Akrone - History, Models and Owners' Reviews

The C-02 Héritage nobat piqued my interest because this brand has its offices a few blocks from mine. As a lover of diving watches and their history, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms really spoke to me and Akrone did not hide its inspiration. In addition to the release of the Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms, it was obvious to get closer to this model with the France Ebauche movement. After trying the watch on their premises, I placed an order a few weeks later and came to pick it up on site. Two very pleasant moments, people who talk about their passion for watches, the history of their brand and their work. We did not count the time, it was very instructive. The watch itself is very typical, it does not hide the fact that it is a tool watch. For the moment, it has been the most expensive watch they have sold, because of the movement stamped in the case. It is very present on the wrist, not so much by its diameter (41), but for its thickness (14.4), mainly due to the domed glass. Its fully brushed case does not bear any marks for the moment, although I wear it almost every day during the week. It is solid, precise, has character and is from Nantes! Perfect? Not on all points. After the honeymoon is over, we always find little things to criticize. If I had to name them. They would be bracelets without much added value, the metal is too imposing and the rubber a little coarse, the balls are really huge. I put a black tropic from Joseph Bonnie on it and there you go, it was perfect! The lume is really not its strong point, not powerful and very little enduring. We can also criticize the hands which look a little cheap and which are too long and hide the railway, less easy to adjust because of the domed glass. Important information that was not on their site, it is an automatic winding, but unidirectional, that is to say that the watch is wound, but only in one direction. Which induces a loud noise of balance when it turns in the void. Personally, I like it! It is my watch in daily during the week and it is set to +1.5 s/d, which is perfect. I am patiently waiting for the new C-02 39 mm which will be released in summer 2025! A silver steel case, a black dial, a not too domed glass, a crown protector, bracelets perhaps simpler less technical and a thickness around 11 mm, that would be perfection.

A regular vacationer in Loire-Atlantique and a sea fishing enthusiast, I share with you my impressions of this Akrone C-02 Mareograph… not only useful for fishermen, divers, surfers, underwater hunters and other shore fishermen who roam the Breton coasts according to the tides… And yes, Nantes and Loire-Atlantique are in Brittany, no offense to some ;-) A watch transports us with a message and I share with you what this Akrone evokes for me! The first impression is very good with a box, admittedly useless, in which the watch and its bracelets are located. Let's start with… ➡️ CASE The case looks from afar like a Skin-Diver case typical of cheap diving watches from the 60s… That of the Akrone C-02 is much more interesting than that and especially surprising at first glance. Although its diameter is 39mm, the watch gives the feeling of being more imposing and at the same time smaller! The diameter of the bezel in 41mm widens the watch and its width impacts the dimensions of the dial which seems reduced and gives the sensation of a smaller watch. It is very successful in terms of balance and proportions. From a more numerical point of view, in addition to its 39mm, the 316L Steel case is 14.40mm thick with a 48mm lug to lug, which sits well on my wrist neither chicken nor Thanos. The model that the brand sent me is equipped with the open case back allowing to see the good finishes of the France Ebauches caliber. It's good to see a caliber but I only realized by chance that with the case back open, the 30 ATM water resistance was reduced to 10 ATM... The brand surely has its reasons for offering it but it seems to me to be a false good idea that disturbs the positioning of the watch, and that could play tricks on its owners. ➡️ DIAL At first glance, the dial of this Maréograph is quite simple and goes straight to the point to facilitate the reading of the plot indexes as on many divers... We concentrate and we notice a gray sunray finish quite original for a diver and a circular groove bringing depth to the whole. But the most interesting is elsewhere, in the measurement of the maximum water resistance, the kind of small detail that seduces me... Akrone chooses to display the water resistance in Meters with its exact conversion in Feet. So we would have been lied to! A diver waterproof to 300 meters is not waterproof to 1,000 feet but only to 984 feet… A nice