Arken, the UK based microbrand founded by Kenneth Lam, is back with a new version of their Alterum model in a Sage Grey colorway. The Alterum has been a tough watch to catch since its introduction in 2023. The first batch of 200 sold out quickly, as did a subsequent run. For the last year or so, Lam has been focused on getting out to watch events and showing people the Alterum in person, offering secret “Speakeasy” versions of the watch made just for those events (no photographs, please). So, a new version of the Alterum that you can actually order on a website is a bit of a novelty in and of itself, and for folks that haven’t been able to make to a show where Arken has been in attendance, or just would prefer this particular dial execution, now is the time to mark those calendars.
We covered the Alterum here, but a quick refresher is likely in order for anyone not familiar with the watch’s unique mechanical footprint. It’s a two timezone watch, with a module built on a Miyota movement of Lam’s own design. That module allows for the tracking of day and night in two time zones and the independent setting of the local time by “locking” the GMT hand when rotating the crown counterclockwise.
I’ll be honest here: setting the Alterum is kind of complicated. I’m an owner of an Alterum, and I still don’t quite get it myself. I have the local time set to my own time zone on the east coast of the United States, and the GMT hand permanently set to “Ken time” in the UK, and that’s honestly just fine with me. I find the Alterum incredibly charming based almost solely on the fact that Lam has tried something genuinely new, and figured out a way to breathe some new life and functionality into a very simple and common movement, basically all on his own. That kind of ingenuity should be applauded, even if the end result isn’t going to be a new standard in movement design or interfacing with a GMT equipped watch.
There are plenty of other charms to the Alterum though that go beyond movement, anyway. It’s just a great wearing watch at 38mm in a lightweight, ergonomic titanium case. It’s very compact, at about 46mm from lug to lug, and the lume and general legibility are quite impressive. There’s a lot of information on the dial that’s conveyed in a clean, straightforward manner (times in two time zones, day and night in two time zones, as well as a date at 6:00).
This version of the Alterum is monochromatic in a lightly textured grey, with sharp white contrasting indices and a sand colored GMT hand. It differs a little from Alterums we’ve seen (or heard about through backchannels) that have appeared at the events the brand has exhibited at, which include cerakote coatings. This is a little simpler, and more minimal, and might be a hint as to how Arken approaches their releases going forward. Maybe the internet more broadly gets neutral, earthy tones, and the show audiences get a bit of color based on the city they happen to be in? Just speculating here.
The Alterum Sage Grey goes on sale in multiple waves. The first is tomorrow, Saturday May 23. Arken has a limited quantity of watches in stock and ready to ship, so this is where the bots you’ve been working on come in handy if you need immediate gratification. If you can wait a bit, though, there’s a second wave of orders that will open on May 30. All orders placed during this pre-order period will be fulfilled, with delivery expected beginning in the fourth quarter of this year and wrapping in the second quarter of 2027. The retail price is around $850 after currency conversion.
More information on the new Arken Alterum Sage Grey can be found on the Arken website here.
Zach Kazan
2026-05-22 17:00:00