A new release from MICROMILSPEC offers a rare opportunity for the public to acquire a timepiece directly developed with and for an elite military unit. The watch in question is the Combat Diver, or "Nageur de Combat," a tool co-designed with the exacting standards of the French Combat Divers. This is not a "military-inspired" watch; it is a "Declassified Edition," a civilian-issue version of a piece of professional equipment. This model, which was first made available to the public in 2023, represents a unique intersection of specialized function and rugged aesthetics, built to support the operatives it was named for.
MICROMILSPEC's entire business model is unconventional. The Norwegian company, founded in 2019, specializes in creating "made-to-order" timepieces for military units, first responders, and other special clients. These are not mass-market items but bespoke instruments. The "Declassified Editions" are a recent development, where the brand shifts its primary focus once a year to produce a small batch of these military-derived designs for a wider audience. The Combat Diver is one of these, limited to an exceptionally small run of just 25 pieces annually, making it one of the more exclusive tool watches on the market.
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The brand's origin story is as unique as its business model. MICROMILSPEC was established in Oslo, Norway, by Henrik Rye. Henrik was not a watch industry insider. He was an entrepreneur who had spent six years in an office renting space directly behind a small, old-city watchmaking shop owned by a man named Erik Sutterud. Henrik was fascinated by the shop's atmosphere, which he described as a cultural hub filled with the sounds of jazz music and the constant chatter of people stopping by to talk with the watchmaker. This environment clearly left a lasting impression on him.
While renting that office, Henrik was busy with his own ventures, reselling various overstocked products he could source, including shoes, coffee, and even closeout watches. This side hustle gave him a practical, if indirect, set of contacts within the Swiss watch industry. He was within earshot of Erik's shop daily, overhearing the comings and goings and the various requests the watchmaker received. This proximity proved to be the catalyst for an entirely new career, placing him in the right place at the precisely the right time.
One day, a visitor walked into Erik Sutterud's shop asking if the watchmaker could produce a small, custom batch of watches for a special military unit. Henrik, hearing the conversation and already having a network of Swiss suppliers from his resale business, quickly stepped in and joined the discussion. He had the connections that the small, independent watchmaker lacked to scale such a project. This visitor was representing the Norwegian military, and he and Henrik immediately hit it off, sensing a mutual opportunity.
Within just a few months, Henrik had leveraged his contacts to design and produce 200 watches for that Norwegian military unit. The project was a massive success, and the resulting timepiece was so well-received that Henrik and the military visitor went on to found MICROMILSPEC shortly thereafter. The brand's credibility was cemented almost instantly. A mere four days after its official founding on May 29th, 2019, the Royal Norwegian Air Force placed an order for 330 custom watches, a significant vote of confidence. It was the first time that branch of the military had commissioned a custom timepiece since its famous order with Heuer back in the 1970s.
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This explosive start set the trajectory for the company. News of the high-quality, purpose-built watches delivered to the Norwegian military spread quickly through the tight-knit international community of armed forces. MICROMILSPEC soon found itself as the go-to specialist for bespoke military-designed timepieces, and as of today, the brand has developed unique watches for over 30 different military units from around the world. This history is crucial to understanding the Combat Diver; it's a product of a company that deals exclusively in function-first design validated by the world's most demanding users.
Visually, the MICROMILSPEC Combat Diver is a striking, modern tool. It presents as a piece of serious equipment, rendered entirely in a non-reflective, dark finish. The case is stainless steel, but it has been PVD coated and micro-blasted, giving it a stealthy, tactical appearance that absorbs light rather than reflecting it. The case shape itself is the brand's "signature octagon," an angular and aggressive design that moves away from the traditional round cases of most dive watches. It looks technical, purposeful, and built to withstand abuse.
The case specifications back up the rugged looks. It measures 42mm in diameter, a confident, modern size that provides plenty of presence and dial legibility. Crucially, the case is only 12mm thick, which is relatively slim for a 200-meter dive watch, allowing it to be worn comfortably without becoming a snag-hazard. The lug-to-lug dimension is 50.3mm, balancing the 42mm diameter to create a solid, stable footprint on the wrist. The case material is 316L surgical-grade stainless steel, ensuring high corrosion resistance, a necessity for a watch designed for marine environments.
Every part of the case is built for function. The water resistance is rated at 200 meters (or 20 bar / 656 feet), more than enough for any recreational or professional diving application. This rating is secured by a screw-in crown, a standard and essential feature for any true dive watch. The crown is protected by a substantial, chamfered crown guard that flows directly from the angular case lines. This guard is optimized for both protection against impacts and for comfort, ensuring the crown doesn't dig into the back of the wearer's hand.
A classic uni-directional diver's bezel frames the dial. It features a 120-click system, allowing for precise setting with minimal back-play. The bezel insert is black with a contrasting white minute scale, prioritizing legibility above all else. This is a fundamental tool for a diver, used to time decompression stops or track bottom time, and its execution here is clean and functional. The entire dial is protected by a domed sapphire crystal, which provides superior scratch resistance, and it features an anti-reflective coating to minimize glare and maximize readability in bright conditions.
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The dial itself is packed with subtle, meaningful details. The base of the dial is not a simple flat black but features a "stealthy wave pattern." This adds a layer of visual texture and depth that only becomes apparent on closer inspection. Prominently featured on the dial is the "Sea Horse" combat diver badge, the insignia of the French unit this watch was built for. This badge is a direct link to the watch's heritage and a mark of its authenticity, separating it from watches that merely borrow military aesthetics.
