Monochrome
Surprisingly, Seiko’s first mechanical dive watch with a GMT function was introduced to the collection only two years ago, with the references SPB381, SPB383, and the Save the Ocean limited edition reference SPB385. Inspired by the 1968 Hi-Beat 300m diver, these office GMT watches came with a 200m water-resistance. Only a couple of months ago, […]
Monochrome
Back in 2021, Swedish brand Tusenö released the original Shellback diver that was a classic and more modern take on its prior Blackwater diver, one that had proved itself in the hands of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society (a voluntary search and rescue organisation). The original Shellback introduced a contemporary sandwich dial and updated logo […]
Teddy Baldassarre
Omega became the official watch of the world’s most famous cinematic superspy, James Bond, in 1995, with star Pierce Brosnan sporting a Seamaster Professional watch in the first of his four films as Agent 007. Today - 30 years, nine movies, and two lead actors later - the Omega Seamaster retains its strong association with Bond’s signature style along with his penchant for exotic adventure. Here is a chronological rundown, movie by movie, of every Omega Seamaster model that James Bond has worn in his silver screen exploits during the last three decades. Goldeneye, 1995 (Pierce Brosnan): Seamaster Professional 300M Ref. 2541.80 When Irish actor Pierce Brosnan came aboard for Goldeneye, the first new Bond film in six years, Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming came with him. It was Hemming, according to Omega, who suggested that an Omega Seamaster would be the perfect watch for Bond, despite the character’s established affinity for Rolex, which came from Ian Fleming’s original novels. “I was convinced that Commander Bond, a naval man, a diver, and a discreet gentleman of the world, would wear this watch,” Hemming said in an interview. At the time, the watch she chose was one with a quartz movement, the Seamaster Professional 300M Ref. 2451.80. In the movie, the 300-meter water resistant diver with blue dial is equipped with a built-in laser beam in the bezel, which Bond uses for a desperate escape from an exploding train car, and a remote detonator...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
After getting into watches seriously, the Orient Mako was the diver that served as the gateway drug into this hobby. I know it was either that or a Seiko SKX for most of us but because of this, the Orient Mako will always have a special place in the collection. I still have it, it was my wedding watch, and that beautiful blue dial still gets me from time to time. Recently, the brand announced a set of anniversary models for their 75th anniversary and the dials just shot out in a way that was too appealing to not mention here on TBWS. Let's take a look at these new Orient Mako references RA-AA0823L and RA-AC0Q12L.
Monochrome
The word is out-Tudor is swimming against the current downsizing trend, boldly introducing the new 43mm Black Bay 68 series. First impressions are in, and now all that’s left is to see how the customer responds. Tudor’s reasoning? The brand says it’s about “meeting the demand for various case sizes to fit all types of […]
Worn & Wound
eBay Finds is back! This bi-monthly installment will feature a selection of watches currently listed on eBay that have caught the eye of editor Christoph McNeil (@vintagediver). If you come across any hidden gems on the ‘Bay drop us a note at info@wornandwound.com for potential inclusion! Vintage Benrus Wristwatch Here’s a nice little vintage Benrus, with fancy knotted lugs. The yellow gold filled case is a hair under 30mm, but what this watch lacks in size it makes up with style with those wild lugs. The case looks to be in really nice shape with sharp edges. The two-tone bullseye style dial is nice, with an even patina. The manual wind movement is clean and runs well per the seller. Nice vintage piece that would look great at your next cocktail party! View auction here Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver Ah, the Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver, the watch with the coolest name ever! And this example is an absolute beauty. The 38mm stainless steel case is unpolished, with perfect sharp chamfers on the lugs, and the aluminum diver bezel is pretty much perfect. The black dial is super clean, with perfectly aged lume, and same with the hands. These Chronomasters came with many different movements, but this example has my favorite, the buttery smooth Valjoux 23, a manual wind masterpiece. This has to be the nicest example of this iteration of the Croton Chronomaster I’ve ever seen. If this floats your boat, here’s your chance to grab one! View auction here Vi...
Fratello
Today, we’ll go hands-on with the new Ianos Dytis, the final diver in a trilogy of watches from this independent brand. Because of its more compact size, the Dytis may prove to be the most popular yet. This doesn’t take away from prior releases, but the trend toward smaller watches is clear. I remember seeing […] Visit Hands-On With The New Ianos Dytis Divers to read the full article.
