The Helium Sea Ace Limited Edition Brings Aquatic Adventures to the Wrist

While I’ve never been able to successfully stand up on a surfboard, I’ve always seen the appeal of the sport. The exhilaration of searching for the perfect wave and finding the balance between the raw power of nature and your body in order to ride it out in effortless style. Look at the famous picture of Gabriel Medina from the Paris Olympics this year and you could believe that surfing is a superpower. Why is surfing relevant? Well, the Sea Ace Limited Edition from British watch designer Helium is designed to be the ultimate aquatic sports watch and diver.

Starting with the case, it measures 42mm in diameter, which is very typical of a dive watch as it has to be large enough to provide a legible display in low light conditions underwater. In terms of case construction the Sea Ace is pretty unique. It has an inner case made from steel with a tough DLC coating that’s then further protected by an outer case made from high strength high temperature fibreglass.

This material was originally developed for use in high temperature environments such as close to car engines, so it’s more than sufficient for withstanding the power of the Hawaiian sun while you’re catching some waves. On top of that it provides the Sea Ace with 200m water resistance, perfect for surfing.

Aesthetically, it’s a very bold and sporty design with a chunky bezel and pronounced crown guards. The black colour also contrasts superbly with the green luminous numerals and markings on the unidirectional dive timer bezel and main display. The dial itself follows the California arrangement of numerals with Roman numerals along the top and Arabic numerals on the bottom separated by triangle and rectangle markers at the cardinal points.

This layout was popularised during WWII so that you can read it easily at a glance from any angle. Essentially, while you’re being buffeted about by the water and going ass over tea kettle in the waves it should be pretty easy to read the time no matter the orientation of yourself or the watch. Plus, there’s the fact that the name California also conjures images of palm beaches along the Golden Coast.

Housed inside the Helium Sea Ace is the Miyota OS 2415 – 20A quartz movement. Being quartz helps ensure accuracy as well as limiting the risk to delicate mechanical parts in the maelstrom of the sea on top of being accessible. It would be nice to a mechanical number in the future. The movement is protected by a solid caseback, which is decorated with an engraving of the Union Jack because Helium Watches are based here in the UK. So perhaps the surfing you have in mind should be more Cornwall and Devon than Hawaii and Cali. It’s priced at £495 during the Black Friday period with a 30% discount in a limited edition of 250 pieces.

More details at Helium.

​Oracle Time 

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