Gustafsson & Sjögren Ice GoS 007 Damascus steel timepiece

Well-known to the most passionate watch aficionados thanks to their experiments with Damascus steel, the Swedish craftsmen Johan Gustafsson and Patrik Sjögren have just presented their new baby: the Ice GoS 007 timepiece.

As you can see on the pictures, the new Gustafsson & Sjögren Ice GoS 007 Damascus steel watch looks even more impressive than their previous offerings -called the Predator, Fire, Dragon, Lava and Explosion- that sported dials and rotors made of Damascus steel with different colorful accents added by the use of other metals (as far as I understand the complex process of making the steel that was so popular among Medieval swords makers.)

This particular model comes in complete monochrome looking like there is a piece of a real blade installed behind the sapphire glass. The impression is further enhanced with a shuriken-style subsidiary seconds indicator placed at 6 o’clock.

However, the gold-wrapped diamonds that serve as hour indices somehow make the watch look too, well, soft. To my taste, a set of twelve screws with polished heads would have done a better job.

On the other hand, a lot of swords, daggers, rapiers and other types of cutting and piercing weapons were produced with their hilts, guards and even blades adorned with all sorts of precious stones and metals in order to highlight a privileged status of their owner.

I am also not sure about the timepiece’s legibility, because the matte-finished hour and minute hands may lack the needed contrast against the grayish dial.

However, I REALLY like the watch. If it would be possible to remove the diamonds and if it wasn’t priced at around $8000, I would be standing first in line to get a copy of my own.

As to the movement, everything is simple here. The Ice GoS 007 is powered by a time-proven ETA Unitas 6498-1 hand-wound caliber, which is both reliable and accurate, with some modifications done by Soprod.

A similar mechanism also powers the a.b.art MM series of watches, which is about eight times less expensive.

Photos: GoS Watches

Gustafsson & Sjögren Ice GoS 007 watch’s specification:

Price range: N/A yet, but said to be about $8000
Movement: ETA Unitas 6498-1, hand-wound
Complications: none
Power reserve: N/A, but usually around 56 hours
Case material: Stainless steel
Case size: 44 mm
Case height: 12 mm
Dial: Grayish Damascus steel
Water resistance: N/A
Strap: Polished stainless steel mesh bracelet
Crystal: Sapphire, flat