I think it’s fair to say that British brand Elliot Brown has absolutely nailed the tool watch. When it comes to proper tool watches, I’ll quote generational wordsmith will.i.am by saying “I like them big, I like them chunky.” I strongly favor trim, wearable watches, but if a brand is telling me its watch is “made for adventure” or “built for the elements” or “ready for whatever I can throw at it,” I don’t want to take the spec sheet’s word for it. I want to be able to see and feel the ruggedness and durability. You can tell me a watch has a hardened case coating and 300m water resistance and a helium escape valve and a Nato strap, but if it’s tiny and doesn’t feel tough, I’ll always hesitate. The Elliot Brown Beachmaster watches are perhaps the best example of the brand’s desire to make proper tool watches that can be used without hesitation. The Beachmaster offers a no-nonsense design and execution that feels tough because is tough, and even though the watches don’t align with my typical preferences, I found myself repeatedly going for them while I had the automatic Elliot Brown Beachmaster Founder’s Edition and the quartz Elliot Brown Beachmaster Ghost in for review.

The Elliot Brown Beachmaster isn’t exactly enormous, but it is prominent. The cases feature a blasted, even finish with not even a scintilla of polishing anywhere. This isn’t a dress diver or some go anywhere, do anything sports watch, it’s a tool watch and properly used, any polished surfaces will be marred. While the watch measures 40mm at the case and 41mm at the bezel, the 50mm lug-to-lug and the 14mm height are somewhat exaggerated by two things. The first is the overall silhouette. Unlike many modern watches that try to mitigate wrist presence, the profile here is basically a rectangle. The lugs simply plummet from the top of the case down, and while there is a curvature, it’s just around the bend and it’s not enough to do anything. The second factor is the various straps. You’d expect a bracelet to follow the contours of the lugs, and this does, but what you don’t always see is rubber straps doing so. Where you’d normally have the benefit of a more gradual transition to the wrist, the rubber options follow those same contours. The end result, as I mentioned, is a watch that stands out on the wrist and makes its presence known.

The Beachmaster is rated to 300m water resistance and features a sapphire crystal. On the Beachmaster Ghost, you get a black DLC coating, while things are kept simple with the raw steel of the Founder’s Edition (the automatic model also comes in a PVD bronze case and bracelet, while the quartz also has a steel option). I really like the look of the tan-on-black Ghost, but as we’ll get into, it has some drawbacks. The 120-click unidirectional countdown bezel on both has a fine coin edge bezel and operates easily, with satisfying and firm detents; the matte black ceramic bezel insert is fully lumed and easily legible on both models. Two crowns control all functions of the watch.

At 4 o’clock, the screw-down time-setting crown sets the watch and the GMT hand; the crown at 2 o’clock is used to rotate the internal bezel, which also has detents so it can be set exactly where you want (a pet peeve of mine on internal bezel watches, making the precise setting of such bezels needlessly difficult). The crown at 2 is cleverly appointed with a delta, as in difference or change, as in tracking the change of time. I found both crowns to be slightly undersized. While they do a great job of not getting in the way, adjusting the internal bezel on wrist was an inconvenience if ultimately doable, and setting the time took some fingertip finesse.

One of the standout features of the Beachmaster collection is the strap system. A far cry from the flimsiness of traditional spring bars, the Beachmaster uses a single-sided bar with a Torx socket to ensure that the straps don’t go anywhere. This is a bit like Panerai’s bar, but I found it far easier to change. Using a provided screwdriver, you simply remove the bar, slot the new strap in, and screw it back in. The bar screws in past the lug whole, so there’s no chance it will get caught. If you try to yank a spring bar out of lug holes with your hand, or even with a Nato strap, you can usually get the job done with enough force. Perhaps recklessly, I tried both with the Beachmaster bars and was unsuccessful in feeling any give at all. The non-traditional design precludes the use of almost any strap with quick-release bars, the Beachmaster bars still work with pass-through style straps and if you really want, traditional two-piece straps (though they may stretch the spring bar channel). While this all sounds like extra work to change straps this way, it’s just different work: by the time I was writing this review, I could swap the Beachmaster straps almost as quickly as I could a normal strap.

The Beachmaster Founder’s Edition comes on a matching three-link bracelet that felt as tough as the watch and has a ratcheting quick-adjust clasp I’ve seen on other bracelets from other brands. The clasp itself has a fully lumed EB shield logo, which is a fun touch, but made me want the crown engravings to be lumed, too. Something that stood out to my eagle eye was that the finishing on the case didn’t exactly match the finishing on the bracelet; they’re clearly the same finishing style, but sometimes if a brand uses a different manufacturer for its bracelet than its case, this can happen. I’m not sure if that’s the case here, and I will add that aside from when I was closely examining the watch, it didn’t bother me.

The Founder’s also includes a fitted black textured rubber strap that ended up being my favorite option. As it’s cut-to-size and has micro-adjustment holes on the clasp, I was able to get a perfect fit. While it was the most comfortable, given it has a push-button butterfly clasp, it’s likely the least secure of the bunch. The Ghost edition typically comes on a choice of that same black rubber or a black DLC bracelet. The blackout look provided by the rubber is great, but black bracelets have never done anything for me. Instead, I received the Ghost on a sand-colored two-piece rubber strap that didn’t offer as much comfort as the black option but felt much more secure. The DLC pin buckle is substantial, and the tail has a lip that helps it to lock in place, meaning there’s almost no risk of it flapping about.

