There are many trends in horology popping up here and there on a regular basis. Stone dials (which we’re going to discuss in a few days,) carbon fiber cases, radioactively bright colored FKM rubber straps, GMTs, go-anywhere-do-anything timepieces, quartz, solar quartz, and mecaquartz movements to name a few. Some of these trends catch enthusiasts’ interest and stick for a while. Others don’t get as lucky and are as quickly forgotten as they speedily were brought to the forefront of watch media. Within all of this chaos, a tiny trend came to life I don’t know exactly when because it was so subtle—environmental-friendly watches, sometimes accompanied by so-called eco-friendly packaging and greener modes of transportation across the world to your doorstep. A few brands dipped their toes into it, with the easiest way to go about it was to sell straps made of recycled ocean plastic, another one by using boxes made of recycled cardboard, and more rarely, cases made of recycled steel. Then there was solar quartz movements. 

Actually, many brands started using basic quartz calibers two to three years back to lower the cost of their watches, whilst many brands were increasing the retail prices of their mechanical offerings. Regular quartz calibers come with the downside that eventually (two to three years after the purchase) the battery needs to be replaced. A small inconvenience many folks don’t want to be bothered with. So brands switched to solar quartz movements to alleviate this issue under the pretense that they wanted to be good for the environment by removing a few batteries from landfills. (I don’t doubt some brands have commendable reasons for that switch, however I suspect most do not.) For doing something good once doesn’t make anyone a good person, or a brand a good brand for making one solar quartz collection without following up with another one. Well, today we are going to talk about a brand which has been fully dedicated to this technology for the right reasons, and which approached building up its catalog in the right way. 

The brand is Solios out of Montreal and the model through which we’re going to discover its work is the new Sunseeker Black. 

Specifications 

Quartz movements are awesome from a watch nerd perspective. They are dirt cheap to install into any watch, dirt cheap to replace when it fails, and dirt cheap to juice up by spending $15 bucks on a fresh battery—manpower included. The technology that rocked the Swiss industry and used to make watches more expensive than the most accurate of La-Chaux-de-Fonds mechanical jewel is now so widespread that accurate, shock-proof, and antimagnetic battery-operated movements can be had for the price of two Starbucks Frappucinos. And these movements are also incredible for brands looking to churn out many collections on the cheap and never having to handle international after-sales service. However, as already mentioned in the introduction, many folks are too lazy to get a new battery and either discard the watch or never wear it again, thus transforming too many watch boxes (or drawers) into horological landfills. Solios’ co-founders Samuel and Alex made that observation and created the brand a decade ago to address this issue. 

From the get-go, Sam and Alex decided that not only they would make solar quartz calibers the key technical feature of their timepieces, but over the years built complex systems, and invested a great deal of their capital, time and energy to become the first B Corp-certified watch brand in the world. This means Solios has been recognized, I quote, for operating following business standards that meet rigorous social and environmental requirements. To keep a long (and fascinating story) short, the Canadian brand uses recycled steel for their cases, cork to replace plastic fillers in straps, vegan leather for the latter, 100% recycled and recyclable packaging made of no single-use plastics, getting as many parts of the watches made nationally and by assembling their watches in Canada to limit their global carbon footprint—getting tiny components shipped from there to Asia to be assembled and shipped back to Canada to then sending watches across the world simply does not make sense. Their workshop also emits zero emissions. 

All of this is to say two things: first, Solios has always put the emphasis on renewable energy by going full-solar in all of their collections; second, they have actually done a lot of hard work to be good for the planet whilst manufacturing watches*. I’m sure they could do more but they have done much more than any brand I know of has ever done. Now, let’s talk about the Sunseeker because I know this is why you came, not to be lectured on the environment. This model is Solios’ first decently water-resistant timepiece also equipped with a scratch-resistant crystal, upping their own anties looking at their previous collections such as the Classic and The Solar Curve. Specifically: 100 meters of water resistance by way of a guarded 5.4mm push/pull crown and screw-down case-back, and a flat piece of sapphire crystal. The case is made of recycled steel and comes in a 40mm diameter format coupled with a 46mm lug-to-lug distance, 10mm thickness, and 20mm lug width, weighing 114g on the bracelet sized to my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist. 

Solios gives you the options between three fastening systems: the bracelet made of dual-finished links, push/pins, quick-release spring-bars and a double-pusher deployant clasp, or a vegan leather strap also equipped with quick-release spring-bars, or a fitted natural rubber strap. The Sunseeker will cost you $505 USD, $475 USD, and $485 USD respectively. Solios also thought about low-light reading conditions for it applied reasonable quantities for BGW9 SuperLuminova on the hands and printed rectangles on the minute track. Nothing to the levels of Christopher Ward’s GloboLight for sure but good enough for this genre of timepiece. Evidently, we are going to speak about the caliber within, powering this comprehensive timepiece: the Seiko-Epson VS37A movement which comes with a stated monthly accuracy of ± 20 seconds and a battery life of one year once fully charged, whether by way of natural or artificial light. When taking everything into consideration, $505 USD is a fair price to ask for the Sunseeker on the bracelet. 

