Who likes dive watches? You like dive watches. I like dive watches. Frankly, it seems, just about everyone likes dive watches. When they come from an popular indie brand with a combination of good looks and functionality? Well, that just about seems like a slam dunk. While the TWCO Sea Rescue Diver was first introduced in 2012, it focused on a higher-visibility color (in that case, yellow). Orange was the next logical step after that, and now its time for another refresh. This time around, the TWCO Sea Rescue Diver Tactical is going stealthy.
This is via, of course, due to the DLC coating applied to the 43mm case (15.5mm thick) and the 22mm stainless steel bracelet. They even hit the buckle on the included silicone strap with DLC. In short, they really want this to be the darkest iteration of the TWCO Sea Rescue Diver to-date. Fortunately, even while stealthing out the watch, things still managed to stay legible. Against all the flat and matte finishing, the crisp indices stand out on the dial, and the handset stands in sharp relief, especially with the orange surround on the minute hand (which I believe is actually part of an ISO dive spec).
Why is that important? Well, the TWCO Sea Rescue Diver is not just some desk diver (even though that is what most of us will use it for). It carries a fairly hefty 600m WR rating, which sort of plays into the search-and-rescue theme it’s running with. This is further reinforced by the strange red and green stripes on the dial. Actually, they’re not so strange. What they are are graphical reminders of the three-minute radio silence that is observed every 15 minutes, in order to help with those search and rescue tasks.
Then again, if you’re like me, you are not likely to be engaging in any high-seas adventures of the sort this watch is built for. With the steel case and AR-coated sapphire crystal protecting the Miyota 9015 inside, and the DLC protecting the steel, you are left with a pretty robust tool watch that should work well for daily wear. I suppose given how dark the overall palette is you could try to get away wearing it with a suit, but I would recommend against it, due to its thickness and general style.
While we here at WWR have not seen a TWCO watch in person, the brand does seem to be popular and well-received in the community. Add in the fact that this is the third iteration of the TWCO Sea Rescue Diver to hit the market, and it seems like we’ve got a well-vetted model that is vying for your hard-earned money. Speaking of, the TWCO Sea Rescue Diver will run you about $855 shipped for those in the US; those in Europe will need to pony up the VAT-included price of €940. Yeah, it’s a bit higher-end for what we normally see a 9015 showing up in, but this does look to be a solidly over-built watch. If you have spent any time with a TWCO Sea Rescue Diver, please do let us know in the comments (or drop us a line). twcowatches.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: TWCO Sea Rescue Diver Tactical
- Price: $855
- Who we think it might be for: You like your divers bold, legible, and dark
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: Probably not, as stealthed-out models just are not my favorite color palette
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The crisp legibility
Tech Specs from TWCO
- Movement – Miyota 9015
- Case: 316L Stainless steel
- Case Diameter 43 mm
- Bezel Diameter 44 mm
- Thickness 15.5 mm
- Lug to Lug 51 mm
- Between lugs 22 mm
- Sapphire crystal with double AR coating (internal)
- Matte DLC coated finish.
- Hands & dial indexes with Super-LumiNova®
- Screw down crown with quintuple Viton® protection seals
- Double Viton® protection sealed caseback.
- 600m WR rating
- Unidirectional 120 click bezel with 20 minute marked and luminous dot at the triangle of the bezel insert (0/60minutes).
