The revival of Aquastar as a brand and the Deepstar as a model has been a hot topic covered by media worldwide. However, it's sometimes essential to cut through the online and marketing noise and take these watches into the real world, away from our desks, to see what they're truly capable of - and by this, I mean what they were initially designed for: diving! To this end, we took the recently released Aquastar Deepstar Greenwich model for a dive to test if it lives up to its rich and legendary heritage.
Brand History
Aquastar was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1962 by the enterprising watchmaker, diver, sailor, and aquanaut Frédéric Robert. Mr. Robert aimed to create watches and other instruments specifically designed for various marine activities, from sailing to sports diving and more serious ventures like scientific expeditions and underwater research. Soon, Aquastar was producing a wide range of aquatic instruments, such as depth gauges and thermometers, as well as truly revolutionary diving watches, securing four patents for innovative diving watches within ten years. Robert's positioning of the brand as instruments to be sold in dive gear and equipment shops rather than ordinary watch retail outlets likely led to its moderate success and relatively unknown status among the average watch consumer.
Mr. Robert retired due to health reasons in 1975, and the brand went through several different owners, continuing to produce watches with varying marketing strategies until 2018, when its owner Marc Saignet was contacted by Rick Marei. You might recognize this name, as Marei has been the driving force behind the revival of several significant dive watch brands over the past 20 years, notably Doxa, as well as Aquadive and the strap companies ISOfrane and Tropic. Marei approached Saignet with the hope of reviving the brand. While Seinet was interested, they were too busy with other business ventures to participate in the project, so Synchron Group, led by Rick Marei, struck a deal to acquire the Aquastar brand, including all old stock, spare parts, and blueprints from Seinet, and relaunched the brand in 2020.
The Deepstar model was reintroduced with much fanfare and critical acclaim in October 2020. The initial release of blue, gray, and black colors was limited to 300 pieces each and sold out rather quickly, especially for such a niche and relatively unknown brand.
Building on the success of the first release, Aquastar returns with a new color in the Greenwich version. According to Aquastar, the name has a dual meaning: "From Middle English Greenwich, from Old English Grēnawīċ, Grēnewīċ (literally 'green harbor, green settlement'). Furthermore, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London." A fitting name for a high-quality Swiss-made green watch.
Aquastar Deepstar Greenwich
Compared to the first release of the Deepstar model, nothing has changed except the color, but here's a brief overview for those who missed it the first time:
The 2020 Deepstar model is an accurate recreation of the iconic watch first released in 1962, but it has been updated to more modern sizes and specifications. The original had a diameter of only 37 mm, which by today's standards is a bit small, so the new version has been increased to 40.5 mm, with a thickness of 15 mm. This thickness is probably necessary to house the automatic movement inside. A thickness of 15 mm might seem a bit bulky for those with smaller frames, but something about the Skindiver case architecture prevents it from feeling too heavy or cumbersome. The domed sapphire crystal with triple anti-reflective coating makes the dial highly legible from almost any angle.
The new green dial is art-deco inspired, with large applied polished stainless steel markers at the "12," "6," and "9" o'clock positions. The "stick" style hour and minute hands share the same look and polish. At the "3 o'clock" position is a massive 30-minute chronograph counter, while the "9 o'clock" position hosts a running indicator. The running indicator lacks markers, so it doesn't function as a seconds hand but serves to let you know the watch is running, which is crucial when you're 100 m deep looking for Atlantis. The stainless steel case back is almost as attractive as the front, with a mix of brushed and polished surfaces, classic text, and the Aquastar logo, along with notches from the old signature Aquastar tool for opening the case back. Anecdotally, I've heard that removing the case back without this tool is very difficult, so attempting isn't on my wish list.
Aquastar wanted the resurrected Deepstar to be special, so they chose a fitting movement, opting for a high-end column-wheel chronograph by La Joux-Perret. It's a stylish choice, as it would have been much easier to use the standard ETA/Valjoux 7750. The movement runs at 4 Hz and provides a solid 55-hour power reserve. Although it's hidden behind the hefty case back, photos show it is well-finished, with a custom Aquastar rotor.
Now on to the new and exciting part of the watch: the namesake green dial. It's hard to describe the subtle shades with words, but I'll try. The sunburst finish gives it the same playful and constantly changing quirkiness as the previous three colors, reacting to different angles and lighting with vibrant ring-like sheens. But that's where the similarity ends. The green here is very interesting and distinct from the standard emerald or British racing shades usually found on wristwatches. Depending on the lighting, this dial shifts from an apple-green, darker olive oil bottle hue, to a drab, almost military green shade. It also changes from an active radial sunburst to almost matte when viewed at a 45˚ angle. It's a very interesting color choice that significantly enhances the already rich charm of these watches.
