The last time we covered Raven (from the same team behind Benarus), we were looking at a vintage-inspired piece (here). Not content to let all the high-spec dive watches to reside under the Benarus flag, Raven has taken the styling found in the brand language, and extended it a watch that carries an absolutely nutty 2,500 meter WR rating. A depth which, unless it’s strapped to a submersible (or a rock), the watch will never see.
That said, I appreciate the fact that there’s a robustness built into watches like these that means they should be able to withstand whatever we’re throwing at them while on the ground, or if we’re headed off for a swim (or dive, if that’s your thing). So, how does Raven make that possible?
As with anything you build, you start with the foundation. Here, it’s a solid stainless steel caseback that’s a hefty 4.5mm thick, under which are double gaskets to keep the case sealed up. This is then screwed into a 42mm stainless steel case (complete with the requisite helium escape valve), all topped off by a 4.5mm thick slab of sapphire.
What is all of this protecting? The very popular (as of late) Miyota 9015 automatic movement. This hacking movement beats at 28,800 BPH, has a 35-40 hour power reserve, and has the ability to be regulated to within chronometer specs (+/- 7 seconds/day). Given those specs, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing this movement popping up in new watches on the affordable end of the spectrum.
On the styling front of things, you’ve got a few different options that have cropped up with this new batch. For starters, you can opt for either a black or a blue dial, both with and without date. If you go for the blue dial, you get an additional choice in lume paint color (white or “vintage”); with the black dial you can opt for a PVD finish and a black or red sapphire-covered bezel insert (with the blue dial, you just get blue).
This is a good array of combinations, sure to have something that will tickle your fancy. For myself, I think the blue dial with the white lume is the most appealing, possibly without the date window. Even though the date window being white mostly blends into the indice pattern, it’s not quite there – so omitting that might just clean up the look a bit.
Some of these combinations (such as the red bezel and/or the DLC coating) were produced in fairly limited quantities, so if you’re interested and you see it available on the website, you may want to move quickly (at the time of this writing, there are 50 of the black bezel + date, 5 no date, and 4 red bezels remaining). Pricing starts at $750 (DLC brings the price up to $870), and you can see what’s available right here. ravenwatches.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Raven Deep Tech
- Price: $750 ($870 for DLC)
- Who we think it might be for: This is for the guy who likes some classic styling in his watch and wants a diver that can withstand pressures that would crush a human
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: It’s a tossup – while I like the styling of the blue-dialed variant, I don’t really have need for a diver with these specs.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: A “Shallow Tech” variant might be nice – keep the styling, but get into a more compact case rated for, say, 100m
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The timeless style
