One might be tempted to believe that doing something new and different always comes with a higher price tag. That’s true when looking at machine-watches in the likes of MB&F or super high-end horology creations such as Krayon. In both examples, a lot of engineering went into creating new movements, new components, new dials, and new materials. That’s in part why these watches cost so much (that and their rarity.) But at their core, what they both offer is a different way of displaying time and information. And that’s something that can actually be done for much less money as we saw with the Prevail Onward Field. The latter is mostly an exercise in design and how a field watch can look different than what we’re used to without costing triple what a (technically) basic watch should. This is the type of “different” I’m into because at the end of the day, I don’t spend too much for a visually novel utilitarian timekeeping device. 

And that’s what we’re going to talk about again today looking at the Vasco All-Terrain/Off-Road, the latest offering from a French brand you may or may not have heard of before. (I hadn’t.) Vasco doesn’t have many collections in its catalog but what they all have in common is displaying the time in ways we’re not used to, by way of relying on clever design and good, yet inexpensive, components. Doing things differently and better for less or the same amount of money as big brands is basically the leitmotif of the micro/independent watch community. The All-Terrain/Off-Road is, according to the brand, the “ultimate exploration watch,” a claim we will obviously dissect in this review looking at what the Vasco is made out of, how much it costs, and what it does differently than the countless of brands that have come before it. Let’s go explore then! 

Specifications 

When a brand claims it has made the ultimate exploration watch then said watch must come with a certain suite of specifications that supports that claim. Because good design minus the good specs is just a good design and doesn’t make for a good tool watch. And I feel that here we should begin with water resistance because, well, “exploring” might include being caught in a rainstorm in the Amazon or safely hovering above rare coral reefs 100 feet/30 meters deep under the surface. So in either case you will be fine because the Vasco All-Terrain/Off-Road has 200 meters of water resistance thanks to a screw-down crown and case-back, and the crown tube is equipped with a red ring so that you know whether you’ve indeed screwed it down. Moreover, the crown is rather large (7.2mm in diameter) and is equipped with two lines of knurling which makes operating it extremely easy. (Why haven’t we seen this design before?) 

This ultimate exploration watch has a normally sized case for such a timekeeping device, with a diameter of 39mm, a lug-to-lug of 47mm, a total thickness of 13.70mm including the double dome sapphire crystal, and a lug width of 20mm. These dimensions are great for it confers to the All-Terrain/Off-Road a certain wrist presence and heft many welcome for this type of watch. And these dimensions are in line with the aforementioned water resistance. The movement inside is a Seiko NH34 GMT caliber beating at 21,600 BPH (3Hz) and coming with 41 hours of power reserve which is used here to display the local time in a 24-hour scale instead of the traditional 12-hour one. Given that, in the first position the crown is used to move the hour hand forward in one-hour increments by turning the crown clockwise, and to change the date by turning it counter-clockwise. 

At first I thought that changing the way the GMT movement is used was odd but I soon realized an advantage of doing so: I can quickly adjust the hour hand as it can be done on a “flier” style GMT caliber to adjust the time when I land at my destination in a different time zone (or adjust for daylight savings time.) For the latter reason and for everyday practicality I also appreciate the date aperture at the six which is absent in the other version of this watch called the Grand Large. Being a tool watch, the Vasco is also endowed with generous quantities of C3 lume on the hands and hour markers but BGW9 on the bezel for each hour marker. The bezel has 120 clicks by the way and the insert is made of ceramic. It should be noted that the All-Terrain/Off-Road can be had with one of four types of bezels and I opted for the “All-terrain” version which combines a 24-hour GMT scale and, sadly, a barely noticeable count-up scale for diving. 

Design

There are more specs I should have mentioned above but which I will include in this section as it pertains to the design of the Vasco. First, obviously, we’re going to talk about the way time is displayed, something that ain’t new but rare nowadays. The hour hand makes one full revolution around the dial in 24 hours which requires some getting used to from yours truly who’s seen, just like you have, more 12-hour based watches. Each even hour is displayed with Arabic numerals and each odd one with a dot. At twelve o’clock there is an inverted triangle which indicates noon/12pm and at the six, “24” or midnight. Having the date aperture at the three, occupying the space where we would otherwise see “18” for 6pm, I first would have preferred either to have the date at the nine or for the 24-hour scale to have been flipped so that it would be easier to see 6pm—a time at which I’m in operation—instead of 6am—a time during which I’m not in operation. 

