Wow. If you are really into vintage-inspired watches, this is the time for you. Specifically, if you are in the original MilSubs (you know, just like that famous Rolex Submariner and the like), then this really is the time for you. Janis Trading recently made a huge splash with their NTH Subs (full review forthcoming), and now Hager comes along with their interpretation of things, with the Hager Aquamariner.
Back in March, we brought you word of the newest watch from the Filson and Shinola collaboration, the Filson Dutch Harbor. In that overview, I felt the watch was a slick take on a dive watch. How does that impression hold up now that I have spent some time with the Filson Dutch Harbor on the wrist? Let’s dive in and have a look.
Sometimes, it certainly can feel like you’re trying to drink from a firehose when it comes to keeping up with all the indie watch brands on the market these days. Even if you limit yourself to a single type of watch (for instance, divers) and shy away from those mushrooming up on Kickstarter, you are still left with an embarrassment of riches. This also means that, for us here at WWR, we can sometimes overlook a particular brand or watch. Vancouver-based Halios is one of those brands. For whatever reason, they were in my periphery, but I never focused in on them. That is, until I caught sight of the white-dialed Halios Tropik.
If there is one thing that I know you and I like, we like dive watches. Sure, we may not get any deeper than the local pool allows, but we seem to be drawn to that promise of adventure and robustness, the very tool-like nature, of the dive watch. There are certainly no shortage of options, and a good many of them are well done and quite affordable. If you are looking for an indie brand with some amazing in-the-dark visibility, Deep Blue is probably one of your first stops. We have been covering them a lot lately, but that is because they have had a spate of new releases. In fact, in conjunction with the upcoming Baselworld exhibition, they just announced the Deep Blue Daynight Scuba.
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.
ManchesterWatchWorks is one of those brands that we have gotten to watch grow over the past year or so, and we have sampled quite a few of their watches. We have of course taken a look at both their TatoskoQ and TatoskoK, as well as the more recent Westminster and Vergennes. While the more recent watches were trench watches, for this new release, MWW is getting back to where they started – a dive watch. So, let’s have a look at what the newest ManchesterWatchWorks Armada has on offer.
There is no doubt that things that glow in some form or fashion capture our attention. Ever…
New Deep Blue Master 1000m Automatic divers watch
Deep Blue is one of those brands that I’ve had to admire from afar. I have not run across anyone who owns one, and it simply has not worked out for us to get one in for review. That said, even from the pictures, there is something of an allure to what the brand produces. Their latest, the Deep Blue Diver Pro, follows along in that same vein.
It was back in July that we first brought you word of a new Dutch brand, Van Speyk, and their inaugural watch. As I concluded in that writeup, the Van Speyk Dutch Diver had a thread running throughout it – familiarity with differentiation. That observation was all based off of what I was seeing in the photos. The question loomed, however – would that impression hold up after seeing the watch in the steel?
