BATHYS Benthic Ti Review

FIRST IMPRESSION
'Aloha, welcome to Hawaii and have a nice day' if the Benthic Ti could speak this is probably what it would have said to me when I first opened the box to find it waiting inside for me.

One look at the Benthic Ti and I could see that it was unmistakably a BATHYS; all the all hallmarks were there that one has come to expect from this small, maverick Hawaiian company. The clean mat black dial, oversized (even numbered) Arabic numerals, the dwarf arrow-head hour hand, the BATHYS logo and the Hawaiian Islands case back design; all a sure sign that I had bought into something uniquely special and Hawaiian.

The Benthic Ti came fittingly presented in tough bright orange 1120 Pelican case. Inside were the warranty details and a very durable black rubber articled divers strap, with signed BATYHS titanium buckle.




ASETHETIC
The case itself which I will cover in more detail later is beautiful especially the bezel, you can't help but be drawn to its utilitarian design. The Benthic Ti has huge 3.8mm thick domed sapphire crystal. The dial to crystal ratio is very high in favor of the crystal which makes the watch look even larger than it actually is and the dome of the crystal is really quite spectacular. I think I read somewhere that case takes 9 days to fabricate but, the crystal takes 14 days to grow, that sounds about right.




MOVEMENT
The Benthic Ti's 48mm titanium case is home to a Swiss made Ronda 7003 Mastertech 15"' jeweled quartz with a retrograde day and large date; ideal for those times in our lives when we are either too preoccupied with our hectic schedules or are too busy enjoying a sunny holiday somewhere, either way a useful function and an interesting addition to the dial.




CASE
48mm / 15mm / 109 grams / 3.8mm sapphire crystal /
Its Grade 5 titanium case has been beautifully designed and executed. It has a very refined and sculptured feel to it; all the lines and curves of the case in perfect harmony with each other; the dull finish of the metal perfectly balancing the watch’s large dimensions making it a very wearable and comfortable timepiece.

There are two scalloped areas in-between the 24mm lugs which allow for the strap to move more freely, aesthetically they add a little something extra to the case.

An endearing feature specific to all BATHYS dive watches is the screw down case back with an engraving of the Hawaiian Islands chain. Another nice touch!

The 7.5mm screw down crown although chunky and rugged in its appearance is a little smaller than I would like to see on a watch this size. It sits very snugly between two crown guards.

The Benthic Ti has a large titanium unidirectional rotatable bezel. It’s the 60 click type. The action is nice and firm.




WATER-RESISTANCE
110 Fathoms, 660 feet or 200 meters; perfectly suitable for what ever kind of water born activity you have in mind. I believe John Patterson BATHYS' owner and founder is a keen stand up paddle boarder.




WEARABILITY
At 48mm the Benthic Ti is a HUGE watch, at least on paper anyway, but here's the good news it’s not too huge on the wrist and it could never be guilty of looking like one of those silly oversized watches that you see on guys with 6inch wrists. My mate has a 7inch wrist and he can pull it off, no problem!





STRAP
The watch came on a beautiful black 24mm waterproof leather strap with red stitching and a signed BATHYS titanium buckle. Not many companies go to the trouble of using titanium for the buckle; you usually end up with brushed stainless steel, kudos to BATHYS for this little touch. A bracelet would have been perfect, I believe one will be available in the future .




FUNCTIONALITY
The Benthic Ti has large Arabic numerals that have been generously applied with C3 SuperLuminova, this makes the watch dial highly visible even in low lighting conditions. It has a 60 click unidirectional rotatable bezel with elapsed time scale for timing dives. These plus the day date function offer all the functionality you could ever want for keeping yourself on track whether on or off shore.




DURABILITY
BATHYS' bottom line for this timepiece was building a watch to survive longer than you do. The Benthic Ti is made of Grade 5 titanium of the type used in aerospace engineering; it’s tough, light, non-corrosive and extremely durable. Light scratches and swirls will usually heal themselves over time owing to the way in which titanium oxidizes; larger scratches can be easily dealt with by means of a few light strokes of an ink eraser.




LUME
The lume on the Benthic Ti is really quite excellent; I think this owes to that fact that it has oversized Arabic numerals which have 3 good applications of C3 SuperLuminova on them, allowing the wearer to tell the time within 650 milliseconds, say BATHYS!





VALUE

The MSRP on the Benthic Ti is 995USD which is fairly good value when you take into account the extra cost of machining titanium cases and then when consider BATHYS Hawaii’s current position in the luxury Swiss watch market. Coming from humble roots BATHYS have elevated themselves as a watch company, producing timepieces easily comparable and in some cases better than many well know Swiss brands.

The BATHYS name becoming stronger every year; One example of this is where you can find BATHYS watches on sale, sat in jewelry and watch stores alongside TAG, Omega and Rolex.

However, despite this rise to success they have kept their prices at a reasonable level. It’s not the cheapest kid on the block, but for what it is it’s not a bad deal either and the price is more than justified by the fit and finish.



© OceanicTime

OVERALL IMPRESSION
I see the Benthic Ti as a true waterman’s watch, whilst not a hardcore diver it does have it’s place in my collection of dive watches and it certainly holds its own against many other extreme divers that I have, outshining many with its lume application and enormous sapphire crystal. It looks the part on the wrist and makes enough of a statement without drawing too much attention.



OVERALL RATING