Just in time for cooler temps – it’s the Shinola Ice Monster

It’s been a minute since we’ve had a new release in the diving-focused line from Shinola. Most recently it was their bronze variant (which we covered here), and before that we went hands-on with the Lake Michigan Monster (here). Well, here comes winter, and a new watch perfect for that color palette – the Shinola Ice Monster.

In many, many ways, the Shinola Ice Monster is much the same watch as it’s predecessors. It’s the same case diameter (43mm), dial design, and movement inside (the SW-200). Obviously, there’s a difference in the colors used, with that icy white dial and a black bezel reflecting the icy depths of the Great Lakes. There is, however, another change hiding in plain sight.

For this release, the Shinola Ice Monster has eschewed stainless steel, and gone right to titanium. As far as watch materials go, this is about one of our favorites. It gives you the look and finishing of steel (and is as tough as steel) but is so much lighter, it’s truly a noticeable difference on the wrist. Here, with the watch paired to a bracelet (also titanium) the weight savings will be appreciated by the owners.

Also different here is the fact that Shinola has partnered up with Amy Sacka, a photojournalist who has been documenting the way ice has been changing in the Great Lakes over the past few years. Here’s what she’s got to say about it all:

?On my travels, I documented the longest-running ice-fishing vacation school, ice fishing festivals, an annual all-women ice-fishing weekend, polar bear dips, snowmobile drag races, broom ice hockey matches and flying ice boat meet-ups. I saw the cultural fabric of Michigan stitched together by single-digit temperatures, bundled masses slipping, sliding and celebrating the icy Midwestern madness. Like so many I met on Michigan?s Great Lakes ice, I intently watched the weather for signs of warming temperatures and melting conditions ? courting the ice until it ultimately disappeared.

…I learned that the ice cannot be so easily pinned down, its rapid shifts from year-to-year and lake-to-lake, making it difficult to understand and predict into the future, even by climatologists? estimations. For me, this journey evolved into a relentless pursuit of Midwestern place ? of past times and purpose ? as much a reflection of my own family history as it is of Great Lakes ice culture.?

– Amy Sacka

If you’re interested in the Shinola Ice Monster, it was just released today for $1,675 directly from Shinola. While I dug the blue dial of the previous version we reviewed, I do have a very soft spot for this sort of arctic crispness in a watch design – this could well be my favorite of the Shinola Monster lineup. shinola.com

Tech specs from Shinola