THE ULTIMATE DIVE WATCH GUIDE

OF 2021

Of all the serious, practically minded timepieces out there, dive watches are the most ubiquitous. There’s nary a watchmaker that hasn’t dabbled in the depths at some point in their history; many have built their reputations on them. More than prestige however, more even than the cool, rugged style that’s come to define them, dive watches are built for a purpose.

To be considered a true, professional standard diving watch, it has to adhere to ISO 6425, courtesy of the International Organisation for Standardization. There are a few things that includes, but key among them is a diving bezel; readability at 25cm in total darkness (meaning plenty of lume); running seconds to show that it’s working and resistance to magnetism, corrosion and shocks.

What might surprise you though is that ISO standards ask for a water resistance of 100m. That might seem a bit low, especially these days where 300m is the benchmark, but apparently that’s all you really need. Which means that the following watches, the strongest swimmers in the ever-expanding school of 2021 releases, are more than up to par, even at the lower end of any equipment budget. In fact, from niche microbrands offerings accessible designs to a clutch of serious prestige watchmakers, there’s a diving watch for every budget, style and depth imaginable. Here then is our Ultimate Diving Watch Guide of 2021.

UNDER £,1000

Dipping your toes into the water for the first time? You don’t need to spend big to get yourself a serious diving partner with these entry-level divers.

BOLDR

Odyssey Bronze Pine Green

If there’s one diver tapping into the current aesthetic zeitgeist, it’s this. Bronze case? Check. Green dial? Check. If it had a slimline, retro look it would blend into the crowd perfectly. Fortunately for Boldr, it’s bigger, chunkier and altogether, yes, bolder, than most of that aforementioned crowd can handle. The deep green of the dial is made a touch brighter with plenty of lume, which are 3D cast for an incredible level of light. Paired with 500m water resistance, this is a lot of watch for the money. You’d best get one of the 100 pieces available sharpish..

THE DETAIL

45.5mm bronze case with 500m water resistance

SII NH35 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve

£439, boldrsupply.co

CHRISTOPHER WARD

C60 Trident Bronze Ombré COSC

Between a COSC-certified movement, 600m water resistance and a hand-distressed dial to make each watch unique, Christopher Ward’s latest should be coasting well above the 3K mark when you compare it to similar models. The fact that it’s still at a sub-£1,000 price point, it’s easy to see why the British brand is dominating the space. The combination of bronze case and ombré dial means that the watch should age like a fine wine with far less regard for how you need to treat it. The Sellita movement inside is lacking much power, but otherwise it’s another impossible value watch from Christopher Ward.

THE DETAIL • 42mm bronze case with 600m water resistance • Sellita SW200 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £950, limited to 500 pieces, christopherward.com

REVERIE

Diver

Reverie’s take on the classic diving watch blurs the lines between a practical, utilitarian tool piece and a dress watch. Part of that is it’s slimline feel – despite 200m water resistance, it’s surprisingly svelte – but the greater part is the finishing. It’s not often you find an accessible diving watch with a guilloche dial. The wavey guilloche is lovely, especially in the oceanic blue, making for a solid, versatile summer timepiece. The movement too is engraved with waves, in tribute to the Miyota 9039’s Japanese roots – a nice nod to an important calibre and an illustration of Reverie’s attention to detail.

THE DETAIL • 40mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • Miyota 9039 calibre automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve • £350, reveriewatches.com

MARLOE

Morar Deep Blue

Inspired by Loch Morar, the deepest body of water in the UK, Marloe’s seminal diving watch looks as much like a nod to Jules Verne as it does the green Scottish highlands. While it looks big and chunky, the gunmetal steel case is actually just 40mm across, making it a good deal more wearable than most diving watches. Paired with a beautiful blue dial – no prizes for guessing where the colour comes from – and shell-shaped hour markers, it’s a looker. It would be a shame if the Morar couldn’t reach the bottom of its namesake intact, so the water resistance is marked on the dial as 310m, the depth of the loch. With those kinds of numbers and an ever-reliable Japanese movement, the price makes the Morar a steal.

