The chamfer then features a compass index, with N, E, S, W at the poles and dots every 22.5 degrees. I’m a bit less of a fan of this index. While I see how it works with the story of the watch, it’s uses are highly limited (especially without a 24-hour hand) and the oddly placed 22.5 degree marks don’t align or coordinate with the time, so at a glance they can cause confusion. In an ideal world (where I get everything I ask for) one of the indexes would be dual-time, and the other would be a minutes/elapsed counter.

The six different styles are each named for a different mountain (a nice touch), and of the group we tried out the blue Everest and lume-dialed Eiger. The blue is particularly nice, with a matte finish and a tone that just touches on teal. It’s a subdued hue that looks great against the matte case. This model features the two-tone lume with blue lume on the numerals and hands and green lume for the rest. The Eiger is an outlier of the series as it’s the only all-lume model. The white dial with black markers and black bezel looks very cool, coming off more aggressive than the Everest variety. I’ve never been a huge fan of all-lume dials, but given the concept of the watch, there is a solid use case for it here.

The Expedition wore very nicely on my 7-inch wrist, fitting well and remaining comfortable. As an all around sports watch, I think they found a nice balance of ruggedness and wearability. It’s also a slick looking watch with just the right amount of boldness from the dial. It’s readable at a glance, sporty and looks great with jeans. The Expedition is fitted with a 20mm canvas strap that is pretty beefy, too. The canvas is heavily padded—it’s likely wrapped around leather—and features eyelets on the sizing hole and leather backing. I was glad to see that they went with something different for the factory strap than leather or nylon. Obviously, both would look great, but they are also likely what you’ll add after, with this strap being a unique option to start.

So, yeah, I’m a big fan of what Boldr did with the Expedition. I often find “adventure” watches appealing as when they are designed well, they sort of cover all of the sport watch bases, but end up with an aesthetic that I just relate to more than stricter sport watches or tool divers. Boldr balances form and function here well, coming out with something stylish, but purposeful. And with the six varieties, there’s likely one that will suit your specific tastes. With a Sellita SW200 inside and a price tag of $599, it’s an exceptional value—and at $389 through Kickstarter, well, it’s extremely tempting.

For more, check out Boldr Supply