by Russ Michaud
Out of the blue
Tertia Watches kind of hit the social media scene out of the blue. No history, no brand prestige, and no appearance at the watch meets and conventions. It didn’t appear to be anything special that other dive watches don’t, but as I soon found out, that’s what really makes it special.
When I reached out to Ben at Tertia Watches, he was more than eager to get the Odyssey into my hands for some honest feedback and was adamant that I don’t hold back. He’s intent on making a solid product that will appeal to everyone, and as a dive watch fan himself, he knows what features are important, and which ones aren’t.
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Key Features of the Tertia Odyssey
Case
The watch sports a 40mm case diameter that’s effortlessly wearable for nearly every wrist out there. The 3 o’clock crown, signed with the Tertia logo, is screw down giving the watch a 300m water resistance rating, which is subtly stated on the dial at 6 o’clock right below the namesake of the watch and above the colour-matched date.
Dial
The dial itself is a matte black non-reflective surface with painted Swiss X1-C3 Super-LumiNova indices that match the long slender sword hands and the red tip of the seconds hand. That lume also lasts all night long. A few times I’ve woken up before the sun to check the time and was met with full nighttime legibility. The fully minute stepped rehaut ring displays military hours from 13 to 24 and the Tertia logo and name complete the dial at 12. The matte black ceramic bezel insert has minute markers all the way around separated by numerals every 5 minutes.
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Bracelet
Too often I’ve found the bracelet of a watch is overlooked. It seemed for decades, watchmakers gave you a steel bracelet with a cheap clasp, little to no micro adjust, and polished links on a tool watch where they really don’t belong. Even when microbrands started to innovate in these areas, a lot of the larger watch brands simply ignored them and continued to make great watches with poor bracelet design. Tertia decided to do the opposite–thoughtful features that make the overall wearing experience that much more enjoyable.
The classic oyster style bracelet is a brushed stainless steel. Its links are held together by screw pins to make sizing a breeze. Its solid end links come with quick release spring bars eliminating the need for drilled lugs and making fitting a nato strap a pleasure. The clasp is a double push button milled style, engraved with the brand logo and name. Subtle and classy. The clasp also has on the fly micro adjustments to accommodate for your wrist swelling or shrinking through the day, a feature that goes underutilized in the watch industry in my experience. I swear my wrist swells up to a ¼” on occasion and not having the ability to adjust my bracelet can be a major turnoff for me.
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Beyond specs
All specs aside, this watch feels both new, refreshing, and original, while feeling like it has roots in the divers of old. The Seamaster 165.024, the CWC royal navy diver, the Rolex 5517–they all have similarities to each other while maintaining their distinctive style and heritage. The Odyssey has that same feel. A purpose built dive watch made for the Everyman.
Miyota 9015
It’s powered by the Miyota 9015 automatic movement made to be dependable, affordable and accurate. The name “Tertia” directly translates to “third” in Latin. Ben adapted that to mean “three” in the sense that it’s a watch for air, land, and sea. Just like the milsubs of the past, the Odyssey was “built for everything.” It accomplishes that goal in the best way. A fresh take on a proven design with thoughtful updates, that just plain works.
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Final Thoughts
My week with the Odyssey on the wrist was spent at my family’s lake cottage in New Hampshire. Days were filled with jumping off the dock, canoeing to islands filled with pine and hemlock trees, and short hikes through the woods dotted with granite boulders left over from the last ice age that were calling me to dare and climb them. These might not seem like the hardcore adventures fit for legendary tool watches, but they fit a reality that most people can easily identify with.
I found the Odyssey a capable and versatile companion for every one, both on the bracelet or a NATO strap. It gives you everything you need and nothing you don’t. As a watch collector I often find myself wanting to change my watch on a regular basis to accommodate the tasks of the day. I wear these watches to review to get a feel for them, and quickly grow tired of them, yearning to get something from my own collection that I truly love, back in the wrist. It’s really refreshing to have a watch to review that I didn’t want to take off. It checked all my boxes. I found myself checking my watch often, and not comprehending what time it was. If you’ve ever had a car that you loved, and stopped to look back at where you parked it two, maybe three times before heading inside, then yea…you know what I mean.
Pricing & Availability
At the time of this writing, the Tertia Odyssey is available for preorder via the website at a founder’s price of $895 for the first batch, and is scheduled to ship in January 2027.
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About the Author
Russ Michaud is a husband and father to a young daughter, living in a charming 1800s farmhouse in New Hampshire. A veteran of 11 years in the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, he now works rotations in the offshore energy industry in the Gulf of Mexico. When he’s home he restores vintage audio gear, tinkers with his 1966 Land Rover Series IIA, teaches himself the art of film photography, and retreats to the family’s quiet lake cottage. Watches have been his constant companions from silent submarine depths to noisy rig helidecks; reviewing and writing about them is simply the latest chapter in a lifelong obsession. You can follow him on Instagram or through his own blog.
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