Try our newest merchandise
Buffy Acacia
This yr was my fifth Watches & Wonders with Time+Tide, and I’ve been noticing a specific downward pattern. Once I began right here, completely the whole lot was concerning the dive watch. Retro reissues, vintage-inspired homages, and function-first device watches had been significantly standard, and there was a brand new microbrand diver promoting out on Kickstarter each single week. Now? It looks as if folks have had their fill, and the clear drought of recent dive watch releases in Geneva this month is a robust indicator of how the instances have modified.
Let’s bounce again just a bit to Watches & Wonders 2022. Rolex launched the Deepsea Problem, its deepest-diving diver but; TAG Heuer unveiled the Aquaracer Superdiver and Aquaracer Solargraph; Grand Seiko pushed the Spring Drive Diver SLGA015; and even Jaeger-LeCoultre positioned a perpetual calendar into the Polaris. As a status watch truthful, it by no means prioritised sporty, informal releases, however the presence of dive watch recognition was actually nonetheless felt.
What do we have now this yr? The Chanel J12 in blue ceramic with baguette-cut sapphires as hour markers? It’s hardly designed for diving, even whether it is waterproof to 200 metres. Ulysse Nardin’s Diver [AIR]? It’s technically a dive watch, however it’s extra about technical achievement than seaside days. A brand new 1,000m Tudor Pelagos Extremely got here out, and on that one, I’ll concede. Panerai’s new 500-metre diving specs for the Luminor Marina is a powerful improve, too, however contemplating Panerai’s complete id revolves round diving, that isn’t saying an excessive amount of. The main focus has positively shifted, however why, and to what?
Properly, it’s not revolutionary to note that traits section out and in. Clients get sick of seeing comparable issues after some time, and as soon as most collectors already personal a dive watch, they’re much less seemingly to purchase extra. Nonetheless, it’s not a lot that dive watches are not prime canine that’s fascinating, however relatively what has taken their place. Built-in bracelet sports activities watches are actually virtually as prevalent as dive watches had been, and so they have completely created a style unto themselves.
We’re a good distance away from easy homages to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus now. Check out the Baume & Mercier Riviera, the Chopard Alpine Eagle, the Czapek Antarctique, the Chronoswiss Pulse, the Eberhard & Co. Contodat, the IWC Ingenieur… All of these collections signify new built-in bracelet releases at this yr’s Watches & Wonders, and there are much more I didn’t record. The truth is, of the 30+ watches launched on bracelets, over half of them had been built-in. That’s big.
One other factor to recollect is that wristwatch expertise is usually bettering on a regular basis. It wasn’t that way back when hacking seconds and hand-winding weren’t anticipated options for an automated motion, particularly on the extra reasonably priced finish. A big contribution to the recognition of dive watches was a normal anxiousness about water resistance when swimming, and the idea that you just completely wanted a 100-metre score and a screw-down crown for a dip within the paddle pool. That has principally handed, and customers are comfy to swim with a 100m score, which has grow to be a widespread specification throughout all kinds of watches, whatever the meant use case.
Given these issues, in addition to the truth that smaller, slimmer instances have been extra modern for a number of years now, the archetypal dive watch is prone to grow to be even much less of a precedence. Will probably be fascinating to see what different knock-on results that will have, reminiscent of dive-centric manufacturers shifting focus. Will Omega’s Seamaster catalogue obtain fewer updates in favour of its underrated De Ville fashions? Will sporting dive watches with formalwear grow to be much more of a trend fake pas as soon as extra? Personally, I’m hoping we proceed to see a proliferation of unique designs relatively than the retro reissues that flooded us 5 years in the past…
