RALF TECH WRV ‘’V” Chronographe BARRACUDA

Touching on from my brief post introducing RALF TECH’s new diving chronograph – here it is in all of its vintage glory along with a complete run down of models and specifications; the new RALF TECH WRV ‘’V’’ Chonographe.



The WRV ‘’V’’ (that’s ‘’v’’ for vintage) Chronographe comes in two collections of 3. There’s the Tachymètre version for fans of racing classic sports cars and the diver, known as the Barracuda.



Each family has three variants delivered as 100 piece Limited Editions.

Choose from a Stainless steel Panda with a matte white dial, black and red chapter ring and black sub-dials,



a Stainless steel reverse Panda with a matte black dial white and red chapter ring and white sub-dials or PVD reverse Panda.



The dial are beautifully decked out with vintage-style 316L Handsets and Super Luminova DB professional indices.



The Barracuda is based on a 316L surgical grade Stainless steel case with combination satin brushed and polished surfaces. It measures 43.9 mm (excluding crown).



As well as deeply embedded with the French Military, for whom they are an official supplier of watches to many of the specialist units;



RALF TECH is brand whose roots lie in scuba diving; it was one of their watches, the WR1 that accompanied Pascal Bernabe on his record-breaking descent to 330m in 2005.



I mean how many watch brands get to use their own branded diving equipment as a backdrop for their latest diver’s model?!



While we are on the subject of diving heritage, it might be a good time to mention the very special mil.style fabric diver strap that the Barracuda is presented on.



This is a 26mm "Marine Nationale" Black Ops strap in black with a single red pinstripe running through its center two blocks of white text saying ‘’1977’’ and ‘’BARRACUDA’’.



This comes on a two-piece machined Stainless steel "Marine Nationale" buckle engraved with the MN anchor logo. So cool!



Powering all models of the new WRV ‘’V’’ Chronographe family is an automatic winding mechanical chronograph caliber RTAC002 which has a power-reserve of 50 hours.



Diver’s features include: a Stainless steel 120-click unidirectional diver’s bezel with a black anodized aluminum inlay, a 3.5mm thick Sapphire with anti-reflective coating,



a screw-down crown and chrono-pushers, a screw-down case-back engraved with the watch’s individual serial number and a tested water-resistant up to 200 meters.



Proudly ‘’Made in France’’ as indicted on its dial, the new Barracuda comes in an Polycarbonate Explorer case along with two straps, the MN strap mentioned above as well as a black RT embossed silicone diver’s strap. Thoughts?



Seems I already used my ‘’ooh, Barracuda’’ one liner the other day, but seriously here’s RALF TECH diver that warrants an ‘’oh’’ and ‘’ah’’ are or two; simply put, it is sexy as hell, but which one would you choose?

Q-TIMEX Reissue DIVER

I can’t remember the last time I posted I Timex here – well here’s another one, one that’s been getting a fair amount of hype, a charming looking fellow based on a pseudo diver that was first released by Timex in 1979.



The original diver-inspired, Q Timex came along at the height of Quartz Crisis, a time when traditional Swiss watchmakers had their tails between their legs.



This is a true reissue of that watch, recreated to the very last detail—including: a woven Stainless-steel bracelet, functional battery hatch, rotating top ring, luminescent paint and of course like the model from 40 years ago a modern quartz movement ticking away inside.



Timex has recreated every detail, including the functional battery hatch, of the original Timex Q Diver. All it takes is a coin, not a jeweler, to open the hatch and replace the battery.



The Q Timex Diver Reissue has a modest 38mm Stainless Steel case which is water-resistant to 50m. It has an MSRP of 179USD.

Thoughts? The vintage watch geeks’ wet dream, no doubt but would you actually buy one?

ZRC GRANDS FONDS Vintage 1964 Spirit BRONZE

ZRC who are now based in Geneva have produced a beautiful Limited Edition of their 1964 Spirit GF 300 diver’s watch in BRONZE.



The 170 piece Limited Edition 1964 Spirit Bronze has been crafted from non-magnetic CuSn8 Bronze Alloy.

The Spirit 1964 Bronze is based on ZRC’s famous Grands Fonds 300 which was originally developed back in 1960, officially adopted by the French Navy in 1964 and re-issued in 2015.



In addition to its CuSn8 case which will develop greyish-green patina overtime, the Spirit Bronze boasts a delicately marbled hand-patinated matte black dial. This is covered by a 4mm-thick domed Sapphire crystal.



The special dial gets: two wide skeletonized Magnum hour and minute hands, a lollipop style second hand as well as applied Arabic numerals and hour markers – all with Old Radium-style lume.



In addition to the above, the watch’s new forged bronze, Monobloc case which measures 40.5mm in diameter is also endowed with all the GF 300’s typical characteristics.

Its unique shape with full attachments and crown at 6 o’clock, its 300 meters of water-resistance and of course all of ZRC’s patented dive watch technical innovations.



The Crown Protection SystemTM guarantees the safety of the crown by preventing the strap with retractable lugs from being re-positioned if the crown is not fully screwed down.

The ECSTM (Easy Clean System) ensures the inside of the unidirectional rotating bezel is clean by diluting and removing sea salt, which when crystallized can irreparably damage a diving watch.



Powering the 1964 Spirit Bronze is a Swiss made ETA 2824-2auto which vibrates at a standard frequency of 28,800 oscillations per hour (4 Hz) and offers a power reserve of 38 hours.

Finally this bronzed beauty is presented on a handmade, aged brown leather band with a CuSn8 Bronze ZRC-signed buckle.



Please follow the link embedded, below for more details on this and other models from the Spirit 1964 collection.

Follow this link for ZRC’s NEW ONLINE STORE.

ZRC Grands Fonds 300 1964 SPIRIT

©OceanicTime

SEIKO Prospex Ana-Digi 2019 SOLAR DIVER

This is the new Seiko Propsex Solar Diver Ana-Digi, the spiritual successor of the Seiko H558 AKA Seiko Arnie which was famously worn by in Arnold Schwarzenegger in a number of big 80s films such as Commando and The Predator.



Making its return for 2019 this Ana-Digi Tuna Can is available in three versions: original Arnie flavor JP ref. SBEQ001 or SNJ025P1, PADI Edition JP ref. SBEQ003 / SNJ027P1 or Gold Accented JP ref. SBEQ005 – I only know the JP ref for this one, sorry.



Basic specs. are as follows: a Stainless steel case shrouded in black plastic – this measures 47.8mm by 13.8mm thick and with a lug-to-lug measurement of 50.5mm.



The case is fitted with a screw-down case-back and crown, is anti-magnetic resistant and water-resistance to 200 meters.

The case is home to an H851 which has an accuracy of ±15 seconds per month (average) (±1 second per day).



JPN MSRPs are as follows: SBEQ001 = 60,000 JPY+TAX, SBEQ003 = 63,000 JPY+TAX, SBEQ005 = 65,000 JPY+TAX.

Thoughts? I know it was in another movie but he did say he’d be back. A possible nostalgic buy for some of you – my choice would the gold accented version – that’s hot. What do you think?