HANDS-ON : MILUS SNOW STAR DARK MATTER WATCH

The latest version of the impressive Milus Snow Star gets a black treatment and turns into the Milus Snow Star Dark Matter. The watch combines a black dial with an aDLC-coated 9o4L steel case produced with a matte finish. The polished hands and hour markers against the otherwise black tones are probably what accounts for the watch’s celestial name given that the shiny elements look like stars against a dark backdrop. Of course, the irony is that this or any other timepiece is meant to be visible on your wrist – and any with knowledge on the matter will immediately tell you that the human race has not yet figured out how to “look at” dark matter (but it is a cool name, regardless).

The reason I like this particular version of the Snow Star is because it combines a sporty and dressy look. The Snow Star itself is a revival of historic looks produced by Milus in the past. The dauphine hands and prominent, applied hour markers combine to make a sort of hybrid dress/sports look, and the matte black case (that is highly scratch resistant due to the aDLC coating) further pushes the Snow Star Dark Matter into sport territory. This look can be enhanced by putting the Snow Star Dark Matter on to a NATO-style strap (which I did). Milus offers some pretty nice NATO-style strap (not too long, which I appreciate), and I paired this watch with one of their black and red ones. I didn’t shoot it for this article because the hardware on the strap is unfinished steel (doesn’t ideally match the black), but the strap looks great on it and that is my preferred way to wear watches like this.

Milus ships its watches without the strap attached. The brand wants you to do that yourself given that the straps come on quick-release spring bars. The included strap is a slightly textured black calfskin strap. It’s more than decent in terms of quality but not particularly exciting unless you wear long sleeves a lot. I think it would be great if Milus could offer a matching black NATO-style strap with black-colored metal hardware. In any event, with a watch like this, you are invited to consider what other 20mm wide strap choices you feel might compliment the Snow Star Dark Matter timepiece on your wrist.

Aside from the amorphous diamond-like carbon (ADLC) coating on the steel case, technical specs for this Milus are the same as other Snow Star watches. The Snow Star case is in 904L steel and sized at 39mm-wide and just 9.45mm-thick. It has a sapphire crystal over the dial and the case is water-resistant to 100 meters with a screw-down crown. Inside the watch is a Swiss Made ETA caliber 2892A2, which I think is a great movement to have here at this price. The 4Hz automatic movement (with 42 hours of power reserve) is relatively thin, offers a date complication in addition to the time, and can be very accurate and reliable. Sadly there is no view of the movement through the caseback.

While there is a lot that the Milus Snow Star Dark Matter has going for it, this is decidedly a niche watch from a style perspective. Sporty dress watches aren’t something that all collectors know how to wear given that it requires some imagination and experience to pull them off correctly. Fashionably they can be great, but it is more common for lovers of these models to seek options from some of the more famous brands (Cartier for example has had some niche success offering black versions of their men’s watches, and aftermarket modifiers such as Bamford Watch Department) have cottage businesses “blacking out” otherwise dressier and shinier timepieces. From a price perspective, Milus probably beats most of the competition, even though the product itself doesn’t really cut corners anywhere.

It is probably time for Milus to update the modern Snow Star, as right now the brand seems to focus mostly on aesthetic variations of it. By improving and refining the collection they will only further cement the importance and popularity of this product family, which in my opinion, is probably its best right now. Price for the Milus Snow Star Dark Matter watch is 1,890 Swiss Francs. Learn more at the Milus watches website here.