Reactor was kind enough to give me a Fall Out for evaluation. This is a watch ready for harsh treatment. Reactor mills a billet of stainless steel and embeds a first rate Japanese movement under a heavy duty, domed crystal. The bracelet is attached with machined rods of steel with hex head screws. This thing is better made than a Russian tank.

The bezel is the most solid I’ve ever seen, with a raised edge that protects the crystal. The crown has protective ears that are as solid as every other piece of this watch. The crown is threaded, and the stem has no play. The back is also a solid piece of machined steel rather than a stamping. The bracelet is wide and thick with the most positive triple latch you can imagine.

Yes, I like this one a lot. I’ve spent several days bashing it into every solid object I can, but failing to scratch the crystal or nick the bezel. It’s thicker than I usually go with, 40mm diameter and 13mm thick, but the bracelet is wide enough that it is well proportioned. The knurling on the bezel, stem, and bracelet pins is an unusual style, but works well with the heavy duty, extreme environment appearance. The hands are well designed, large enough to be easily read, but shaped to prevent confusion. The dial markings, likewise are large, clear, and easily read. The luminescent markings are bright and keep their luminescence well. The day and date is a feature I like better than just date.

It’s not perfect. The markings on the bezel are a little distracting, with a single hash mark between the numbers that throws me off. This thing is the heaviest wristwatch I’ve ever worn, at 192 grams, but this is a small price to pay for durability. The bracelet is so wide, 22mm, that some sizing tools won’t fit it. Although water-resistant to 200m, to be a dive watch, you’d want the little bracelet extension, or a water-resistant strap so you can wear it over a wetsuit. And it’s a quartz movement. Get the movement from the Seiko 5 watches, and this thing would be the bomb.

The short-comings are trivial, the Fall Out is the watch for harsh environments and rough use. I wouldn’t wear it with a suit, but anyplace else, no matter how abusive that situation would be to a lesser watch.

One of my favorite homebrew watchmakers, Serket, just launched the Reef Diver 2.0, a beefy automatic with a beautiful huge bezel. I loved the original Reef Diver and this new model looks extra good. It costs $999.

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CASE
• Stainless Steel 316L Brushed/Polished
• Bezel Diameter: 47mm Height: 5.7mm
• Width from 3 to 9: 48mm
• Lug to Lug: 57mm
• Lug Width: 24mm
• Total Height: 16.5mm
• 120 Click Unidirectional Elapsed Time Bezel
• Drilled Through Lugs

CRYSTAL FRONT
• 4mm Thick Sapphire
• Diameter: 35.5mm

CRYSTAL BACK
• 2mm Thick Orange Mineral
• Diameter: 26mm

MOVEMENT
• Sellita SW200 26 Jewel Automatic
• Black Date Wheel at 3:00

CASE BACK
• Exhibition Back
• Engraved with Watch Identification/Serial Number

CROWN
• Off Center Oversized Crown at 2:00
• Diameter: 10mm
• Height: 8mm

STRAP
• 24mm Black Leather Strap Orange Stitching/Brushed Stainless Steel Buckle with Serket Engraving
• 24mm Black Italian Rubber Dive Strap Brushed Stainless Steel Buckle with Serket Engraving

WATER RESISTANT
• Pressure Tested – 30ATM/300 Meters/1000 Feet

DIAL
• Swiss Tritec Super Luminova Diamond Markers & Hands

WEIGHT
• 168 Grams

Tasty! A new, 44mm JLC with GMT hand. Pretty beefy.

I have just handled two of the three pieces (this one and the chrono) and the Ti piece is very light. There’s a bit of Hublot in there, a bit of Offshore and from side-on a Sinn U1 feel – in fact it is a bit tuna-canny. I guess there’s only so many shapes you can play with for a dive watch…

Jaeger-LeCoultre Diving GMT [Velociphile's Journey into Watches]

Way to go, Bathys! Our favorite US watch company is coming out with the Benthic, an improved version of their amazing Auto. Great work.

