Gear Patrol

Even if your aquatic adventures never go beyond a beach snorkel, summer is still a great excuse to strap on a dive watch. Timepieces designed for wet work also happen to be perfect companions for backyard barbecues, weekend cabin trips and afternoon doubleheaders. It’s no wonder the dive watch remains one of the most popular timepiece categories, thanks to a decidedly sporty and casual vibe that wears well with board shorts and t-shirts, and an overbuilt ruggedness that can stand up to the inevitable scrapes of summer shenanigans and those impromptu night swims. But while there are a fleet of watches that try to capture the adventurous spirit of the diver, a select few go a little deeper. We round up seven of the best new ones for you here.

Relatively young watch manufacturer Maurice Lacroix has been generating a lot of interest of late its their new collections, and the Pontos S Diver is no exception, standing out in a crowded field of me-too pieces. At turns retro and modern, the Diver, which builds upon the success of the Pontos S Chronograph from last year, presents a uniquely attractive face to its lucky wearer.

If you’re looking for a bombproof watch, the Kaventsmann Triggerfish Bronze A2 should be in your sights. Not only has its massive 44 x 20 millimeter case been pressure tested to 300 bar (the equivalent of 3,000 meters of water pressure), it was subsequently blown up with 10 pounds of C4 in an explosive detonation test conducted by the U.S. Special Forces (damn… the crystal got scratched).

Editors Note: If you’re like us, you have a long list of watches you’d love to own. Watch companies maintain a continuous flow of tantalizing images of their new creations, the Web is rife with chronic watch flippers offering good deals on minty timepieces, and suddenly that watch you’re wearing is starting to look a little rough around the edges. Time for an upgrade. But reality steps in, along with bank accounts and eagle-eyed spouses, and your watch love remains unrequited. What’s a guy to do? Gear Patrol’s new series, Want This, Get This, presents a lust-worthy timepiece along with a more affordable alternative that scratches the same itch.

We rarely come across a dive watch with a moonphase complication, let alone a moonphase complication that piques our interest, but the Linde Werdelin Oktopus II Moon ($29,400) has managed to do just that. Why does a dive watch need a moonphase display, you ask? Perhaps it’s to track the tide or plan a night…

When diving, it is as important to know your depth as it is your time. For most divers nowadays, this means using a digital dive computer that puts all the data on your wrist. But for those who prefer to dive old school, or who subscribe to the “two is one, one is none” philosophy of having backups, using a dive watch and a separate depth gauge is required.

There is a certain ragtag group of watch aficionados who regularly meet in a Manhattan bar to do some horological horse-trading, share their latest acquisitions and shoot the shit on industry gossip. When Girard-Perregaux’s New York boutique invited them to preview their new 2013 models, the revamped Sea Hawk dive watch ($11,350) was the biggest…

We’ve never heard of a 1970s vintage dive watch that still carries a factory warranty, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. Aquadive’s NOS Model 77 ($990+) takes “new old stock” cases and bezels that were manufactured in the 1970’s but never used and fits them with newly produced hands, dials, crystals and gaskets….

Let’s say you’re in the hunt for a quality dive watch — but you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, you don’t like derivative styling and your wrists don’t resemble Clubber Lang’s. Numerous dive watches with fat diameters, some as big as 50mm, won’t work for you. And while big is still…

There’s a bit of dialogue in Casino Royale, the 2006 reboot of the James Bond movie franchise, when Vesper Lynd thinks she has Bond figured out, right down to his watch: “Rolex?” she asks. “Omega”, Bond replies. “Beautiful”, Lynd assesses. Those three words sum up 50 years of Bond and his wristwatches. They also have…

The Panerai new Luminor Submersible 1950 Amagnetic 3 Days Automatic Titanio (PAM 389) is the watch to strap on the night before the Mayan calendar ends. Look past its encyclopedic name and you’ll find a mashup of features that make this piece perhaps the most capable timekeeper the venerable Italian instrument maker has produced. Let’s…

We love our niche watches, and Prometheus has been on our radar for a little while. They’ve made some serious headway in the ever-growing niche dive watch industry, which takes a bit of doing today, and we’re happy to say for good reason. GP recently had the opportunity to test the Prometheus Manta Ray (~$810)…

Luminox’s new Recon series was developed with the military professional in mind. That goal is clearly articulated by the line’s first offering, the Recon Point Man ($320). Designed in collaboration with former Swiss Army Military Security NCO Andrea Micheli, this rugged analog diver is perfect for not only the battlefield, but also for slightly less…

The Reactor Poseidon LE is a watch that enters the room like an 800 pound gorilla in a tuxedo with the sleeves ripped off. We recently tried to tame this beast ourselves. Check out photos and the full review after the jump.

