Introducing the Mihanikos the second diver from Ianos; it’s bigger, bulkier but just as beautiful.
The Avyssos was inspired by the ancient Greek sponge divers; those practitioners of kampanelopetra, an old world diving technique.
Divers whose only equipment included; a stone for ballast, a length of rope that was tethered to their legs, a lung full of air and a simple loin cloth to cover their balls of steel (or bronze even).
The new Mihanikos follows the journey of those Greek sponge divers at a point in time when they entered into a period of industrialization; taking its inspiration from an early deep sea diving suit from the 1860’s known as scaphandre.
Ianos started off their design process with an image of a diver from the eighteen hundreds, clad in a battered old scaphandre, where his face was barely visible; as such the bezel of the Mihanikos is wider than is typical, creating a porthole effect.
The width of the bezel is further enhanced by its lack of markings as the focus of sponge divers changed from tracking minutes to man hours spent on the seabed, while its sintered surface serves as a testament the rugged, utilitarian nature of the watch.
Its one piece construction signifies the simplicity of the diving suit, emphasizing the fact that it was pieced together - like the gloves, boots, and helmet all being attached and bolted onto the diver.
So too the watch with its bezel, midsection and case-back also seem to have that same type of purposeful construction.
All the while adopting this new rugged design philosophy, the watch’s dial retains those historic links to ancient Greek sponge diving traditions.
The dial color is a simple dark blue, reminiscent of the dark blue Mediterranean Sea which was the divers’ hunting ground and representing their somber line of work.
The minute track has been removed from the dial; once again reflecting the spanned hours, not minutes spent harvesting the dark sea floor.
The seconds mechanism, represents more than passing seconds; its design echoes that of the original manual air pumps used by the crew to supply air to the earliest scaphandre divers –
thus symbolizing the transition from the diving stone to the scaphandre age and the literal lifeline of the sponge divers.
The dial is framed by a chapter-ring not with any sort of scale rather a track of text, a verse (in Greek) of an ancient song of the sponge divers.
Spec. includes a 316L Stainless steel case measuring: 43mm ø, 15.75mm h, 50.84mm l-to-l, a 120-click unidirectional bezel, a sapphire crystal and 300 meters of water-resistance.
Power comes from a 31 jewels, Sellita SW360 automatic with 28,800 vph and 42-hrs of power-reserve.
The Ianos Mihanikos comes on a rubber NATO strap with a sponge pattern underneath plus a Stainless steel pin buckle.
The limited production of just 300 examples has a pre-order price of 1,350CHF (1,550CHF full retail).
Thoughts? Much like the song inscribed into the chapter ring, the new Mihanikos with its toyish good looks is a watch that truly sings to me.
That wide bezel reminds of the Kobold Seal. I’m also taken with details like the sintered bezel finish, the domed case-back and the chunky hands and markers. It’s all good!
But what do you think?
Great design, very unique!
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