Confidence is a thing that shows up in the world of watches more often than other characteristics, and it shows in a myriad of ways. Can you rock a Snoopy Timex in your 40s? Are you up for walking around Central London with a Rolex (and without a bionic, machete-proof arm)? Can you sit in a boardroom with a bunch of Omega-wearing upper-middle managers and flash the Casio you bought in the last Argos sale (non-UK readers: Argos sells everything but is simultaneously the most miserable place it is possible to be)?
How about this? Try taking one of the major types of watches and naming your brand after it. That’s what Tool Watch Company (stylised as Tool Watch Co.) did. They sell tool watches, a tool watch being any watch with a specific function beyond just telling time. Dive watches, field watches, pilot watches, chronographs and GMT. If it’s specifically functional, it’s probably a tool watch. Calling your brand Tool Watch Company is like calling a footwear business ‘The Shoe Shop’ or having a brand of chocolate called ‘Chocolate’ (actually, the film Repo Man probably already conceived that idea back in 1984). Cue memories of Bill Hicks talking about ‘Orange Drink.’
The Tool Watch Company (or Tool Watch Co. for short). We sell tool watches. What’s it to ya? You have to admire the hutzpah.
Based in LA and founded in 2020, the brand really does focus on the basics. They’ve got all of those watch types we mentioned before, and they’re all laid out on their shop page looking like they could be on a shelf in your local hardware store. GMTs with 24-hour bezels, chronographs with tachymeters and bicompax layouts, bold and legible field watches and some practical-looking divers. Sure, there’s the occasional mother-of-pearl dial or textured finish, but the impression with most of their line-up is that they mean business. They’re not redefining anything here but rather working in small iterations, focusing on tasteful designs while avoiding over-engineering and over-designing.
However, the Chroma Chronograph is Tool Watch Co. being a little more playful. As the name ‘Chroma’ suggests, there’s a colour element to this range. Each one of the four Chromas comes in a different colour scheme (so no to ‘colourway’). And while blue, green, pink and orange dials sounds like they might offer up some bold colour choices, these somehow fit right into what Tool Watch Co. have been doing all along.
Instead of acting like a range of Summer watches, dyeing the Sun’s rays in Skittles-inspired beams of colour right into your retinas, things are a bit understated here. Each dial essentially looks almost like they’ve screenprinted the colours there. A darker version of the colour behind and a brighter hue for all the other details. Part watch-dial, part DIY flyer for your college punk band’s gig at The Half Moon.
We got our hands on the orange version. It starts with a simplified version of their name as the logo. TWCO. Arranged in a simple, square formation. As far as logos go, it works. Not because of some inspired design choice or artistic flourish, but rather because of how utilitarian it is. It could almost have been stencilled or branded on there.
At the bottom of the dial, you get the brand’s name (Tool Watch Co.) and ‘Chronograph.’ Again, simple and understated. No need to discuss the movement, the water resistance or the country of origin like other watches seem to do (we’re looking at you, literally everyone else).
And, in the same shade of orange as both those elements, we get the bicompax subdials. Chronograph minutes on the left, and a 24-hour subdial on the right (arguably one of the least useful subdial functions but one that is, by default, built into the movement this watch uses). Colour-matched mini-hands ensure that all of this stays in the background. There if you need it, but blended in against the darker orange background if you don’t.
Also colour-matched is the chapter ring, which has five subdivisions per second, giving you a bit more precision if you need it. That’s better than having a pointless 1/10 subdial or anything as ambitiously stupid as that (we’ve got a Tissot that does it and is a design choice at odds with us being, y’know, normal humans with normal human reflexes, eyes and nervous systems).
It’s a look that evokes thoughts of Andy Warhol’s ‘Pop Art’ phase. Simple but effective nonetheless. It makes a statement but is far from showy, more ‘blood orange’ than outrightly bold like other watches.
There is a mixed-indice layout with mostly round markers, but with three, six and nine marked out by dual baton indices and a triangle one at twelve o’clock. If we’re being picky, it feels like the elongated marker at six might have looked better at 12 instead of that triangle, which, while being fairly standard, just looks a little at odds with the rest of them here. That said, as you look at the Chroma you start to see these little quirks. Pops of personality on a watch that’s keeping a straight face.
Another slightly controversial choice is with the hand colour, with the minute hand being outlined in orange, the seconds hand (chrono-only) being mostly white with just the base being in orange, and then the hour hand being marked out in black. Again, it’ll be a matter of personal taste with that one. Non-matching hands can be quite rare but, of course, it’s very much a ‘tool watch’ thing. It’s putting legibility, and therefore usability first. This isn’t bold decision-making but rather the makers sticking to a principle. Do you want a watch designed for the job or a watch designed to just look pretty?
The hands and indices are large enough to carry a decent amount of BWG9 Swiss Super-LumiNova lume which gives the watch excellent legibility at night that lasts well too.
This all sits underneath a double-domed AR-coated K1 crystal. It only sits a little above the bezel but it creates attractive distortions like the Predator at a fashion show. Of course, K1 isn’t sapphire. It’s a heat-treated version of mineral glass, offering scratch resistance somewhere between mineral glass and sapphire, but with the upside that it helps keep the cost down, and so far it has survived being reviewed by me and also Chris AKA The Budget Watchman, and it is holding up very well.
Surrounding the dial is a black tachymeter fixed bezel (perfect for if you need to pretend you’re measuring an F1 car’s speed in the 1950s) with printed white markers. This is PVD-coated for a bit of extra durability and scratch resistance. Again, it’s all pretty functional, but the deep black and the bezel and the neat white print of the markers is a good look.
