CIRCULA AquaSport [Retro 70s SKIN DIVER]

Introducing the new AquaSport, a 1970s-style Skin Diver from Pforzheim, Germany that references a vintage diver’s model from Circula. The Circula watch brand was founded by Heinz Huber in 1955 and revived in 2017 by Cornelius Huber, the founder’s grandson. This is the modern Circula brand’s debut diver’s model which was developed together with members of the largest German speaking watch forum. The forum with over 65,000 watch enthusiasts actively participated in the design and development process, over 400 contributions were written in half a year for the AquaSport. The design of the AquaSport is based on a historical model which although has been modernized, is still at its very heart an old school skin diving watch and as such possess typical design language. Skin divers watches are the antithesis, of the rugged tool diver’s with their bulky cases there to allow for huge levels of water-resistance – rather skin divers are more elegant and wearable in their design; the AquaSport with its vintage cushion-shape Stainless steel case measures a modest 39mm in diameter with a water-resistance to 200 meters. One feature that the AquaSport boasts that you could not possibly find on a vintage skin diver and aren’t even likely to find on a modern skin diver is a bezel with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal inlay.

Further diver’s features of the AquaSport include: a screw-down crown and case-back, a sapphire crystal underneath which can be seen a multilayered dial available in four different colors with either a wave pattern or sunburst decoration. 

The case-back btw features an old school skin diver motif.

In addition, all hands and dial markers as well as the markings on the diver’s bezel are all with Swiss Super-LumiNova. Powering the AquaSport is a high-quality, precision Swiss automatic mechanical movement from either ETA or STP with the option of purchasing a COSC-certified chronometer.

The AquaSport comes with a choice of two retro strap options: either a BOR (bead of rice) Stainless steel link bracelet or black rubber Tropic-style diver’s strap with steel buckle. 

Leather straps with quick release exchange system are also optionally available.

The new AquaSport vintage skin diver has price of EUR 486 (incl. VAT) / USD 495 (excl. VAT) which shipping. And, if you PRE-ORDER before November 20th, you will receive either a FREE quartz watch or a additional watch strap of your choice as a bonus, worth up to € 145. Delivery is scheduled before the Holidays 2020. For further information please follow the link embedded, below to visit the Circula website.

ORIS Aquis Date CALIBRE 400 [5-DAYS + ANTI-MAGNETIC]

Oris propels their humble Aquis Date to the next level and beyond with their new in-house automatic movement, the Caliber 400, which boasts magnetic-resistance, a power reserve of five-days and a 10-year warranty! Engineered from the ground up, one of the most pertinent features (at least as far as diving is concerned) that the Cal. 400 has at its disposal, is its exceptional level of anti-magnetic-resistance thanks to its use of non-magnetic materials; some 30 non-ferrous and anti-magnetic components were used, including a Silicon escape wheel and anchor. As you might expect with a movement of this caliber (yeah I know), the Cal. 400 was rigorously tested; in this instance by the renowned Laboratoire Dubois, where it deviated by less than 10 seconds per day after exposure to 2,250 Gauss. To give you an idea of how remarkable this is; the most recent ISO 764 standards for anti-magnetic watches requires them to qualify as such with an accuracy to within 30 seconds per day after exposure to just 200 Gauss. So the Caliber 400 recorded just one third of the deviation permitted after exposure to more than 11 times the magnetic force. This would explain why the first model, to be equipped with Oris’ new in-house caliber is of course a diver. Obviously aside from the new movement, this Aquis Date sets its self apart from standard models with a number of differences; the first of which hints that there is something special beating within are the words, 5 days found on the watch’s gradient blue dial. Also while the date aperture is larger than usual, it gets a subtle black disc. Meanwhile on back of the watch is a Sapphire crystal case-back (the biggest one ever made by Oris) affording a view of the Caliber 400 in all its glory. Despite this, the watch retains the typical depth-rating of an Aquis Date, 300 meters. Further diver’s features include: an integrated screw-down crown, a unidirectional rotational diver’s bezel with a scratchproof ceramic inlay with a dive-time scale as well as SuperLumiNova applied to the watch’s hands and markers.

Finally the watch boasts one final innovation, Oris’ newest patented development, the Quick Strap Change system, engineered so that a bracelet or strap could easily be released by simply lifting a small flap on its underside. 

