independent watch projects

Hat tip to Tlex of OceanicTime.com

We have already discussed Lindburgh & Benson‘s brand of sports watches Schaumburg.
The German watchmakers have recently released a new diving watch.

 
The Aquamatic III comes in 44 mm of diameter and features an inner rotating ring controlled by the stem at 2 o’clock. This is a system which efficiency is subject to caution: On one hand, having a securely locked crown controlling the inner ring’s rotation allows to comply with the ISO 6425 standard: « Such a device shall be protected against inadvertent rotation or wrong manipulation. »
On the other hand, a screw-down crown that might have to be unlocked underwater defeats the purpose of having a screw-down crown in the first place. This is a contradiction most watchmakers do not seem to pay close attention to.

One of the explanations is this “escalation of ever-higher pressure resistance” observed amongst makers of diving watches:

source: LaCoteDesMontres.com

History tells us that the Swiss did not invent watches: the anchor eschapement is based on the findings of Dutch Astronomer Huygens and the foundations of mechanical movements were laid in France, which explains the use of all those French terms in watchmaking. The Swiss inherited watchmaking industry as it was being outsourced and imported on their land by French Huguenots fleeing from religious persecution. To their merit however, the Swiss did invent and perfect waterproof watches.

In 1954, Blancpain started selling wrist watches that could withstand a static depth of 50 Imperial fathoms, which corresponds to 300 feet or 91.44 meters. That water-resistance can be rounded down to 9 BAR, a more adequate indication of water-resistance in watches.

After 50 years of refinement, Swiss case makers have improved the design of cases, crystals and gaskets so that it is neither difficult nor particularly expensive to built a watch that can withstand pressures up to 30 BAR (300 static meters of depth).

In the case of their Aquamatic III, Lindburgh & Benson chose to aim for a pressure resistance of 65 BAR, even though they certify the watch to 50 BAR. That leaves a margin of 15 BAR for any unexpected pressure the watch may undergo. The case design shares similarities with the Master Divers, a 44 mm watch from the brand San Antonio Watch Company, which we presented on this blog. It is not uncommon for brand to use the same supplier, more so in the niche field of diving watches.

In terms of calibre, it comes with a Selitta SW20 that can either be standard or COSC-certified. Regardless of the efficiency of the crown-controlled rotating ring, the watch seems to be manufactured according to the high standard of its bigger sister brand Lindburgh & Benson.

TLex of OceanicTime published exclusive pictures of Zenton Instruments’ first collection. The case is rated at 200 BAR (static depth of 2000 meters) and called M45. which I assume is referring to the 45 mm in diameter. The photos published on OceanicTime show three different bezel designs: brushed steel, Pepsi-cola (black & red) and blue. The watch features a saturation diving valve and comes on a stainless steel bracelet or a rubber strap.

Check out the exclusive pictures in the OceanicTime.com entry.

Schaumburg Watch is very prolific in the creation of traditional watches with highly hand-decorated dials and movements.

As of late, they have also been adding sport and military-inspired collections to their catalogue. The beefier piece is the Aquamatic II, a 45 mm-wide saturation-diving chronometer splattered with luminous compound and retailing at 890€.

tLex, the editor of diving watches resource OceanicTime recently took advantage of the discounts to acquire one of the VM (Vigoria Miletto) dive watches. VM is a new brand featuring diving and saturation diving watches. The designs are very angular and agressive, probably to suggest the watches’ imperviousness to water. At the time of writing, they give out big discounts on selected models.

Here is the company presentation:

VM Exclusive Co., Ltd. is the agent of the Vigoria Miletto sports & dive watch. Vigoria Miletto is a new watch brand from Switzerland. The combination of outstanding design and superb manufacturing, engineering and technology makes VM watch stand in the forefront of the same field. VM watch is popular for its fashionable and rough style. Every watch experiences the creative design, careful making and rigorous testing by technicians before hitting market. It is worth your money.

Revealed by prominent diving watch blog OceanicTime, Deep Blue will start shipping on November 1rst their latest saturation diving watch, the Master 2000. Built to withstand 200 BAR (a static depth of 2000 meter), this will be Deep Blue’s heavy duty model.

Check the OceanicTime article for exclusive pictures of the various dial and bezel combinations.

A new player called Môntrèk offers saturation diving, square and world time watches equipped with the Miyota 8215 automatic caliber. The watches are all rated to 1000 meters and use what seem to be stock designs.

I haven’t been able to locate an official website yet. Here is their Website.

Boschett timepieces currently offers three lines of diving watches:

• the Reef Ranger: rated at 30 BAR, it houses a Swiss ETA 2824-2 in a 42mm case
• the Ocean Mariner: rated at 30 BAR, it houses a Swiss ETA 2824-2 in a 42mm cae
• the Cave Dweller: rated at 100 BAR, it houses a Japanese Miyota 8125 in a 44mm case

The Cave Dweller is Boschett’s latest development. Like many other independent watchmakers, the company did set its choice on the Japanese Miyota 8125 automatic caliber.

I couldn’t help notice that the Meisterart Militarisch D-Day is a bit of a conflicting homage: the watch honors both Europe’s invaders and liberators at the same time. The design is inspired by B-Uhren (abbreviation of BeobachtungsUhr = observation watch), the wartime tools built from 1942 onwards to help Germany conquer Europe.

At the same time, this German B-Uhr homage honours D-Day, the very landing operations that signed the doom of the German Third Reich at the hand of the Western Allies.

May 1940: German invasion of Western Europe

June 1944: Western Allies landing operations

Founded by Norihisa Uenishi, Wayne Enterprises Co., Ltd. is a small business distributing watches under several trade marks, namingly:

• Prodive, diving watches on strap
• Meisterart, pilot watches
• Sea Monster, diving watches on bracelet
• Longio, a diving tourbillon

The BaliHa’i is a “comic strip” diving watch concept… well, maybe the founder’s own words will explain it better:

Perhaps the most unique single attribute of the BaliHa’i is its caseback design.   So far as we know, this is the first watch to rely on the services of a professional illustrator and comic book artist, and we’re pretty pleased with the results.  That illustrious artist is Gene Gonzales, a South Florida resident and all-around nice guy with more than fifteen years of professional illustration experience.   Between working for small unknown companies such as DC Comics, McGraw Hill, and Hewlett-Packard, Gene has found time to do tropical-themed work for suppliers of the Ron Jon Surf Shop and Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.  As a result, he turns out a mean tiki, and was nigh irresistible for our project.  Fortunately, he was also a consummate professional, and willing to work in our sketches on short notice.