The Deepstar Greenwich comes on a matching green Tropic rubber strap with a signed buckle. The strap's green leans a bit more towards a military green hue but pairs perfectly with it.
Diving in Dutch Springs
If you don't dive in the northeastern United States, you've probably never heard of Dutch Springs. It was once a quarry for a cement company in the 1930s and was plagued by flooding from nearby springs from the start. Powerful pumps ran around the clock to keep the flooding at bay until operations ceased in the early 1970s, and the water took over. A local entrepreneur saw an opportunity and purchased the land, turning it into one of the largest freshwater scuba diving areas in the world. With depths up to 40 meters and a variety of attractions - from abandoned original mining equipment to purposefully sunken trucks, buses, and planes - this wonderland offers something for divers of any level. This is where we took the Deepstar to test its mettle.
On Land
The Deepstar wears exactly how you want a modern vintage-style dive watch to wear. It sits well on the wrist without feeling like a hockey puck strapped to your wrist. It's just the right blend of cool stevedore, smart marine biologist, and underwater adventure seeker. There's a romantic allure to vintage dive watches, and this watch has it in abundance. It looks as attractive on the wrist while eating oysters at a seaside seafood shack as it does when donning a wetsuit, ready to brave the icy depths.
Practically speaking, the dial is highly legible, and telling the time at a glance is a breeze thanks to the contrast of the polished luminescent hands against the rich green dial. Special mention goes to the oversized 30-minute chronograph counter. Gone are the days of squinting at a pea-sized subdial, trying to figure out which microscopic index the tiny hand is pointing at. The large silver subdial is instantly readable even at arm's length, making timing from a cup of coffee to the nearest regatta a straightforward task.
How the Watch Performed Underwater
Heading to the shore, the green Aquastar Tropic strap is long enough to comfortably accommodate even a 7mm wetsuit and secures as a piece of gear should. In the water, this watch looks all business, perhaps even more so than on land. The bidirectional bezel features an inner and outer ring. The inner ring has standard 60-minute markers for dive timing. The outer ring is a bit more interesting. Patented by Aquastar back in 1962, the outer ring was meant to be used in conjunction with a dive table to calculate the necessary surface intervals between dives for consecutive dives, and it was the first watch to have such functionality. Put simply, the outer ring counts down the time you need to be out of the water to allow nitrogen to off-gas from your blood before safely diving again. Despite being a very cool feature, the 2020 Deepstar comes with a warning that the bezel was created using the 1960s French Navy decompression tables, which are highly outdated and thus should not be used for real dive calculations. Modern dive computers are far more accurate and, in essence, a requirement for the modern diver, but it's still a fun feature to play with, just for kicks.
Perhaps the best aquatic feature of the Deepstar is that the chronograph pushers are designed to be safely used underwater. This has been the "Achilles' heel" of dive chronographs for years and has always puzzled me. What's the point of a dive chronograph that can't be started in the water? But I digress. Aquastar solved this issue with some magical gasket, and now you can confidently press the button while submerged. The polished bezel might be a bit hard to read out of the water due to the fine text and reflectivity, but it remains quite readable underwater. More than adequate as a backup timer.
The only downside I see underwater is the 30-minute chronograph limitation. Most modern dives go well beyond the 30-minute mark, so the watch is useless as a full dive timer unless you want to track how many times it goes past the 30-minute mark. I've concluded that it's best to leave full dive timing duties to the minute hand and the 60m bezel and use the chronograph for tracking shorter intervals within the dive, such as time spent at specific underwater features or at a safety stop.
The biggest achievement of this watch underwater, as with any other dive watch in this age of high-tech computers that calculate our every breath and depth down to the centimeter, is that sense of romance and adventure they evoke. They make you feel part of something historic and important, pushing forward and at the forefront of a new and exciting world of exploration. Maybe it's just me, but I sincerely hope it's not.
Final Thoughts
The Aquastar Deepstar Greenwich, like the previous three colored models, is a very capable modern diver with more than enough historical allure and provenance. It's a truly unique dive watch in a world of Rolex Submariner imitators, and in my opinion, it's the most important dive watch reissue of at least the last decade. Aquastar has stated that they are developing a new collection based on this first release, and if the Deepstar is any indication, we're in for an exciting new/old era of dive watches.
The Aquastar Deepstar Greenwich dive chronograph was released in a limited edition of 200 pieces, which is now sold out, as are the three other colors. The price was set at 3,590 USD. More information can be found at aquastar.ch.