The most compelling details on the dial are the ones tied directly to the "Nageur de Combat" and their specific operational parameters. The watch features distinct red details on the seventh-hour marker and, most notably, on the '7' of the date disc. This is not a random design choice. It serves as a constant, subtle reminder of the maximum diving depth, in meters, that a combat diver can safely operate at while using a rebreather with 100% pure oxygen (O2). It's this kind of "inside" knowledge, baked directly into the design, that defines MICROMILSPEC's philosophy.
Legibility remains the top priority. The hands are oversized, broad, and painted white for a stark contrast against the black dial. The seconds hand is a thin black stick, but it is tipped with a prominent red arrow, making it easy to track and confirm at a glance that the watch is running. All of the hands and the hour markers are generously filled with Super-LumiNova X1, a high-performance luminous compound that ensures the time can be read clearly in low-light or underwater environments.
At the heart of the Combat Diver is the Swiss-made Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement. This caliber is a well-respected workhorse in the Swiss industry, known for its reliability and ease of service. MICROMILSPEC uses the Spécial (Elaboré) grade version, which is a step above the standard grade, offering better adjustment and isochronism. It is a self-winding mechanical movement that beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), which translates to a smooth-sweeping seconds hand and solid timekeeping.
The movement provides a power reserve of 38 hours and is equipped with 26 jewels to reduce friction and wear on critical components. MICROMILSPEC doesn't just drop the stock movement into the case; their watchmakers adjust the movement and fit it with a custom MICROMILSPEC-signed rotor. The brand quotes a performance rate of 7 ±7 seconds per day, a very respectable range for a mechanical timepiece. The movement is manufactured by Sellita in the famous watchmaking city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
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Flipping the watch over reveals a thoughtful touch not always seen on 200-meter divers: an open sapphire caseback. This exhibition window allows the owner to view the SW200-1 movement and its custom rotor in action. The caseback itself is engraved with the brand's name, the water resistance rating, and the serial number (e.g., "001"). It also offers the owner the chance to add a personal engraving of up to 20 characters, reinforcing the bespoke, personal nature of these limited-edition timepieces.
The Combat Diver is offered with a few different strap and bracelet options, all of which are integrated into the case design for a seamless look. The watch can be purchased on a black PVD-coated, 20mm H-link stainless steel bracelet that matches the case finish perfectly. This bracelet terminates in a sleek, skeletonized clasp that appears to be a butterfly-style mechanism, keeping the profile low and secure. Alternatively, it is available on a black textured rubber strap for a more tactical, waterproof, and dive-ready application, or a leather strap for a more casual look.
The ownership experience extends to the packaging. The watch arrives in a display box with a high-gloss, piano lacquer exterior and an interior lined with a soft-touch material. The box is thoughtfully designed with three compartments, providing room for the watch, additional straps, and a spring bar tool for changing them. This inclusion of a strap-change tool is a practical, enthusiast-friendly touch that encourages owners to experiment with different looks.
Inside the box, new owners will also find a premium, MICROMILSPEC-decorated fiber cloth to keep the watch clean of smudges and dust. A Certificate of Authenticity is included, which lists the model name and serial number and is required for any second-hand warranty claims. This is all backed by a class-leading 5-year international warranty tag. The brand's warranty policy is refreshingly simple: it covers all material and manufacturing defects, including both internal and external components. As they put it, "if it's our fault... we will fix it."
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As a final nod to the watch's origins, every box includes a complimentary custom-designed military patch. This patch is a tangible connection to the brand's primary mission and the military units it serves. It's a piece of memorabilia that the owner can keep as a memento or, as the brand suggests, use on a uniform or give as a gift to comrades, further bridging the gap between the civilian collector and the professional operative.
The MICROMILSPEC Combat Diver "Nageur de Combat" is a highly focused and exceptionally rare timepiece. As part of the "Declassified Edition" 2nd Edition, production is limited to only 25 pieces for the entire year. Unlike the brand's bespoke military orders, these pieces are available for direct purchase and are ready to ship within 48 hours. The pricing is set at $2,110 on the matching stainless steel bracelet, $1,910 on the rubber strap, or $1,960 on the leather strap. This represents a rare chance for a civilian to own a watch that was not just inspired by, but born from, an authentic collaboration with one of the world's elite special forces units.
Case: 42mm diameter, 12mm thickness, 50.3mm lug-to-lug. PVD coated and micro-blasted 316L surgical grade stainless steel in a signature octagon shape. Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. Screw-in crown, chamfered crown guard, and 120-click uni-directional bezel. 200m (20 BAR / 656 feet) water resistance. Sapphire crystal open caseback with option for personal engraving.
Movement: Sellita SW200-1, Spécial (Elaboré) grade. Swiss Made automatic, self-winding mechanical movement. Adjusted by MICROMILSPEC and fitted with a custom rotor. 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph (4 Hz) frequency, and 26 jewels.
Dial: Black dial with a stealthy wave pattern and "Sea Horse" combat diver badge. Oversized hands and markers filled with Super-LumiNova X1. Red details on the 7th-hour marker and date disc.
Strap: 20mm wide integrated straps. Available on a matching PVD-coated 316L stainless steel bracelet, a black rubber strap, or a leather strap.
Price: $2,110 USD (on bracelet), $1,910 USD (on rubber), $1,960 USD (on leather).
Notes: Declassified Edition co-designed with the French Combat Divers ("Nageur de Combat"). Limited to 25 pieces annually. The red details on the 7th hour and date disc serve as a reminder of the maximum diving depth (7 meters) with a 100% O2 rebreather. Includes a 5-year international warranty.