What the Watch World Is Saying About the Gin Clear 3
The Watch Journal · Second Hour · May 2026
Six independent watch publications and two major YouTube reviewers covered the Gin Clear 3 within weeks of launch — including Hodinkee Australia. From "refreshingly premium" to "better finished than Christopher Ward." Here is the full picture, in their own words.
The Gin Clear Mk3 as featured by Hodinkee Australia, May 22, 2026. Credit: Hodinkee / Second Hour.
The Gin Clear line is where Second Hour began. The 2020 original raised $122,000 on Kickstarter and introduced the brand to the global watch community. The Mk2 sold out across multiple production runs. The Mk3 launched in April 2026 with a Swiss Sellita SW200 movement, ball-bearing bezel, hand-finished perlage caseback, and 300 metres water resistance at $1,325 AUD.
Six publications covered it. Below is what each of them wrote.
Hodinkee Australia
Hodinkee is the world's most widely read watch publication. Its Australian edition covers the local and global market with the same editorial rigour. An "Introducing" feature on Hodinkee is not something independent brands earn lightly — it places Second Hour in the same editorial space as Rolex, Omega, Cartier, and Tudor.
Writer Jamie Weiss opens with the origin of the name — "gin clear" as an idiom for water of exceptional clarity — before tracing the Gin Clear's trajectory: a Kickstarter that "smashed its initial funding goal in only 33 minutes and hit its stretch goals in just 12 hours." Each generation, in Hodinkee's framing, represents a deliberate step in what they call "premiumisation."
On the dial improvements from Mk2 to Mk3, Weiss is direct: the removal of the logo-shaped counterweight on the seconds hand and the striations on the prominent indices is an unambiguous improvement. "The handset is now beefier to accommodate more lume." His pick of the four colourways matches WatchPoint's — the Dark Rhodium, for its "subtle sunburst finish and a surprisingly distinct monochromatic look."
On the case: "polished bevels on each edge of the lugs, which curve down pleasantly, give the Gin Clear Mk3 a subtle elegance." On the bezel: "an all-new, ball-bearing bezel mechanism that offers a satisfyingly crisp, taut action." On the bracelet: "a dapper 5-link bracelet terminates in a large, milled folding clasp with on-the-fly micro-adjustment."
Weiss wore the watch in the office before writing. His verdict — unfiltered:
On price, Weiss acknowledges the $1,325 AUD is almost double the Mk1's 2020 launch price, but calls it "a decent value proposition in this competitive market segment" — a measured endorsement that carries weight precisely because Hodinkee's readers are not easily impressed.
Read the full Hodinkee Australia article →Mainspring Watch Magazine
Vincent Deschamps writes for Mainspring Watch Magazine and contributes to Fratello — one of the most widely read watch publications globally. When he reviewed the Gin Clear Mk2 in 2023, he headlined it "Forget About the Submariner. Get this Instead." For the Mk3, he went further.
On case finishing: "the finest demonstration of mirror-polished surfaces and deep horizontal brushed ones on the market today regardless of price brackets." On the bezel: "it has been a little while since the ball-bearing mechanism of a bezel assembly has sung such a loud song of precision and crispness." On the bracelet: "a superb assembly of five links held together with superbly machined screws, equipped with quick-release spring-bars and a tool-less micro-adjustment clasp. Nothing is missing."
The comparison that will travel furthest: Deschamps noted the Gin Clear Mk3 case "appears better finished" than the Christopher Ward Sealander C63 GMT — a well-regarded British watch retailing at considerably more — adding, in his characteristically dry style: "Oopsy Daisy."
Dark Rhodium, Sunburst Black, and Emerald — three of the four Gin Clear 3 colourways. Credit: Second Hour.
WatchBandit
WatchBandit is Europe's leading independent microbrand watch retailer with over 80,000 completed orders. An authorised Second Hour dealer, their editorial carries significant commercial weight — when WatchBandit writes about a watch, European enthusiasts buy it.