In 1992, COMEX diver Theo Mavrostomos completed a daring 701 meter saturation dive, which might explain the odd-numbered depth rating of the first watch released from new brand, Ægir. In fact, this depth rating is no coincidence, but rather an intentional homage from company founder and professional commercial diver, Todd Caldwell, to Mavrostomos’ herculean achievement,…

Earlier this year, we introduced you to the Magrette Regattare prior to its much anticipated release. Well, we were able to get our hands on one to see for ourselves if the horological fanfare was justified. More photos and the full review after the jump.

The watchmaking business is not for the faint of heart. We’ve showcased a number of niche watches on Gear Patrol, and we’re proud to say that Benarus has been one of them. From their groundbreaking Barracuda, which sold out in a matter of weeks, to their latest creations, the Moray 2 and the Remora 3,…

How many watch geeks have dreamed of starting a watch company? Well, for two guys from Minneapolis, the dream has become reality. Last year, we told you about a new dive watch micro-brand, RedSea. At that time, they only had ideas, some computer-generated mockups and a pile of credit card debt. Now they’ve got a…

The burgeoning niche watch market isn’t always the safest place to conduct business. Many rise and fall. Many more never rise. Peter Helson has made some very good choices to ensure this doesn’t happen to his company. Helson has focused their watchmaking on divers and unique ones, at that.

In 2009, Matt and Courtney Wilson embarked on an effort to create a dive watch that incorporated all the vital aspects of watchmaking that aficionados of niche brands were looking for, albeit at a remarkably affordable price. Hence the birth of the Irreantum Magellan ($545). We had the opportunity to review one recently, and we…

It is ironic that, while watch companies are turning out more capable dive watches – helium release valves, absurd water resistance, innovative bezels – fewer and fewer SCUBA divers are wearing watches at all. Go on any dive boat and you’re lucky to find one person wearing anything besides a dive computer on his wrist….

So you’ll probably never channel Sean Connery’s Thunderball coolness, sporting a classic Rolex Submariner dive watch and driving an Aston Martin DB5 while causing Ursula Andress to swoon. But you can, at the very least, upgrade the timepiece on your wrist, from the run-of-the mill quartz watch (which is more than likely sitting in your…

Whether you’re in the market for a serious watch for deep sea exploration that doesn’t require an ocean of cash, or just in search of some rugged arm candy, Dievas is a brand worth researching. Created recently in 2006, Dievas is an independent manufacturer founded on the principle that quality and customer service mean everything….

The economy may be awful, but as my compadre Jason recently mentioned, if you’re a watch enthusiast, as most of us at GP are, we live in fortunate times. Small companies are coming out with well priced time pieces and though they may not be bred from pure bloodlines, they have the performance to match…

Dive Watch Fanatics, Your Grail Has Arrived Gear Patrol Contributor Jason Heaton showing his approval for the Doxa SUB 800Ti. In the late 1960s, Doxa, a venerable Swiss watchmaker, developed one of the most enduring and unique designs in a purpose-built dive watch. The Doxa SUB was like nothing else, with its distinctive orange dial…

Submarine Grade Steel On Your Wrist Swiss and Japanese brands tend to dominate the conversation when it comes to watches. However there are other brands out there that deserve praise. Take for instance Sinn, a German watch company known for its many exclusive technologies, unique designs, and expert craftsmanship. One of their most popular models…

[click on image to enlarge] The Eterna KonTiki Diver timepiece isn’t the newest one around, but it definitely was the first to deploy a hinged led mechanism that allows the mechanical movement container to move from the bridge of the bracelet, negating any errors from the parallax effect. Once the dive time is set on…

[click on image to enlarge] Bell & Ross manufacturers timepieces right in line with what we like here at Gear Patrol. Functional, rugged, and well-built. Typically of aviation design, Bell & Ross has put out a diver line we’re keen on. The BR 02 pieces are rated to a mind-bloggling 1000 meters (the watch is…

[click on image to enlarge] That’s one long name. Befitting of it’s massive list of capabilities including a 1,000 meter depth capability and it’s color-coded mechanical depth gauge (this is truly rare), 24-city automatic time-zone selection disk and Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 979 movement comprised of 247 parts, 29 jewels. You’re looking at one of the most…