Review: TRIWA Humanium 39 Automatic

When I found this watch last summer in the museum shop of the photography museum in Tallinn, I was quite surprised. I never heard of Triwa and amidst all the other quartz watches, there was one automatic one that immediately caught my eye. It was prized at €299,- ($315,-), so I had to do some research there and then to see what was going on. Not only was I surprised to find out the amazing story behind this watch, but also that it was listed for €645,- ($680,-) on the website. So that was a no brainer! At the checkout desk there was confusion about the prize and they knocked another €100,- of the prize… So in the end I had this great watch for just over $200,-! Now let me tell you about this holiday bargain.

Triwa is a Swedish brand and stands for Transforming the Industry of Watches. They try to do this by a mix of good ideas, design principles and clever marketing. Their collection is called ‘Time for Change’ and has several sub collections, all starting with ‘Time for…’. This particular watch is of the ‘Time for Peace’ collection, and is the result of a very compelling idea and execution. Remember that last word... 

The steel used for the cases and dial in this collection is made out of a special alloy, called Humanium. Here is their explanation from their website:

“TRIWA x Humanium Metal watches come with the iconic designed solid Humanium Metal case, made completely from recycled illegal weapons. It is made with contrasting metal finishes, stamped out indexes, revolver chamber crown design and signal red details.”

And about the process:
“Illegal firearms are confiscated by local authorities in conflict torn societies, where our partner IM (Swedish Development Partner) is operational. The weapons are then being melted down by local foundries. This metal is then being bought by us and transformed into watches. Last but not least for each watch sold we give back 15% to IM and their work with victims of armed violence in the areas from which the weapons have been confiscated.”

Now we can say an awful lot about the painfully difficult process of melting gun metal into watch metal (look here and here), but the idea and design is interesting. But is it a good watch?

This watch is the only automatic one, since all the other models (34 and 39 mm.) have quartz movements. The movement is the Miyota 9015 and is good for 42 hours of power reserve. It’s a workhorse movement often used by microbrands, even though the accuracy is not great (-10/+30 sec. per day). The watch has a screw down crown, hacking seconds hand and a 10 ATM water resistance. The operation with the crown is solid

The design has a typical Scandinavian minimalistic approach. I like the stamped out Arabic numerals and indices, the red accents (the seconds hand and date wheel). Also, the polished rim of the date window (is that the right word?) stands out. The lug width is a nice 20 mm and the lug to lug is also a nice 47 mm., so these dimensions will appeal to a lot of wrists.

The (quick release) strap is made out of PET plastic bottles and is a bit stiff, so I think I will change that for another one in the future.

Overall, this is a very nice watch and a nice memory of last summer.