The case is possibly the coolest element of the whole watch. It’s a study in subtlety with sweeping, shallow and shapely curves and finished with a brushed polish that doesn’t leap out at you but when you look closely, it follows the curvature of the case excellently. This is particularly true on the face of the watch with the brushing circling around the dial. It’s a cool little detail that shows that Tool Watch weren’t only focused on practicality and still had enough respect for the artistry of watchmaking.
The 38mm width (and 46.4mm lug-to-lug) combined with an all-in thickness of 12.3mm makes for a very wearable watch. These are good proportions and make for a watch remains comfortable all day. However, even on my 6.25-inch wrist, it does feel a little on the slim side. This does make for a good wearing experience though, as it’s there when you need it but neatly tucked away when you don’t. And with the bezel being quite thin, it means that the limited real estate of the front of the watch isn’t wasted. A little bezel, a lot of face. Perfect. And at just 65g, it’s a watch that could be your daily driver. All day and all night. Like me, Baby (if we’re talking about stalking eBay watch listings).
A simple, unsigned 7mm crown sits between two pushers on the side of the watch. The crown screws down, but this isn’t a dive watch, and so you’ll want to be staying above 30 meters if you’re mad enough to take this into the water. It doesn’t matter if the crown screws down if you’ve got pushers, but Tool Watch Co. actually implement screw-down crowns on every watch they make, and so it’s part of their core design principles, which is something to admire. The crown also has a good grip to it, thanks to its cog-like shape.
The pushers offer the standard chronograph control. The top pusher starts and stops that function, and the bottom resets you back to zero (or twelve, depending on your perspective) instantly. Again, it’s all about function here, but we liked the snappiness of the buttons. They click in audibly, very satisfying. And the reset position aligns excellently, something that has plagued us on other chronos that we’ve owned so it’s good to see Tool Watch Co. get it right.
These buttons operate the watch’s Seiko VK64 ‘meca-quartz’ movement. So what you get is a standard quartz-powered movement for the watch’s main operation. However, there is no second hand and so any discussion of ticks and sweeps is irrelevant. What you are getting is good accuracy (±20 seconds per month), three years of battery life and a watch that you can just pick up and then go about your day with (measuring the relative speed of vehicles as you’re prone to do). However, the chronograph function is mechanical and offers more of a sweep during its operation, beating at around three beats per second. It’s not the smoothest sweep ever, but it’s not a one-tick-per-second hand either.
The only niggle with the VK64 is that it is a date-enabled movement, and there is no date window, so that means you do get a ‘ghost date’ position on the crown that you’ll need to pull through to get to the second position where you set the time. That always feels a little cheap to us, but it’s not a big deal ultimately. This is a quartz watch after all, so you’re not going to be adjusting it all that often.
The back of the case offers no surprises. You won’t be expecting an exhibition caseback or any kind of engraved design. You just get a slightly-cushioned shape and a few specs listed out around the outside.
And finally, you get the strap. This is a simple no-fuss sailcloth but with the excellent addition of a leather lining, with makes it much more comfortable than sailcloth alone (which can sometimes be a little scratchy). It’s simple, hardwearing and has quick-release spring bars, so switching it out should work nicely. We get the feeling this watch will work well with other straps. The only branding is a simple TWCO on the clasp. The keepers are showing a little bit of wear, but are still holding their shape well, so we think this is a strap you’ll be able to rely on for a long time, and it has the benefit of feeling very light. However, it doesn’t really attempt to stand out in any way visually and is asking to be swapped out if you want to help compliment the orange dial or add any kind of luxury feel to it.
Here’s the thing with the Chroma Chronograph. It’s so unfussy, so understated that it is actually quite difficult to review. It sets out to do a job, and it does that job very well and, as we said at the start, it does it with a quiet confidence. But it does skirt a line between being fit for purpose and being a little bit safe. However, we think Tool Watch have just about landed that plane safely. In this era of brightly-coloured dials, exciting textures and showy finishes, this is a watch that goes about its business quietly and, in the end, might end up having a longer-lasting appeal than its flashier peers.
The price is currently $275 (around £208), which is a stonking bargain for such a well-considered and nicely put-together watch, and it feels like such good value for money because you honestly could just make this your one watch, if you had the sort of self-discipline that I, frankly, cannot relate to. But it really does have that feel to it. It’s not a conversation starter, but it could be a conversation ender. The next time some guy tells you about his posh Patek, hold this up and say, ‘This was 200 quid and I’m planning to be buried with it.’
And then make a ‘T’ gang sign, shout ‘Tool Watch for life, son’ and head back to the race track. Cars aren’t going to get speedometers in the next hundred years, right?
Pros:
+ Humble, understated design
+ A great case shape (with neat brushing)
+ Good value for money
+ Dial has enough personality without being showy
+ Nice and clicky pushers
+ Very comfortable
Cons:
– Ghost date position on the crown
– The 24-hour subdial always feels a little pointless to us
– 38mm size might be too small for many users
– Strap is a little unremarkable
Summary:
The Chroma Chronograph is just Tool Watch Co. doing Tool Watch Co. things. It’s one of the most intentionally-designed watches we’ve ever reviewed and it’s just a super-practical piece with a good dash of colour to help it stand out from the crowd.
JUST THE FACTS
Availability/Options: The Chroma Chronographs aren’t limited but they are made in relatively small batches and plenty of other watches by Tool Watch Co. are out of stock. So it’s probably worth nabbing one of these while you can. Aside from orange, this is also available in green, blue and pink. There is also a very cool full lume white version too.
Brand: Tool Watch Co.
Model: Chroma Chronograph
Style: Chronograph
Case Size: 38mm
Movement: Seiko VK64
Material: Stainless steel
Band Width: 20mm
Band Type: Sailcloth/leather bracelet
Price: £275