WatchBandit traces the lineage directly: the original Gin Clear established Second Hour as a serious name in enthusiast-driven microbrands in 2019; the Mk2 elevated finishing, engineering, and wearability to levels that challenged far more expensive Swiss competitors. The Mk3 "arrives not as a radical redesign, but as a carefully considered evolution — one that improves nearly every detail while preserving the character collectors already loved."
Read the full WatchBandit editorial →WatchPoint Australia
Borna Bošnjak is Editor-in-Chief of WatchPoint Australia and a former editor at Time+Tide, Australia's foremost watch publication. He had hands-on time with all four colourways at WatchPoint's new Melbourne showroom.
Bošnjak's assessment of the design evolution is measured and precise. The Gin Clear has reached "its third, and most mature stage." He welcomes the restraint in the Mk3's dial — the removal of the logo counterweight and bisected indices is "completely on board with." On the movement: the Sellita SW200 is "adjusted in four positions — curious, as SW200s usually come in three or five-position-adjusted variants. In any case, I'll take an additional adjustment position any day."
On the bracelet update to inverted end-links: "often makes a huge difference on-wrist" and will "make it more appealing to a wider range of wrist sizes." His pick: the Dark Rhodium, "with its subtle sunburst and brushing" — with one honest note: he'd prefer the brand logo a touch smaller. A single, minor critique in an otherwise enthusiastic hands-on.
Read the full WatchPoint review →WatchGecko
WatchGecko is one of the UK's largest specialist watch strap and microbrand watch retailers, with a significant European editorial reach. They stocked the Mk2, sold out, and launched the Mk3 across all four colourways.
WatchGecko connects the watch directly to its origin story — Peter's divemaster training in Indonesia, where "reliability and precision were not optional but essential." That ethos, they write, "continues to define the Gin Clear Mk3. This is not a dive watch designed purely for desk divers. It is a tool watch at its core, shaped by experience, then refined for everyday wear." Their overall verdict: the Mk3 is "a spec monster."
Read the full WatchGecko piece →On YouTube
Peter Kotsa is one of the watch community's most trusted independent voices on YouTube, known for measured, technically informed reviews across the full spectrum of independent and mainstream brands. His verdict on the Gin Clear 3:
One Watches is a respected watch review channel with a dedicated community of enthusiasts. Their take on the Mk3's defining characteristic is direct and unambiguous:
Three additional video formats from WATCHing James: a full-length review (May 8), a month-long wear test titled "Third Times A Charm" (April 23), and a short-form piece titled "Diver Perfection?"
Full review → Month-long wear test → "Diver Perfection?" short →
Why this matters. Hodinkee covers Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, and Richard Mille. It covers independent brands only when the editorial case is genuinely compelling. An "Introducing" feature on Hodinkee Australia — written by a staff writer who wore the watch before publishing — is not something money can buy. It is earned by the object itself.
The consistency across all sources is also significant. Hodinkee, Mainspring, WatchBandit, WatchPoint, WatchGecko, Peter Kotsa, and One Watches all arrive independently at the same conclusion: the Gin Clear 3 over-delivers at its price point in finishing, movement quality, and specification. None were paid to say it. Several compared it favourably to watches costing two to four times as much.
The Mk2 sold out. Multiple times. The Mk3 is available now, in four colourways, from $1,325 AUD with fast global shipping.
The Gin Clear 3 in Arctic White. Credit: Second Hour.
Gin Clear 3 — At a Glance
The Gin Clear story began with a Kickstarter that funded in 33 minutes. It has since been reviewed by Hodinkee, Fratello contributors, European retail editors, Australian watch press, and a growing YouTube audience — all arriving at the same place. The watch earns what is said about it.
Available in four colourways — Sunburst Black, Arctic White, Dark Rhodium, and Emerald — and shipping worldwide from Melbourne with DHL Express tracking. Every piece includes a two-year international warranty and the custom zip-up travel case.
Eight independent voices called it the best Gin Clear yet. See it for yourself.
View the Gin Clear 3 → See the full collection →All external reviews quoted with attribution and linked to their original source. Prices in Australian dollars. Specifications correct at time of publication.