Specifications:
Size: 44.1 mm case diameter, 13 mm case height
Weight: 107 grams with strap
Movement: ETA 2892-2 21 jewel automatic running at 28’800 vph
Crystal: Domed sapphire with antireflection coating
Case: PVD coated with silver TiCN at 2 microns; engraved caseback
Water Resistance: 200M (110 Fathoms, 660 feet)
Caseback: Screw down type, engraved, PVD-coated 316L Steel
Crown: Screw down type 7.5 mm
Strap: Comes standard with 22mm Rubber Divers and 22mm Waterproof leather with matching PVD coated buckles.(Note that our mockup photo above shows a deployant folding clasp, however the watch comes on a standard leather band with a buckle and a rubber divers strap.)
Packed in a black Pelican Brand 1030 waterproof Microcase
1 year warranty from a US-based company
Swiss-Made

BATHYS Benthic Black PVD [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]

Romain Jerome, a Geneva-based watchmaker, has created a series of timepieces made out of bits of the Titanic. Why, you ask? Hell if we know. Zachary over at TSL puts it best:

Wait, what? Apparently he bought a 3 pound section of the hull from some seller that he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) identify for the sole purpose of making something rich people would buy. But hang on, what about all those dead people? No worries, mate. Mr. Arpa’s response that “The combination of new and old materials infused the watches with a sense of renewal, instead of representing a reminder of the 1,500 passengers who drowned when the oceanliner met her tragic end off the coast of Newfoundland” makes perfect sense to me.

Titanic DNA? Some people will buy anything. [The Sporting Life]

Bathys is the little watch company that could. Founded by John Patterson, this tiny Hawaiian company sources their watches in Switzerland and offers the surfer – and landlubber – alike a little taste of that Ahola feeling.

Almost a year after the launch of their first watch, the 100 Fathoms Big Date, Patterson has topped himself. The automatic version of the Bathys 100 Fathoms is a testament to Patterson’s hard work and eye for detail.

We reviewed the quartz Bathys here on WWR and were impressed by the styling, size, and charm of this piece. The one we received this time is a PVD-coated steel case with Ruthenium Grey Dial. It runs an Swiss automatic movement – a Seltta SW200 – which was chosen because ETA is currently up in the air about selling unfinished movements to outside manufacturers. The watch has about 40 hours of power reserve and has a hacking movement, which means the seconds hand stops when you pull the crown all the way out.

First, the good stuff. The face and case are beautiful and quite legible. Patterson knows his lume and there is plenty of it on this watch. In the dark, the 100 Fathoms shines like a torch. The caseback is quite striking with a tiny map of Hawaii engraved on a sea of brushed steel. It is water resistant up to 200M. It has a sapphire crystal and is 41.1 mm in diameter.

The movement has a single date window and runs smoothly once it gets started. At first position the movement sets the date and at second position the second hand stops and turning the crown changes the time.

Now, for the bad stuff. The deployant leather clasp included with the watch – while handsome, was painful to wear. All of the edges are hard and sharp and after a while I swapped the beautiful black rubber band and was considerably happier. Thankfully, the Auto comes with both bands.

Second, the crown is too small by half. Even with my small meathooks couldn’t grab the crown without fumbling. Once I had it unscrewed, things were fine, but screwing it back into the case was a chore. I did it a few times and each time was difficult, so it really wasn’t a matter of getting used to the size. Minor issue, not a dealbreaker.

That said, the 100 Fathoms Auto was a joy to wear. It’s quite striking and actually very light, especially with the rubber band. The bold numerals and beautiful materials really stand out and it is eminently readable and noticeable.

It’s hard not to recommend a watch by John Patterson. The $775 is quite reasonable for a small-batch, US-designed watch by a very small manufacturer and it’s a great investment if you want a little of John’s Mahalo-tastic. My wife put it on and won’t take it off, so perhaps you have this year’s Valentine’s Day gift?