The new Oris Aquis Caliber 400 has a Swiss retail price of 3’200CHF on its steel bracelet or 3’100CHF on its rubber diver’s strap. It will be available as of November 2020.

Thoughts? It’s about time that Oris did a bit more than simply plonking their famous red rotor on someone else’s movement. This is a major milestone for the brand. It’s pretty exiting that a diver was the chosen one for the Caliber 400, too. 

I’m no movement boffin but I’m pretty sure that the Cal. 400 (for example) p*sses all over Tudor’s MT5612 in several areas not least of which are anti-magnetic resistance and power-reserve, but when all is said and done an Aquis Date is still an Aquis Date. What do you think? 

ANGELUS U52 Luis Campos EDITION

Please don’t shoot the messenger, – yes, that is a big f#@k off football (soccer ball to my cousins across the pond) starring out at you from the dial of this epic yet highly questionable in terms of taste piece of turquoise haute horology. This is the latest team mate to join the Angelus Urban Collection. Designed in partnership with–renowned football scout and one of the best technical directors in World football, Luis Campos – this is the U52 Luis Campos Edition. Released in a Limited Series of just 25 copies, the watch is based on the U52, a lightweight skeleton, diving tourbillon featuring several technical, graphical and personal details which include its unmissable turquoise color pallet and of course the football seconds-counter at 9 o’clock.

Being a U52 the watch is able to reach depths of 300 meters and features a 60-minute timing system. Rather than making use of the external the bezel, the system is can be found inside the case on the flange divided into five-minute intervals. 

This unidirectional rotating ring is operated using the crown at 2 o’clock. One of the U52’s specific features is that the markings from zero (the Angelus logo) to 45 are in a different shade of blue.

Their distinct color means they can be used to time each half of a football match. Another characteristic that makes this edition so special is the small seconds which, instead of being indicated by a hand, is mounted on a disc painted with a SuperLumiNova football. 

As final touch, Luis decided to color the tips of the hands, the small-seconds pointer, and the sculpted rubber strap in the same shade of turquoise as the flange.

Powering the watch is an Angelus in-house, A-300 caliber with has 23 jewels, a Swiss lever escapement and measurement of just 4.3mm in thickness and 32.8mm in diameter. 

The A-300 has a beat-rate of 4 Hz / 28,800 vph. It is held in place by bridges reduced to their bare minimum and lightened further by an open-worked center. 

Everything is housed in an open-work 45mm in diameter case made from Grade 5 Titanium.

Thoughts? Hardly a diver for purists but surely one for fans of the beautiful game or at least with its hefty price tag that is just shy of 40K CHF, a diver for professional football players or indeed scouts. 

RALF TECH WRX Electric

First designed in 2008 and developed with the help of the combat swimmers of the French Navy's Commando Hubert, who have adopted it from 2010, the WRX Hybrid is Ralf Tech’s first true tool diver. 

 Establishing itself as one of the benchmark timepieces used elite units; the WRX has continued to evolve, remaining at the forefront of watchmaking innovation since its creation.

Equipping the majority of France’s Special Forces units and beyond, the WRX is a safe and efficient tool. Used by professional divers and skippers all over the world, it is synonymous with know-how and reliability. 

As the environments in which WRXs evolve become more and more demanding, a new generation has been in development for several years.

Since 2019 Ralf Tech has been pursuing an intensive campaign of deep sea trials in collaboration with the French Navy in order to test new technical solutions, both in terms of robustness and water-resistance. 

 At the same time, Ralf Tech has also been working for several years with its partners on the declination of the famous Hybrid movement in order to give it an unequalled autonomy.

After 2 years of development and experimentation in its natural environment, Ralf Tech has launched a new generation of WRX combining technical modifications and new finishes. 

These WRX are, among other things, equipped with a new "Electric" movement, new "Sandwich" dials and an innovative encapsulation system guaranteeing a real waterproofness up to 1000 certified meters.

The new WRX Electric has new sandwich type dial composed of two thicknesses it allows for an application of a large quantity of SuperLuminova on a disc placed under the main dial. Thanks to this stencil technique, readability is excellent by day and visibility is exceptional at night.

The new WRX Electric inaugurates a new type of movement; developed in Switzerland for Ralf Tech, this new movement works according to a system of micro hybridization. 