Fratello
About three weeks have passed since this year’s Watches and Wonders, so it’s time to reflect on some of the great introductions we saw during the fair. It’s easiest to divide these into two groups. The first are the watches we admire from a distance, meaning they will likely never be part of our collections […] Visit Getting A Perspective On The New Tudor Black Bay Pro With The White Opaline Dial to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Why I sold my original Black Bay Pro and why this new dial is making me reconsider it.
Teddy Baldassarre
The Longines Legend Diver, introduced in the mid-aughts but tracing its origins all the way back to the embryonic era of modern dive watches in the 1950s and ‘60s, is the epitome of retro-vintage cool for many lovers of sport watches. Here’s how the watch, and its hallmark and still-rare Super Compressor case design, found a successful niche, and an avid audience, in the 21st century. 1959: The Inspiration As with many now-common watchmaking innovations, Longines was one of the pioneers in waterproofing timepieces, making its first water-resistant case as early as 1937, and introducing its first wristwatches purpose-built for recreational diving in the late 1950s. Unlike many of its predecessors and contemporaries in that fertile era of iconic dive watches - like the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Rolex Submariner (both 1953), and Omega Seamaster Professional (1957) - Longines’s Super Compressor Diver Ref. 7042, launched in 1959 and the most direct ancestor of today’s Legend Diver - did not employ the now-ubiquitous, external, unidirectional rotating bezel for its dive scale. Instead, the watch was designed in the so-called compressor style, also used by brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre, Enicar, and Universal Genève, whose case design included an inner dive-scale ring, positioned on the dial’s flange and mounted under the crystal, which rotated in both directions, operated by an additional crown at 4 o’clock. The “Super” in Longines’ “Super Compressor”...
Monochrome
Copies of popular products are inevitable. Many cars look alike, many drinks taste the same, and Apple and Android steal from each other every year. There are Submariner wannabes and Royal Oak rip-offs – it’s just how the world works. That said, who doesn’t like a good “Weird Al” Yankovic version of a hit song? […]
Teddy Baldassarre
The Tudor Pelagos has consistently been something of "the other watch" in the broader Tudor lineup, sitting in the shadow of the Black Bay. It is also decidedly more modern in its design and is intended as Tudor’s more contemporary, dive-ready tool. What started as a 42mm mode then morphed into a watch in varying sizes, lug construction, and case construction. In 2025 it now sits as a somewhat diversified collection of its own. Is it a Black Bay in terms of scale and breadth of the collection? No, it is not, but it is also no longer a one trick pony. That concept is no more evident than in the Watches & Wonders 2025 release of the Pelagos Ultra, a 43mm riff on the Pelagos theme that aligns it more closely with the Rolex Deepsea than the Sea-Dweller or Submariner. This is a big, brash, and burly dive watch, intended for a very specific segment of the watch world. If you thought the Pelagos FXD was specific, the Ultra turns the dial up to 11. Case So as I mentioned above, the case is made from the traditional (for a Pelagos) titanium material, a combination of grade 2 and grade 5 to be specific. The side of the case opposite the crown features a discreet helium escape valve. The case may seem big from the specs alone, but the 52mm lug-to-lug makes it such that it isn’t a behemoth. The case thickness is a proportional 14.5mm and due to the overall size, you will be looking at a lug width of 22mm. The bezel insert is made of a matte titanium housed in a titanium bezel. The...
Monochrome
First released in 2004, the Orient Mako quickly became a hit, for it was a compelling take on the dive watch at a very accessible price. This competitor to the Seiko SKX Series, 5 Sports series or Citizen Promaster Marine and Challenge Diver. It is, from a value standpoint, one of the best automatic dive […]
Revolution
Ross Povey gives us all there is to know about Rolex’s brief foray into quartz watches with the famed and revered Oysterquartz.
Monochrome
Even though it has lived in the shadows of the Black Bay range, the Tudor Pelagos is an important one. First, it was one of the very first models launched for the brand’s rebirth in 2012, the same year as the BB was presented. Over the years, it has evolved but has kept its highly […]
Fratello
It’s Sunday morning, so it’s time for a cup of coffee and a new installment of Sunday Morning Showdown. This week, we continue the series with another watch unveiled during Watches and Wonders. The most talked-about Tudor release was, without a doubt, the new Pelagos Ultra. This new beefed-up and modernized version of the regular […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Tudor Pelagos Vs. Pelagos Ultra to read the full article.
