Cobra de Calibre Steel Cobra 2 Watch Review

Today we are going to take a look at a relatively new micro-brand – Cobra de Calibre. Cobra de Calibre is a new company based out of Canada. The company wants to be known for their unique designs, so customers will have watches with a less than generic appearance. Cobra produces several different watch models, with one of the more unique models that I have ever seen in the Steel Cobra 2 white dial, subject of this review. You can read more about the Cobra de Calibre HERE. The Steel Cobra 2 in this variation has a current retail price of $399USD and is jammed full of quality specifications. Some of the basic specifications of the Steel Cobra 2 white dial model are as follows:

316L Surgical Grade Stainless Steel Case

42mm case

Sapphire Crystal

300M water resistance

Miyota 9015 Automatic Movement

Leather Strap

12 month warranty

First let’s take a look at the packaging. As any of my readers are aware, I am a huge advocate of either functional or extreme packaging and prefer companies to leave anything in between out. Cobra de Calibre uses a zipper style travel case, which is highly functional. It isn’t a travel case with 2 watch slots, but the top portion of the case has a elastic pouch which can be easily utilized for packing a second watch for those of us on the go. Of course, the interior of the zipper case is quite soft and will protect the watch during shipping which is ultimately most important. Cobra de Calibre also created the packaging in the perfect way with company print on the outer upper side of the case, which can be an excellent source of advertising.

Next let’s start to examine the watch case and features. The 316L surgical grade stainless steel case reminds me of various cushion style cases produced by the Anonimo brand but obviously at a much lower overall cost. The overall case finishing is quite superb with both brush and high polished aspects. The bezel has some high polish finishing so just be prepared to have some polishing cloths on hand to buff out surface scratches. The rest of the case brushed finish will allow for easy refinishing using a scratch brush or other refinishing pad. I also appreciate finding absolutely zero branding on the case sides. One of the fantastic features of the case design is drilled lugs designed for single head screw-in lug bars which will provide secure strap to case attachment.

The watch case measures 42mm and a substantial 47mm when factoring in the screw down crown. The lug tip to lug tip measurement is a perfect 51mm and the watch weighs around 100 grams. All of the specifications noted above, combined with an almost 12mm case height, will provide a substantial appearance on the wrist without being overly cumbersome on the wrist due to the rather light overall weight. Another one of the specific features I absolutely love is the case and crown design. The case is designed with integrated crown guards that provide ultimate protection for the crown from knocks. The only way this crown will get knocked around at all is from the top and bottom, which is much less probable. The crown measures 8mm x 3mm and doesn’t dig into the wrist at all. The crown is signed in an rather unique way with the company owner’s initials rather than a logo. The crown is quite firm with no play or wiggle when engaged in either setting position. The crown winds the movement smoothly with no noticeable grinding on this particular sample.