snub, one could say, to the leading brands with their 1,000 feet ;-) The luminescent treatment really pops as you can see in the photos… It will surely please even if the practical utility is low unless you are a diver or freediver, which is unfortunately no longer my case! For purists, it is the Superluminova BGW9 - as for the bezel… The YouTube channel "Chronoflexion" offers a very good video on the different luminescent treatments. The hands are original and stand out from the hands seen and reviewed on many divers. The design of the Hours / Minutes tip is narrower than the body of the hand, and adds a magnifying effect to the hands. Coupled with the high-performance luminescent treatment, it forms an almost perfect set for a diver... Purists would surely have liked a more imposing second hand and surely consistent with the vintage look and the need for safety when diving, provided by a very readable second hand. ➡️ GLASSES Without a doubt one of the greatest successes of this Maréograph... Two glasses for the price of one! One very original graphically illustrates the rising or falling tides with a combination of blue and green colors. The brand tells us that it was inspired by the Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer, well known to subscribers of the YouTube channel "Dialicious" where one of the rare watch collectors presented a very vintage model in an episode of Duel Time. It would be logical to mention a source of inspiration for a "Heritage" collection, but the comparison stops there, as this Seafarer and other watches with a Tide complication are complex in terms of caliber. The look is fantastic, with another insert specifying the direction of the tide with two cardinal indexes replaced by the High Tide and Low Tide indicators! The whole thing works well and is rather fun for a 120-click bezel... Too bad, 60 clicks seem to me to be much more suited to diving and decompression tables that calculate the duration of the stops in minutes and not in 1/2 minutes. The brand is certainly investing in a shiny sapphire bezel - too much? - which perhaps distances the model from its diving vocation and its "Heritage" positioning Aesthetically very successful, it should be remembered that this bezel only allows you to set the time of the High or Low tide once a day. If you are a sea fisherman like me and the low tide is at 2 p.m., you can place the low tide index at 2 p.m. and visualize until 2 p.m. the arrival of the interesting moment to go fishing at rising tide! It may be complicated to understand if you are not concerned by the subject, but there is no Tide watch complication in this Maréograph. You will have to make this adjustment every day because the tide times depend on several parameters and in particular the Moon. A lunar calendar mechanism is necessary to allow you to set your watch only once to know the tide times that follow the 12h25mm cycle between two high or low tides and not 12 hours. For your information, mechanical watches integrating this complication are rare, the Seafarer is one of them with a caliber from the Heuer Solunar. Other brands like Corum and the Admiral’s Cup Tide or Eberhard with its Mareoscope have tried it in the past without much success. Yema also launched with Olivier Mori a model with this type of complication at nearly €10,000. ➡️ CROWN The crown is generally very successful, very easy to handle and grip. Its design is unique without being exceptional… It is completely in line with the neovintage positioning of the Heritage collection. Perhaps we would have liked a slightly less prominent crown? It was a guest on the channel and former motocross rider who pointed out to me when seeing this Mareograph on my wrist - he was wearing his GMT-Master Pepsi with which he raced at the time (true) - that he wore his watch on his right wrist to prevent the crown from getting into his hand during a violent handlebar. What connection do you ask me? Well, Destro models exist in particular - and not only - for this... Perhaps a future option to explore for our friends from Nantes at Akrone. ➡️ GLASS Who says Neo vintage says double domed glass! Well done Akrone on this point even if readability may suffer. Depending on the angle of your gaze, the hands deform impressively, blending well with the swirl sensation provided by the two-tone bezel. However, this increases the height of the flange, increasing the feeling of thickness of the watch. Perfect for a sporty atmosphere and less for a "casual" atmosphere, particularly offered with the steel bracelet. With this magnifying glass effect, we understand better why the minute hand is longer than usual... another interesting little detail to note. One more... ➡️ CALIBER This is the big new feature at Akrone that has accustomed us mainly to Japanese