Quality: 3.5/5
Style: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Product Page

This just in! The new automatic Reef Diver by Scorpion Watch Company. It’s a beefy diver with great lume and styling along with a nice hacking ETA movement. I’ll be reviewing it shortly, but check it out if you’ve got some holiday cash burning a hole in your pocketses.

Product Page

Mmmm… tasty. A new B&R. This is an ETA base caliber, probably a 7750, with 42 hour power reserve. It costs about $3,500, which actually isn’t that bad, and looks like a monster.

TimeZone: Industry News: N E W M o d e l – Bell & Ross Chronograph Aeronavale [TimeZone]

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Looks like Harry has made a nice diver chrono in honor of Andre Agassi. Yep, that’s right. Good old Andre. It sold at auction for $110,000. They better include all of Andre’s hair in that little package.

Harry Winston Ocean Diver [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]

I’m a bad watch reviewer. Not only am I not updating this site often enough, I’ve been hiding my gems under a bushel, offering up junk like crapola GMTs and monkey-brained divers. Why? Because the watches I love I can’t really review and the watches I review I can’t really love. So I’m torn, WWR fans. Torn.

I present for your inspection the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M 2225.80.00 2599.80.00 Chrono Diver. Every collector chases a dream early on in his career – and often that dream doesn’t jibe with what he or she really wants. You could dig Seikos and then see an Ebel that knocks your socks off. You could love Rolex and then see an Omega that you must have. This watch is my early collector’s grail watch and I am happy to report that it is getting so much wrist time that I think I need to brush it down with rubbing alcohol because it is getting wrist stink.


But first things first. What’s it like? The 2599.80.00 runs an Omega 1164 self-winding date chrono caliber. I’ve opened the case once, like a fool, and it is quite striking. It’s is rhodium plated and sparkles in the light. I quickly closed her up, but it was the stuff dreams are made on. It has a 44 hour power reserve, which is about right in real terms, and offers a 30 minute register at 12, a 12 hour register at 6, and small sweep seconds at 9. There is a date window at 3 and a sweep seconds hand. There is also a chronograph bezel with a glowing pip at noon. Finally, there is a helium release valve at 10 and the well protected pushers are at 2 and 4 while the screw down crown is at 3.

The watch is quite heavy with a metal bracelet – about 5 ounces. Most of that is in the case, so even with a rubber strap it’s a heavy watch. It wears beautifully. The spinning counterweight winds up an down when you move your hand, reminding you you’re wearing an automatic, but otherwise it fits like a glove.

The color scheme is quite understated with red minor hands (seconds hand, face registers) and “ball triangle” major hands in the style of the James Bond models. Each hour is indicated by a glowing pip and there is a demarcated scale of seconds all around the inner bezel. There are seconds markers around the outer bezel and a “triangle” at the chronograph bezel’s set point. The bezel itself turns quite nicely but is a bit hard to grab hold of with wet hands.

Setting the watch is fairly standard – unscrew the crown, pull out once to set the date and pull out twice to set the time. Unfortunately, you have to take the watch off to do this with any accuracy as the crown guard keeps things pretty close and you really need all the room you can get.

The bracelet I have is made of interlocking pieces of steel and the buckle, with an expansion catch that opens to reveal another 3/4 inch for wrapping around a wet-suit, is quite understated. It is easily scratched, but that just adds character.

The bracelet has all sorts of nooks and crannies and, as a result, will often get filled up with sweat and gunk. Frequent light cleanings are necessary to make sure the watch doesn’t stink. A looser bracelet will do the same thing, but this watch begs to be snug to the wrist.

I have no complaints about this watch. From it’s wavy face to it’s seahorsey back, I’m enthralled. I wore this for two months straight and rarely put on any of my other pieces until they wrote a petition for my untoward attention. The Seamaster Chrono Diver is one of my favorites and, without a doubt, can be anyone’s favorite. It is timeless and beautiful and wears well with almost anything except true formal wear. It is an all-day watch and an real keeper.

Quality: 5/5
Style: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5 – Not perfect, but almost there.

-John Biggs