Six Dive Watches for Life Underwater
Few things can be as simultaneously popular and as disparaged as the dive watch. From the oversized leviathans produced by Omega and Rolex to the fashion-forward Scuba Fifty Fathoms bioceramic crossover between Swatch and Blancpain, dive watches are varied and enduring. But they will forever have their detractors – people who just cannot see the necessity of a watch that can survive life in the deep when your intentions are to wear it in the office, and perhaps by the pool this summer.
It’s not easy to sit at a desk and contemplate life underwater. But I can guarantee you that there is only one item on the desk in question that would still be capable of performing its function 1,000m beneath the waves. It’s hard not to be awestruck by the idea of a complex machine – hundreds of tiny parts weighing fractions of a gram, working together to tolerances of fractions of a millimetre – that can comfortably operate under 100 times the atmospheric pressure it’s currently experiencing. Even the desk itself, I think, would struggle.
Dive watches are all the more impressive when you consider that Swiss brands basically cracked the formula in the 1950s and 60s, long before computer-aided design or precision machining techniques were available. Sure, today’s equivalents are better-made and dive deeper, but they all owe something to watches of that era, and it’s rare to find a collection that doesn’t pay homage to those early pioneers.
So it is with the six we have gathered here. Some wear their connection to the past lightly, such as Tissot and Certina’s more colourful takes on the classic template; others, like Seiko’s Prospex, bear proud resemblance to the originals on which they are based. Some use the silhouette and styling of a familiar dive watch as a springboard for experimentation, suchas Rado’s latest Captain Cook, which subverts the traditional expectation of high-contrast legibility with an openworked dial. But no matter the aesthetic approach or size, a proper dive watch will always be one thing: the toughest tool on your desk.
Rado Captain Cook, £3,850
You might take the latest Captain Cook for something of a show pony, and it’s definitely the least conventional design here thanks to the open dial. But Rado’s strength is in technical innovation, and the hi-tech ceramic case is both light and incredibly durable.
Bremont x Bamford Aurora, £4,900
The Aurora’s use of vivid green lume and a blackout case have seen it recast as a watch for polar exploration, but it remains a Supermarine underneath – Bremont’s toughest, deepest- rated dive watch, good for 500m.
Tissot Seastar 1000 Powermatic 80, £740
Sister to Certina’s DS PH1000M, the Seastar shares a movement, but its depth rating differs; the 1000 in the Tissot’s name refers to feet, not metres. It’s 0.5mm thinner in diameter and has a decidely more contemporary approach to design.
Breitling Superocean Automatic 44, £4,450
Breitling’s 44mm Superocean is inspired by a 1960s vintage model. Today’s watch is a straightforward automatic, but the square-tipped minute hand is a nod to the past. In all other senses, it’s a thoroughly modern timepiece.
Seiko Prospex 1965 Revival, £1,200
Seiko’s signature bar-shaped hour markers, simple black bezel and tapered case – present in the brand’s first dive watch 57 years ago – are all here. This modern offering boasts a 72-hour power reserve and a larger 40mm stainless steel case.
Certina DS Super PH1000M, £885
This 43.5mm automatic recaptures some of the vintage appeal of the brand’s first 1,000m diver from 1970 – even the orange colour was present on the original – while adding a reliable, up-to-date movement, the Powermatic 80.
You Might Also Like
