In Review: Roebuck Scuba

Hey, so you all remember Roebuck, right? Sure, the name is pretty synonymous (at least in my mind) with the Sears & Roebuck catalog, but it’s also the name of a watch brand that calls Texas home. We reviewed their prior models, the aptly-named Alpha and sophmore effort, the Diviso. Well, just as with the Diviso, we got the Roebuck Scuba well in advance of it’s Kickstarter launch. That’s right – you can’t buy this yet, but will be able to in a few months.

If you couldn’t tell from the name, the Roebuck Scuba is the brand’s first dive watch, and they jumped right in the deep end to net a 300m WR rating. I think 100m would have been just fine, but hey, it didn’t make the case overly large, so I’m not complaining about the extra protection. And speaking of case – Roebuck got onto the right trend, as the lugless/integrated lug look for watches (hearkens back more than a few decades) has been showing up more and more lately. Here, they’ve got a two-tone rubber strap that perfectly fits into the shoulder of the case, and picks up the line of the case without it feeling too matchy-matchy.

On the dial, you’ve got the classic radial sunburst going on, through which the indices are cut to get down to the luminous layer (aka a sandwich dial). Along with being a look I rather like, it can allow for a much more intense luminous application, as it’s not relying on stacked layers of paint or applied indices. Here, if you have a look at the lume shots, you’ll see a nice bright green, except for the minute and seconds hands which are in blue, picking up the blue lume of the sapphire bezel insert. Also? They’ve put a luminous ring around the knurled crown. This is a fun little detail, perhaps not practical for actual divers, but for us desk divers, the extra bit of glow is very appreciated.

I also want to point out that top sapphire crystal and the bezel insert. Both are sapphire, and both are about as close to flush and level with each other as I think you’re going to see in a watch. This makes for a rather nice feel (and look), and I think echoes the integration you get between the case and the strap. Or who knows, maybe I’m coming up with a justification (via poetic license) for something that I felt was just plain neat.

All in all, the Roebuck Scuba is a take on a retro diver that doesn’t hit you smack in the face with just how retro it is. It fits on the wrist well, and doesn’t stand off too much, helped by the sub-12mm thickness that they managed to get on the watch. All in all, there’s a lot to like here if this is a style that submerges your dive. While we looked at the very vivid red and black combo, they’re planning for an orange and blue, as well as a magenta and grey.

As of right now, the watch is planned to go live on Kickstarter on July 6, with the MSRP of $600 dropping to $400 for earlybird pricing. To stay in the loop and be notified when the Roebuck Scuba launches, just head on over to their page and sign up for the newsletter. roebuckwatchco.com

Tech Specs from Roebuck

Bezel: 120 click uni-directional sapphire with BG W9 lume, knurled finish to the sides.
Glass: flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating to the underside.
Hands: brushed with C1 lume to hour hand, BG W9 lume to the minute and second hands.

Dial: sandwich dial with cut out stick markers with C1 lume, gradient with sunburst finish.
Movement: Miyota automatics, 90S5 non date version, 9015 date version.
Case: 316L stainless steel octagonal with brushed finish

Crown: signed screw down crown with knurled finish and lumed ring.
Case back: features a 3D artwork.
Band: integrated two tone rubber strap.