 It combines precision, reliability and energy savings. Built from the mechatronic base of the hybrid movement equipping the previous generations of WRX, the RTE001 movement reduces the number of moving parts and simplifies the quartz power supply as much as possible.

Its autonomy can go up to 100,000 hours, i.e. almost 12 years, whereas most movements offer a power reserve of 40 hours for automatic movements and about 2 years for traditional quartz. Another change is that the new WRXs now have a case-back with a new "encapsulation" system. 

This innovation allows the watch back to be sealed to the case, guaranteeing optimal water-resistance. In order to secure the maintenance of WRX watches, only Ralf Tech has the specific tool to open and close the case-back of new models, thus guaranteeing, revision after revision, the original water-resistance of WRX watches.

Since the majority of WRX users are professionals, the idea was to make their lives easier. Often absent, evolving in degraded conditions, their watch must remain a powerful and safe tool. 

Thanks to the new movement and Ralf Tech’s novel waterproofing system, minimal maintenance is required for these latest generation WRX watches. 

A visit every 10 years will allow Ralf Tech to check the watch's energy system, change all the seals and re-capsulate the watch, thus ensuring the peace of mind of WRX users for the next 10 years.

Thickest scratch-resistant sapphire crystal on the market (for a standard watch) with a thickness of 5.9mm, 10mm thick case-band at strategic points, large straps held by anti-tearing threaded rods, 

Ceramfine bezels for the most extreme, water resistance guaranteed up to 1000 meters for certain finishes, the WRX are intrinsically high-performance tools. Their new features now make them monsters of efficiency.

Operating in a range of use from -10° to +55° their resistance to shock and vibration is exceptional. With 12 years of power-reserve, their autonomy reaches record levels. 

Their dials make them ultra-legible. These technical characteristics validated by sea trials are the sum of all Ralf Tech's know-how. 

Assembled in France, the new WRX will be available in 6 different finishes, 3 of which will be available from October. Retail prices are between 1’900€ and 2’000€ depending on the version. 

DELMA Oceanmaster TIDE

Delma has further extended its 2017 OCEANMASTER sailing watch series to include a new collection of Oceanmaster Tide watches. Based on the SHELL STAR diver, the Oceanmaster collection was inspired by the famous IMOCA Ocean Masters yacht race. Earlier this year Delma made a special edition Oceanmaster watch called the ANTARCTICA; today they introduce a new tidal tracking feature to the Oceanmaster series. The tide hugely influences the many ways in which we interact with sea; tidal effects which vary from location to location can substantially fluctuate. In some instances, the change in tide is so significant that certain land passages are only reachable during low tide while other areas such as coastal caves become extremely dangerous as the tide rises. Therefore having a portable instrument that can help you to predict the tide would not only prove practical but would be an invaluable safety tool. It’s surprising to me that we don’t see more watches with a tide feature. Delma’s Oceanmater Tide watches enable the tracking of the ebb and flow of the sea at port or in the most extreme and remote locations. With high and low tide clearly indicated on the watch’s unidirectional rotational, timing bezel you will always be aware of latest tidal conditions. The bezel should be set by the user according to their local tide table, starting by aligning the next high or low tide indicator to the position of when it will occur in their specific location. Once set, the streamlined high and low tide indicators help to approximate the tide schedule based on the Lunar Day to forecast the next tidal occurrence. The subtle graduation of tidal phases reflects the gradual changes in sea level as tidal bulges and recessions occur. In keeping with the collection, the Oceanmaster Tide is also equipped with a tactical planner and points of sail indicators set against a black dial while its robust Stainless steel case offers 500 meters of water-resistance as well as a Helium Escape Valve. The new Oceanmaster Tide watches are available as either; a 3-hand ETA 2824 auto (or quartz) or as a quartz chronograph. They come on a choice of a sturdy Stainless steel bracelet or blue genuine rubber strap. The range-topping auto variant boasts a custom Delma rotor which can be seen through the Sapphire case-back, while the quartz 3-hand and chronograph models feature a solid case-back engraved with yachts.

MSRP for Delma’s new Oceanmaster Tide watches starts from 590USD (3-hand quartz on rubber) to 1200USD (3-hand auto on steel). Follow the link embedded below for further details on the collection.