Scottish Microbrand Clemence have revisited their debut collection for a Mark Two update featuring new colour schemes and a completely re-engineered case. It’s the Clemence MKII Photic, available for pre-order starting tomorrow, November 26th. Without further ado, let’s dive into the details.
Starting with the case, it’s the same overall style as the original, with brushed lugs and a knurled crown for good grip. However, Clemence have improved their assembly techniques since 2021, including the procurement of custom tools allowing them to improve the tolerances of their watches. What that means in practical terms is that they’ve been able to reduce the thickness to 9.9mm (10.5mm including crystal) from 10.7mm. A small but meaningful increase in wearability and one that makes this among the slimmest 200m divers in its class – a Seiko Prospex with 200m water resistance such as the SRPL11K1 by comparison is typically around 12.3mm thick.
The case is also made from 316L and the bezel ring is made from 904L stainless steel with a coating that increases the hardness up to 1,000 Vickers, 5x harder than standard steel. That’s paired with a sapphire insert uni-directional diving bezel to pair that durability with utility. There are also more colours of bezel available than the previous black and blue editions with the addition of a vibrant orange on one of the colourways.
Speaking of which, the colours that are available are: Shoal light warm grey with slate grey bezel, Photic blue and black, Kraken black and orange, Nemo orange and black and Moray black with a slate grey bezel. It’s well documented at this point that orange is my favourite colour, so I am naturally drawn to the Kraken and Nemo models the most. Of the two I find myself leaning towards the Kraken as it’s the more unusual and striking of the two with its orange bezel (also a touch more accessible than Omega’s recent orange bezel Planet Ocean). While orange dials also have a strong tradition in dive watches thanks to brands like Doxa, the high contrast of the black and white display of the Kraken is tough to beat in terms of legibility.
The dial layout of the Clemence Photic MKII is largely unchanged compared to the original collection. Lume coated bar indexes with 12 and 6 o’clock Arabic numerals provide excellent clarity even in low light conditions. It also has the characteristic double minute scale, one around the edge of the dial and one in the centre, making it even easier to read at a glance. While it’s definitely a dedicated tool watch display, paired with the slimness of the case, it makes for quite a classy design, especially in the more pared back colour schemes like Shoal and Moray that are ideal for the office as well as adventure.
Powering the revamped collection is the Miyota 9039 automatic movement, which is also the same movement used in the original collection, meaning a 42-hour power reserve. The fact that the movement is the same is what shows that the updates to the case really do come from Clemence’s improved assembly experience and better tools that are capable working to finer tolerances, as there have been no significant mechanical changes.
The Clemence Photic MKII is available for pre-order at £600 on steel bracelet or £525 on rubber strap starting from 26th November. Delivery is expected to begin in February 2026. After the pre-order period, the standard price of collection increases by £50 on both strap options to £650 and £575 respectively. At that price they’re a versatile GADA (go anywhere, do anything) watch, which the Clemence founder put to the test himself by taking them on dives and cold weather expeditions while completing his advanced open-water diver certification.
Price and Specs:
More details at Clemence.
