A few days ago, I brought to your attention what seems to be a good deal on an solid watch.  Today, we’re going to take a look at another deal I came across – but I’m not so sure it’s as good as it seems.

Today’s watch is being brought to market by the folks at Aquadive, which actually seems to be a resurrection of the company of the same name which produced popular dive watches in the 60s and 70s.  Appropriately so, their new watches draw some inspiration from their previous models, but with modern updates.

Now, to take a closer look at Bathyscape 1000 model. To my eye, it’s got a nice look (the DLC helps in that regard) that doesn’t scream DIVER at you (which is much appreciated, in my book).  The specs themselves are pretty impressive as well:

• ETA 2836-2 automatic movement adjusted in 5 positions; hour/minute/second/date
• 42mm stainless steel case with DLC
• Automatic Helium Escape Value at 6 o’clock
• 1000m water resistance
• Sapphire crystal
• Ceramic-inset 120-click bezel
• 22mm Isofrane strap

So, as you can see, we’ve got some impressive specs here in a vintage-inspired dive watch – all seems well with the world, right?  Not so fast, friend!  Let’s take a closer look at the dial. Do you see any lume there?  I sure don’t!  I see nice shiny indices – but if you manage to get this thing a few hundred feet in the water, I don’t know that that does you any good (let alone to 1000). UPDATE – It’s lumed.

And then back to the second (and most significant) drawback, in my opinion.  If you were to order this watch prior to December 31, you’ll receive a generous 35% discount – which brings it down to $1490.  Ouch!  While this is a good looking watch, and seems like it should have solid history, it feels like a big chunk of change for a watch (and company) that is new (at least, in it’s current incarnation) on the scene.

If you like the looks, and would like to keep more of your money, they do have another option – you could snap up one of their NOS (new old stock) models, which are on tap for $890, with a new ETA 2824-2 inside.

Our Hawaiian buddy John at Bathys is offering $50 off any watch in his collection. I’m quite a fan of everything he sells but I really want him to make the Bomb Timer he promised a year ago and maybe this sale will push him into manufacturing it.

Seriously: who cannot love that face design on the 100 Fathoms? With this deal you’re paying $645 for a handsome automatic watch with an amazing pedigree and considerably less for a quartz model.

To grab the deal, use the coupon code “KALALAU2″

This week we talk about a million dollar watch and the brand new bomb timer.

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Sure, you think you’re pretty special with your Timex that’s water resistant to 100 meters. Maybe you even have a Seiko Orange monster, or something else that’ll go down to 300 meters. They don’t have anything on this Rolex, it’s been down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and came back alive.

I’m not a fan of Rolex in general, (ok, except for maybe the Daytona) but this is just an awesome story. If you’re not familiar with the story of the Trieste, it was teh experimental bathysphere that two men piloted down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench 50 years ago. Along with flashlights and a few other necessary supplies, the two men piloting the craft took a very special Rolex with them. On the outside of the ship. No human (or timepiece) had ever gone that deep before, or since. Rolex recently sponsored a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the event, and they allowed a few lucky individuals the chance to view the Deep Sea Special. One lucky blogger had the opportunity to attend, and actually interview LT Don Walsh, one of the two men who piloted the Trieste to the bottom of the sea. He took quite a few pictures which I encourage you to check out, and also wrote an excellent article about his experience.

If you’ve been following the HourTime podcasts you’ll know that I have a hatred fro three-handed watches. For some reason I’ve grown weary of divers and dress watches without complications. Luckily, the Tyndall is here to bring me back from the brink of insanity.

Designed by Jeff Kuo of San Francisco, the Xetum Tyndall is the epitome of American high-style design watches. It’s not fancy, it’s not overly beefy, and it’s made to last. If you’re tired of divers that look like pie plates and monster watches that look like manhole covers yet contain a cheap Chinese movement, this is the watch for you.

First, the Tyndall contains a Swiss automatic movement, the elaboree-grade ETA 2895, a decorated automatic that is currently quite hard to find. That he was able to source this movement is a testament to his dedication. Had he used anything else and this watch would have been far less interesting.

The design is striking. The watch has a 40mm face – just big enough to matter but not big enough to drag you down while skydiving – and is 11mm thick. It is water resistant to 100 meters but I doubt you want to the get the beautiful leather band wet. It has a small subdial at six o’clock and a date window at 3. The band has a press-to-release buckle and is integrated into the case itself. The watch has no lugs because the band is stuck under the exhibition back.

The watch is just the right size and is very legible. I wasn’t quite happy with the lume but only the 12,3,6, and 9 are lumed along with the hands, thereby reducing some legibility at night.

Now for price. This watch is $1,395, quite a handful, but when you consider most of the higher-end Swatch Group line uses the same movement as well as the Oris Artelier line, you can excuse the high price. Sourcing this movement is hard enough and the care Jeff took in designing and manufacturing this watch is evident.

This is a high-design American watch through and through, something quite rare in the horology world. Add Xetum to the pantheon of American watch geniuses that now includes Bathys, RGM, and DFreemont.

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In the vast pantheon of watches, the aviator is a timeless paragon of virtue and class. Traditionally given to folks who fly in planes (hence the term “aviator”), these watches were larger than standard watches and often had big crowns for easy winding. The IWC Big Pilots Watch is a classic in the form, with the clear, legible numbers and top triangular noon pip.

But, like great paintings, watches often stray from form, and often with positive results. If the Big Pilots Watch is “Whistler’s Mother” then the Praesto Modern Fliegeruhr is Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup cans. At once this watch is an homage, a little work of art, and a sly dig at the stuffy establishment.

