The NTH Devil Ray pre-orders are starting tomorrow at 12PM Eastern (New York) time zone. Devil Ray is one of Chris “Doc” Vail’s newest creations, and it’s a bit of a departure from some of his past work, in the best way possible.
I really meant to review these before now. They weren’t available. The reason why is simple: manufacturing is difficult. Making the thing you set out to make, and executing to the level of quality you require is challenging. In this case, a small issue with the end-links of the bracelet caused a delay that kept us from getting our hands on prototypes like we might have liked. It’s okay – you can rest easy knowing that the problems have been solved, and the watch you get will live up to every expectation you might have as an NTH.
Pre-order pricing is set at $450 USD. What are you getting for this money? First of all, the movement. You’re getting a Swiss Made STP 1-11 automatic movement. You’re getting a stainless steel 43mm case, inspired by the dive watches of the late 60’s and 70’s. This is the ultimate expression of that era’s dive watch, updated with modern bracelet and quality. Seriously. Sapphire double-domed glass, a fully lumed, double-metered dial, and sawtooth crown and bezel make this thing every bit of what it should be.
What you don’t know is, it’s got a depth gauge built into the dial. Here’s how this works. As you venture deeper, your ability to see colors diminishes. Red becomes gray first at about 20 feet. Then orange disappears around 50 feet. Yellow shows up until about 100 feet down. Green might be visible down to 250 feet. Lastly, blue remains apparent until just a little deeper than 250 feet. It’s not the same as having a dive computer, but if you’re actually going down between 20-50 feet, it might just be useful. This is a very 70s thing to do. If we’re talking about where this model might draw influence from, Orient did the dial depth gauge in the old days on some of their dive watches. The case could be influenced somewhat by Doxa. The sawtooth bezel has been seen on Seiko in years past. This is a beautiful animal, drawing heritage from the best of them, without paying homage to any one watch. This is one of Doc’s own creatures.
The bracelet is a very cool 5 link with solid end links that fit the profile of the beveled case lugs. Should you choose to order one, I think you’ll be pleased with the effort that was spent here. Between the stainless, the sapphire, the solid end links, and the dial and hands meant for diving, I think this one is a winner. And it’s got a Swiss movement, if you like that sort of thing. Dials come in Black, White, Orange, and Turquoise. If you don’t get in on the $450 USD pre-order pricing, regular pricing will be $700. Check out the pre-order page at Janistrading.com.
Tech specs from NTH:
- Size: 43mm, 46mm lug to lug
- Height: 14mm
- Strap: 22mm lugs, stainless steel bracelet, or silicone straps optional.
- Movement: STP 1-11 Automatic (Swiss)
- Water resistance: 500M
