Boldr Venture Un.Dark Watch Commemorates A Shocking Moment In History

It is a testament to the individual ingenuity of watch designers the world over that I come to work every day and find something to be excited about waiting for me on my desk or in my inbox. I’m a big fan of microbrands, as may well be obvious from my previous writings on the subject, but what I often find more compelling than the products themselves is the brand identity they are wordlessly able to create. How tough is it to build a recognizable brand across multiple ranges in a heavily saturated marketplace that ceaselessly stacks the odds against the new guy? Well, according to Leon Leong and the Boldr Venture Un.Dark, while it may not be easy, it is certainly possible. Especially, that is, when you have a frankly unbelievable story behind your latest venture…

Calling Boldr “the new guy” no longer really applies in an industry segment that has a higher turnover than a farmer’s field. However, despite being founded in 2016, Boldr Supply Co still has a very fresh feel to it. I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of its watches on my wrist before. I even own one of them — a Boldr Expedition Eiger. I picked it up about a year ago after having the chance to review it.

A happy pairing

At that time, I happened to be on the hunt for a fully-lumed dial. It has not disappointed me. I now wear it on a fetching brown leather strap from Nero Biglia and it is an ideal weekend beater. You can see it on its new band in this article I wrote about it here. Ever since the Expedition became part of my collection, I’ve kept a keen eye on the brand. I covered the release of the limited edition Chaigo watch in January. Now, just a month later, we have another addition to the Venture stable for your viewing pleasure. And this one, while clearly part of the Venture family, has a very different feel to it…

Who turned out the lights?

The Venture Un.Dark — like all Boldr’s models — is supremely well-equipped to handle low light conditions. While I’ve never met anybody that likes bad lume, I really place a lot of stock in the best of the best nighttime glow possible. It’s my opinion that every watch should take its intended environment seriously. Beyond telling the time, every watch is designed for something specific. Laying one’s hands on good quality luminous material at the turn of the 20th century, however, was not only difficult, for those charged with handling the stuff, it could be downright dangerous.

If I already owned a Venture (which I don’t, but have considered adding on more than one occasion before), I would still be considering this piece. I think a change in lume color alone does create enough of a different vibe to warrant having both pieces in your collection at once. But the particularly unusual dial of the Venture Un.Dark is certainly special enough to make it stand out from the rest of the collection…

Is that a girl I see?

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. Lurking in the background of the Boldr Venture Un.Dark dial, is the simple outline of a girl, carefully working on something small and delicate. She is, or at least represents, one of the “radium girls”. No, they weren’t a girl band from the turn of the century you never heard of (at least I don’t think they were). These young women were responsible for applying the early luminous compounds to watch and clock displays, unaware of their carcinogenic properties.

The story

“The Radium Girls were a collective of young teenage factory workers who would handle this paint every day without protective equipment, exposing them to its harmful side effects and ultimately causing severe health issues and painful deaths to many. The watch is dedicated to the memory of the fallen girls, featuring an outline of a dial painter on its face and custom artwork on its case back.”

“Slowly but surely, damaging effects of radium begin to show. In 1922, one of the USRC workers named Mollie Maggia suffered abscesses in her mouth, disintegrating teeth, and a jawbone that dislodged into her doctor’s hands upon touching it. Horror stories such as these began cropping up and affecting teenage girls all over the country, but they were largely ignored, misdiagnosed, and shamed for unfounded accusations while corporations rushed to cover up their injuries and deaths.”

The stuff of nightmares

It’s a pretty chilling thing to find a watch dedicated to. It is a fascinating chapter in our industry’s potted history of which I was previously unaware. I am very thankful for Boldr shining a light on this shadowy era of malpractice. You might not believe this, but the companies responsible for hiring the girls to perform these dangerous duties actually knew about the dangers of handling the material and the problems that could arise from long-term exposure and lied to these women about it. At first, I’d just assumed nobody knew how dangerous it was. It turns out that wasn’t the case.

A rugged companion

It feels like 2021 is shaping up to be a big year for field watches. The no-nonsense, unavoidably heritage-inspired aesthetic seems to marry with the general fashion trends and consumer priorities of 2021. These watches do the job and do it with character. The Boldr Venture Un.Dark is one of the brand’s moodiest takes on this model so far and it works very well, in my opinion. The titanium housing is a treat to use and abuse.

…a daily joy.

The Venture Un.Dark is a refreshingly straightforward, compact, durable, wearable, highly legible field watch. Its lightweight titanium case and relatively diminutive sizing make it a daily joy. It reminds me a lot of the old CWC and Hamilton cases favored by militaries in the past. The 38mm movement houses the Japanese-made Miyota 8217 Automatic, which has a 24-hour indicator at 9 o’clock and a hacking seconds function. The case is 12mm thick, has a 42mm lug-to-lug length, and takes 20mm straps.

A rare watch for a rare story

Thankfully, these kinds of stories are (mostly) a thing of the past. The standards within the industry have improved. There is still work to do to ensure a safe and accessible working environment for all, but we are surely on a good road.

This mysterious field watch is a wonderful occasional piece or a solid daily-wear warrior…

This watch commemorates the young women — whose glowing skin led to them being nicknamed the “Ghost Girls” — who suffered painful ailments and deaths in the name of their craft. This mysterious field watch is a wonderful occasional piece or a solid daily-wear warrior that backed-up by a good story. The Boldr Venture Un.Dark is limited to 99 pieces only. Learn more about Boldr here.