Today, two of Straum’s core concepts come alive in a new twist on the Jan Mayen Arctic collection, now in titanium for the first time in addition to stainless steel. The four original colors, in both titanium and stainless steel, now become part of the brand’s permanent catalog. Plus, there’s the debut of an entirely new dial colorway. Last year, we saw the expansion of the brand’s offerings with the classic Jan Mayen design rendered in lightweight titanium as well as the unveiling of four thoughtful and stunning Arctic dials.
By now, you probably well know I’m a sucker for a mesmerizing dial design, especially one with a story and deeper meaning behind it. The brand’s limited edition capsules of Arctic dials tick all those boxes. The inspiration draws from Straum’s Norwegian roots with a subtle and abstract interpretation of the country’s natural beauty through intentional use of texture and color to elicit the feeling of the landscape rather than something too literal.
We’ve previously seen four editions, each handsome in their own right: one reflecting the bold hues of the Aurora sky; one called Alpine Glow, fading from the crisp blue frost of the mountains fading to a light pink sunset; Meltwater Teal, which quite literally mimics a waterfall cascading down the dial thanks to the perfect execution of ombre white to teal; and lastly, the most understated among the bunch called Tundra Brown with a bronze tone.
In addition to a new metal – swapping titanium for stainless steel but keeping the 38.7mm case diameter – we also get a bold new dial tone in the same color gradient technique we see in three of the original variations but this time in deep purple hues. The inspiration for this execution draws from the unusual and more seldom seen phenomena associated with the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Astralis known as STEVE, which stands for “Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.” Here, a fast-moving purple ribbon appears beneath the classic green “picket fence” Aurora. While not technically part of the Aurora (which appears as solar particles falling like rain onto Earth’s magnetic field), STEVE is a “river” of extremely hot gas (plasma) flowing at supersonic speeds of over 13,000 mph. The intense friction of these ions moving through the atmosphere creates the distinctive purple glow that Straum references with the dial of this model.
Another highlight of this collection continues to be the option of the new integrated rubber strap we saw introduced last year for the first time to the Jan Mayen Titanium line. Here, you have a unique coupling system, which allows for quick transfer of the strap while maintaining the seamless integrated design. It’s inherently user friendly but requires some finesse. Simply press the push button, which releases the mechanism and allows you to pull the strap out. Here, the coupling piece then comes right off by applying light pressure. This is designed with a small spring-loaded ball that latches onto the spring bar where you can push it in, take your alternate strap, insert it into the slots, and pull it tight and connected well.
Cait Bazemore
2026-04-02 17:00:00