Defender Lume would be the durability of the coating on the case. Watches are meant to be used, which means they can get banged up and scraped. I guess time will tell how it all looks a few years down the road. If you want to get your glow on, head on over to their site and have that credit card ready to put $3,250 down on the digital barrel. tockr.com
Tech Specs from Tockr
- Movement: Valjoux 7750 Premium finish with customized hands height and skeletonized rotor
- Functions: 3-register chronograph
- WR: 100m
- Case
- 45mm
- Stainless steel with Hydrodip treatment
- Sapphire crystal
- Exhibition caseback with sapphire crystal