The bronze case and ombré dial means that the watch should age like a fine wine

THE DETAIL • 40mm bronze case with 310m water resistance • Miyota 9039 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve • £299, Limited to 250 pieces, marloewatchcompany.com

BALTIC

Aquascaphe Dual Crown

There’s good reason Baltic’s an Instagram darling among dive watch aficionados. The handsome riff on 60s divers that is the Aquascaphe makes no secret of its vintage inspirations and ticks every box established by iconic pieces from the era. The latest takes it one step further, combining the already good-looking base watch with a dual-crown, compressor-style layout that’s impossible not to love.

With one crown to wind the watch, the other to operate the inner diving bezel, the Aquascape Dual Crown is lovely to use. With 200m water resistance it has respectable diving credentials and thanks to the Miyota caliber 9039 it’s as affordable as ever. If you somehow find a downside, please let us know.

THE DETAIL:

39mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance

Miyota caliber 9039 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve

£472.75, baltic-watches.com

MIDO

Ocean Star GMT

It’s no overstatement to say that Mido is one of the best value brands around. Their watches have plenty of high-end touches – ceramic bezels, their own take on the incredibly solid calibre 80 and double AR-treated sapphire crystal, among other thing – combined with retro style that’s impossible not to admire. While other Mido pieces can be a bit funkier in a retro cool kind of way, the Ocean Star GMT is all business with a classic, chunky dive watch look in an unexciting but always appealing blue. It doesn’t break boundaries but it also doesn’t break the bank and offers more bang for your buck than most of its contemporaries.

THE DETAIL: 44mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • Mido calibre 80 automatic movement with 80-hour power reserve • CHF1,130 (approx. £890), midowatches.com

£1,000 - £2,500

You’ve gone for a few dives, gaining confidence and are relatively sure that you won’t leave your watch on the reef. In which case, it’s time for something a touch more serious.

ALPINA

Seastrong Diver Gyre

Recycled fishing nets are fast becoming the go-to diving watch case material for the eco conscious and while Ulysse Nardin’s is only a concept, Alpina’s is here to stay. The 44mm beast of a diver that is the Seastrong

Gyre however is more than just eco-friendly; it’s a downright lovely looking watch.

The biggest part of that look is the smoked blue dial, not the kind of finish you often see on a utilitarian tool watch. Paired with the blacked-out case, matching two-tone strap and solid diving specs, it’s hard not to love, especially coasting just above the 1K mark.

44mm RECYCLED PA 6 case with 300m water resistance

Calibre AL-525 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve

£1,350, limited to 1,833 pieces, alpinawatches.com

THE DETAIL: 47mm stainless steel case with 4,000m water resistance • ETA 2824 calibre automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £2,000, delma.ch THE DETAIL:

DELMA

Blue Shark III Azores

If you manage to push this epic dive watch to its limit, you probably won’t be coming back. That’s because Delma’s insanely high-spec Blue Shark III Azores is water resistance to 4,000m.

It looks the part too with it’s oversized 47mm case and macho styling, crown guard included.

What really sets this version off however is its colouring, a combination of unusual green gradient dial and bright orange across numerals, hands and bezel diving scale. The Azores also comes in a blue and black variant, but for us this more pared-back version (and I use the phrase loosely) is the cooler of the two.

THE DETAIL: • 44mm stainless steel case with 1,000m water resistance • ETA 2824 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • $2,650, (Approx. £1,915), blanchetwatches.com

BLANCHET

Deep Dive

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of the host of recently revived dive watch brands that sadly died out in the 70s, Blanchet potentially has the staying power to be one of the best. Provided of course you’re after something big, chunky and at the extreme end of the affordable diving spectrum. The ‘deep’ in Deep Dive isn’t kidding. This thing can function at depths of 1,000m which is impressive for any timepiece. For a COSC-certified automatic priced at just under 2K that’s unbelievable. Throw in an eye-catching asymmetrical case and it’s obvious Blanchet has more than a name going for it.

RALF TECH

WRV Electric Tundra

Originally released in 2012 as a 70s-inpired diver paying homage to some of the iconic underwater watches in the golden age of diving, the latest edition combines that utilitarian look with a classic sandwich dial and a new electric micro hybrid movement.

Of the three versions I’m a sucker for this kind of khaki green. Between the colour and the sandwich construction, the WRV Electric Tundra has some serious militaristic vibes, complemented by impressive specs and a serious weight of metal.

