The Voyager Worldtimer is the brand’s sixth watch collection to date and is its most expensive, priced at $769 (approx. £612/€737), rising to $897 once the pre-order window is closed. Initially only available with a black dial as a limited edition of just 200, further colour options are expected further down the line. You can order now from the brand’s website and the first deliveries are expected sometime in February.
The Case and Wearing Experience
The 39mm 316L stainless steel case has a lug-to-lug measurement of 45.5mm, a thickness of 12.5mm. The watch weighs 143 grams on the bracelet, sized for my 7.25-inch wrist (three links removed), or 84 grams on the supplied suede leather strap.
The case and bracelet are almost entirely satin-brushed, except for small details such as the polished crown and polished bevels on the lugs and bracelet clasp. However, the sides of the rotating bezel have more of a bead-blasted matt finish and the case sides are vertically brushed which works particularly well on this case shape and gives the illusion of a slightly lighter semi-matt tonal appearance.
The case profile is attractive, with crisp, modern lines and sharply downturned lugs with polished bevels that widen at the squared off lug-tips. The profile aids comfort and helps the watch conform well to the wrist, resulting in a watch that’s easy to wear.
Working front dial-side to rear, we have a raised box-style sapphire crystal with rounded edges and flat top flanked by a bi-directional rotating worldtimer bezel with dual inserts. Five layers of anti-reflective coating are applied to the inner side of the crystal and this certainly helps enhance legibility. The outer section of the bezel insert is black ceramic engraved with various cities that relate to different time zones around the world, allowing the tracking of a third time zone in addition to the GMT hand. A nice touch is that Kuala Lumpar takes pride of place above the 12 o’clock lume pip, a nod to where ALCADUS is based. These engraved cities are filled with white BGW9 luminescent paint, which glows at night, whilst the inner section of the bezel has a brushed stainless steel finish with black paint, which is not lumed. The bezel sides sit flush in-line with the case and an attractive hob-nail /cross-hatched design aids grip. The bezel action feels great, but there is a small amount of backplay and the alignment wasn’t quite perfect on my review watch.
The mid-case is slim and angular and despite the lugs despite being short they still manage to look elegant thanks to chamfered and polished shoulders which narrow them. The only thing that spoils this elegance slightly is that the lug holes are placed smack bang in the centre of these chamfers. There’s a case to be made for not having drilled lugs at all, as both bracelet and leather strap are quick-release anyway.
The closed screw-down caseback features an engraved globe along with key specifications. An unguarded 6mm knurled and polished screw-down crown is used, which helps the watch achieve a very generous 200m water resistance rating. A red spacer acts as a visual warning that the crown is unscrewed. The brand’s logo is etched into the crown face and also filled with BGW9 lume. The crown action is nice and positive and smooth to wind.
The three-section, flat-link design bracelet has female end links, which helps keep the lug-to-lug measurement compact and the 20mm lug width makes it easy to find aftermarket straps. Quick-release spring bars are fitted and removeable links are secured with high quality single-sided screws, my favourite type of fixing, making it just about as easy as possible to resize. Thank you ALCADUS!
The bracelet clasp is noteworthy from a practical point of view and from a design aesthetic, for both good and bad reasons! The eagle-eyed would have noticed that in addition to the usual triggers that release the clasp, there are two more buttons on the side. These smaller triggers allow you to extend the clasp without tools. From a practical point of view this certainly has merit. The seven-position ratcheting system works like a dream and I actually prefer the way it operates to the more common type where you press a button from underneath. However, this comes at the expense of design aesthetics as the extendable section isn’t hidden and isn’t made up of standard bracelet links! Instead, there is a section of plain metal that extends out. This section is only ever hidden when fully closed, which means you have a choice to make when sizing the bracelet. You could size it so that the ratcheting is set to the middle anchor point (as per more common on-the-fly adjustments systems), giving you the freedom to expand or contract the bracelet for the best fit. However,this would mean that the plain extendable section of metal would always be visible. Or you do what I did and resize the bracelet so that the watch fits you when the clasp is fully closed. This gives you a seamless look, but effectively makes the extension function redundant. Choosing the latter option comes with another issue too. No half-links are provided for the bracelet and the full links are quite large, so you might not be able to get the perfect fit. I got it close enough to be comfortable but had to wear it slightly looser than I would normally. I think this is something that needs to be addressed and revised. Of course, if you’re fine with the look, then there is no issue, so it comes down to personal preferences.
My second point of mention on the clasp is an extremely positive one and relates to the milled inner scissor-sections. I applaud the fact that ALCADUS has added some truly lovely detail in the way of perlage finishing work to both faces. This is rarely seen on watches at this price point and shows an exceptional level of attention to detail. In fact, it’s something I’d love to see more brands adopt. The internal scissor-action sections are also nice and short which adds to the comfort.
As is common to all ALCADUS watches, the Voyager’s case and bracelet has a scratch-resistant hardness which is rated at 800 HV, as well as an anti-fingerprint coating, meaning it’s a watch that’s ready to serve even the clumsiest of wearers. For once, door frames might not come off best!
In addition to the bracelet, the Voyager comes with a high-quality Italian nubuck leather strap in either brown or black. These straps have sealed edges with one fixed keeper and one moveable keeper. They are lovely quality and immediately supple. They taper from 20mm to 16mm and feature a stylish polished tang buckle with bead-blasted section bearing the ALCADUS branding.
The Dial and Handset
Two things struck me about the dial when first unboxing the Voyager. Firstly, the richness of the utterly gorgeous deep-black lacquer dial. Secondly, the fact that the dial itself is relatively small due to the real estate taken up by the dual rotating bezel and inner rehaut / 24-hour chapter ring.
