In the microbrand space it’s very common for brands to buy, build and combine existing wristwatch hardware from various suppliers to create their watches. While the results can be interesting and distinctive, the components themselves are rarely original. However, in just their third year of existence since their founding in 2024, Wren watches want to break out of that with a case, crystal and bracelet release system built to their own design and specification. The resulting watch is the Wren Vessel.
The core design feature of this watch doesn’t start with the case or dial like with most watches, it’s the sapphire crystal. Founder Craig Karger wanted to create a watch whose sapphire crystal formed the architectural heart of the design around which the rest of the watch was built. Acknowledging his own lack of design experience, Karger employed British watch designer Max Resnick to lead the project, who has over a decade of design experience with multiple brands including other independents such as Anoma.
With the brief of an architectural crystal, it was clear that they couldn’t use a pre-made, off the shelf crystal in one of the conventional shapes such as flat, domed or box. They had to find a manufacture willing to produce a custom design. However, initial prototypes for a facetted, curved crystal did not work. Conventionally in sapphire crystal glass design, you apply the facets and curves to the top side of the glass but leave the underside flat to provide structural integrity, but doing so creates different thicknesses of material leading to refraction and visual distortion, which was unacceptable to Wren.
The solution to avoid distortion that Wren came up with is to make the sapphire crystal the same thickness throughout by applying the reversed, mirror facets and curves from the top side of the glass to the bottom side. Upon this request, many manufactures backed out of the project for fear of poor structural stability in the crystal. This only emboldened Wren as they saw that they had hit upon a new design concept that could form the backbone of their creation if they could find a supplier willing to take on the challenge. Eventually they changed tactic and stopped approaching sapphire glass manufactures and instead approached a sapphire case specialist who accepted the project.
With a supplier found, the resulting crystal has a distinctive tonneau shape with curved facets that arc downwards to meet the edge of the watch case at 12 and 6 o’clock. It creates a very open, airy dial where the negative space is as much a part of the design as the physical aspects of the case and dial. The case itself is made from 904L stainless steel with a tonneau shape built around the crystal that leads into an integrated bracelet. For size, the case measures 39mm x 39mm x 10.6mm. The bracelet can be swapped to a rubber strap using Wren’s quick release system that they also designed from scratch rather than using existing hardware.
Beneath the vault of the sapphire crystal is a choice of two dial options. The first of which is a steel sunray brushed version with an aqua green seconds hand (a reference to their Diver 38 Aqua wristwatch). It’s very clean and minimalist, letting the case and crystal do all the talking. Second is a meteorite version with the signature Widmanstätten pattern of striations, the case and crystal becoming a broad canvas that enhances the dial. Both versions feature a minute and hour scale on the peripheral flange.
Powering the Wren Vessel is the Sellita SW300-1 automatic movement with 56-hour power reserve. It’s equipped with a custom rotor in the same shade of aqua as the seconds hand, completing the coloured accents for this model. The use of Swiss movements like the Sellita is a core part of Wren’s identity, being American Designed and Swiss Made.
For pricing and availability, both versions of the Wren Vessel are limited to 150 pieces each. The sunray brushed dial version is priced at $2,900 (approx. £2,200) and the meteorite is $3,400 (approx. £2,600). For a young brand like Wren who have only produced a vintage inspired diver previously, it’s a huge leap to create such an original design. It’s watches like this that make the independent scene of watchmaking so exciting at the moment. Pre-order is open now with delivery expected in Q1 2027.
Price and Specs:
More details at Wren.
