HORIZON WATCHES Pilgrim Blue Ocean

A SUPER-COMPRESSOR STYLE DIVER

The Pilgrim is the continuation of the Jules Verne story that has been the inspiration for Horizon Watches’ designs. First published in 1878, Un Capitaine de Quinze Ans (A Captain at Fifteen) is an adventure that follows the voyages of Pilgrim, a whaler, across the Pacific. The protagonist is a fifteen year-old crew who is tasked to be the captain of the ship when disaster strikes. Imagine being fifteen and the fate of the ship you are on is handed over to you. In Jules Verne’s universe, that is a recipe for an action-packed adventure. As the story unfolds, one can find common life themes such as bravery, sufferings and fights for freedom.

The story that inspires Horizon Watches’ Pilgrim pans out mostly on water. Thus, a diver was deemed most apt for the collection. This time, a Super-Compressor style diver was chosen to be the starting point for the design. Three principles set by Fred Bekher, co-founder and designer of Horizon Watches, guide the design process, namely: a two-part main case; detailings; and functionality.

The main body of the case is a very complicated part to create. It combines two separate elements that have different surface finishes to achieve contrast between polished and brushed surfaces. This task was complicated by the side bevels that go from the bottom part of body to the crown guards. The Pilgrim comes with two coinedged design, screwdown crowns that are each 7mm in diameter, making it easy to handle and wind as needed.

For those familiar with Horizon Watches’ first collection, you would have an inkling that the brand owners like to treat the watch they design like a labyrinth full of hidden clues. This thread continues here with the Pilgrim. You will find numbers, a quote, and text in places not immediately visible to the eyes.

With the Pilgrim, as you run your fingers along the case, you will get a sense of multiplane and multi-level surfaces. This is accentuated by the two-module case construction, which is a rarity. Still very much true to the design silhouette of early day super compressors but more. Probably the best description for the Pilgrim is that it is a watch sculpture.

The early super compressor tended to mark the 12, 3, 6, and 9 hour indicators with a triangle frame. In the Pilgrim, this has been reinterpreted with a trapezium instead. To give the watch design a further twist, one of these trapeziums has been made into a date window, resulting in a super unusual super compressor, challenging you to find the secret date window.

The centre of the dial for the Pilgrim has a finely polished finished raised cone that provides the base for the three uniquely designed hands for time reading. In line with the sea adventure story that inspired the collection, they are shaped like fishing spears. For superior legibility, all three hands are luminous. Look closely at the Pilgrim and you will find an excellent quality of polishing even on a small surface like the applied index and dot markers.

The dial, the indices, the twin crowns, the hands, and the overall proportions. The Pilgrim brings all the elements together in a perfect harmony; a symmetry. Turn the Pilgrim over and find on the caseback a graphic illustrated by Bekher engraved on the caseback. The illustration depicts Pilgrim, the ship and a whale. In many cultures, a ship symbolizes journey and adventure.

The crystal of the watch is a boxed type sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating applied on the interior side. The anti-reflective coating helps minimise glare under the sun and also increases dial readability.

Every Pilgrim watch comes with an original design, high quality and super comfortable FKM rubber strap that is equipped with quick release spring bars. The buckle is of a custom design and finished in a similar style as the case, with a combination of brushed and polished surfaces.

The Pilgrim collection comprises four models: Blue Ocean , Black Ocean, Green Ocean & Young Captain Edition. 

About Horizon Watches

Horizon Watches is the realisation of watch designer, Fred Bekher’s longtime dream of having his own watch brand. Established in 2021, Horizon Watches’ designs draw inspiration from legends and adventures of the past with a strong eye for design detail. Horizon Watches’ first collection – the Nautilus – is a series of dive watches inspired by Jules Verne’s classic, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The Nautilus and future collections are dreamed up of and made into reality out of Bekher’s home base in Kherson, Ukraine.

Technical Specifications