A Week on the Wrist with the Ember Watch Company Rocket – a unique British watch with real personality

There's a real renaissance happening in the world of British watches right now. While many will think you need to head for Switzerland, Japan or Germany to find the best mechanical watches, these days there is far more to it.

One thing I especially love about a lot of the brands on home soil is the design ingenuity they have to offer. Rarely confined by the usual design choices, you get to see some absolutely fabulous watches.

One such example is the Ember Watch Company Rocket, and I recently got one on the wrist to take a deeper look at it.

Ember Watch Company Rocket key specs

Let's kick off with a look at the specs. The model features a 40mm case crafted from stainless steel. That – and the matching bracelet – are finished with a bead-blasted process, which leaves a matte look – not dissimilar to the Ciga Design Z Series Hunter I've previously reviewed.

That sits 12mm thick, with a 47mm lug-to-lug width, all of which point towards a pretty decent wearing experience. Inside, a Seiko NH38A movement powers the piece, operating at a 3Hz beat rate and offering a solid, if unremarkable, 41 hours of power reserve.

A screw-down caseback and screw-down crown combine to offer 100m of water resistance, which should make this a competent option for everyday wear.

The model I've got to review comes in the rather fetching Skyline Pink dial colour – I'm a sucker for a pink watch, so this was a no brainer for me. For the slightly less adventurous among you, other colours are available, including Sunset Orange, Glacial White, Sky Blue and Midnight Neon.

What's particularly interesting about the dials is that they use a sandwich construction. That's something we see on watches from brands like Panerai, and allows for some pretty nifty lume designs.

Last, but certainly not least, there's a pair of alternate straps in the box. You'll get a leather and a rubber option, both offered in black. The brand does offer a lot of other options on that front, too – this model pairs beautifully with the pink FKM rubber strap.

What is the Ember Watch Company Rocket like on the wrist?

While the overall appearance of the Rocket might look a little blocky and angular, the wearing experience is nothing of the sort. The case design is really clever here, giving the appearance of something dramatic but remaining effortlessly comfortable to wear.

The near-perfect case dimensions certainly help there, but I think its the downward directionality of those large lug facets which help it hug the wrist so nicely. Top marks for design, there.

As mentioned, there's a range of straps in the box. The rubber is quite nice and the leather is fine – nothing to write home about, but nice to have – but for me, the bracelet is the real highlight.

It utilises an H-link design, which works really neatly with the bead-blasted finish. That mottles the light reflection somewhat, creating a muted, understated wearing experience.

For me, the dial remains the star of the show – and not just because of the sandwich construction. The lume fills sit between the hours, rather than marking them. That allows the negative space to mark hours under the glow of the lume – a small, but significant point of note which feels intentional and adds a nice bit of character.

Is the Ember Watch Company Rocket worth the money?

Priced at £449 / €527.95 / US$609 / AU$884 the Rocket sits in a really nice space in the market. It's in the same arena as a lot of cost effective models from brands like Seiko, and even discount-laden pieces from the likes of Hamilton and Tissot.

Those are definitely more well known brands, but on a pound-for-pound basis, I think the Rocket stacks up well. If you fancy a killer watch with real personality, I'd definitely put this on your wishlist.