Worn & Wound
Isotope Brings Back the Popular “Will Return” Diver in a New Colorway
Inspiration can come from anywhere, and Isotope knows it. Since the brand’s founding in 2016, they have shown a knack for mining ideas from interesting places, and backing up their funky designs and color schemes with genuine technical prowess. Over the last eight years, they’ve made watches inspired by exit signs, NASA, British judges’ robes, and even the ridiculousness of gender-specific watches. But probably their most successful design came with the 2021 release of the “Will Return” Hydrium X Diver, a vibrant dive watch with a lume dial inspired by the “Closed, Will Return” signs found in shop windows all over the world. Now, as the promise of the name would suggest, the Will Return has, well, returned, albeit with some slight differences, and accompanied by a ridiculously cool wall clock. The new “Will Return Red” plays off the format of the 2021 release but makes a few changes. The biggest and boldest is that the blue bezel has been swapped out for a bright red one. The hands have been updated slightly, forfeiting the white border. There’s no blue to be found on the watch head, but the black FKM tropic-style rubber strap from the original release has been swapped for a light blue strap of the same construction. Ignoring the new colorway, the Will Return Red is the same watch Isotope has been making for the last few years. That’s a good thing, because despite the colorful and fun look of the Isotope, at its core the Hydrium X Diver is a properl...