The Beachmaster Automatic collection comes in deep blue, black with bronze accents (to match the bronze DLC case), and the black Founder’s Edition. The quartz Beachmaster Professional comes in the brand’s dark grey-green NIVO, Blackout, or the Ghost seen here. I’ll admit that while I think the Ghost is the coolest, the quartz NIVO is probably the most in line with the watch’s purpose. Across the dial options, the layout is identical, and while it may seem busy, it’s rather easy to parse and I didn’t find myself lost in the apparent see of markings. Let me dispense with the basics: printed hour and minute markers with 12-3-6-9 numerals, a central 24-hour scale on what the brand calls its “amphibious assault” wave pattern, and large sword hands. Before I go further, I’ll say that these elements are well executed for legibility and layout, and I have no real complaints beyond the triangle of the seconds hand being a bit undersized. I had a hard time catching it on the Founder’s Edition when setting the watch.

Obviously, two parts of this dial are uncommon. The first is the internal mission timer bezel, which EB has patented. Fully lumed (on the Founder’s Edition, it has two colors), the mission timer covers two 12-hour halves, allowing for countdown to mission start and count up to rendezvous — the original idea for the Beachmaster came from a request by the Royal Marines for this very function. The elapsed time is tracked by the double-arrow GMT hand (also featuring bi-color lume on the Founder’s), the inner triangle of which serves to indicate the second timezone on the central 24-hour scale. The mission timer operates independent of what time it actually is. You simply determine the time until the mission (or activity), set the bezel’s H accordingly, and then you’re good to go — just check back as the hand nears the H. Once it’s within an hour, you could even use the external bezel for closer tracking of the countdown. I’ll be honest and tell you that I only used the internal bezel once, and only because I felt the need to try it out. I believe I was tracking the two hours until my family left for a Fall festival or something. It’s all a blur.

I mentioned I think the Ghost is the coolest Beachmaster model, and I stand by that, but it has one glaring drawback: it loses almost all utility in the dark. Never before have I been able to witness the stark contrast between regular lume and grey lume, but here it is. The photos above and below were taken with the exact same lighting setup and camera settings, and portray both lume applications in a best-case scenario. That is, the grey lume on the Beachmaster Ghost isn’t even as bright as the picture shows. They are both, of course, Super-LumiNova, but those who’ve experienced any type of lume know the wide chasm of brightness that can exist between lume colors. The Beachmaster Founder’s Edition shines brightly and evenly, and, in fact, there may simply be too much of it; it took me a second in the dark to get my bearings with all the various markings.

The Ghost, on the other hand, sees its functionality ceding ground to its aesthetics. With all that said, Elliot Brown deserves credit: the brand is explicit on the Ghost’s product page that the lume is weaker than most and that if low-light legibility is a priority, you should check out the Beachmaster NIVO, the quartz Beachmaster without grey lume. The brand knows the Ghost (and its Blackout sibling) makes some sacrifices in the name of coolness but wants to make sure buyers aren’t disappointed when they get their watches. Respect.

These are real tool watches, even the Ghost, and as such, you won’t see a sapphire caseback. You probably wouldn’t want one on the Ghost, which uses a Swiss Ronda 515.24H quartz GMT movement. The movement has an almost 5-year battery life, metal construction, and is serviceable. It can also be put into power-save mode by pulling out the crown. The Founder’s Edition (and all automatic Elliot Brown Beachmasters) is equipped with the ever-trusted Swiss Sellita SW330-2, the newest iteration of Sellita’s workhorse automatic GMT movement with a power reserve of 56 hours at 28,800 vph. Both movements should serve most peoples’ needs without any concern; I didn’t have any issues, but I also don’t live what any rational person would even consider calling an adventurous lifestyle. If you often find yourself in rough terrain, boxing with a watch on, or just getting knocked around a lot, you may want to opt for one of the quartz models.

The market is flooded with watches that check boxes but aren’t actually up to the tasks for which they’re ostensibly designed. To me, the Beachmaster felt like a breath of functional fresh air in such a market. There aren’t many brands that so thoroughly commit to making watches that can be used as tools. I’m not talking about speccing something to 200m and giving it great lume; I’m talking about engineering a case, strap, and bracelet in ways that may be less convenient but are more durable; patenting a mission timer function; and, yes, being upfront about when lume on one model may not be up to snuff for those who actually need it. The Beachmaster is a watch that was designed for a purpose beyond being worn. It’s big, feels bulletproof, and has utility well beyond what most will ever need. As I told a friend, I’d take this watch into Mordor. The Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder’s Edition is limited to 500 pieces and despite coming with a special box and challenge coin, is priced the same as its non-limited siblings at $2,761 USD. The Elliot Brown Beachmaster Ghost is priced at $871 USD. For more information, please visit the Elliot Brown website.