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RZE Endeavour Review

An all-titanium burst of color.

Dive watches have been done. To death. There’s literally nothing new to do. The type is a dead horse with a broken stick next to it. So how does a brand innovate? How do they offer something new, better, different–something that stands out? It’s hard out there and the surfeit of options makes it even harder (for brands and buyers). Maybe a textured dial? A different case material? A custom bracelet?

How about all three, and a bit more? That’s what the RZE Endeavour diver brings to the table. RZE (née Reise) is the brainchild of Travis Tan, who cut his teeth at the microbrand Boldr. After a very successful debut with the RZE Resolute, the brand introduced the Endeavour to equal fanfare.

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On the Wrist

You’ll have no quarrels with the RZE Endeavour on the wrist. Its dial is exceptionally legible (in all variants), with excellent lume, and no date to throw off the balance (it is available with a date at 3 o’clock, but why would you do that?). The bezel and crown both operate with satisfaction and ease. And you’ll never have to worry about banging it about: the RZE Endeavour is coated with what the company calls Ultrahe and makes the watch 8x harder than stainless steel.

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The case features strong angles, but doesn’t suffer for them. Instead, the short, heavily sloped lugs let this watch rest on the wrist with such grace that the effective thickness (the “wrist-to-crystal” measurement in the specs table) is 2 mm less than quoted. So, if for some reason you’re thinking, “Gee, 12.5mm seems thick,” you can instead think, “Gee, 10.5mm seems thin!”

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While I loved the bracelet on this, I was a big fan of how well it paired with straps, and wore just as comfortably. Because the watch wears more like it’s 10.5mm thick, the watch also handles NATO straps superbly.

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Dial Details

RZE has my number. Texture, applied markers, color. Game over. The yellow is my favorite and I think the best option, but the Endeavour is also available in blue, grey, or white, and they all look good.

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Please ignore the bezel being one minute off in the shot above–it’s not misaligned, I’m just dumb. But don’t ignore the sand texture of the dial, the stark contrast of the black printed dial the and minute markers. Nor the matching etched numerals and hashes on the bezel.

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The segmented indices are seamless, which is a great touch, and make it look like there’s nothing special going on but a line in the middle. Then–BOOM! Two-toned lume! Look at it down there, those little blue plots at the cardinal markers and the bezel triangle, just saying “Hey!”

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Case and Bracelet

The RZE Endeavour revels in its glorious angularity. Try to find the round edges. If you’re still looking, it’s because they’re limited to where the edge of. Even the nominally round crown features angular crenellations that match those on the bezel.

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And those angles aren’t subtle. These are dramatic “We’re here, we’re pronounced, get used to it!” angles. The sharp descent of the drilled lugs and the endlinks are perhaps the best example of that.

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Subtle crown guard mirroring: engaged. The bezel lift you can see here aids with grip, and I can attest that there are no issues operating the bezel, which has a satisfying click and little to no backplay.

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Like the case, the bracelet’s links are angled and awesome. And they also feature the Ultrahex coating; if you haven’t scuffed up a titanium watch, I can tell you it’s quite a bit uglier than a scratched steel watch.

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Final Thoughts

Perhaps I was bloviating in my introduction. The RZE Endeavour isn’t changing the game. There have been titanium dive watches, even with hardened cases. I’m not going to end this by saying “The RZE Endeavour is here and it is the future.”

But it does do everything exceptionally well, and all at a sub-$500 price. I’ve handled other titanium watches in this price point (and above), and I can tell you it’s not uncommon for a brand to use titanium without giving it any extra thought–I’d argue it’s what most brands do. But RZE has spent more time to ensure that the Endeavour is a home run.

Check out more dive watch reviews on The Watch Clicker

Check out the RZE website (affiliate link)

RZE Endeavour Specs

Case Width

40.5mm

Thickness

12.5mm

Lug-to-Lug

46mm

Wrist-to-Crystal*

10.5mm

Lug Width

20mm

Weight

110g

Crystal

Sapphire

Strap

Titanium bracelet

Water Resistance

200m

Lume

Super-LumiNova C3/BGW9

Movement

Seiko NH38A

Price

$459

*Height of the watch from the wrist to the top of the crystal

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