Luminox's Rugged, Ultralight Swiss Watch Honors One of the World's Harshest Landscapes
The brand expands its partnership with an elite search-and-rescue team via a watch honoring the organization's home country.
Luminox
Published 4 hours ago
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Settlers first reached the untamed shores of Iceland all the way back in 874 AD. Since then, the country has become synonymous with legendary beauty and extreme harshness — a dichotomy that has also defined its people.
For years, Luminox has partnered with Iceland’s Search and Rescue team, known as ICE-SAR, on a collection of watches designed to withstand the challenging shores and seas of the small northern nation.
Now, they’ve paired up once again on a timepiece that pays tribute to the island country’s history, called the Luminox ICE SAR 1080 Series XL.1095.
Icelandic timepiece
As has been the case with this watch collection from the outset, this watch is built extremely tough. It has to be, as ICE-SAR takes them into some of the harshest conditions on the planet.
To ensure it can survive, it gets a Carbonox case — an extremely durable, carbon-based material exclusive to Luminox. Not only is it highly rugged — resistant to impacts, scratches, chemicals, temperature changes, and more — but it’s also extremely lightweight, helping remove some of the burden of its 45-millimeter size.
Luminox
That case is paired with an IP Black 316L stainless steel screw-on case back and a black rubber strap. That strap, however, is finished a bit uniquely — while the base is black rubber, it has a red fabric overlay that matches the color surrounding the dial.
Altogether, the watch is a sight to behold. It also lives up to its namesake, as is to be expected of Luminox’s ICE-SAR lineup. And yet, it still has much more to offer beyond just the aforementioned build.
Luminox
Iceland time
Inside the watch’s case, users will find a Swiss-made Ronda 515 quartz movement, a mechanism renowned for its reliability and affordability. That movement helps propel the watch’s hands, as well as its date window.
The dial features both 12- and 24-hour markers, making it a simple process to keep track of the time. And it features a pulsometer — a scale used to help measure heart rates (extremely important for search-and-rescue objectives.) It also has a unidirectional dive timer bezel for operations below the ocean’s surface.
Luminox
The dial also features another staple of Luminox’s offerings: lumed dial and hand markers that provide illumination for a whopping 25 years in low light (and they do not require a light source to function.) The dial also has its own GitD markings.
As you can see, this watch is more than fitting for ICE-SAR teams and makes a bold statement piece for explorers and adventurers alike.
Luminox
Pricing and availability
The Luminox ICE SAR 1080 Series XL.1095 watch is now available on the brand’s site for $825 apiece. However, only 874 will ever be made — a number chosen to reflect the year settlers first arrived on Icelandic shores — and once they’re gone, they’ll be gone forever.
Luminox
Luminox ICE SAR 1080 Series XL.1095
Specs
Case Size 45mm
Movement Ronda 515, Swiss quartz
Water Resistance 200m
