A thousand-pound watch for five hundred, with lume that's staggeringly bad: the Borealis Scorpionfish V2
Venomous spines, bros
After an extended break I'm back with a truly worthy timepiece and one of my absolute favourites: the Borealis Scorpionfish V2. Named after a highly venomous fish from the Indo-Pacific with mucus-coated spines that can do devastating damage to the hands of any poor soul who meets one. Carlos at Borealis has done an excellent job here. It's not entirely complete, but it does not disappoint.
Absolutely proper. Look at the quality. This costs around £500 and it's engineered so well it looks like something that probably costs over a thousand pounds.
Zero seconds. Zero.
Inside is the Miyota 9015: slim, higher beat, 28,800, look at that sweep, smoother than your average Seiko. Comparable to the Swiss 2824-2. And this one has run at zero seconds deviation over the 24 hours I've been recording it. I'm not just saying that for the review. My Helson has the same movement and doesn't run like this. This watch has literally not lost a single second in one day. I've never had a watch do that. Freaky.
Rugged beast, perfect finishing
Look how handsome she is. A rugged beast of a watch, and the finishing, the brushwork, everything is perfect. 42.5 by 49, 14.95 mm thick, 24 mm lugs, which is unusual, tapering to 20 at the clasp. The screw-down crown is exquisitely done, slotted and engraved Borealis. Domed sapphire with inner AR. Concentric brushing on top, brushed flanks, and a mirror-polished bevel all the way round the case, which they didn't need to do, but they did. And no pathetic spring bars: hex screws. This will not fall off your wrist under any circumstances. Absolutely impeccable.
It's a blatant homage to the ZRC Grands Fonds 300, the French Navy diver from 1964 to 1982, minus that six o'clock crown. 300 metres, a hidden helium escape valve so there's no ugly valve on the flank, double Viton O-rings, and a mermaid on the screw-down caseback.
The bits they got wrong
The bezel: 120 clicks, buttery, sapphire, loomed, lines up perfectly. Pepsi? Coke? Tell me in the comments. Lovely, lovely bezel. But the lume is Swiss BGW9, and it is staggeringly bad. A bluish hue, pathetically dull. If you've ever had a Seiko or an OSD you'll know. A real shame.
This is also the date version, and I prefer the no-date. And the bracelet, highest quality, screwed links, though one of the screws broke when I resized it, comes with a butterfly clasp. On a diver's watch. The V1 had a perfectly wonderful ratcheting extension. Why they did away with it is beyond me. On a hot day, you're stuck. Size it with room to swell.
Verdict
No watch is ever complete, and this one isn't. But it is truly a freaky piece, and one of my absolute favourites. Stay freaky, keep all your feathers, and never give up.
