While the news today is dominated by big releases from Holy Trinity brands that will be nearly impossible for mere mortals to see in person, let alone buy, Traska has what feels like an antidote, or at least a cleansing breath when it feels we’re being flooded with watches that fall into the dreaded “hype” category. Their first new watch in nearly four years is also their first chronograph (conveniently named, the Traska Chronograph) and it applies much of the brand’s ethos into a platform that we’re honestly surprised they hadn’t pursued to this point.
If you need a refresher on Traska, we invite you to read up on Venturer GMT, which Griffin reviewed recently here. While this is a look at one specific watch, Griffin gets to something about how we understand Traska, which is that they produce watches that are part of a long lineage of purpose built tools. The word “Rolex” is invoked multiple times in that Venturer review not because Traska has a connection to that brand’s current status as the most well known luxury object in the world, but to a previous state when watches were prized for their simplicity and usefulness. Rolex made great leaps from the middle of the last century onward simply by standardizing a design language for sports watches that has become definitional to the category at this point, and I think what Traska is doing with a commitment to using steel hardening treatments and offering other points of value in every watch while adhering to those same minimalist design codes offers a modern parallel.
The Chronograph is powered by an automatic Seiko NE86 movement, so the dial layout with registers at 3 and 9 (along with a date window at 6) will be familiar to many. The tones present here are all muted grays and silvers, with a contrasting red chronograph seconds hand. The tachymeter bezel is made of tungsten and scaled to measure speeds between 50 and 200 units per hour, a decision Traska says was made to encourage practical, everyday use.
The stainless steel case is sleek for a watch of this type and generally speaking seems to follow the lines of previous Traska models, which is to say it’s drawing on a long history of tool and sport watch traditions. The lugs are thin and tapered and have a polished concave bevel where they meet the midcase, and a box style double domed sapphire crystal is used to provide a distinctive vintage look without sacrificing durability. As is standard for Traska, the case has been given a hardening treatment, which the brand claims raises hardness to 1200 HV on the Vickers’ scale.
The diameter is a solidly medium 39mm with a lug to lug span of 46.5mm and a case height of 13.75mm, including the aforementioned crystal. That’s not an ultra-thin watch by any means, but we’re guessing much of that case height will be somewhat invisible when it comes to the actual wearing experience (the case height without the crystal is listed at 12.1mm). We hope to have a review sample in the office before too long so we can properly evaluate it.
The Chronograph goes on sale on Sunday, March 1 at 11:00 AM ET. The initial launch is of 300 pieces in this “Tungsten Gray” colorway, with 100 ready to ship immediately and the rest coming by late April. The retail price is set at $1,650. More information can be found on the Traska website here.
Zach Kazan
2026-02-03 17:00:00