It has been a long time for watches on Drop. It is nice to see finally since I have purchased many good watches from Drop over the years and I was dismayed that they stop selling/providing them. Looking for more and better to come in 2025. Thanks Drop
Ray, thanks for advocating on behalf of dive-style watches with the Seiko NH35/4R35 automatic movement. I particularly like some of the models from Steeldive - they are nice beater watches. Hopefully, Drop will start selling more watches. My wife is particularly fond of her Oris Big Crown with a pointer date indicator, which I bought here at some outrageous discount.
If you are actually are looking for a "Diver Inspired" watch, I suppose this one (or any of a zillion others) will do. Certainly as Drop points out, it allows you to sport a sporty look, what with all the color combinations offered--and lets not forget that big plastic "cargo case" it comes in. What you're going to do with it after you start sporting the watch may or may not be a problem (assuming there's still room in your closet). One thing is for sure--that hunk of plastic will likely survive you by at least a thousand years--unless someone has the good sense to recycle it.
Still, from a marketing point of view, one has to wonder what exactly compelled Nautis to include such a case. Did they feel they were offering an added value to the consumer? Or were they motivated by competition within the "Diver Inspired" watch category? And if so, how does its additional cost in both acquisition and transportation factor in to your final cost? Did Nautis increase the retail price to cover it? At $109, not likely. Then did they decrease the cost of direct materials in the watch to cover the cost of the case? Sadly, more likely--somebody has to cover that cost.
Speaking of this "Diver Inspired" watch, allow me to mention a few points that make a true dive watch, a true dive watch (as opposed to a watch inspired by one). First of all, a Dive watch must be certified (or at least claim to be certified) to a waterresistance of 200 meters or 660 feet. In years gone by we used the term "waterproof" in (before the lawyers got involved), but loosely speaking, the two terms mean about the same thing. Today, that level of water resistance is fairly common in sport watches (Rolex even claims their Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller is good down to 4,000 feet--assuming you've got the dough) but the level of reliable water resistance we take for granted today wasn't always the norm.
To provide 200 meter resistance, manufacturers had to develop corrosion resistant, water proof seals and gaskets for the case, the crystal and stem, that could reliably withstand the pressures found at those depths. Case and crystal aside, to protect the most vulnerable point of water ingress, a screw-down crown with a gasket had to be designed. And finally, to be useful as a dive tool, the watch would need to accurately track elapsed time under water. For that purpose an indexed, unidirectional bezel was created. Depending on whom you believe, it was either Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms or the Rolex's Submariner that first provided all of those features in a watch divers could literally stake their lives on.
I mention all this to point out that the Nautis Interceptor above, has NONE of these features.
As a side note regarding the Submariner, I'd point out that until Ian Fleming decided to put one on the wrist of James Bond in his 1954 novel “Live And Let Die”, very few members of the general public (especially in the US) had ever heard of Rolex. All that changed eight years later when the Submariner made its first Bond film appearance in “Dr No”. So unless you were a Sea Hunt fan, it was "Bond, James Bond" in that film, wearing that watch, that started the entire dive watch phenomenon (or craze if you prefer), but I digress...
Back to the point (assuming you’ve read this far, and assuming Drop has deleted this post), you might be wondering where a regular guy might find a true dive watch (water resistant to 200 meters, accurate automatic movement, unidirectional bezel, and a screw-down crown) at a regular guy's price? If so, let me introduce you to one of the most underrated (unless you’re in the know) dive watches available, the venerable Invicta 8926OB, a watch I've written about both here:
https://drop.com/talk/25390/in-praise-of-a-workingmans-watch?utm_source=linkshare&referer=B2BDHC
and here:
https://drop.com/talk/22947/what-got-you-into-dive-watches?utm_source=linkshare&referer=B2BDHC
Now don't be too quick to dismiss the watch based solely on its manufacturer. This Invicta displays the least amount of "Invicta-ness" in their line up. You'll be happy to see the Invicta Pro Diver 8926OB has a case size of only 40 mm. Equally interesting is that it's powered by a Seiko NH35A automatic movement (if you know movements, you know the NH35A). It also comes on a stainless "oyster" style bracelet. Style-wise it's an unapologetic homage (near copy) of a Submariner (because frankly, that's what dive watches should look like), but the best part? They regularly sell for well under one hundred clams (as a mater of fact, only $81.52 on Amazon today).
Accordingly, you won't be the least bit surprised when I tell you I own two Invicta 8926OBs myself--one I purchased 15 years ago, and a newer one about eight years ago (the newer version has a cool exhibition back so you can see that Seiko NH35A doing what it's supposed to be doing). Truth is, I have a lot of Dive watches, and plenty of those cost more than the 8926OB--but they aren't better watches.
Here's a photo of mine. The newest is on that cool NATO strap.
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In fairness to Drop and the Nautis Interceptor offering above, I should mention the Invicta 8926OB doesn't come with a big honk'n "Cargo Case". The Invicta watch box looks more like this:
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Admittedly it's not quite the closest-stuffer you get with the Nautis, but if your closets look like mine, that's not much to give up.
So, buy the Nautis Interceptor if you're the sporting type, and buy the 8926OB if you wan't a Dive watch. Hell, buy 'em both--maybe that will encourage Drop to start offering more watches? Stranger things have happened (especially around here ;- )