THE DETAIL: 43.9mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance • Electric Micro Hybrid movement• €1,700 (approx. £1,460), ralftech.com

THE DETAIL:

42mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance

L888 calibre automatic movement with 72-hour power reserve

£1,750, longines.com

LONGINES

Legend Heritage Diver

The HydroConquest is, by far, the more extreme of Longines’ divers in a modern, masculine kind of way. For me though – and anyone that knows my tastes won’t be surprised – it’s all about their heritage collection and, specifically, the Legend

Heritage Diver. The 1960s-inspired compressor-style case is elegant while the gradiated blue dial on this particular reference is gorgeous.

Behind it all is the L888 which isn’t at the silicon-equipped top end of Longines watchmaking but suits the more restrained character of this particular facet of the

Swiss watchmaker’s diving heritage.

THE DETAIL: 42.7mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • 6R35 calibre automatic movement with 70-hour power reserve • £1,220, seikoboutique.co.uk

SEIKO

Prospex ‘Captain Willard’ Re-interpretation SPB237J1

Named after Martin Sheen’s character in

Apocalypse Now, if there’s one watch you want accompanying through the jungles of Vietnam on what boils down to an assassination mission, this is it. It’s also a pretty good everyday diver if you want to avoid PTSD set to The Doors. The asymmetrical case shape that was the progenitor for the modern-day turtle makes for an incredibly distinctive watch and was originally worn in 1970 by Japanese explorer Naomi Uemura, a watch that this model is directly inspired by. It’s equipped with a great movement with a 70-hour power reserve, has the heritage of any major Swiss brand and comes in at an almost worryingly accessible price tag.

BALL

Engineer Master II Diver Chronometer

When you’re hundreds of metres underwater you want to have a watch you can rely on – and there’s not much that’ll stop Ball’s latest-generation diver in its tracks. The rugged, 42mm case with 300m water resistance are just the start; the movement itself is protected by an antimagnetic mu-metal shield and Ball’s own Amortiser shock absorption system, keeping it ticking in the most adverse conditions. Looks-wise it’s a classic compressor layout, giving Ball’s distincitly modern, H3 gas tube-laden take on tool watchmaking a charming retro twist. Just be sure to keep it in a drawer at night; those signature luminescent tubes are incredibly bright.

When you’re hundreds of metres underwater you want a watch you can rely on

THE DETAIL

42mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance

BALL RR1101-C calibre automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve • £2,040, shop.ballwatch.ch

MICHEL HERBELIN

Newport Diver Automatic

Combining the lovely cushion shape of the Newport Heritage – the throwback model from the French watchmaker’s flagship collection – with a unidirectional diving bezel, Michel Herbelin have created one of the more elegant diving watches out there. Specially designed for regular divers, the unidirectional bezel is made of ceramic in blue or black which, along with the 300m water resistance, makes for a surprisingly solid, professional-standard underwater watch. The fact that it’s one of the best-looking in this price range is just another feather in Michel Herbelin’s increasingly flamboyant cap.

THE DETAIL: 44mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • Mido calibre 80 automatic movement with 80-hour power reserve • CHF1,130 (approx. £890), midowatches.com

£2,500 - £5,000

You’re on your way to professional diver status and it’s time to branch out into more extreme, performance-oriented pieces in new materials and flashier colours.

BELL & ROSS

BR 03-92 DIVER RED BRONZE

While the latest Bell & Ross diver has all the usual necessities of a deep-dweller, such as the rotating bezel, lume-filled indexes and a solid 300m water resistance, this is nothing like your traditional diving watch. For one, it uses the cockpit instrument inspired square shape that put the

Swiss watchmaker on the map. For another, the mix of golden bronze and bright red is eye-catching to say the least.

While we get hands-on with the military-style utilitarian tool watch version on page 133, there’s a lot to be said about this striking number. Aviation may be their DNA, but Bell & Ross seem well at home with a sea landing, too.

THE DETAIL:

42mm bronze case with 300m water resistance

BR-CAL.302. calibre automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve

£3,800, limited to 999, bellross.com

DOXA

SUB300 Carbon Professional

If you’re fed up of dive watches playing it safe with an avant garde choice of black or blue, Doxa should be catching your eye in more ways than one. The Swiss brand dominated the golden age of diving with a little help from Jacques Cousteau and has only gotten brighter with age.

