Baltic have made some very nice watches over the past few years. They’re best characterized as tasteful, traditional watches with modern quality. So far, they’ve made dress watches, dive watches, a GMT, and a two register chronograph.
Generally, you can tell you’re looking at a Baltic tool watch because the dial will likely have either 12-3-6-9 or triangles at 3-6-9. It’s very much a 1960s-1970s kind of look, and one that holds up well today. That’s about to change, with the Aquascaphe Dual-Crown.
The Aquascaphe Dual-Crown compressor draws on the heritage of the original EPSA (Ervin Piquerez S.A) cases. Compressor cases are commonly thought of has having dual-crowns, one at 2 to turn the internal bezel while maintaining water-tightness, and one at 4 to adjust time while on land.
But that’s not what made a compressor case 50 years ago so cool; The construction of the cases back then were made so that the watch became more water-tight the deeper it went, because the increased pressure caused an internal o-ring to seal more tightly.
The Baltic Aquascaphe Dual-Crown
The Dual Crown follows the design lead of the original EPSA watches, with grid designs on the crowns and the internally rotating bezel. Like the originals, it’s possible to rotate the internal bezel crown while retaining water-resistance.
The dial is uncluttered. There’s no date window, and no unnecessary dial markings. The indices are a triangle at 12, circles and rounded rectangles instead of bars at 3-6-9. It’s a nice, vintage looking watch in every way. The brushed hands are wide, to accommodate large quantities of lume.
The Aquascaphe Dual-Crown is 11.9mm tall, and uses BGW9 blue lume on the hands and dial. The bezel and dial are protected by the sapphire crystal capping it off. Underneath the case back is the Miyota 9039, a reliable movement with good accuracy. The 9039 is a good choice for this watch, since it’s a no-date movement, and matches the dial choice. The first models will be numbered, from 1 to 300.
Each Aquascaphe Dual-Crown will have three new tropic-style straps made of plastic reclaimed from the ocean. If you prefer the bracelet, the bracelet has a quick-attachment making strap changes happen in under 5 seconds. The vintage style clasp has 7 micro adjustments, and the links for the beads-of-rice-bracelet are all solid. The bracelet tapers from 20mm to 18mm for comfort.
The Aquascaphe Dual-Crown is available three ways: in gloss black dial or blue sun-ray brushed finish, and black dial in black PVD case, if you prefer a very stealth sort of existence.
All Aquascaphe Dual-Crown watches will be assembled in France by experienced watchmakers. The watch is available for pre-order, starting April 14, 2021. Pre-order pricing is 550€ (VAT excluded) then retail price in September 2021 at 650€ VAT Ex. To find out more, check out baltic-watches.com.
Technical specifications from Baltic
- GLASS DOMED CRYSTAL SAPPHIRE GLASS Anti-reflective coating
- WATERPROOFNESS: 200M (20ATM)
- BRACELET: METAL BRACELET TROPIC RUBBER STRAP
- MOVEMENT: AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT MIYOTA 9029, 42h POWER RESERVE HACKING SECONDS
- CASE: STAINLESS STEEL 316L CASE 39MM (diameter) X 47MM (lug to lug), THICKNESS : 12MM, LUG WIDTH: 20MM
- BEZEL: INTERNAL BIDIRECTIONAL BEZEL 60 Minutes SCALE
- DIAL: “GLOSSY” BLACK OR SUNRAY BLUE FINISHES BGW9
- CROWN: SCREW DOWN CROWN
