3 pre-order dive watches you should discover
Here at Second Hour Watches we’re all about staying on the front foot, being proactive. Sometimes, you have to lead the way and snap a watch up before the crowd comes along and there’s no more left. That may mean getting in when pre-orders open, before a watch has even been manufactured, before it has been tested over countless hours on the wrists of the often unforgiving masses. There’s a lot of trust and a degree of risk here. When you pre-order a watch you have to be prepared to wait (in some cases several months) for that beautiful piece you’ve been lusting after. That wait can be tough, but that delayed gratification can build character: we promise!
We’d like to take you through a number of pieces today that are either available for pre-order now or just about to be made available - and all via the maker’s website, not a crowdfunding site. The first, from the always excellent Nodus, we are quite sure will explode onto the market as have their other models. The second, from Difciano, recently enjoyed a successful Kickstarter campaign, and is currently in production with pre-orders still available. The third is from the dependable, consistent producer, Obris Morgan, and is sure to be another winner. So let’s turn to the watches.
Nodus Duality
We’ve tracked Nodus for a couple of years now. Through successive releases - Trieste, Retrospect, Contrail, Avalon - Nodus have proven their ability to deliver high performance, beautifully finished and original designs with the kind of attention to detail you’d generally expect only from older, established brands. Nodus also have high customer engagement and service levels that are hard to beat. Well, they’ve been teasing us again recently. Once more they are gearing up for another run at the title of best microbrand with a watch that takes them into new territory: the Nodus Duality. The Duality, available for pre-order now and shipping early November, is a dual crown compressor style watch, with an inner rotating bezel that is operated by the top crown.
The Duality comes in two very striking styles, looking slightly reminiscent of the Alpina Seastrong Heritage (but also coherent aesthetically with the Retrospect), with its black and white colour scheme. But this watch is no copy, nor is it a vintage throw back; it’s a very modern take on the more traditional styles recently re-birthed from a number of major players. Featuring a compact 40mm case diameter and the excellent (in-house regulated) Miyota 9015 - a staple movement for Nodus - the Duality has a very striking combination of polished chrome and satinised brushed elements. The beautifully balanced sandwich dial, painted with a combination of Swiss SuperLuminova BGW9 and green lume accents, sits beneath a piece double dome box sapphire crystal, creating a stunning effect that seamlessly blends the old and the new.
The black PVD knurled and polished dual crowns are also lumed, a very special touch that pushes this offering right out in front of the pack of similar pieces. Drilled lugs allow for easy bracelet change, and Nodus have once again included their excellent H-link style steel bracelet, brushed on the top surface, polished on the sides. Nodus has gone into new territory here, offering the Duality with two bezel options at purchase: a 60 minute dive time bezel and a 12 hour travel bezel. It will be interesting to see which one is the most popular.
The watch is capped off by an excellent 300 metres of water resistance and can be secured now for $600 USD via their website.
Beautiful lumed crowns set the Duality from Nodus apart
Specifications
Case: 316L surgical-grade stainless steel
Dimensions: 40mm case width
Case thickness: 13mm
lug-to-lug: 48mm
Lug width: 20mm lug width
Crowns: Screw-down with Lumed sapphire glass inlays
Movement: Miyota 9015 Japanese automatic movement, regulated in four positions (+/- 8 secs/day)
Crystal: Double-dome box sapphire crystal with Blue anti-reflective coating on underside
Bezel: Internal rotating bezel, bi-directional and fully lumed
Luminescence: Swiss Super-LumiNova BGW9 (dial, hands, bezel), green-glowing lume for accents (bezel triangle, minute track dots, crowns)
Water Resistance: 300 meters / 1000 feet
Bracelet: 20mm-18mm tape, flip-lock button release clasp with micro-adjustments
Weight: 74g (watch head), 160g (with full bracelet)
Dial: Matte finish, sandwich dial with applied indices
Hands: Polished PVD gunmetal
Warranty: 2 years
Visit: https://www.noduswatches.com/duality
Dificiano
The oddly named (not judging), but nicely styled, Dificiano recently launched their “Marlin” diver via Kickstarter, just scraping in to meet their funding target. It’s unfortunate that they barely made it, because here is a well specc’d diver with some really impressive colour options and a ton of strong lume. Legibility was a stated aim of the company behind the Marlin, and the uncluttered dials (5 options) demonstrate that intent quite well.
The Marlin is topped with a double domed sapphire crystal, coated with AR layers on the underside and underneath the dials do look especially sharp. Two sunray dials (grey and blue), two black dial and one white provide an option for watch lovers of all tastes. There’s a date window at the 6 o’clock position, framed by a silver surround. A simple wedge style marker set supports the legibility focus, and the high level of lume applied to markers, hands, bezel and (all but one) chapter ring make this one watch you will not be losing sight of in poor lighting. The 120 click uni-directional ceramic bezel has a polished finish and the edging cut is a broad, triangle coin style. This should make for easy actuation due to the brushed rather than polished finishing we see on some divers.