This carbon-clad edition of their famous SUB300 is a lot more modern than their usual retro-slanted pieces, combining the super light-weight material with Doxa’s ubiquitous bright orange. The material choice is probably a good thing given the impressive dimensions of the watch, which are matched by its equally impressive diving specs.

THE DETAIL: 42.5mm forged carbon case with 300m water resistance • COSCcertified ETA 2824-2 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £3,750, doxawatches.com

RADO

Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic

The culmination of Rado’s twin disciplines of cool, retro divers and cutting-edge ceramic, this skeletonised version of the lauded Captain Cook is the best of both worlds. It was our cover star last issue so believe me when I say that it’s a serious piece of watch that relies on more than nostalgia for the original vintage model.

The blue and grey version is the most toned-down of them all, which isn’t saying much given the openworked dial, and for me is the coolest of the lot. It’s hardwearing, lightweight and supported by an antimagnetic movement for survivability above and below the water – 300m below, to be precise. If this is the new face of Rado, it’s a handsome one.

THE DETAIL: 43mm high-tech ceramic case with 300m water resistance • R734 calibre automatic movement with 80-hour power reserve • £3,530, rado.com

The Swiss brand dominated the golden age of diving with a little help from Jacques Cousteau

TUDOR

Black Bay Ceramic

The Black Bay ceramic has all the streamlined good looks that made the range a collectors’ darling, with all the trappings of a seriously high-end timepiece, including a complete ceramic case and a painfully cool blacked-out movement. Perhaps more importantly, it’s also the only other watch than Omega on this list to be awarded Master Chronometer status.

You can check Tom Heap’s article on the subject on page 36 to discover why that matters, but needless to say it’s a momentous achievement. It’s also a bit of a middle finger up to Omega as Tudor’s opus comes in a good couple of thousand pounds cheaper. There’s a good reason Tudor’s one of the most in-demand watchmakers this side of Rolex.

THE DETAIL: 41mm ceramic case with 200m water resistance • MT5602-1U calibre automatic movement with 70-hour power reserve • £3,550, tudorwatch.com

It’s a middle finger up to Omega as Tudor’s opus comes in a couple of thousand pounds cheaper

CARL F. BUCHERER

Patravi Scubatec Maldives

You don’t need the clue in the name to gather that this edition of Carl F. Bucherer’s flagship diver is inspired by the warm waters and atolls of the Indian Ocean; all you need is that beautiful wave of bright blue across bezel and, more literally, the dial.

The looks are backed by all the prerequisite diving watch touches, including more extreme ones like a helium escape valve and 500m water resistance. At 45mm it’s also extreme in dimensions. Between the size and colour, this isn’t the kind of watch you can miss.

THE DETAIL: 44.60mm stainless steel case with 500m water resistance • CFB 1950.1 calibre automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £4,500, carl-f-bucherer.com

OVER £5,000

You’ve done your fair share of dives and now you’re edging into prestige territory where the watch on your wrist isn’t just for plumbing the depths but will have heads turning back on dry land, too.

THE DETAIL:

42mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance

Calibre UN-816 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve

£6,070, limited to 300 pieces, ulysse-nardin.com

AUDEMARS PIGUET

Royal Oak Offshore Diver

For many collectors the Offshore Diver is a grail diving watch, all the genre-defining rebelliousness of the classic Royal Oak but in an over-the-top, performance-slanted style that moves the diving scale inside to preserve the iconic octagonal bezel that’s come to define the collection. The latest trio comes in cool grey, blue and, our favourite, the khaki green.

The new piece is equipped with the Calibre 4308 automatic movement with its solid 60-hour power reserve and finished with all the stylish aplomb you’d expect from AP – including their famous Méga Tapisserie gridwork dial. It is of course a serious investment piece; dive with it at your peril.

THE DETAIL: 42mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance • Calibre 4308 automatic movement with 60-hour power reserve • £23,100, audemarspiguet.com

ULYSSE NARDIN

Diver Lemon Shark

The shark is Ulysse Nardin’s spirit animal, so it’s not too big a surprise to see the makers of the Freak launch a toothy limited edition specifically for World Ocean Day. The bigger surprise is that it’s one of their coolest-looking divers to date. The 42mm blacked-out steel case highlighted with bright, lemon yellow in honour of the eponymous predator makes for an eye-catching, professional-level underwater watch.

