One of the fun aspects of microbrand and independent designs are the interesting niches they are able to explore. From firefighting with William Wood to the historical artwork, buildings and culture of Venice with Venezianico. Of course, one of the most significant features of Venetian life is their relationship with the Mediterranean Sea that surrounds them, a theme Venezianico have returned to multiple times. Their latest aquatic creation is the Venezianico Nereide Corallo, their first watch featuring a natural coral dial.
Coral, aside from being intrinsically linked to seas and oceans, has a special place in the history of Venice. In the late Renaissance period Giambattista Tiepolo painted a famous fresco called Neptune Offering Gifts to Venice, showing the Roman god of the sea gifting coral to the city. The material was used in jewellery and decoration due to its rich colour and hard properties when exposed to air. Those properties that made it popular centuries ago are just as relevant today, as evidenced by the dial of the Nereide Corallo.
It’s specifically made from a mosaic of red Madrepora coral, produced by assembling fragments of the natural material into a block that’s then cut with a waterjet into the thin disks for each dial. Due to the organic shapes of the coral, no two dials are identical, adding a sense of individuality and rarity to each piece. At a glance it makes from a swirling reddish-orange dial but up close you can really appreciate the intricate textures and mosaic-like structure of the display. It’s really captivating.
The layout of the display is otherwise the same as the rest of the Nereide collection with a peripheral minute scale and oversize hour markers coated with lume. There’s also a date window at 3 o’clock so you can suddenly remember you’ve missed your dentist appointment while you’re 200m underwater. Or if you remember you have a dentist appointment before you get into the water, you can use the tungsten dive timer bezel to calculate your immersion time so you know when to get out (or more conventionally know when your oxygen tank will be depleted, which is slightly more important than missing an appointment).
At 42mm in steel its comfortably within the traditional bounds of dive watch proportions. Protected by the case is the Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement with Côtes de Genève finishing. It’s the signature entry-level Swiss mechanical movement, making the watch nice and accessible. It has a regular price of €1,295 on rubber strap and a pre-order price of €1,035 (approx. £887/£1,110).
Pre-orders for the Venezianico Nereide Corallo open on 28th April at 2pm BST. You can also come and meet the Venezianico team and get hands-on with some of their creations at Hands On Horology in London on 14th June, tickets available now.
Price and Specs:
More details at Venezianico.
I have ordered the Corallo watch. It is to me a stunning time piece. It has a good purchase price too. I kept the original two piece strap that came with it. It enhanced the coral face.
As for the people who expressed environmental concerns, which I understand and have concerns myself. My questions to myself about the coral watch face. Were would the CEO of Venezianico wanted to cause environmental upheaval by having coral freshly cut? My answer was . No. Would this company cause wilful destruction to the ever changing marine life in our Seas and Oceans. Answer NO. Would the CEO authorise. The destruction of coral that is made up of many mineral. It would be bad publicity and would most be the end of the Venezianico watch company.
I believe this old coral that they are using. This was most probably cut prior to any bans or protocols brought in by Governments. I still think it is a stunning time piece and would buy it again. It is a unique item. The watch face will never be found anywhere in the world like it. It is more than just a one off.
It’s beautiful and seems like a good value proposition, actually. But any actual scuba diver knows that coral is a living creature and one that is in decline globally due to various factors.
For it to have a natural colour, someone has had to go and break off pieces of a living organism and cut it up just to look pretty on your wrist.
This is the polar opposite of what other brands have done with regards to sustainable divers (e.g. Seiko collab with PADI etc).
A very attractive watch, but, yet another dive watch. The use of coral for the dial gives beauty to arguably one of the main features of a watch, but would look more attractive on a dress watch. The question does need to be addressed about the use of natural coral rather than an alternative in these days of awareness of the planet, but each to their own boundaries.
Despite the dive watch format, the orange rubber (elastomeric) strap is well designed to blend with the lugs and then taper away to a more gentle form, very well thought out.
Great price, but the limited run of only 500 pieces, is truly “limiting”.