Posts Tagged ‘Dive’
1 of 768: Jaeger Lecoultre Polaris Limited 190.8.96
If I’ve featured JLC a little heavily in the last month, I apologize. In my defense, I’m not sure you can feature JLC too heavily. There have been a few very appetizing references surfacing lately. I remember a period of four months where there wasn’t a single Polaris LE 190.8.96 on Chrono24. I checked back…
Read MoreBreitling SuperOcean 2005, Beauty in the Details
The SuperOcean reference 2005 is a diver decidedly unlike any other. First, there’s the ‘slow’ minute-step chronograph to measure time elapsed underwater. Second, there’s the fact that the chronograph hand is effectively spatula-shaped with a rotund lume plot. Third, Breitling included an indicator above 6 on the dial to mark when the chronograph is running…
Read MoreAlternative Diver: Eterna Kontiki Super 130
If you’re after just any vintage diver these days, you’re well cared for. There are no shortages of Submariners, Seamasters, T-Graphs, or even 62MASs. However, if you get off on the lesser-known vintage models, your work is increasingly cut out. It’s quite difficult to come across a decent Enicar Sherpa Super Dive or Universal Genève…
Read MoreOne Seamaster to Rule them All
There are more accurate, more ornate, and more complicated Seamasters. But there isn’t a more significant Seamaster than this military 165.024 T-dial. This is a watch that is invisible to almost everyone. No one will mug you for it in East London. But if you know, you really know. This mil-spec Seamaster varies from the…
Read MoreSeiko SLA039 Anniversary Limited Edition
For a lot of people, a Seiko diver priced near 6K is going to be a tough pill to swallow—but you should consider taking the medicine. The SLA039 has a Rolex-level outlay because it packs Rolex-level engineering (but with fewer of the ostentatious associations). Stealth wealth is one of my favorite categories in wristwatches. Discretion…
Read MoreRed-Depth Double-Reference 6536/8 Submariner
For a very small number of cases produced in the middle of 1955, Rolex doubled up on references. They wrote 6538, crossed off, and rewrote 6536 to re-designate a small crown. It is not clear if this was done intentionally as a transitional model or as a simple repurposing of existing cases. Either way, the…
Read MoreDeep Dive: Panerai 3646 D/E
Modern Panerai gets a hard time from many enthusiasts. Some have called them ‘the new Hublot.’ Others have coined the motto ‘rebranding the Luminor since 1990.’ A fraction of that criticism is deserved, while the larger ratio is not. However, even the most cynical collector cannot deny the depth of history this Italian mark holds.…
Read MoreBroad-Arrow Omega 2913 Seamaster 300
After Omega reissued 60th anniversary pieces last year, its trilogy series has been flooding the watch media. As a result, the 2913 Seamaster has received considerably greater attention recently, with today’s market eating up any examples in decent condition very quickly. This makes Meertz’s 1958 CK2913 here quite a rarity. This broad-arrow is the most…
Read MoreTruly Beastly: Zenith El Primero Sub Sea
A true wild child of the 1970s, Zenith’s El Primero diver was a one-off design. There wasn’t anything like it before and I suspect there won’t be anything like it again. In an attempt to capture some of the burgeoning market, the brand took the 3019 high-beat movement and cased it in this wild beast.…
Read MoreA Very-Early Diver: Rolex 6205 Submariner
Only produced for one year closely after the first-ever 6204 Submariner, the 6205 was first to feature iconic Mercedes hands and text “Submariner” on the dial. Every Rolex Submariner since has inherited and built on this DNA. The appeal of the 6205 is clear; this is probably the cleanest Rolex design ever to feature “Submariner”…
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