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Iterations are the secret. When a watch model stumbles upon a profitable design for a timepiece, it might be fiscally silly to not try to construct upon it. What which means within the tiny world of watches is often tiny little upgrades, or most of the time, not even upgrades however extra lateral strikes. One millimetre thicker or thinner, barely totally different handset, totally different colored date wheel, any little factor to make what’s outdated new once more and to please (or often enrage) the lots. And when mentioned profitable design is an older, traditionally necessary watch, they’ve a a lot tougher time iterating upon it. Change it too little, and you might be simply releasing the identical factor again and again; change it an excessive amount of, and you’ve got dedicated inventive blasphemy and needs to be despatched to the guillotine.
That is the predicament Aquastar discovered itself in when approaching a re-release of its vaunted Benthos line. The model determined to take a type of “spirit of Benthos” method to the primary trendy iteration, the Benthos H1, again in December of 2023. This hotly anticipated watch had the essence of the Benthos with out having the complete coronary heart, which is the unique and distinctive central 60-minute chronograph operate. The end result was a superb and totally specced trendy dive watch that regarded the half with out all of the options, a draw back that was closely made up for by its value-heavy value of entry. Subsequent up was the Benthos 500 Founder’s Version, a way more devoted reissue of the unique Benthos 500 from the Nineteen Seventies, proper all the way down to the beloved central chronograph hand. That little addition required a complete new motion that took three years of intently working with La Joux-Perret to create, making the five hundred really feel just like the Benthos of yore.
The brand new Benthos Heritage II
Immediately, Aquastar is releasing the subsequent iteration within the Benthos line, with the Benthos Heritage II. Barely altering tack, the method this time round is certainly one of an alternate historical past, a type of “what if”? Primarily based on some just lately found sketches within the Aquastar archives, the Heritage II imagines what may need been if Aquastar had continued iterating on the Benthos means again within the Nineteen Seventies. Reverting again to a typical three-hand configuration with out the chronograph, many of the Benthos spirit stays intact, with a couple of necessary adjustments. Let’s have a look.
The very first thing one will discover, and doubtless an important change within the Benthos Heritage II, is the scale discount. That’s proper, women and gents, as of immediately, the identify “Benthos” is now not solely synonymous with “gigantic beast of a timepiece”. The diameter has been lowered to 40mm from the 42mm of the earlier two fashions, and the thickness has been lowered a whopping 4mm, down from 16mm to a mere 12mm. 4 millimetres might sound insignificant to the layman, however on the earth of horology, that may be a enormous discount and makes a really noticeable distinction on the wrist.
The 40mm case retains the long-lasting Benthos form however is now crafted in 904L metal for presumably superior toughness and corrosion resistance in comparison with its Nineteen Seventies predecessors. The dial is similar semi-glossy black as the opposite fashions and gives a pleasant distinction with the utilized hour markers, that are made with high-density Tremendous-LumiNova. The seconds hand is one other small change right here. Gone is the massive arrow hand of the H1, which was modelled after the chronograph hand, which was conspicuously absent. One may have both seen that addition as a pleasant nod and a wink to the Benthos of outdated or as a taunting reminder of what was lacking. Both means, the brand new Benthos H2 has opted for the standard stick hand because the seconds hand, rendered in a extremely seen orange. This appears like the proper selection and the pure fruits of a protracted journey of concepts for the seconds hand.
The bezel is of the ceramic, 120-click selection and has ample lume in each minute mark, throughout the circumference. It feels very sturdy with a satisfying and hefty click on and is suitably grippy to be operated with a gloved hand (I dipped into my dive equipment to substantiate this). The crystal is a triple AR-coated flat sapphire that does a superb job defending issues and being anti-reflective. The caseback is the usual star-tooled screw-on again that’s seen in all of Aquastar’s fashions, and the entire bundle is water resistant to a more-than-respectable 300 metres. Contained in the case is a traditional, outsourced automated motion, the Sellita SW200. Nothing fancy however a dependable motion in step with the value of the watch.
The final a part of this newer, slimmer bundle that we’ve not mentioned but is the twin crowns. “What may a second crown probably be used for if not an inner bezel?” you is perhaps asking your self. That, my associates, is a Benthos first, a operated by hand helium launch valve. As most of you understand, the helium escape valve is a largely pointless complication that will solely be put into use by industrial saturation divers in very particular circumstances. As such, I’m positive this would be the most hotly debated change to this new Benthos, however for me, it may be merely summed up as follows: Is it obligatory? In all probability not. Does it damage to have it? Certainly not. Does the twin crown setup make the watch look cool? It actually does. It’s that straightforward from my perspective, and as such, I’m placing the addition within the win column. Case closed.
The Benthos Heritage II the wrist
Helium escape valves apart, the smaller dimension and elevated wearability of this new Aquastar Benthos Heritage II is the actual story right here. As a lot as folks appear to like the appears of the unique Benthos and each of the latest trendy additions, a constant chorus across the watchosphere is “they’re cool, however too huge for me”. And that’s not with out advantage, as all of the earlier Benthos fashions are huge, chunky scuba diving watches. The press launch even states:
On the coronary heart of the Benthos Heritage II lies a collection of core traits that have been requested by our neighborhood over the previous 5 years. “We listened rigorously to the suggestions and requests of our supportive neighborhood on our official discussion board and on social media, and included these options into the Benthos Heritage II”
You may wager {dollars} to doughnuts that’s a reference to the scale change. And the change actually is substantial. Aquastar has toyed with shrinking watches earlier than: the Deepstar 2020 was 40mm and just a little on the thick facet, so the subsequent iteration was the Deepstar 39mm. The thickness didn’t change a lot on that one because of the motion, so the distinction wasn’t all that noticeable. This Benthos H2 is totally different, because the aforementioned 4mm thinner case makes it really feel like a totally totally different watch. That is like transferring from Ploprof and DeepSea territory all the way down to Seamaster 300 and Submariner territory, to make use of a couple of well-known examples. It’s an enormous distinction.
It wears nearly good on my smallish 6.25” wrist. It’s comfy and svelte whereas not sacrificing an excessive amount of wrist presence in its shrunken state. It appears like a contemporary dive watch, however possibly not a contemporary diver’s watch, in the event you take my which means. I additionally had slight considerations that the double crowns could possibly be uncomfortable or dig into the wrist a bit, however this proved to be unfounded; they’re small and recessed sufficient to be unnoticeable.
The watch comes on both a rubber strap (Tropic or ISOFrane) or Aquastar’s beads-of-rice bracelet. Having worn it on each, I desire the Tropic rubber for a classic diving vibe, however your mileage might range relying in your degree of fanciness and/or adherence to classic diving requirements and practices.
Ultimate Ideas
There will probably be fanatics who say that shrinking a Benthos and leaving out the chronograph is sacrilege and that it’s not a real diving software anymore. I’d argue the other and say that the true software watch is one you wish to put on daily, on a ship or on the grocery retailer, on a dive or within the kitchen. And hey, in the event you want an even bigger Benthos, these are nonetheless on the market, too. There’s loads of room within the proverbial pool for Benthos of all styles and sizes and kudos to Aquastar for listening to neighborhood suggestions and delivering on it with this new Benthos Heritage II, a welcome addition to this iconic household. Plus, the value is greater than proper.
The Aquastar Benthos Heritage II is now obtainable from aquastar.ch with a pre-order value of USD 1,190 on a strap and USD 1,290 on a bracelet. The long run retail value will probably be USD 1,490, and deliveries are anticipated in Might 2025.
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