ORIS Aquis Date RELIEF

Water, it’s the most important thing on earth, making up 71% of our planet’s surface and around 60% of the composition of the human body – without it there is no life – it’s as simple as that!

We even spend the first 9 months of our lives submerged in it, in the womb. We drink it, we wash in it, we play in it, some of us dive into it (with our watches on), and others like expedition swimmer, Ernst Bromeis swim in it – a lot!



We are also, all too aware of what pollutes it, such as ocean plastic, a cause that some watch companies have started to get behind, but today, Oris hope to bring awareness to the state of the world’s water as a whole.



They have partnered with water ambassador, Ernst Bromeis to create the new Oris Aquis Date Relief the newest member of Oris diver family, known as Aquis.



Ernst took his lovely new Aquis Date Relief to Lake Baikal along with photographer Maurice Haas in preparation for an upcoming a swimming project –

‘The Blue Miracle’, which will see him swim across a number of lakes, including Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake, to raise awareness of the world’s water.



The Oris Aquis Date Relief is inspired by the color and feeling of water. Its grey dial recalls the color of a stormy sea, while its signature dive-time scale in relief is a reminder of the texture of water.



The watch shares its architecture and performance with the Oris Aquis Date. It has a 43.5mm Stainless steel case with a unidirectional rotational diver’s bezel and is water-resistant to 300 meters.



It comes on a choice of straps or a metal bracelet, and its Sapphire crystal sits over a dial decorated with applied hour markers, which, like the hour and minutes hands, are filled with luminescent SuperLumiNova.



Its Swiss Made automatic mechanical movement provides it with a central seconds hand – in urgent red – and a date, seen through a window at 6 o’clock.



Oris and Ernst are going their own way through this project to educate thousands of people about the need to conserve the world’s water – before it’s too late!



Thoughts? It’s easy to be cynical about big brands using such causes to sell their products but let’s face these are important issues and if they have a voice why not use it for good.

The watch is pretty nice too!

LONGINES Heritage SKIN DIVER [modern vs. vintage]

Here’s another look at the Longines Heritage Skin Diver, only this time with the benefit of some nice images, illustrating just how faithful a reproduction the 2018 Skin Diver is of the 50s Nautilus Skin Diver.



The 2018 Skin Diver has been ever so gently updated by Longines, who have refrained from the use of modern watchmaking materials or technologies.

Rather than using ceramic or DLC, simple PVD coated Stainless steel replaces the original Bakelite bezel.



The diver’s bezel does retain the same pronounced serrated-edge as per the 50s Nautilus and the crown too boasts old school cross-hatching.

The purists might not like this, but the modern Skin Diver gets a modern size with a generous 42mm diameter.



There isn’t much to distinguish the dials of either of the Skin Divers, safe for the fact the vintage model shows obvious signs of deterioration owing to its age.

Once again Longines have resisted the temptation to fade the dial for a more vintage aesthetic but they have given it a nice texturized finish. SLN has also been used in an Old Radium color.



The 2018 Skin Diver has a proper 300 meters of water-resistance, a multi-layered AR-treated Sapphire crystal and screw-down crown.

It also has a screw-down case-back which features the same skin diver motif with diver equipped with spear with the words ‘’ The Longines Skin Diver Watch’’.



Powering the Heritage Skin Diver is a Longines Caliber 619/888 with 28,000 vph and 64hrs of power-reserve.



The Heritage Skin Diver has a more than fair MSRP of circa 2775USD. It is available with three different looks. Ref. L2.822.4.45.2 comes on a vintage style brown leather strap.



Ref. L2.822.4.45.6 comes on a Stainless steel Milanese shark mesh bracelet while Ref. L2.822.4.45.9 is equipped with an old school tropic-style rubber diver’s strap.



So what do you think; should Longines have perhaps used ceramic or DLC for the bezel; was 42mm the correct size choice, would you buy one???

PABLO Profundo VB-1 [gnomon exclusive]

Introducing the new Pablo Profundo VB-1, the debut timepiece from Pablo Watches and a model that is available exclusively form Gnomon Watches.

1950s was an era when dive watch design was at its height with the birth of classic, iconic forms that are still followed closely, today.



Buying a mint condition, 50s or 60s icon from the likes of Rolex, Blancpain or Omega doesn’t come cheap, nor does buying one of their modern-day offerings.

Which is why the sector that deals with affordable Swiss made vintage inspired dive watches is absolutely thriving.



Look at the sheer volume of crowdfunded watches that hit the market it the last few years alone, it truly is buyer’s market.

However, one of the drawbacks of buying from such projects is that we must wait for the projects to come to fruition before we can get our latest fix on our wrists.



So here’s another brand-new project, from a new brand – only this time the watches are already available and they are being handled by non-other than Gonomon.

Limited Edition of 200pcs, the Profundo VB-1 has been primarily designed as a professional tool watch side, but in classic style that was made famous by Rolex.



It boasts a solid 316L Stainless steel case, measuring 40mm wide and 49mm from lug to lug. It has combination of hand satin-brushed on the top surfaces, and high-polishing on the sides.

