Serica Ref. 7505 Field Chronometer — A 35 mm COSC-Certified Field Watch From €1,090

Description

Serica has introduced the Ref. 7505 Field Chronometer, a long-anticipated 35 mm reformulation of its inaugural Field Chronometer (Ref. 4505). The 7505 is not a simple shrink: the case has been completely redrawn with curved lugs, alternating finishing and a thinner overall profile; the dial architecture has been reworked across three new variants; and the movement has changed from the brand's previous Soprod automatic to the slimmer Soprod M100 (Newton P099), COSC-certified as a chronometer.

The collection launches with three dial options. Two carry the new Minute Critical Dial — a single, uninterrupted 60-minute scale that simplifies tactical and field-use read-out — in Black and Olive Green. The third reprises Serica's signature TXD ("Tuxedo") dial layout. Pricing starts at EUR 1,090 for the Minute Critical Dial variants and EUR 1,190 for the TXD, with deliveries from June 2026.

Coming after the 4505's three-year run, the 7505 is the strongest argument yet that the new generation of French and pan-European micro-brands is operating in the price band that used to belong to Swiss tool-watch heavyweights — and beating them on movement quality at the entry point.

Design

The case is the headline of the redesign. At 35 mm in diameter, 9.6 mm thick including the crystal and 41.5 mm lug-to-lug, the 7505 wears closer to a 33–34 mm vintage field watch than to a modern compact tool watch. The lugs are now curved rather than straight, with brushed top surfaces flowing into polished bevels; a double-domed sapphire crystal sits flush with the bezel, internally AR-coated to keep glare down without producing the rainbow flare of external coatings; a screw-down crown and signed screw-down caseback hold 200 m of water resistance.

Two dial architectures launch the collection. The Minute Critical Dial (Black and Olive Green) places a single, prominent 60-minute scale as the dominant graphic, with the hour ring smaller and recessed — a deliberate inversion of the conventional field-watch hierarchy that biases the read-out toward elapsed-time tasks. The TXD ("Tuxedo") dial retains the alternating-ring chapter layout that Serica introduced on the 4505, where the inner hour scale and outer minute scale are finished in contrasting colours. All three variants share Serica's signature handset — broad cathedral-style hour and minute hands with full lume fill, paired with a thin lume-tipped seconds hand.

Specifications

Brand and model: Serica Ref. 7505 Field Chronometer
Case diameter: 35 mm
Case thickness (with crystal): 9.6 mm
Lug-to-lug: 41.5 mm
Case material: stainless steel, brushed top with polished bevels
Crystal: double-domed sapphire, internal AR coating
Caseback: signed screw-down stainless steel
Water resistance: 200 m
Dial variants: Minute Critical (Black or Olive Green); TXD ("Tuxedo")
Hands: cathedral-style hour and minute with full lume; lume-tipped seconds
Movement: Soprod M100 (Newton P099) automatic
Certification: COSC chronometer
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 42 hours
Crown: screw-down
Strap: quick-release spring bars; grained leather and herringbone NATO at launch; FKM rubber and steel bracelet as options
Price: EUR 1,090 (Minute Critical Black / Olive Green); EUR 1,190 (TXD)
Availability: deliveries from June 2026; first allocation of 36 pieces at Time+Tide studios in New York, London and Melbourne, next allocation in November 2026

What's Exciting

A 35 mm field watch with a COSC-certified Soprod M100 inside at just over a thousand Euros is genuinely uncommon. The going rate at this size and finishing is an uncertified Sellita SW200 derivative running well outside chronometer tolerance; Serica's choice of the Soprod M100 and submission to COSC pushes it into a category — certified compact field chronometers — that until recently meant a Tudor Black Bay 36 at twice the price. The dial-architecture work also rewards attention: the Minute Critical layout is a real-use reinterpretation of the field-watch idiom, not a stylistic tweak. And the 9.6 mm / 41.5 mm L2L geometry means the 7505 wears on the smaller side of vintage rather than just being a "small" modern watch — a category that has thinned out as the rest of the industry has crept upward in diameter.

History

Serica was founded in Paris in 2019 by a small team led by Jérôme Burgert, with a stated goal of producing field, dive, and dress watches in a French design idiom that draws on mid-century European tool-watch heritage rather than 1970s American sports-watch icons. The brand's inaugural Ref. 4505 Field Chronometer (2020) defined the visual language — alternating brushed and polished surfaces, restrained typography, cathedral hands, and the signature TXD "Tuxedo" dial as a graduated option. The 4505 was followed by the Ref. 8315 Diver, a 39 mm 300 m dive watch with the same restrained codes, and the slimmer Ref. 5305 GMT. Across the catalogue, Serica has used Soprod movement bases — most recently the M100 — and has committed to COSC certification on every new mechanical reference. The 7505 is the brand's first deliberate downsize of its flagship line, and a clean statement of intent for the next generation of pieces under that policy.