Welcome to 2025 guys! We ended 2024 by reviewing the highly sought after Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi, but we’re starting this new year by going hands on with a rather peculiar pick. Today we have with us the Detrash Midnight Sky, a watch made with 80% recycled materials – but it doesn’t have a resin case as you’d expect, it’s actually constructed with an entirely recycled steel case with the equivalent strength and corrosion resistance to 316L surgical grade stainless steel.
Beyond the watches eco-friendly nature there’s a series of aspects that also make it a great watch style wise, as well as features and specs. There’s many new watch brands out there claiming to be eco-friendly, but very few that are also able to deliver on design and wearability – which is why I’d like to dig a little deeper into this unusual offering from Detrash.
Proportions and Styling
On first glance you would never guess this watch is constructed using 80% recycled steel for its case. The metal is pretty much on par visually with other watches within the same price bracket. If you really examine the finishing of the case, you will notice that’s it’s slightly darker in appearance than traditional stainless steel, almost half way between commercial grade stainless steel and titanium. The case certainly gives off more of a tool watch vibe with its dull medium grey hue, especially when combined with its essentially entirely brushed finish. The brushing of the case is indeed quite coarse in appearance, but it contrasts well with the polished chamfers.
The proportions are very attractive on this watch, and I’d even say it’s impressive that a new brand was able to create such a finely proportioned watch right out of the gate. I’d speculate there’s a degree of watch enthusiasm coming from Detrash founder Guy Blaskey. The watch has a 41mm case size, and a lug opening of 20mm, again acing the sweet spot for those of us who enjoy experimenting with aftermarket straps. The lug distance is also a very acceptable 47mm, helping the watch to sit squarely on small to average sized wrists. The lugs also do curve downwards quite aggressively, helping alleviate the thickness of the case which is officially stated as 12.9mm – but feels thicker to me personally.
Dial
The dial layout that we have here on the Midnight Sky variant is sporting excellent readability, with high contrasting carribean ocean blue arabic numerals and markings. Even the count down bezel markings are filled in with this bright and uplifting color. I really appericate the fact that Detrash did not over cluter the dial, they’ve left it clean with excellent spacing between the numerals, logo, and text at 6 o’clock. The font choice of the “Automatic text” is also quite tasteful, falling in-between an italic looking font and full on cursive. The logo at 12 o’clock is also simple and playful, and suits the overall flow of the watch.
Wearability
The watch is stout in appearance on wrist. This is due to it’s compact diameter, but thicker than usual case. The thickness doesn’t really bother me all that much, after all this is a diver that’s going to benefit from the increased water resistance rating of 200m due to the larger case and what appears to be a rather sturdy screwed down caseback. The other proportional aspects that we’ve already parsed also helps the watch sit quite splendidly on wrist.
I’d say, for a diver the sizing doesn’t really get much better than this unless you want to focus on the thickness. The watch has a really nice presence on the wrist without looking overtly large like some of the modern try-hard divers on the market these days. This is a classy looking tool watch that you can take to the beach and wear out to dinner the same day if you so wanted.
The 41 hours of power reserve provided by the Seiko NH35 date that powers this watch does not make it the most ideal in some situations. If you’re planning on daily wearing this watch then of course there’s no issue since it will be perpetually wound on wrist. The power reserve might be cutting it short if you plan to add this watch to a weekly rotation or want to travel with it. However, the power reserve shortfall is quickly overcome by the quick set date feature, anti-shock and anti-magnetic properties of this movement.
Final Thoughts
I’m very impressed with the combination of recycled steel and tool watch vibes provided by Detrash. This is a very clever take on the recycled resin watches out there, and yes even Oris has tried their hand at a recycled resin dial watch before. I think this watch stands out with its unique steel composition, and the rustic recycled aspect of it helps it achieve a really neat authentic tool watch appearance. The use of a Seiko automatic movement is a nice finishing touch, and just another signal that this new brand is starting off on the right foot.
For more information on manufacturing process of Detrash Watches visit their official website here.
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