12 dive watches for summer

Dive watches are a special breed, being the only watches that must comply with measurable specifications. Designed to be more robust than for ordinary use, their rugged good looks fit well with the ongoing sports watch trend. Luckily, the latest releases for 2021 offer ample choice for summer by the sea.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver khaki

Audemars Piguet has equipped the three new Royal Oak Offshore Diver with Calibre 4308, a new automatic movement with seconds and an instant-jump date indication. Water-resistant to 300 metres, the 42mm case in stainless steel frames a revamped dial aesthetic in khaki, blue or grey, with a coordinating quick-change strap. This new Royal Oak Offshore Diver is, as the brand notes, a watch designed for adventure on land and water.

Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver Military

Bell & Ross is extending its Diver collection with a model that reiterates the brand’s functional approach. A photoluminescent coating on the olive green dial ensures instant read-off both day and night. Features echo military specifications and meet the requirements of the international ISO 6425 standard for dive watches. Cased in ceramic, the Diver Military satisfies the three fundamental principles of a dive watch: water-resistance, legibility and reliability.

Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms No Rad

Blancpain revisits the “No Radiations” Fifty Fathoms, a mid-1960s dive watch that equipped German navy combat divers. The “no radiation” symbol on the dial indicates the absence of radium in the luminous paint and makes this a sought-after model for collectors. This “tribute” is proposed as a limited run of 500 pieces.

Carl F. Bucherer Patravi ScubaTec Maldives

The Patravi ScubaTec Maldives celebrates Carl F. Bucherer’s longstanding partnership with the Manta Trust, which coordinates conservation efforts to protect endangered manta rays. That this is a dive watch is immediately clear from the 44.6mm stainless steel case and the unidirectional rotating bezel, also in stainless steel with blue and white ceramic inlays. Engraved on the case back, two manta rays are a reminder of the brand’s support for this cause.

Glashütte Original SeaQ Reed Green

Glashütte Original revives the spirit of the Spezimatic Type RP TS 200, the brand’s first dive watch, from 1969. Equally at home on land as underwater, thanks to a 200-metre depth rating, it complies with DIN 8306 and ISO 6425 standards for professional dive watches. Glashütte Original’s in-house 39-11 automatic movement guarantees precision and reliability. Applications of Super-LumiNova on the hands, numerals and markers ensure all-important legibility.

Louis Vuitton Tambour Street Diver Pacific White

In the wake of the Diver and Diver Chronograph, Louis Vuitton channels a sport-luxe vibe for this Tambour Street Diver, which shares the sharp, stylish aesthetic of earlier Tambour sports watches – not least the interchangeable rubber strap, emblazoned with the Louis Vuitton name. Dial markings are kept to a minimum, with luminescent numerals and markers. Out of the water, the lume gives way to a bold contrast of white and blue.

Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Black Black

The Seamaster goes over to the dark side with a version in “blackest black” – but with contrasting shades, thanks to the versatility of ceramic. Even the Super-LumiNova for the diving scale, hands and indexes is anthracite grey, without undermining legibility. This is the first time Omega has used laser ablation for virtually every detail on the black ceramic dial. From the waves to the minute track, these details have been crafted in positive relief from a single piece.

Oris AquisPro Date Calibre 400

Formerly the ProDiver, the AquisPro is Oris’s main professional dive watch line, which the brand is upgrading this year with the high-performance, in-house Calibreš400 that equips this AquisPro Date. Delivering a five-day power reserve, it complies with ISO 764 standard for anti-magnetism and comes with a 10-year warranty. Water-resistance is 1,000 metres.

Panerai Submersible Bronzo Blu Abisso

Dive watches are second nature for Panerai. This 42mm Submersible refers back to the historic models made for Italian navy frogmen; a retro feel underscored by the choice of bronze for the case and bezel. Water-resistant to 300 metres, this watch has all the qualities of a professional dive model, including a unidirectional rotating bezel and low-light legibility thanks to the Super-LumiNova coating on the markers and hands.

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300

TAG Heuer has made a name for professional tool watches, not least the Aquaracer. Introduced in 1978, this new-generation version delivers the same technical performance with a more refined look. This is a true dive watch, as shown by the twelve-sided unidirectional rotating bezel with a ceramic insert and notched profile, a date magnifier and two colours of lume to distinguish hours, minutes, seconds hands and markers. Depth rating has been boosted to 300 metres.

Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Tudor’s first watch to be awarded Master Chronometer certification – one of the most demanding in the industry – is a Black Bay, a model that revisits the brand’s 1960s dive watches. Rising to the challenge is the in-house MT5602-1U movement, which Tudor has housed in a monobloc case in matte black ceramic, paired with a black ceramic bezel insert and a domed black dial. This stealth aesthetic continues with the all-black execution of the movement, which is fitted with a silicon balance spring. Power reserve is 70 hours.

Ulysse Nardin Diver X Skeleton

This Diver X Skeleton fuses Ulysse Nardin’s Diver line with the skeleton movement that equips its Executive line. Like all the brand’s divers, this 44mm model is designed to withstand significant underwater pressure. The UN-372 calibre derives from the UN-371 in the Executive Skeleton collection, with a redesigned, X-shaped rotor and a new-look, blue Carbonium® barrel cover. Bezel and hands are coated with Super-LumiNova to ensure easy read-off in underwater conditions.