But things being as they are, I eventually got used to seeing the AM hours on the left of the dial and the PM hours on the right. And time is easy to read thanks to a stubby hour hand and long minute hand, both polished and adorned with bevels at their extremities. Vasco indicates that the hands were designed following U.S. Army Mil-Spec guidelines (MIL-W-50717) which call for this particular design to guarantee superlative legibility, a small detail which I adore. The seconds hand for its part is orange and comes with a narrow arrow-shaped lumed element, a playful color we also find printed on the dial for “Off Road.” Speaking of which, there are two other lines of text below the pinion and the discreet brand name above it (also laser-engraved on the left side of the case.) And further speaking of the dial I appreciate its tactical matte finish and the color-matched date wheel. Again another small element of the design of this watch which goes a long way. 

And there are more things to discuss about the design of the Vasco All-Terrain/Off-Road and especially the case and bezel. The former is fully brushed safe for a thin polished chamfer, and is endowed with a commonplace profile for a tool watch. But I would point out the short crown-guards which gently surround and protect the crown and how perfectly they integrated with its design. (Longer crown-guards would have made it more difficult to operate the crown.) And the bezel and its dual-scale format, the 24-hour GMT one being easy to read and convenient, making indeed the Vasco a versatile tool-watch, yet a count-up scale which is barely noticeable and therefore not the most useful. However, I do like the look of the thin steel ring framing the black ceramic insert which adds another utilitarian aspect to the All-Terrain/Off-Road. A final mention goes to the riveted bracelet and its commonplace 3-link construction and generic clasp. 

The Heart of the Matter

I did sound a little less enthusiastic about certain elements of the design of this watch than others. Yes, I said the clasp is generic because it is and looks like a thousand others I’ve seen in the past and which used to be extremely common up until when, a couple of years ago (2023/2024), micro/indie brands invested a bit more time in designing better clasps. However it is functional and reliable, rather short and light which comes with its own set of advantages. And the bracelet has screwed links and quick-release spring-bars which are two major pluses. So when we take all of the specs and all the design elements of the Vasco, and we put them side-by-side on a scale with the amount of money you’re going to have to depart with to acquire one of these watches—$568 USD on a strap/$618 USD on the steel bracelet—and the heart of the matter becomes clear: Vasco created a new type of tool watch for not too much money. 

Though taken individually, each design element of the All-Terrain/Off-Road aren’t necessarily new—the bracelet and clasp aren’t, neither is the idea of a dual-scale bezel or reading the local time on a 24-hour scale—but put together we get a neat and new package. One with a distinct military-esque vibe, a deep utilitarian character, one that is legible albeit displaying the local time in an unusual manner, one which forces you to linger a litte extra than usual to read the exact time. And while you are doing so you can enjoy looking at the dial texture, the purposeful design of the stubby hands, the neatly integrated date aperture, and wonder what time it is where your best friend lives (for me - 6 hours from Paris.) And so I believe—and maybe you do too—that $568/$618 USD is exactly how much this watch should cost. And for that price, the horological experience is excellent. 

Conclusion 

Ah, tool watches. We love them and we want more of them. But we don’t often know if the new one we will find will tickle our watch nerd heart as much as our very first tool watch did. In the past four years I’ve had the privilege of reviewing many tool watches and I will tell you this: the Vasco All-Terrain/Off-Road did tickle my heart…a lot. For a long time I’ve been looking for a utilitarian GMT which would look the part in my imaginary deployments just as much as it would in my actual day-to-day life, and this watch might very well be it. It is well-made and well-priced, it looks different from most tool watches on the market without looking bizarre, and it does indeed have the specs and design attributes to be the ultimate exploration watch. I should add “modern” though as the Vasco is made for contemporary explorers. 

You can learn more about Vasco here and the full range of the All-Terrain here. 

Thanks for reading.