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This Week In The Shop Five Of Our Favorite Go-Anywhere, Do-Anything Dive Watches

Watches that are so much more than just divers, from a Blancpain Bathyscaphe to a Seiko Prospex GMT.

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Your Weekly Shop Brief

Last week, a fresh batch of Bulova's Limited Edition Lunar Pilot with a grey meteorite dial landed in our digital storefront. Also, this is your friendly reminder that if you'd like to save $500 on Omega and Rolex watches, today is your last day to cash in on our Rolex and Omega sale. No, this is not an April Fools joke. 

Additionally, we've just received this Grand Seiko U.S. Exclusive which is what pink dial watch dreams are made of. If you're looking for the ultimate conversation piece, this green JLC Reverso sports a unique engraving of the Great Wall of China originally done by the brand. 


Five Go-Anywhere, Do-Anything Dive Watches

Ah, the dive watch. While it was created to serve a particular purpose, the genre's massive popularity has transcended its original intended function. Now, a dive watch not only has a certain obligation to be capable of exploring the ocean's depths (whether its wearer will actually be sinking to 200 meters below sea level or not), but also carries the burden of adding a menagerie of bells and whistles on top of it to justify its status as the penultimate modern tool watch. They can be dressy, playful, and mix functionality usually reserved for other genres (chronographs, GMTs, and the like). This is the beauty of what dive watches have become, and representative of an extensive array (you could even say overwhelming) of options to have your pick of.

As a love letter of sorts to all the multipurpose divers out there, this week, I've selected five divers with a little something extra in terms of functionality below. This, I will admit, is only scratching the surface of all that's available on the market of what I like to call "divers plus." Feel free to think of this more as a jumping-off point than a definitive, exhaustive list.

Zodiac Sea-Chron
Zodiac Sea-Chron

Released last summer, Zodiac's ever-popular Super Sea Wolf line received a chronograph twist, carrying on the family's beloved '60s-inspired design into a thoroughly modern (and thoroughly impressive) Dive GMT.

Despite all the additional bells and whistles, the Sea-Chron remains impressively legible. With its triple subdials at three, six, and nine o'clock, a tachymeter scale encircling the dial, a black unidirectional ceramic diving bezel, and a water resistance up to 200 meters, this watch is the best of an impressive diver and an equally impressive chronograph at a price that won't break the bank. Crafted out of stainless steel the Sea-Chron measures 42mm in diameter, 16.5mm thick, and has a lug width of 20mm, which is not the most bite-sized of watches, but you've got to have some real estate to pack all that functionality into. And, the combination of the short curved lugs with Zodiac's signature Jubilee style bracelet ensures this watch feels comfortable on the wrist despite its relative largess.

Zodiac Sea-Chron

The Zodiac Sea-Chron is powered by the Sellita 510 b automatic caliber with a power reserve of 62 hours. Both this handsome blue model and its more classic reverse panda dial sibling are technically limited editions, and you can find each model's unique serial number engraved on the caseback.

Blancpain Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune In Titanium
Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune In Titanium

While adding a triple calendar moon phase complication isn't the most obvious choice to add to a dive watch, here, Blancpain proves that it can be done – and can be done impressively well, without sacrificing any of the legibility needed in a tool-oriented watch.

Crafted in lightweight titanium and measuring 43mm with a profile of 13.3mm, the triple calendar moonphase complication was introduced by Blancpain in the '80s. It remains one of the brand's most well-known introductions to the landscape of dive watches. So, it seems only fitting that the brand would revitalize that functionality in its most modern rendition of its iconic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe line. The relatively minimal face of the modern Bathyscaphe line creates the perfect canvas to impose these additional complications on, with the date ring, as well as the month, day of the week, and moon phase apertures all fitting snugly at the dial's center beneath the lume filled hour pips.

Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune In Titanium

While this watch's sizing technically disqualifies it from the dress watch category, its monochromatic grey color palette and sunray finished dial do impart this piece with a decidedly more elegant sense of style than others on this list, which lean into the sportiness of the dive watch category. To touch on this watch's more rugged side, this piece is water resistant up to 300 meters and is equipped with the automatic caliber 6654.P (based on the Blancpain caliber 1151) with a power reserve of 72 hours.

Seiko Prospex GMT
Seiko Prospex GMT on wrist

Maybe it's the 1968 vintage reissue factor. Maybe it's the very on-trend green colorway and smaller 42mm sizing. Maybe it's the reasonable price point. Whatever the case, I have noticed a particular resurgence around this particular Seiko Prospex GMT model lately.

While this diver remains faithful to the 1968 model that inspired it in many respects, the GMT functionality is a new (and welcome) addition. Aesthetically, the additional GMT function is pleasantly minimal, opting for a recessed 24-hour scale encircling the dial and a gold-hued GMT hand and maintaining the unidirectional ceramic bezel expected of a hard-working diver. One of the most quirky details is its crown at four-thirty, which, like its hands, hour indices, and the red dot on the seconds hand, are all callbacks to its heritage 1968 predecessor. The Seiko Prospex GMT has dive-ready 200 meters of water resistance and is powered by the automatic 6R54 movement, which has an impressive three-day power reserve.

Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400
Oris Divers Sixty Five

Though I am slightly more privy to Oris' candy-colored rendition of its mid-century inspired Divers Sixty-Five line, for those interested in a sleek diver that packs in more punch than its minimal appearance would initially suggest, this model with GMT functionality is a compelling option.

With its very wearable 40mm diameter, this piece is equipped with some of the most versatile sizing on this roundup, and its flat design helps it to wear a little smaller than its 12.8mm thickness would suggest. The matte black dial is adorned with the signature 60s-inspired applied hour markers and a color-matched date window at six o'clock which maintains this diver's elegantly simplistic appeal.

Oris Divers Sixty Five

This watch achieves GMT functionality by swapping out the expected dive bezel for one with a 12-hour scale, allowing you to easily keep track of a second time zone. While this watch is certainly easy on the eyes, the most impressive feature of this Divers Sixty-Five lies within – the brand's signature in-house Caliber 400 movement with a power reserve of a whopping 120 hours, which you can view in action through the sapphire crystal caseback.

Bremont S302 Supermarine
Bremont S302

Released at the tail end of 2023, this limited edition model is part of Bremont's efforts to usher in the new wave of its tried-and-true Supermarine collection. This revamp of its classic new line saw many welcome changes, including a scaled-down 40mm sizing, additional GMT functionality, 300 meters of water resistance, and reimagined numeral details including pops of orange to make this update its most legible Supermarine yet.

Bremont S302

Seen here in the 400-piece limited edition warm grey colorway, the S302 balances hardworking tool watch functionality with stylish versatility. Crafted in stainless steel, this S302 carries on the brand's signature Trip-Tick case construction, which ensures additional security by utilizing three individual pieces for the case bezel. The bezel features a 24-hour GMT scale, which works in concert with the dedicated bright orange GMT hand, and the 60-minute dive scale has been recessed into the dial's perimeter. Powered by the chronometer-certified automatic BE-932AV caliber, this S302 Supermarine has a power reserve of up to 50 hours.

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The Hodinkee Shop is an authorized retailer of Zodiac, Blancpain, Seiko, Oris, and Bremont. For more information, click here