What is the first thing you notice when you first put a watch on? Is it the weight? Its dimensions? The way the dial plays with the light? Whether you feel the rotor wobble when you do your first wrist roll with your new watch? Or perhaps how the lume is so generously applied that it instantly charges when the luminescent compound sees a first beam of light? In my experience I generally notice the overall design first, and almost instantly judge whether or not I like it. However, what sells me is how it wears. No amount of sparkles and glitter will affect how well or not a watch feels on the wrist. And although I know, on average, my ideal dimensions, sometimes I get a surprise and find a larger watch to be as pleasurable to wear as a smaller one. 

So the wearing comfort and experience is paramount to how much I will connect with a watch. And sometimes I hear very good things about a timepiece and I can only take people’s word at face value since I haven’t seen the watch in the metal. And then the whispers and stories of Clemence found their way through the Gulf Stream and narrow mountain paths to my (virtual) doorstep, and I was curious to know more because at first glance, their collections didn’t speak to me as strongly as they should have, and it wasn’t until I bumped into Tom Clemence in a certain Swiss town—like two gentlemen do–that I finally understood people’s praises. Tom was wearing a mustard yellow Munro which I briefly handled for a few seconds which were enough to formulate a definitive opinion: it’s good, very good.  

Specifications

With that cute story now out of the way, let’s talk about the Munro Cairn. This model is so named after Scotland’s highest mountain range and one—you—would be right to think that the Munro is a tool watch. The brand categorizes it as being a field watch and I would agree: it only tells the time and is very legible. And it is built to perform well in all terrains thanks to having, for example, a 7.5mm screw-down crown and case-back, 150 meters of water resistance, a box sapphire crystal with eight (8!) layers of inner anti-reflective coating (I can testify in front of Congress that the crystal is as clear as an invisible force field,) ten (10!) layers of SuperLuminova BGW9 (I can be called again to testify), and a premium Miyota 9039 caliber which ticks at 4Hz and comes with 41 hours of power reserve. I could stop here but I won’t. 

What is absolutely amazing with this watch—and which I will unashamedly gush over many times in this review—is the quality of the manufacturing and the high, high, high standard at which each metal square micron of this watch is finished. Although I’m a bracelet “kind-of-guy,” 99% of the time I find them uncomfortable to wear for more than a few hours. Even those on $2,000+ Swiss Made watches from brands that are located in the U.S. of A. which worked so hard to mimic the quality and softness of a Rolex Oyster bracelet but which can’t. The bracelet on the Clemence Munro Cairn is ultra soft to the touch, tapers nicely from 20mm at the lugs to 16mm at the clasp, where each link is sturdily attached to the one next to it but which can freely articulate. All of this goodness is due to impeccable satin-like brushing and the polished, rounded bevels around each link. 

You really have to experience it in the metal to understand how good it is. And I’m not even sure the bracelet is what others gush over. But whatever. 

Design 

The Clemence Munro Cairn is more than just an excellent bracelet. It is also endowed with a design language of its own which is neither too classic nor too outrageous, calmly travelling between these two realms, unbothered. The word “Cairn” refers to the color of the dial, a sublime light, stone grey hue enhanced by a vertical brushed finish, probably referring to the manmade piles of stones. The dial is complemented by two lines crossing in the middle (I forgot what those are called) which adds a little something of playfulness and tactical essence to this ensemble. (Note: the Munro is coming back in all its classic colors—Ridgeline, Spindrift, Highland Amber, and Pitch Black—as well as four additional ones—Juniper, Tay Salmon, Ridgeline Dusk and this Cairn.) If you know me you know I love gray dials so I feel this one is for me. 

But enough talking about the colors because there are many other things we must discuss. Still looking at the dial we find an alternation of Arabic numerals for the even hours and batons for the odd ones. All markers are applied and complemented by polished surrounds and filled to the brim with BGW9. Tom did a superb job balancing the size of the two types of markers which is not a given—trust me—and to further give the handset the right proportions. All together the dial is very legible and pleasing to look at which are two amazing attributes to have for a field watch. And the hour hand has a neat tripartite construction which holds the lume in place whilst the minute hand has a more traditional needle-shaped profile. The seconds hand, for its part, is razor-thin and equipped with a diamond-shaped lumed element. 

Lastly, the case. First things first, it measures 37.5mm in diameter, 45mm lug-to-lug, 10mm thick (including the crystal,) and comes with a 20mm lug width. You can already feel where I’m going with this, don’t you? Yes, it sits perfectly well on my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist thanks to having great dimensions and for having a flat case-back. The side profile is very elegant because Tom sandwiched the horizontally-brushed flanks by two polished chamfers, both running to the extremities of the narrow lugs. The effect of such design and construction is that the case appears thinner as the bottom chamfers mirror your skin. I have rarely seen this before and I don’t know why. The fixed bezel displays a brushed-polished-brushed dance which further makes the case look elegant and smart. 

The Heart of the Matter

A little over 1,000 words later, you may have gotten the hint that I do have a thing for the Clemence Munro Cairn. I am, as Al Pacino’s Vincent Hannah character said in (my favorite movie) Heat, over-fucking-whelmed with its superior and superb manufacturing and finishing. And so it is now a good time to tell you about how much this beauty of a field watch retails for which will leave you flaggerbasted: £499/$617 USD on a rubber strap, £575/$711 USD on the bracelet. Ok, I’m already hearing some of you watch nerds claiming that you can find better spec’ed field watches for half that price, but what you won’t get at that price—I guarantee you—is the original design and superb finishing. Say what you must about the best of Aliexpress brands, you do have to pay a bit more in order to get more. 

But the Clemence Munro Cairn is more than a fabulous case and bracelet, and the bespoke hour hand design and the really good spec sheet. What this watch represents is the sheer dedication and ruthless problem-solving capabilities of micro/independent watch brand owners to make better watches than any storied and heritage European and Asian brands can. With brands such as Clemence you and I can strap very good tool watches to our wrists, ones which we can confidently do all sorts of boring or crazy stuff with, and which also—bonus—look amazing and feel great on the wrist. If you’ve read Mainspring before you will know that I tend to reach for the easy metaphors which typically involve Sir Edmund Hillary or James Bond or Rolex or Tudor to make what I believe are intelligent comparisons. But I won’t dare doing that today. 

So, if you’re looking for a good field/tool watch, look no further than the Clemence Munro. Period. 

Conclusion 

Ah yes, I shall make an official conclusion to my endless horological meanderings. Hum hum. if you are indeed the type of watch enthusiast who appreciates the work of independent brands and who wants to support them, and if you are also looking for a good rounder watch you can wear everyday to go anywhere and do whatever, you should take a closer look at the Clemence Munro in all of its color variations. The brand also made a cool-looking diver called the Photic Diver which is sold out and won’t probably come back again. But now you are aware of two models from the brand and can get a good idea of what’s coming next.

Thanks for reading.