Special care was taken with details such as the slim bevel that runs along its length which has a high-polish –



and of course to the 6.5mm in diameter screw-down crown, nicknamed, “Big Crown” by fans of watches of 60s era.
Both the crown and case back have high-quality gaskets providing 200 meters of water-resistance.



Another retro feature of the VB-1 is its drilled lug holes that allow one to easily remove and replace its strap or switch between bracelets.

Its case-back features Pablo Profundo with the serial number of each piece produced a with all the other details on the circumference.



The dial of the VB-1 is protected by an old school, box-shaped Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating underneath to enhance legibility.

Underneath, one will find the Profundo VB-1 featuring an iconic matte black dial with an outer closed minute track for minute indications, paired with 3D raised hour markers.



The markers and minute track are in a caramel vintage color that mimics the aging process found on today’s vintage watches while C3 SuperLumiNova keeps things bright in the dark.

A classic black aluminum bezel is another nod to the past, again with a caramel vintage colored pearl to match the dial while a red triangle at 12 is completes the look.



Powering this new VB-1 is the established Swiss ETA 2824-2 Elabore automatic movement, featuring 25 jewels and a beat-rate of 28,800bph, and 40hrs of power reserve.

Finally the VB-1 come son a cool, vintage-inspired 316L steel bracelet (oyster-style) with riveted sides which has a highly tapered profile of 20mm to 16mm.



The new PABLO Profundo VB-1 is exclusively available from GNOMON WATCHES priced 520USD.

RADO Tradition Captain Cook MKII

I absolutely love this watch – it has a really appealing vintage design, it has heritage, it’s made by a great Swiss brand, it is even has a reasonable diver’s spec.



– and with an MSRP of 2150CHF, it won’t bankrupt me, either. But sadly I will never own one, owing to a tiny reason;



at just 37mm in diameter, it is an absolute tiddler. And although it really is a beautiful men’s diver, and it is a men’s diver, its size is a good 3mm off even the smallest watches I’d ever consider wearing.



With that said, if you are someone who prefers a watch that is of a more meek stature, then Rado’s Captain Cook MKII is a belter.



Spec. includes a Stainless steel case with said 37mm diameter and a rather more substantial height of 14.4mm.



This case is fitted with an internal diver’s bezel, sapphire, crystal and is water-resistant to 220m. It is comes on a BOR-bracelet but is also supplied with a black NATO.



So what do you think; would you wear something this small?

OMEGA Seamaster DIVER 300M Ceramic & TITANIUM

Basel 2018 saw Omega reestablish the Seamaster DIVER 300M once again as one of its most important diver families.



The Diver 300M that dates back to the mid-90s was revitalized with a load of new features that included:

a re-engineered manual HEV, a new ceramic bezel inlay and ceramic dial with engraved wave-pattern and of course an updated 42mm case housing a METAS-certified, Master Chronometer Caliber 8800.



The Swiss brand which belongs to the Swatch Group will not be attending Basel 2019, so here we have a well-timed release just after SIHH and leading up to Baselworld –

with a new addition to the already 12 strong Diver 300M collection, that is bigger, lighter and dare I say it even better suited to diving.



The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Ceramic & Titanium comes in a new 43.5mm form factor which imho is the absolute optimum size for a diver’s watch.



With its case made from black ceramic with a brushed finish, and a bezel and case-back both made of Titanium Grade 5, this new variant is also possibly the most high-tech Diver 300M we have seen.



Diver’s features include: Sapphire crystal glass and exhibition case-back, screw-down Ti G5 case-back and crown, Ti G5 bezel with ceramic inlay and enamel dive-time-scale, manual HEV and 300m.



The Diver 300M Ceramic and Titanium ref. 210.92.44.20.01.001 is powered by a Chronometer-Certified, Omega Caliber 8806. Its hands and markers are with SLN. It will have an MSRP of 8100USD and will be available this Spring.



Thoughts? I absolutely love the look and imagine that the feel would be just as impressive – it’s a BIG yes from me. What do you think?

HAMILTON Khaki Navy SCUBA AUTO

Here’s a quick look at new variant of the Khaki Navy Scuba Auto now offered with a blue: 15-min scale, minute-track and seconds hand.



The blue accented Scuba Auto / ref. H82315331 joins the two 2017 launch MODELS, of which one was with orange details and the other was with white accents.



The Khaki Navy Scuba Auto has a 40mm in diameter Stainless steel case which is equipped with:



a unidirectional rotational divers bezel, a Sapphire crystal and a screw-down case-back and crown.



Water-resistance however, is restricted to 100 meters. Surely 200m would have been just as easily achievable, no?



The watch comes with a choice of either: a solid 3-link Stainless steel divers bracelet, a black Nylon strap with a blue underside and Stainless steel buckle, or an embossed black rubber diver’s strap.



MSRP is 690USD for the NATO variant while the Steel and rubber versions have a price of 745USD.



Thoughts? This is a really nice-looking entry level Swiss diver. Both orange and blue variants are equally nice, particularly on their NATO straps, but why only 100m?