Monochrome
Renowned for its contemporary and minimalist designs, Ming, the indie watch brand founded by Malaysian photographer Ming Thein in 2017, has gone from strength to strength. Design is king at Ming, and a common design thread runs through all the collections, ranging from time-only to sophisticated chronographs and from world timers to dive watches. Following […]
Worn & Wound
I don’t know this for a fact, but I imagine it’s a real challenge to be a brand focused on dive watches in 2025. The dive watch is ubiquitous, and transcends the sport of diving. It’s become a shorthand for “sports watch” or “everyday watch” among many (but certainly not all) people who consume watches. And they are so simple, by design. The whole point of them is to be incredibly legible, reliable, and easy to use. Over decades, that’s translated to certain design codes that are just standard across the genre. Big lume filled hour markers, an easy to grip bezel, a robust and sporty case. Once you incorporate these necessities, it’s got to be tough to find ways to insert creativity and brand identity into a finished product. And then, of course, there’s the simple fact that many dive watch customers don’t even want brand identity or creativity in their dive watch, hence the enormous archive or articles on this very site and many others that seek to highlight innumerable watches that all kind of look alike. This is all a big windup to say that Jacques Bianchi has figured out a way to put their own unique spin on the genre with every release. Their watches have a playfulness and romanticism to them that feels very much their own, whether it’s a fully lumed dial (which, OK, is common enough) or a SCUBA diver motif, there’s a sense of whimsy to their releases that is hard to ignore. Their latest collection, a reintroduction of the JB200 Aquastrike, ...
Today, we’re heading back to the Thunderdome! You’ve seen our previous Thunderdomes focusing on Tudor and the many incarnations of the Black Bay, but today we’re shifting gears and moving to a new watch, and an entirely brand for the Thunderdome concept: the Omega Speedmaster. There are few watch collections better suited to be matched up against each other in an environment like this. The Speedmaster has been an icon for decades, and there are a truly headspinning number of references with a wide array of limited editions, case materials, dial variants, complications – there are a lot of Speedies out there. We’re sticking pretty close to the tried and true Moonwatch here though, with Ed Jelley, Garrett Jones, and Griffin Bartsch talking through three contemporary incarnations of the classic with slight variations between each. Hosted by Zach Weiss, this roundtable focuses on the Speedmaster’s enduring appeal, our personal connections to the watch, and where the collection might be heading. So, who won Thunderdome? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to tell us about your favorite Speedmaster. The post [VIDEO] The Omega Speedmaster Thunderdome! appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Monochrome
Delma’s Shell Star dive watch combines the groove of its 1970s ancestor with modern specifications. A rugged 500m water-resistant diving companion, the latest Shell Star models feature a new complication with a Big Date window at noon and on-trend gradient dials. Delma’s first dive watch surfaced in 1969 with the Periscope, followed by the more […]
Hodinkee
Two new Florida-inspired colorways for the recently-launched Sub 250T, in collaboration with Naples, Florida retailer Exquisite Timepieces.
For our next Enthusiast Spotlight, we’re featuring Los Angeles-based filmmaker, Van Neistat. As the creator of The Spirited Man on YouTube, Van inspires others to live more intentionally-while surrounding himself with objects built to last and learning how to make them last even longer. Recently, we noticed him sporting a dive watch with a bold bezel that looked a lot like a Marathon dive watch. A quick check confirmed it-he’d discovered Marathon and become a fan. We caught up with him at his Calabasas studio, where he crafts video essays ranging from DIY guides to deep dives into self-betterment. And, in partnership with Marathon, we’ve sponsored a video exploring Van’s personal watch journey and philosophy that led him to his own Marathon 41mm GSAR Type II Diver’s Automatic. The post [VIDEO] Enthusiast Spotlight: Contemplations on Time with Van Neistat and the Marathon GSAR Diver’s Automatic appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Time+Tide
Despite being one of the most popular categories of watches, there weren't many new divers at Watches and Wonders. What gives?The post Does the lack of dive watches at Watches & Wonders 2025 signal a drier future? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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