Rugged Watch With Detroit Soul: Shinola Duck Watch Review

It was 2:30 a.m., still a couple of hours until my alarm would wake me from my slumber to chase turkeys in the Colorado spring hunt. Annoyed, I sat up and started whacking the ceiling to clear the snow and keep a collapse at bay. But I glanced again at the watch, impressed by the lume, the only thing I could see in the darkness.

Last week, Detroit watch brand Shinola rereleased one of its 40mm dive watches, the quartz-powered Duck. And while the brand is a little polarizing, the 2025 Shinola Duck is a stunner. Beyond the good looks, which I think are reason enough to consider this watch, it’s a solid timepiece for adventure.

I put it to the test for the last week while turkey hunting in the Rocky Mountains, as well as in daily wear around town and to my office, and found this quartz-powered ticker to be a fun EDC watch for many people.

In short: The Shinola Duck is revamped for 2025 with vintage good looks and a lower price. For $550, buyers get a classy, capable quartz watch. With a 100m water rating and sapphire crystal, it should handle most of the rigors of outdoor use. But it comes up a little short in field watch legibility, and doesn’t have sufficient depth rating or legibility for use for in scuba diving.

Compare the Shinola Duck with the best field watches.

Shinola Duck Review: Overview

Shinola released its first version of the Duck a few years ago, but the new 2025 version is a very different, and I’d argue much more compelling, waterfowl. While the old Duck had bulbous, rounded edges and an almost cartoonish logo and appearance, the 2025 Duck oozes vintage cool.

The Duck arrived at my office in a handsome wood display case. Opening the case, my first impression was that this watch would be right at home among the mid-century furniture in a trendy Palm Springs hotel.

It’s a generally simple watch, with a dozen flat baton indices at the hour markers, a small date window at the 3 o’clock position, and the word SHINOLA in all caps under a tiny horizontal lightning bolt. Under the center of the watch reads “DUCK” in italics, followed by “ARGONITE – 715,” “DETROIT,” and “10 ATM.”

The text is all subtle against the black face. The seconds are denoted by subtly colored markers that, unfortunately, don’t quite align with the green and orange second hand on my demo model.

Bezel

Outside of the flat sapphire crystal begins the uni-directional bezel. It’s finished nicely in black and silver, and has a subtle coin edge that, while attractive, is really too smooth for real diving use where wet or gloved hands would have a harder time getting a good grip.

But this isn’t really a dive watch meant for diving. It’s an everyday watch ready for use in and around the water. But if you’re scuba diving, grab a computer.

The bezel does have one small application of lume at the 12 o’clock position, but the rest will not illuminate in the dark.

The bezel, marked with a single lume dot at 12 o’clock, and a 15, 30, and 45, is a useful timer. And the bezel moves with a nice, smooth click. It takes a nice, secure grip to turn it. As with most of the watch, it feels functional and well-made.

Strap

The 2025 Shinola Duck has a really nice basketweave-patterned rubber strap. It’s soft, pliable, and comfortable against the skin. I tested the black model, but it is also available in blue and yellow.

Overall, it’s a really simple strap but very nice and stylish. One nice touch is that it has a quick-release spring-bar, so switching straps will be a breeze.

Movement, Lume

The Shinola Duck has a Ronda 715 quartz movement. It’s rated to -10/+20 seconds per month, which is a good average quartz accuracy. It’s not a particularly noteworthy movement, but it will get the job done reliably.

It will require battery replacement from time to time.

A very minor gripe I have is that the second hand does not align exactly with the second markers on the watch face. It’s just a fraction of a millimeter off, but for a $500 quartz watch, I’d really hope these details are dialed. It’s not a big deal, and certainly not a deal breaker, but something I noticed that could be improved.

Meanwhile, I’ve been really impressed with the lume. As noted above, I was easily able to read the watch in the absolute pitch darkness of a tent during a nighttime snowstorm. In that instance, it had been at least 6 hours since the watch had seen the light of day. Not bad.

The lume glows with a nice green tint, greener than many watches I’ve tested over the years. It’s quite legible.

Caseback

The caseback is pretty cool, with an engraving of a duck diving under the water. While the previous Duck was, well, kinda goofy, this one is well-executed and is a nice representation of a generic duck. My duck identification kind of sucks, as I’m not a very serious duck hunter, but I’d go ahead and call it a redhead or mallard. Without many details, it’s sort of a guess!

Regardless, it looks pretty good. And when it came to my testing, I was turkey hunting anyway. But I do think the Duck would make a pretty solid duck hunting watch, as it’s waterproof and legible in low light.

Shinola Duck: Against the Competition

You don’t buy a $500 quartz watch for any reason other than you like it. There are a lot of less expensive quartz watches that will do the same or more than the Shinola Duck. A couple that come to mind are the Vaer G2 Meridian (about $350, 150-foot waterproof rating, solar quartz), and several watches from Seiko or Citizen.

But that’s not a knock against Shinola. Straight up, the Duck is a sharp-looking watch that feels great on my 6.5-inch wrist. It has really good legibility, even in low light. And it will hold up well against the rigors of outdoor use.

Is it a true dive watch? Not really. But it’s a nice-looking watch for daily wear that will have zero issues at the beach, on a duck boat, or at camp.

The ideal buyer is someone who wants a nice, stylish watch for a reasonable price. It’s fashionable, but built with quality components that won’t feel chintzy like some fashion brands. It has a nice, assembled-in-Detroit vibe, which carries a heritage story for anyone who wants to chat watches. And it’s a pretty cool brand with a growing fan base.

For the person looking for a single quartz watch to do everything, the Shinola Duck is a great-looking, functional choice. It’ll go well with pretty much any type of clothing, at least in the black configuration. For those who want something that really pops, check out the blue strap with pink hands, or the yellow strap and face.

It’s a fun watch that, while far from cheap, is very attainable for many people. As a lot of watch lovers say on repeat, this is a perfect instance of “if you love it, buy it.” I can’t see much of a downside at all.