A brand’s story: RZE by Extropian
Although they’ve only been around for a few years, RZE has already made a strong impression on the watch community with their titanium tool watches designed for the “everyday adventurer”. Specializing in field, dive and pilot watches with a modern, minimalist aesthetic, they aim to create a product which is stylish, durable, and affordable, while maintaining a climate-positive ethos which helps protect the planet as much as possible.
Background
Run by a small team based in Singapore and Malaysia, RZE was founded by Travis Tan who channeled his childhood fascination with the way things work into a degree in engineering. This led him to discover his twin passions – horology and aviation. Tan later became a professional airline pilot, and used his travels around the world to discover how watches were made in different cultures and corners of the globe – knowledge he now applies to his designs for RZE.
Origins
While not jetting around the world, Tan was also one of the founders of BOLDR, another microbrand with a great reputation for rugged tool watches for people with a taste for adventure.
Breaking out on his own, Tan formed RZE with his wife Vivian and close friend Clarence, and they launched their first Kickstarter campaign In February 2020, just as a global pandemic was beginning to sweep the world.
Despite this, the campaign (for a collection of field watches dubbed the Resolute) was an instant success, being fully funded within 6 minutes. It could hardly have been a more auspicious start, and RZE hasn’t looked back since, with new collections such as the Valour, Endeavour, and Fortitude joining the Resolute over the past couple of years.
The RZE Ethos
The goal at RZE is to try new things, keep improving, and always move forward. They place an emphasis not just on good design but on functionality, durability, repairability, and being as eco-friendly as possible. This is a company that believes strongly in fixing their watches rather than replacing them, their ultimate aim being to build a product that can last for generations (or at the very least, be recycled if necessary).
Not only that, but they make a conscious effort to choose materials that will stand the test of time, while also minimizing waste and limiting their carbon footprint in the transportation process. And, given the state of the planet these days, that has to be an admirable goal!
The materials
All RZE’s watches are made of titanium (which is strong, durable, lightweight, and hypo-allergenic), and coated with the brand’s signature UltraHex coating which increases scratch resistance. The choice of titanium is a direct reflection of the brand’s eco-friendly ethos as its durability means their watches will last for a very long time, ultimately reducing unnecessary waste.
Their straps are made from canvas backed with leather, making them extra-durable to match the watches themselves, while also allowing them to age naturally over time and develop their own unique patina and characteristics.
Even their watch pouches are designed for durability. They’re made from tarpaulin, which is highly resistant to water, corrosion, and abrasion, and flat-packed during shipping to minimize any waste of space.
The product
All RZE’s major collections are available in a range of different versions, with varying dial colors and configurations, but all adhere to the brand’s stated aim of producing great-looking, durable, and affordable tool watches. And with prices ranging from $399 to $699, it’s pretty clear that they’re delivering on this promise!
The Resolute
RZE’s original field watch, the Resolute was updated in 2022. It’s still as rugged and practical as ever, boasting a brushed titanium case, sand-textured dial, large hands, and boldly applied 3/6/9 indexes filled with ultra-bright Swiss Super-Luminova, combining a vintage feel and superior legibility. With its slim profile, the case is just 10.5mm thick and houses a Miyota 90S5 automatic movement. For those who love the water, it’s also available as a dual-crown SuperCompressor, with a spring-loaded caseback that tightens the watch’s seal as underwater pressure increases.
❤️ Rugged and beautiful. What’s not to love?!
Resolute Dive Watch Supercompressor
❤️ The first titanium watch with a genuine supercompressor construction! We’re super impressed!
The Fortitude
The Fortitude is a great-looking modern pilot watch featuring a sand-textured sandwich dial, large legible hands, and boldly printed indices filled with ultra-bright Super-LumiNova. It has a 41mm anti-magnetic case, a distinctive bezel inspired by jet turbines, quick-release titanium bracelet, and a unique HexCrown system which ensures that the crown is fully screwed down for maximum water resistance (up to 100m).
❤️ Oh wow, that sand-textured sandwich dial sure is a beauty!
The Endeavour
The Endeavour is very similar to the Resolute with the addition of a 120-click dive bezel and titanium bracelet. The bezel has black painted markers, a lumed triangle marker at the 12 o’clock, and a ridged edge to provide a firm grip. The dial is sand-textured, with applied stainless steel indices for the hour markers and printed white markers for the minutes, along with two-tone lume for maximum legibility. With 200m water-resistance, top grade sapphire crystals, and VITON gaskets for the seal, this is a dive watch that’s built to last!
❤️ Super durable and super gorgeous! The Endeavour is our kind of watch!
The Valour
The Valour 38 is a classic field watch, built for durability and instant legibility. Featuring a cool cushion case (which is only 11mm thick), it’s made of aerospace titanium, weighs just 57 grams strap included, and is water resistant to 100m. It has a clean, understated matte dial with baton hands and crisp printed Arabic numerals, all protected by a sapphire crystal beneath multiple layers of anti-reflective coating.
Or, for the racing enthusiasts among you, there’s the Valour Chronograph, available in three different dial colors, all with three individual sub-dials and a clever design which replaces the traditional external tachymeter bezel with an inner chapter ring.
❤️ Small but perfectly formed, the Valour 38 packs a seriously stylish punch.
❤️A gorgeous sandwich dial combined with a premium FKM rubber strap make for one seriously stylish chronograph. We love it!
Ascentus GMT
And finally, having offered outstanding divers, chronographs, pilot’s, and field watches, the Ascentus GMT adds another great tool watch to RZE’s repertoire. It boasts a bead-blasted finish, DLC-coated titanium bezel, and a Hex-link titanium bracelet which they claim is, “the most comfortable ever”. A bold claim, but given the brand’s reputation for quality and value, we don’t doubt them!
❤️ The ability to track three time zones AND all the features of a rugged dive watch! That’s got us hooked!
Conclusion
So, despite being fairly new to the game, RZE is clearly a brand to watch out for and we’re sure they’ll be going from strength to strength in the years to come. To explore what they have to offer, check out Extropian’s database!
Created the 2023-06-14
Modified the 2024-03-13