It’s not just the looks either. The Diver

Lemon Shark’s 300m water resistance and a solid 42-hour power reserve are respectable and rugged doesn’t even come into it. It’s a bit pricier than some similarly specced watches on this list, but it makes up for it in swagger – and a cool recycled strap.

BLANCPAIN

Tribute to Fifty Fathoms No Rad

One of the coolest Fifty Fathoms ever to surface – which is really saying something – was the very specialised edition created for German Bundeswehr.

It was built at a time where radition was a serious concern and not just from a Cold War standpoint. Thus, the Swiss watchmaker created a version with no radioactive lume on the dial and a clear, now iconic logo to denote the fact.

Now Blancpain have finally re-released a nod in the Tribute to Fifty Fathoms No Rad. While it has the vintage touch of the crossed-out nuclear logo in warning yellow and red, inside it’s pure modern Blancpain, meaning typically exceptional calibre with 100h power reserve. The only downside is that this might be a hard one to get your hands on.

THE DETAIL: 40.30mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance • calibre 1151 automatic movement with 100-hour power reserve • £11,800, limited to 500 pieces, blancpain.com

OMEGA

Seamaster 300

Before there was the 300m, there was the 300, and for 2021 Omega has brought back the retro reference as its own collection. Perhaps more importantly, it’s now one of my favourite Omega models.

Modelled from the 1957 original, Omega are tapping into the zeitgeist for archival divers frustratingly perfectly.

Paired with throwback good looks – particularly in the classic black dial and bezel with vintage beige indexes – is the 8400 master chronometer-certified co-axial calibre, which means it can survive both 300m down and an MRI machine. Or both, however that would happen.

THE DETAIL: 41mm stainless steel case with 300m water resistance • Omega calibre 8400 automatic movement with 60-hour power reserve• £5,280, omegawatches.com

THE DETAIL: 39.50mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • Calibre 39-11 automatic movement with 40-hour power reserve• £10,900, glashuette-original.com

GLASHUTTE ORIGINAL

SeaQ Bi-Colour

There’s always a bit of a debate over whether gold – and more specifically bi-colour – has a place in a diving watch.

It’s neither one nor the other, practical nor flashy. But honestly, this is the kind of watch that puts the argument to bed. The SeaQ Bi-Colour in blue is one of the best-looking divers around.

Granted, it comes with a serious premium – this is the kind of dive watch you’ll risk a shark bite rather than abandon – but you get not only a classic combo of steel, blue and yellow gold but the backing of a movement in the finest three-quarter plate traditions of German watchmaking. The only issue is the 200m water resistance which, while respectable, is perhaps lower than you’d like at this price point. But if you’re after style over substance, this is the one for you.

PANERAI LUMINOR

Marina eSteel Verde Smeraldo

New materials are kind of Panerai’s thing; so is the ocean. So, it makes sense that among high-end watchmakers they’re leading the charge when it comes to ecofriendly metallurgy. The Luminor Marine E-Steel’s famous cushion case is made from a recycled steel alloy, while the matching strap is made from recycled PET, the plastic used in fishing nets. That’s all great and nice to know but doesn’t mean too much if the watch underneath is nothing worth wearing. Fortunately, the smoked green dial here is very much worth wearing over and over again. I’m not sure I’d take it off.

This is the kind of dive watch you’ll risk a shark bite rather than abandon

THE DETAIL:

44mm eSteel case with 300m water resistance

P.9010 calibre automatic movement with 72-hour power reserve

£7,600, panerai.com

ROLEX

Submariner Date

Sure, this was released last year but given Rolex’s 2021 releases didn’t exactly get us overexcited, we’re including it anyway. Plus, there’s good reason the Submariner is the luxury diving watch and it’s not all about the crown on the dial.

The latest revamp brought a lot of necessary updates to the iconic Submariner Date, including a shiny new movement – the most advanced Rolex calibre around, the 3235 – and enhanced wearability, ensuring that it remains the ultimate diving watch for many. This uber-collectable green bezelled version doubly so. If you can get one on your wrist, do it.

THE DETAIL: 41mm oystersteel case with 300m water resistance • Rolex 3235 automatic movement with 70-hour power reserve • £7,650, rolex.com