Ocean Crawler is an independent, small-scale brand based out of Rochester, NY that I first learned about through Instagram. My initial impression after looking through its online presence was one of interest. The technical details were impressive, and it seemed like each model boasted true tool watch functionality, while the designs used an attractive variety of bright orange, black, and blue hues. Each model was unique and stood on its own, yet there was a vague sense of familiarity to many of them.
With all that in mind, I was intrigued. I reached out to the founder and CEO Christian Champion to see if I could spend some time with the black version of the Ocean Crawler Ocean Navigator. My time with the watch luckily coincided with a beach vacation I was taking (I also brought a Zodiac Super Sea-Wolf that I reviewed here), so I was able to experience the watch in an appropriate atmosphere.
Before getting into my experience with the Ocean Navigator, I would like to provide some general details about the young brand and its development over the past few years.
The Ocean Crawler concept was conceived during the summer of 2016, which Champion spent on the beaches of Saint Petersburg, Florida. Although Champion has collected watches since he was nine years old (with an obvious preference towards dive watches), this is his first foray into the watch industry, which as we all know can be an intimidating proposition.

One year later and the first Ocean Crawler watch launched. Si...