HALDOR is one of the new crowdfunded generation of watch companies that have sprouted up from the likes of Kickstarter or Indiegogo. The Italian named Abissi is their debut diver – designed in Germany and built in Switzerland . . .
DIAL This is as good a place to start as any – the HALDOR Abissi has the quintessential divers face; matte black with appliqué chromed markers in a trapezoidal shape with Arabic numerals at 6, 9 and 12 o’clock.
The indexes themselves are nice 'n' big so can accommodate a large amount of lume. Yes, there’s the dreaded white date aperture at 3, but in this instance, it kind of works. Do we really need a date window on a diver, anyway? Probably not!
The dial is complimented by a set of sword HANDS with a larger narrow minute hand in orange and a short and stubby hour hand in white (they’re kind of generic and perhaps a little predictable but this is what we like, no?) and then the central sweeping seconds indicator in orange with its lumed rectangular pointer towards the top – I’m big fan of these – it’s all very nice!
The Abissi's dial does have a few lines of text: four if we are to include the logo at 12 but to be honest the dial isn’t any busier than something like a PO and is a hell of lot cleaner than my DEEPSEA’s cluttered dial.
CASE This is where things go from good to very good; the Abissi has a really nice solid brushed Stainless steel case. The 45.5mm case has a typical barrel shape; only it isn’t that typical because it has had all of its sides and edges angled-off – particularly the tops of the lugs which have been flattened creating a clean line running right across running its top.
Okay, I think the photos can best describe the angular charms of the Abissi’s case but I will say this- the Abissi while very German-like in its style (think Limes Leviathan or H2O Kalmar) is in no way derivative but rather of a good-looking original design!
Special features of the case include: an automatic Helium Escape Valve at 9 o’clock, massive crown guards – 6 o’clock and a unidirectional rotating divers –
BEZEL which is of an equally chunky design. I absolutely love the beautifully pronounced bezel teeth; and its glossy black ceramic inlay is just as nice. The inlay has been engraved and filled with its 15-min scale in red for danger and the other markings in white. At 12 o’clock is a proper chromed lume capsule.
In addition to the HEV and divers bezel, the Abissi is also fitted with a screw-down caseback and crown. The CROWN is of a nice size – plenty big enough even for the most chubby-fingered individuals to manipulate and with multiple gaskets for increased water-resistance.
The crown is signed with the Abissi logo while the CASEBACK sports an engraving of a deep sea divers helmet where the brand logo has been cleverly incorporated into the helmet’s window.
So how does the bezel feel and what’s the crown like to OPERATE? Well, the bezel has a 120-click cycle – the clicks are springy yet precise. The movement is spot on with a good sound. The crown is a pleasure to use, too. The crown stem is sturdy with a thick crown tube adding additional strength and giving a nice feeling of confidence.
CRYSTAL Do you ever get the feeling that the whole domed / double-domed crystal trend is getting a little boring – well here’s another good quality divers watch that has not felt the need to go the domed route (Aquadive and Limes are another two that have also not felt the need to jump on that particular bandwagon).
The Abissi’s Sapphire crystal is a good 4mm thick but with a lovely clean flat finish. It has been treated with an excellent quality anti-reflective coating which means the dial can be seen from even the most obscure angles.
WATER-RESISTANCE The Abissi has a water-resistance of 1000 meters. 1000m is pretty much the new 500m and to be honest I’d even say that HALDOR have been quite circumspect with the depth rating, as going by the –
BUILD QUALITY – the Abissi could probably go 3 or 4 times the depth indicated on its dial. Talking of which the fit and finish of the Abissi is great – not finely finished like an Omega or a Rolex or even to the same degree as say an Aquadive and perhaps maybe ever so slightly rough around the edges but well finished nevertheless . It has been properly put together using good quality components and has been built like an absolute tank – BIG thumbs up!
LUME The Abissi uses top quality Swiss made C3 SuperLumiNova. This has been applied generously to its hands and markers. The lume which glows bright green is excellent – it’s super bright and long lasting – damn I’m gonna have to do a lume shot, now! ;-)
MOVEMENT The HALDOR Abissi is powered by the Swiss made ETA 2824-2 automatic movement – nothing more, nothing less. The movement is probably the most widely used caliber of its type in the Swiss watch industry and with very good reason.
BRACELET The Abissi has a magnificently hefty 5-link solid Stainless steel bracelet. The links have been held together using flat-head screws – actually I prefer hex-screws but these are fine and have been cleverly recessed into the sides of links so that they hold nice ‘n’ tight.
The CLASP – how to start, the Abissi has the ultimate divers clasp like the bracelet it is super big and solid. It is substantially bigger than you’d usually find on a diver of its size adding a real sense of drama, and like many of the Abissi’s components giving its wearer plenty of confidence especially when you fold down the final piece of the trip-lock – clunk!
VALUE The HALDOR Abissi is priced - 730€. HALDOR had some amazing pre-order offers on the Abissi that were jumped on by everyone, however the current list price is still very fair considering the excellent quality of the watch.
FINAL THOUGHTs While the Abissi has made use of tried and tested design cues for its dial, has made use of typical diving imagery for its caseback and perhaps even has (albeit in Italian) a common name– the overall package – the overall look and feel of the watch is original.
You get the sense that the watch has been put together by someone that not only has an understanding of dive watches but someone who is perhaps just as passionate about them as we are, and so the Abissi is bound to appeal to those of us that enjoy good-looking solidly built tool-watches.
©OceanicTime
Its design is very German, its build typically Swiss, its name Italian. However, the company behind this very lovely Euro diver actually hail from Slovenia! In summary the Abissi is a modern dive watch designed and built in Europe – geographically it can’t be pinned down any more precisely than that, yet it can in terms of its overall execution – which at the end of the day is Swiss through and through!
I know it's utilitarian, and that a lot of guys probably like it, but I won't buy a watch with separate designs for the minute and hour hands. I just don't like it. Makes the watch look askew or unbalanced. Your eye fixes on that whacked-out minute hand whenever you look at the dial. To me it seems to violate some law of aesthetics if there is one.
ReplyDeleteThat's surely necessary in a dive watch to differentiate between the minute and hour hand. I also don't think the minute and hour hand are too different, I see the minute hand as being as if the hour hand was stretched.
ReplyDeleteMakes the watch look "askew or unbalanced"...
ReplyDeleteVery opinionated statement...
But, since we are all entitles to our own opinion, I own this watch and am very happy with it.
In my opinion, your evaluation is dead wrong....
I boufht it
ReplyDeleteI love it~