Watches with a 38-40mm diameter are usually my personal sweet spot. However, I think GMT watches, especially ones such as the Voyager that add a worldtimer bezel into the mix, benefit from being slightly larger to maximise the space available for all the additional dial and bezel information. Thankfully, the Voyager redresses the balance for the most part by having a very well-designed dial with clear indices and hands, good contrast and modest dial text, but I still think it’s a watch that could go bigger.
The sloped matt white rehaut / chapter ring is printed with a 24-hour scale, with the even hours denoted by Arabic numerals and the odd hours denoted by hash marks accented in orange. A simple minute track sits inside of this on the same rehaut. The dial itself is lacquered to perfection in a rich, inky glossy black that really elevates the watch and adds to dial clarity. The box sapphire crystal with five layers of inner anti-reflective coating further enhances these qualities and the two combine to beautiful effect. Lacquer has a similar appearance to enamel but has a much lower failure rate when firing in the kiln. Layers of enamel paint are sprayed onto the brass dial plate and following firing the dial is hand-polished to achieve a mirror-like sheen before being inspected by ALCADUS. Only perfect examples are selected to be used for production watches. Despite holding less prestige than enamel, lacquer dials are relatively uncommon at this price point and the decision to go with this makes a refreshing change from the on-trend mineral dials and textured dials.
Applied silver hour markers comprise custom-shaped for the 3 and 6 o’clock, a double custom marker for the 12 o’clock and circles for the remainder. The custom-shaped markers have angled sides which are cut in such a way as to give the illusion that they are undercutto the inside edges, bringing a subtle added depth. The brushed handset is well-judged, comprising a sword hour hand, baton minute hand, stick GMT hand with orange arrowhead, and an orange-tipped seconds hand. TheHour markers and hands all use Swiss Super-LumiNova® BGW9 which provides a great glow at night. A well-executed date window sits at 6 o’clock and sits within a bevelled frame, with the outer being polished and the inner being textured. The white background of the date wheel is lumed, with the numbers being printed in black. The addition of lume here is a bit unnecessary as I can’t see anybody waking up in the middle of the night thinking ‘I must check the date’, but it’s a nice touch nethertheless and again shows attention to detail. ALCADUS branding and ‘automatic’ is printed above the pinion at 12 o’clock, with ‘VOYAGER’ printed in orange and the 200m depth rating printed in white below the pinion.
In terms of execution, I couldn’t find fault with anything on the dial, legibility is generally excellent and there are some really lovely little design touches. However, I would have liked to have the seen slightly larger numerals used for the 24-hour markers on the rehaut, which I think could have been achieved by omitting the corresponding minute hask markers. I would have also liked to see a bigger arrowhead used for the GMT hand. Considering this watch is all about the GMT functionality, it kind of feels a bit apologetic in size! Overall though, it’s a beautiful looking, well-balanced dial that looks premium.
The Movement
The Voyager benefits from the fabulous 9075 automatic movement, a ‘true GMT’ movement introduced in 2022 by Citizen subsidiary Miyota. Unlike the more common ‘caller’ or ‘office’ GMT, with the 9075 you set the orange-tipped GMT hand to your home time (i.e. where you live) and quick-set hour hand for your new destination. This 24-jewel movement has a power reserve of 42-hours and the beat rate is 28,800 VPH or 4Hz which results in a smooth sweeping seconds hand. Until recently a true GMT for this price would have been unheard of, so it’s a dream that microbrands such as ALCADUS can now utilise the 9075.
Whilst the true GMT is considered a more high-end complication, both types of GMT have their benefits, so it just depends on what is more important to you. If you travel lots and aren’t fussed about a quick-set date, then the Voyager will be perfect. However, if you rarely travel but like a second time zone because you often call friends or family on different time zones, or a quick-set date is a must, then a ‘caller’ GMT might be a good option.
The Voyager uses the premium version of the movement which has heat-blued screws and ALCADUS has also added value by regulating the movement to bring improved accuracy of +/- 7 seconds per day, a huge improvement over the factory default of -10/+30 seconds per day. Reliability is also assured with Miyota movements and it will be easy to get serviced when the time comes.
Final Thoughts
ALCADUS has again managed to put together a well-balanced package that takes versatile case sizing and good general specifications as its starting point and then being selective in choosing which elements to elevate, choosing in this instance regulation of the Miyota movement to eke out vastly improved accuracy, adding a lacquer dial, giving a hardness coating to the bracelet and case, and adding little ‘easter-egg’ flourishes such as the lumed crown and date window. Taking this approach means that they can bring something different to the table whilst balancing quality and cost. The ALCADUS four-year warranty also brings buyers peace of mind.
For me personally the Voyager doesn’t quite hit the highs of the Quantra I reviewed at the end of 2024, but it’s a worthwhile addition to the line-up and at $769 (approx. £612/€737) it should certainly make the shortlist for buyers looking for a mid-priced true GMT watch. Other than my qualms about the aesthetics of the on-the-fly adjustment mechanism for the bracelet clasp and lack of half-links, other criticisms are minor and somewhat subjective. Perhaps the biggest problem the Voyager has is the now very competitive market for true GMTs following the introduction of the affordable Miyota movement which has seen buyers spoilt for choice as microbrands fight it out with new releases. However, the ALCADUS Voyager Worldtimer GMT holds its own against the competition. It’s a great-looking, well-finished watch backed by a solid warranty, so the decision will ultimately come down to how well it meets your personal requirements of what you’re looking for in a GMT.
