TITONI Seascoper 600 with T10 IN-HOUSE Movement

Same old name – very new diver – somewhat familiar design – this is the new 2020 Seascoper from Titoni. Tbh my experience with the Titoni brand is limited – 

it’s one of these brands that I come across from time to time (usually gathering dust in smaller family run jewelers); I didn’t know that they are one of the rare few, still family-run Swiss brands.

In my two decades or more of dive watch obsession, Titoni haven’t produced anything noteworthy or at least nothing that has come up on my radar but for 2020, they seem to have really pushed the boat out – at least in terms of spec.

While I appreciate both contemporary and vintage styled divers; I find it a bit of a shame that Titoni continued with their current formula of modernizing the Seascoper rather than revisiting some of its more historic designs – 

because if you Google ‘Titoni vintage Seascoper’ you’ll find more than a couple of missed opportunities that would have gone a long way to creating a bit of buzz around this otherwise uncelebrated brand and their new diver – which btw on paper is worthy of a celebration or two.

Among the brand’s vintage Seascopers are one or two not so proud moments (mostly from the last two decades but overall there was plenty of diver heritage to work with. Still this 2020 model is certainly a considerable step up from the 2014 Seascoper with it’s at best Tissot vibe.

Btw, the earliest Seascoper dates back to 1963 and was released under the Felca brand name, Titoni’s parent company. 

It was considered one of their most popular models at the time. Much of the 1960s Seascoper’s appeal came from its practical design as well as the high legibility of its dial which had a huge harpoon-head hour hand.

The latest model, the Seascoper 600, is a COSC-certified chronometer that marks an historic turning point as it is equipped with Titoni’s in-house T10 manufacture movement; it also has a guaranteed water-resistance to a depth of 600 meters. 

Titoni say of the watch that it was specifically developed for professional divers and sets new standards in its segment.

Its winding crown is fitted with a special gasket system (not sure how many used but Rolex use 3) to ensure the watch remains absolutely waterproof while its tough case ensures that the high-quality, in-house T10 manufacture movement is protected against not only water but also pressure, impacts and dust.

The ceramic bezel can be rotated anti-clockwise and is characterized by its striking dive-time scale. The outer edge of the bezel is serrated to make it easy to grasp when setting and adjusting dive-time. 

The triangular zero mark has a luminous dot so that dive-time can be read perfectly, even in dark and murky water.

The folding clasp, designed specifically for this model, is another eye-catcher. With a clever diver’s extension, it not only guarantees the highest degree of wearing comfort and safety but also bears the quality seal of approval of every Titoni watch on its push-button, their plum blossom logo.

The indices, hours and hands are all coated with luminous material and glow brightly in the dark so that you can safely check how long you have been underwater at any time. 

A final striking design feature of the Seascoper 600 is its transparent sapphire case-back. Shaped like a porthole and screwed into place, it affords a view of Titoni’s new T10 manufacture movement.

Finally the Swiss watchmaker TITONI has begun a new cooperation with the renowned research diver and internationally famous maritime biologist, Uli Kunz to launch the Seascoper 600. 

The new 2020 Titoni Seascoper has an MSRP in Switzerland 1,870CHF.

Thoughts? This appears to be a capable and most likely very nicely made diver and it comes with a manufacture movement at a fairly reasonable price, too. 

Unfortunately Titoni doesn’t exactly have a very strong brand name and rather than revisiting their heritage they’ve taken a safe, boring generic Rolex-esque route that imho has done them a disservice.

If they’d worked from one of their lovely 60s or better still awesome 70s Seascoper models with this spec. in a trendy 40 or sub 40mm (42mm for me personally is the sweet spot) with the new in-house movement and at this price – 

they would have been on to a real winner causing a Kleenex shortage and en masse steamed up reading glasses in the collectors market. Opportunity missed imho but there’s still hope for a heritage model one day. What do you think?