introducing: Corvus Watch Company

Two watch enthusiasts created a company to release a diving watch inspired by the TORNEK-RAYVILLE Blancpain. Here is their presentation of the Corvus Watch Company, named after the Latin Corvus (crow):

Corvus Watch Company is a family-run business based in the USA. It is a collaboration between myself, Tom, and my brother Cam, known on many internet watch forums as camfam. Cam designs the watches and I test them.

 Tom:

Growing up on the water in Michigan, I have had a lifelong interest in water sports. I built and raced my first hydroplane when I was 12 years old, and am an avid water skier. I’ve been a recreational SCUBA diver since 1964. Recently, I have become interested in wreck diving. I do most of my diving in the Great Lakes, and have explored seven wrecks in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, in 46 degree water. I also like the challenge of winter diving under the ice. I’ve also had the honor to dive on the wrecks in Truk Lagoon, a sober but fascinating experience. One of these was a 136 foot deep, mixed-gas penetration of the Japanese Freighter, Hoki Maru.

I have had a fascination with wristwatches ever since my Grandmother gave me a Rolex 1016 Explorer in 1970, for graduation from college. Soon after, this watch was my trusty companion for two cruises on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hancock, one of which was during the Vietnam War, where I was a flight officer in both E-1B Tracer and the RA-4F Skyhawk aircraft.

 Later in my naval career, I commanded deployments in the Arctic, and frequently visited Thule, Greenland.

I am demanding of my watches. For me, a wristwatch should be able to go deep, high, and cold. Even the Rolex was not up to the task, and finally died in a hot tub a few years after the war. My brother and I are committed to creating the toughest, most technologically advanced mechanical wristwatches, with styling based on the best U.S. military watches from the 20th Century.

Cam:

I recently quit the practice of law after 20 years, and have devoted myself to designing the toughest wristwatches using the best US military watch designs of the past. I have been seriously collecting and studying vintage watches for about five years. I especially love the 1950’s version of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the watch that inspired the US Navy watch that our Bradley Dive watch is based on. Some of our watches are based on several US military watches in my collection. Unlike other companies, Corvus only reproduces very rare designs that are virtually unobtainable as originals.

About the Bradly Dive Watch:

The Swiss-made Bradley Dive Watch is built strictly to the military specification of the classic U.S. Navy Diving Watches from the late 1950s:

MIL-SHIPS-W-2181 from 1958 (the rare Bulova UDT prototype).
MIL-SHIPS- W-22176A from 1961 (the legendary Tornek-Rayville TR-900, made by Blancpain).

The Bradley Dive Watch is named to commemorate U.S. Army General Omar Bradley, who was CEO of the Bulova Watch Company Research and Development Department when the watch design was created.

Performance and durability are enhanced by the latest wristwatch technology, including extreme case hardening through the exclusive Kolsterising™ process, and our exclusive Satellite Black™ dial.

The Bradley Dive Watch represents the best in classic wristwatch design together with the latest aerospace technology. There is no tougher or better functioning wristwatch made.

FEATURES:

• WATER RESISTANCE: 1000 feet/300 meters. Double gasket caseback.
• DIAL: Satellite Black™ coated. Our exclusive Satellite Black coating is the toughest, darkest coating commercially available, and was designed for use in satellites where extreme toughness and light absorption are essential. Much darker than other dial coatings, Satellite Black™ provides outstanding contrast with the dial markings and unsurpassed readability.
• CRYSTAL: Double-domed AR coated (underside) sapphire, 3.5 mm thick
• BEZEL: Unidirectional 60 click dive timer with luminous acrylic insert
• LUMINOUS: White BG W9 SuperLuminova hour markers on the hands, and white C1 SuperLuminova on the dial and on the acrylic bezel insert. Hidden black stealth SuperLuminova minute markers on first 15 minutes of bezel insert.
• CASE: Microblasted gunmetal-grey matt finish on 316L Stainless Steel, with surface case hardening to 1076 HV through the Kolsterizing™ process. This exclusive treatment provides exceptional scratch-resistance due to a surface hardness five times that of standard 316L stainless steel (200-240 HV). Precision fabricated by the master craftsmen at Fricker, Gmbh of Pforzheim Germany.
• MOVEMENT: Swiss-made ETA 2824-2 automatic mechanical movement
• DRILLED LUGS for easy strap changes
• CROWN: Double gasket screw-down crown