Norwegian Straum Goes Sportier Than Ever with the Expedition Field Watch in Titanium
Hands-on with the brand's second major collection
Nature-inspired dials made Norwegian microbrand Straum’s name. If they struck a chord with you, you might be the kind of person inclined to actually appreciate nature itself sometimes. For that, there’s the brand’s new Expedition. It takes many of the specs and qualities that made the Jan Mayen, Straum’s first integrated-bracelet titanium watch, successful and gives them a completely different look and purpose — one geared toward outdoor use.
A rising microbrand star, Straum boasts an impressively cohesive product range for such a young company. Its deeply textured and often colorful dials provide the diversity among its Jan Mayen collection that until now has defined the brand. They’re purdy, but not what you’d likely want to take into the woods — though the founders regularly demonstrate doing so. According to the brand, the Expedition is the kind of watch they’d wear for activities that inspire the Jan Mayen.
Aside from dials, Straum distinguishes itself as a brand so far entirely built around the integrated-bracelet concept, which is rare in the industry despite nearly every brand at least dipping its toes in the category. The Expedition is built on the same basic platform as the Jan Mayen with identical case design and dimensions: 38.2mm wide by 11mm thick (10.3mm without the crystal). That includes its bracelet and strap-changing system. On the author's 6.5in. / 17cm wrist, the sizing and proportions are on the money.
The all-new dial makes it look like a completely distinct watch at first glance, but there are other tweaks that make a difference. Bezels have become a prominent and distinguishing design feature, especially in the integrated-bracelet segment. While the Jan Mayen presented a flat bezel with brushed or matte finishing on top, the Expedition is more of a stepped look which is actually concave. And the Expedition’s sapphire crystal is flat rather than domed as on the Jan Mayen. This all changes the look considerably while the continuity in other respects keeps it feeling sufficiently on-brand.
The “sports-chic” style of the Jan Mayen was thanks in part to a tasteful mix of contrasting finishes of brushed (steel models) or matte (titanium) with polished chamfers. The Expedition, on the other hand, is all matte in titanium. If you opt for the Expedition on a bracelet, however, you’ll get the same that was recently introduced for the Jan Mayen in titanium, and the centerlinks’ polished chamfers will certainly give it a little oomf of elevated style. On the rubber strap, as tested, it’s highly comfortable and wearable.
Another difference is the presence of a date display. Just like the Jan Mayen, it runs on the automatic La Joux-Perret LJP G100 with 68 hours of power reserve. For added sportiness, a dark date disc adds a little dash of color with the numerals in bright red along with the tip of the seconds hand and some dial text. With grainy matte dials, the hour markers use solid blocks of luminescent material on the Midnight Blue and Gray dial versions. A third model has a dial which itself is luminous and white when not glowing, so black indices provide the contrast and legibility.
In the brand's own words, its range will be divided into two branches of "Inspired by" and "Built for." This is clearly the latter. In lightweight titanium with strong legibility and 100m of water resistance, it’s a convincing outdoor watch — but one we’d also totally wear in our quotidian urban existence. Prices are a couple hundred more than previous collections, coming it at $2,750 on a rubber strap or $3,100 on a titanium bracelet for any model. The Midnight Blue variant is limited to only 200 examples.