The watch was designed by Russ Schwenkler, a well-known 3D rendering artist, with input from various forums and individual collaborators. The case is made in Hong Kong and runs a 21-jewel automatic Japanese Miyota 8245 movement which keeps good time and is quite rugged.

The face is quite striking with minutes around the outer chapter ring and hours on an inside chapter ring. The hands match the rings perfectly, with the tip of the hour hand touching the outer edge of the black hours ring. I have the blue-faced model but they’re also selling a black PVD model.

The watches are available for pre-order now for about $480-530, depending on the various discounts.

I love small boutique watchmakers and I especially love dudes who love watches so much that they decide to make their own. Brands like Blancier and Bathys paved the way for folks like Praesto but convincing the market that one or more folks dedicated to the craft of watchmaking can definitely take on the big guys.

As for quality, I’d give the Fliegeruhr two thumbs up. The case is large and rugged – about 44mm wide in 316L steel – and the crystal is flat and nicely set. The watch is water resistant to 200 meters and comes with a thick leather band. The watch even comes packaged amazingly well and arrives in a little tool pouch that you can later use for your own tools (results may vary). The watch has a one-year warranty.

Bottom Line
Generally, if you like the style, then get the watch. My only complaint is that the lume, while bright, is a bit sparse on the skeletonized hands and the numbers, also lumed, are a bit hard to see in the dark. This could be a problem in the pre-release run but also understand that we’re in the dead of winter so the lume has no time to recharge before it gets dark and the wolves come out.

Generally, however, I like the blue face, the workmanship, and the value for money. In a world where you can get a nice Seiko Monster for about $200, the price here may dissuade some. But if you want a unique, almost custom limited-edition watch for less than $500, this is something to consider.

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Bathys sent out their Christmas letter the other day, and included a sneak peek at their newest project, the Bomb Timer. Designed as an homage to the timers used in WWII era bombers, the Bomb Timer is quite the timepiece.

Bathys has been working on this design for about 3 years, and it shows. You can definitely tell the influence of the original design, and the simplicity of the face really gives it an elegant feel, despite being utilitarian. The watch is still in development, but Bathys is expeciing it to be released sometime in 2010. It’s going to be made from stainless steel, expected to be water-resistant down to 100 meters, and uses an ETA 6497 movement. Price is estimated to be around $1800-2000. I want one.

Well, we got official word from John at Bathys today, the Benthic Ti that we told you about back in July is finally coming out. John says that it’ll be available at retailers in about 2 weeks, and you should be able to get one shortly thereafter.

Bathys also announced a new watch that they are going to be showing off at Baselworld 2009, the Damascus Bathic. Apparently, there isn’t even a rendering available of it yet, but hopefully we’ll get some pictures in the near future. It’s made from stainless Damascus steel and should be quite the show piece. We’ll let you know when we get some more information on that. 

Shore is purdy! This watch has a quartz movement with PVD-coated case and a moonphase read-out at 6 o’clock. The watch costs $795. Bathys is a watch company run by a surfer who loves in Hawaii. How’s that for provenance?

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 30, 2008
Bathys Introduces Innovative New Womens Watch

(Kappa, Hawaii) Bathys Hawaii has announced the release of the Lunar Wahine, a revolutionary watch in that it is actually easy to determine what time it is when looking at the dial. Said company spokesperson and Bathys CEO, John Patterson PhD “We found in extensive market research that although women felt that diamonds were ‘nice’ – most women said they mainly wore a watch in order to be able to tell the time”. He continues, “Additionally, our research found that there is a fairly large segment of the women out there who really do not care for having a gemstone-set butterfly on the dial of their watch, but would rather have a date feature instead.”
We polled a few women on the streets to get their reaction to the new design from Bathys: “Well I like it because it doesn’t look like a diamond-encrusted spaceship landed on my wrist”, said Lisa Wilson when we showed her the new Wahine. When asked for her opinion, Kathy Anderson of Plano Texas said, “Hey look at that – it’s 2:14”. And when we spoke with Martha Sidlo who purchased one of the watches several days ago she said, “I was really surprised at first. I kept looking down and actually seeing the actual time – all in real time. It was like I was living in ‘the now’ for the first time ever. This other watch my husband gave me…” she said motioning to a $12,000 designer timepiece “..I kept looking and looking trying to see when it was, and all I could tell was there were 6 more years left until the next solar eclipse.”

OK, we couldn’t help it. We just really wanted to write that press release….

Below you’ll find the information more commonly associated with the release of a new timepiece. Ahem.

Bathys announces the release of the new Lunar Wahine (“wah-hee-nay”), their first foray into the world of Womens Timepieces. The watch bucks current trends by featuring a simple legible and luminous dial with large Arabic numerals. Featuring a 36mm stainless steel case (or steel PVD coated with titanium nitride) that is water resistant to 100M (330 feet) and a domed sapphire to fend of all scratches – this is one tough timepiece. Bathys has chosen a jeweled, Swiss-Made quartz movement that not only tells time, but gives both the date and the current moon phase – a real help for surfer chicks waiting for the big tides or astronomers waiting for dark nights. The moon phase display also gives the watch a retro feel and is accurate to one day per 8 years once set. The watch comes with a waterproof black leather strap and a water resistant polished black stingray strap that use quick-change spring bars to allow an easy swap. Currently Bathys offers the Wahine in three variations – Steel case/black dial; Steel case/chocolate brown brushed dial; and Rose Ti PVD/black dial (shown) Each watch comes with a 2 year warranty and is $795 MSRP.
Please see www.bathyshawaii.com for more information.