When I first saw the scaly bracelet of this watch, I instantly thought about Aquaman, the orange scale shirted, underwater comic book (hero?) character who “speaks with fishes.” He probably sleeps with the fishes too. The pictured watches from from the Spirit of the Dragon collection from watch maker Veni Vidi Vici, whose goal is to recreate the romance of the Roman empire – in watch form. This aesthetic is a bit better represented in some of their other watches.

The Spirit of the Dragon collection (because Dragons have scales too), is really based on the idea of incorporating the look of scaled surfaces into a watch. To that end the result is pretty well done. These are bona fide luxury watches available in steel, various shades of 18k gold, and even platinum. A three-hand and chronograph version is available, with black, blue, or white colored dials. Veni Vidi Vici further promises to customize your watch however you like. Need some diamonds sprinkled on the face? No problem. Want a custom color? No problem. Need yours with a mother of pearl face? (Will have to check with the manager, but…) No problem! You can even have a mixture of polished and satin finished scales and surfaces on the watch for an interesting look. Pretty cool.

Veni Vidi Vici’s own site is a bit unclear as to the movements they use. Actually, the site could use some work. I think they themselves mistake “chronograph” with “chronometer.” Still, the watches are pretty cool. The three-hand watches appear to use a Swiss automatic movement, while the chronograph apparently uses a Swiss quartz movement. I like the clarity of the watch face. The watch hands design appears to be taken directly from such watches as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or a Patek Philippe Nautilus. So there are nice influences at work here.

It is true that while the idea of scales might make you think of fish first. The concept is prevalent throughout nature. Reptiles have scales, flower petals are often arranged in the same way, and bird feathers and basically scales that have evolved into light objects for flight over millions of years. I’d really like to check one of these Spirit of the Dragon watches out to see what they look like on a non-scaly human wrist. Oh, and if the scales are too much for you, they have leather straps as well.

See Veni Vidi Vici watches on eBay here.

[phpbay]veni vidi vici | rome | spirit dragon, num, “14324”, “”[/phpbay]