calibers - Seiko or Miyota in particular - but not only. The brand has chosen France Ebauches with its Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date caliber that keeps all its promises. I tested it with the OneOf Accuracy - an acoustic measuring tool - and the caliber meets expectations in all positions with a daily drift of less than 6 seconds! Bravo for this bold choice which is, a priori, only the beginning... The brand apparently intends to explore the possibility of having them certified by the Besançon Observatory with the Viper hallmark created in 1909. This certification has certainly lost its reputation in the face of the COSC and more recently METAS, but the choice seems strategic for Akrone to promote French heritage. Great prospects in sight to support the French watchmaking revival through the historical elements of its heritage. Well decorated and visible with the case back open - be careful of the water resistance reduced to 10 ATM - if you choose this option - the FE caliber has a very present sound. If you don't see or touch the watch, you could hear the oscillating weight of a Valjoux 7750 chronograph caliber... I chose this comparison with a caliber well known to collectors, with flawless robustness, to remind you that noise and performance of a caliber are not contradictory! ➡️ BRACELETS Here is a brand that is making efforts on its bracelet offering. No less than 3 possibilities are proposed. Tropic, Rubber and Steel. The Tropic is the simplest and yet the one I preferred. The steel is of good quality even if I have only worn it a little but its style, halfway between grains of rice and the jubilee, does not stick sufficiently to the spirit of the watch. Some will see it as a way of taming a sports watch... personally I think that this aesthetic is questionable. Perhaps I am influenced by the diving extension that is mounted on both this steel bracelet and the rubber. It is a beautiful achievement of style, a plus for a diver but if we know well that nobody - or almost - will use it! The ergonomics of the extension is a little aggressive visually and to the touch... Changing the bracelet can gain in simplicity, watchmaking tools will not be useless to frequently change bracelets and switch from Rubber very well integrated into the case to Steel or Tropic bracelet ➡️ PRICE The Akrone C-02 Heritage Mareograph is offered at the price of €1,190 on a black Tropic bracelet with the Steel bracelet option offered for €60. If you opt for the open case back when ordering, your Akrone C-02 will only be waterproof to 100 Meters and 328 Feet… Note that the watches are guaranteed for 3 years, one year more than the market standards in this price range… Yet another extra at Akrone 👍 ➡️ ANALYSIS The Akrone Maréographe is one of the 4 variations of the C-02 collection… A well-positioned model in both the literal and figurative senses. Its beautiful presence on the wrist, its Neo-vintage look, which is not particularly my cup of tea, is convincing. The brand has succeeded in moving upmarket with a multitude of details, options and attentions - such as the watch set in a perfectly geometric way at 10 hours 10 minutes and 30 seconds - making the whole thing very attractive from the opening of the imposing presentation box. The brand is undoubtedly growing with 4 very different models (including Akrone C-02 No Bat, Akrone C-02 164 Brasses, Akrone C-02 Décompression) offering different dials, bezels and even hands in an identical Case + Caliber duo. Perfection does not exist, the brand will have to confirm this move upmarket with their future iterations. I am eagerly awaiting the progress towards the Viper Seal Chronometer certification... Be careful, however, not to offer too much, with too many options, in order to focus on the essentials. The message, always the message… 😎 My “Mood Board” for this Akrone C-02 Heritage Mareograph Movie: Noyade Interdite (1978) with Philippe Noiret and Guy Marchand Car: Peugeot 504 Break 4x4 Dangel Music: Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple Location: Pouliguen marina (France) All technical specifications on this page XS

Passionate about divers, this C-02 seduced me with its hyper originality marked by its unique bezel, its circular brushed dial (the brand logo is great and the colorful C-02 inscription gives a touch of pep), and by its beautiful France Ebauches movement (visible on mine because I chose the "openworked background" configuration) This "heritage" series remains however very technical with its brushed case which inspires the robustness expected on a tool watch. I find that the whole gives this 100% French watch a feeling of reliability, originality and dynamism, while remaining sober and discreet. This Marégraphe is in my opinion the coolest of the series.