*Arguably non-essential items. 

Design 

But as always, specifications are not everything, design plays a big part in why we decide to opt for this or that watch. And in order to approach the subject of the Sunseeker’s aesthetics, we first need to discuss the typical ugliness of the dials found on many solar-powered watches: well not ugly ugly but not as refined as we wish them to be, as the solar cells are generally lodged right beneath a dial made of a translucent material to allow as much light as possible to hit the cells, given dials too much of a technical aspect. More recently, microbrands found ways to keep the dials clean by moving the cells to their periphery, hidden within the minute track as we saw with the Vario A-11S Raven Black. Or by covering the dial main with intense textures akin to the pyramidical one found on the Ontic Utility 40 Core Granite. What these two examples have in common is that we were dealing with tool watches which is not what the Solios Sunseeker is: at its core, it looks and acts like a versatile everyday sports watch.

Sam was kind enough to explain to me the complex, multi-stage manufacturing process of the Sunseeker’s dial that makes it look anything but that belonging to a solar-powered timepiece. However, a lot of what he told me went far above my head. But the gist of it was as follows: an enormous plate on which sit the solar cells inhabits a narrow space between the movement and dial main, the latter being decorated with a deeply-etched, almost industrial sunburst effect, on top of which another disc showcasing an industrial-like radial brushing is mounted on which the hour markers are applied in a semi-floating formation. And finally, another radially-brushed but narrower disc is placed above it which is where we find the minute track and lumed rectangles. In the center of the dial the brand and model names are printed in a crisp white paint above and below the pinion, and the dial is finalized by two polished semi-hollowed-out rounded hour and minute hands as well as a seconds hand equipped with a sun-shaped lumed element. 

The entire dial design and construction were not only made this way to make a solar watch elegant and interesting to look at, but also to pay homage to the technology and where it derives its energy from (principally): the sun, which is represented on the seconds hand, as well through the layered dial and the sunburst and radial finishes of its various elements, the applied polished markers which cast shadows onto it, and the circular sun-shape motif engraved onto the crown. Moreover, moving away from the dial and to the case we find a fine coinedge pattern machined onto the lower half of the fixed bezel, which both adds an additional je-ne-sais-quoi of visual interest to the case and constitutes a last nod to the giant gas planet. The rest of the case was designed to be elegant and fly under-the-radar, with short lugs that dip down a bit towards the wrist, polished upper sections of the mid-case, subtle crown-guards on the right flank, and an undecorated case-back. In other words, the case perfectly supports the dial. 

The Heart of the Matter

Solios has been around for as long as the most popular micro and smaller independent brands have been, although it hasn’t made the front page of the bigger online watch magazines—yet. This is due, I suspect, to its radical dedication to solar quartz technology which has only become sexy in the past couple of years. This is to say that Solios has been a pioneer in this domain as it has been becoming the first B-Corp certified watch brand in the world through its work to reduce as much as possible its environmental footprint. (How it achieved that is something we chatted about a few paragraphs up.) This, I find, is incredible because it means Solios’ co-founders, Samuel and Alex, were dead set in making a positive impact on the planet but the time had come for them to make the style of watch that would intrigue and interest the enthusiasts that we are. Its previous collections, the Classic and The Solar Curve, were interesting in their own rights, especially visually, but were missing certain specs and design language that would appeal to more folks. And that is where the Sunseeker comes in. 

Beyond the solar quartz movement powering it, the Sunseeker is a watch whose case is made of recycled stainless steel and whose packaging is fully recycled and recyclable. Beyond that, the Sunseeker comes with a 100-meter depth rating, a sapphire crystal, BGW9 lume, and a modernly proportioned case. Beyond that, it is endowed with a dial that strikes the perfect balance between everyday elegance and all-scenarios readability, making the Sunseeker a de facto daily wearer. Beyond that it retails for $505 USD on the stainless steel bracelet which is a reasonable sum of money to ask for such a good everyday, worry-free sports watch. 

Conclusion 

You know me, I checked out the black version of the Solios Sunseeker because I adore monochromatic dials and for they make it easier to compare a model to another one and to speak more precisely about the tech that goes into the timepiece and how its case was designed and dial laid out. However, the Sunseeker comes in three other versions: Blue, Green, and Silver in 40mm cases and..four more: Pink, Silver, Mother-of-Pearl and White with stainless steel or gold-plated cases in 34mm diameter. The larger Sunseeker is catalogued under “Men’s Watches” and the smaller one under “Ladie’s Watches,” however I would have been just as happy to sport a 34mm silver dial version. All models are currently on pre-order with an estimated shipping date of August 15, 2026. So it’s right around the corner! 

Thanks for reading.