Powered by the ever popular Seiko NH35, the Marlin features a well executed beads of rice pattern bracelet for the inner five links, with more standard outer links, and all attached to the case via push pins, accessed via drilled lugs. The clasp is a ratcheting divers clasp, the unit opening via one set of buttons, the extension actuated via a second set. The components are solid milled steel, so this should be one fairly durable watch. The crown and case back feature a detailed, if not deeply etched, image of a marlin in mid leap. The offset 4 o’clock crown extends quite a distance from the case for easy gripping, but is not protected by a crown guard. Due to the position at 4 this should afford some natural protection from the bumps and scrapes of desk diving. At 13.9mm the case is on the thicker side, but this is due largely to the choice of the NH35 for the engine.
The Dificiano Marlin is available now from their website at the discounted price of $319 USD for a single unit or the heavily discounted price of $589 USD for two. At those prices it’s a genuine steal.
Case: 316L Stainless Steel
Movement: Seiko NH35 automatic movement
Water Resistance: 300 metres
Lume: Swiss SuperLumiNova (various colours)
Case Diameter: 40mm
Case Thickness: 13.9mm
Viewing Glass: Double dome sapphire with inner AR coating
Case Back: Screw down caseback, etched with a Marlin
Bezel: Unidirectional 120 click ceramic, filled with C3 lume
Lug Width: 20mm
Lug to Lug: 50mm
Case & Bracelet Material: 316L Stainless Steel
Bracelet: 7-Link BOR bracelet with ratcheting clasp
Crown: 6.5mm triple sealed screw down crown
Dial Options: 4 Versions Available
Dark Gun Sunray Dial Dark Blue Lume Chapter Ring
Dark Blue Sunray Dial BGW9 Lume Chapter Ring
Enamel Black Dial Dark Orange Lume Chapter Ring
Silver Sunray Dial Dark Blue Lume Chapter Ring
Visit: https://www.dificianowatches.com/shop
Obris Morgan
Something of a quiet achiever, Obris Morgan has amassed both a number of high performance, handsomely styled tool watches and a fairly large following of ‘in the know’ watch lovers, who eagerly await every release. Based out of Hong Kong, OB aims to produce watches with high quality, high finishing and ‘timeless design’. Their newest release, the Seastar 70s, an update to their previous Seastar 60s unit, provides an uplift in quality and specifications, all wrapped in a neo-vintage packaging. Powered by a Miyota 9015 high beat automatic movement, with a sapphire bezel for maximum scratch resistance and anti-magnetic shielding inside and on the dial, this is one watch Obris Morgan intend to stay functioning at peak for as long as possible.
The Seastar 70s comes in three case finishes: Brushed, Sand Blasted and PVD Black. The addition of a helium escape valve at 4 o’clock seems a little unusual for a 200 metre diver considering you wouldn’t be taking this watch beyond recreational dive limits (40 metres). It’s generally only tech divers that go deeper and would require an escape valve, and with 200 metres resistance I would not be pushing this watch in real conditions beyond 30 or 40.
The dial is a sunburst enamel, for a depth of finishing not generally achievable by standard materials. It’s a real looker. The bezel is cut with broad, square teeth, which we can guess will be a delight to grip and actuate even at depth. A date window sits at 3 o’clock, with a simple white surround. The dial is highly legible and a simple seconds track runs around the outer rim. The handset is baton style for the hour and minute with plenty of cut out space for lume application. The seconds hand is lollipop style, with a nice pastel blue tip. The case shape is angular and in keeping with vintage styles from the 1970s (Spinnaker also use a similar case for their Dumas). The clasp isn’t shown in great detail on their site, but the glimpse you get appears to show a nicely detailed and deeply engraved ratcheting style unit. Doubtless there’s a divers extension in there somewhere.
The bracelet is the oft seen three link style. BGW9 lume is applied throughout the Seastar 70s, which will give this watch a futuristic blue glow in dimly lit conditions. We can’t wait to see the finished product. It looks like a definite winner. Some more pictures and a video would not hurt their case at all.
The Seastar 70s is available for pre-order mid October, shipping late November. At $339 USD including shipping, we think this one is going to fly out the door if Obris Morgan can just lift their promotion game and shed their quiet achiever image.
Specifications:
Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel
Bezel: sapphire, 120 click uni-directional
Diameter: 40mm
Lug to Lug: 50mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Water Resistance: 200 metres
Case Thickness: 11.2mm / 12mm (flat or double domed crystal)
Viewing Glass: Flat Sapphire Crystal or double domed sapphire with inner AR coating
Movement: Miyota 9015, 28,800 BPH, 42 hours charge
Lume: Swiss SuperLuminova BGW9 - bezel, dial and hands
Warranty: 12 month from date of purchase
Dial Options: Black, Brown and Blue sunburst
Bezel Options: grey/orange split and a solid black sapphire
Visit: http://www.obrismorgan.com/seastar70.asp
Thanks all
Peter Sargison
