Although the watch genre was not the most prominent at Geneva Watch Week, this year's focus was on more compact, elegant, and vibrant watches.
Dive watches remain one of the most important categories, with fierce competition among major manufacturers and small independent brands. As a key element of all watch collections and familiar to most watch brands, we have seen both solid new models and truly unexpected aquatic watches...
Here are five of the most notable new dive watches we saw at the Watches and Wonders 2024 exhibition and other shows held during Geneva Watch Week.
Compact Doxa SUB 200T Collection
An iconic design, made even smaller, with some compromises on key diving functions and an extra dose of fun and color... This is how the new Doxa SUB 200T collection can be described, representing a reduced version of the brand's classic design.
Now the watch diameter is 39 mm, and the length is 41.50 mm, featuring all the classic characteristics of its big brother, the SUB 300, only the WR is reduced to a decent 200 m. The novelty also includes a choice of seven different colors, including the new Sea Emerald Green, as well as a flat or matte dial.
The watches come with a robust SW200 movement inside, on an FKM rubber strap or a BoR bracelet... and at a fair price just over 1,500 euros.
Quick Facts: 39 mm x 10.7 mm steel case – sapphire glass, steel unidirectional bezel – screw-down crown and case back – water resistance 200 m – 7 dial colors, flat or matte – automatic Sellita SW200-1, frequency 4 Hz, power reserve 38 h – FKM rubber strap or BoR bracelet – available now – from 1,550 euros
Unexpected Rolex Deepsea 136668LB in Solid Gold
Who needs a deep-sea diver in solid yellow gold, capable of descending almost 4 km and weighing nearly 320 grams? No one! And that is precisely why Rolex can do it. The new Rolex Deepsea 136668LB is a model nobody expected to see, and it is a sign that Rolex has changed. This is a bold, provocative, and quite useless model from a diver's perspective.
But that does not mean Rolex didn't apply all its ingenuity here. Despite being a true gold ingot for the wrist, the yellow gold Deepsea is a masterpiece of Swiss engineering with a titanium case back and HEV, a newly developed Ring Lock System with blue ceramic matching the bezel and dial, and exactly the same technical specs as the classic steel model.
P.S. No longer call this model the Sea-Dweller Deepsea; now it's only for Deepsea!
Quick Facts: 44 mm x 17.7 mm 18k yellow gold case – sapphire glass, blue ceramic unidirectional bezel – screw-down crown and titanium case back – helium valve – blue ceramic compression ring – water resistance 3,900 m – blue dial with gold hands and markers – caliber 3235, in-house, Superlative chronometer, frequency 4 Hz, power reserve 70 h – 18k yellow gold Oyster bracelet, folding clasp with Glidelock extension – reference 136668LB – 53,700 euros
Complex Singer DiveTrack
This is a dive watch unlike any other... And truly complex (with a corresponding price tag). Singer, usually known for producing racing chronographs, has presented its vision of a dive chronograph.
But not limited to timing dives, the Singer Divetrack is a watch for timing a diver's entire life, including intervals between ascents and periods when you should rest on land and avoid flying.
The dial, framed by a rotating bezel, is entirely dedicated to your underwater adventures, so much so that the classic time is pushed to the periphery of the dial, displayed by rotating drums... Inside is one of the most innovative and engaging chronograph movements, the complex AgenGraphe. Necessary...?
Perhaps not, but certainly one of the boldest and coolest dive watches of the year. If you can afford it and have the courage to dive with it.
Quick Facts: 49 mm x 19.67 mm grade 5 titanium case – sapphire glass front, back, and side, unidirectional ceramicized aluminum bezel – helium valve – screw-down crown and case back – water resistance 300 m – matte black dial with 24-hour central chronograph, time displayed on periphery – automatic AgenGraphe 24-hour chronograph, frequency 3 Hz, power reserve 72 hours – black rubber strap with folding clasp – limited edition of 25 pieces in 2024 – 85,000 Swiss francs (excluding taxes)
Irresistible Tudor Black Bay in Black
The complete opposite of the golden Deepsea model, but made by the same group, the new monochrome Tudor Black Bay model embodies classic dive watches... to the point that it seems this is the closest thing you can find to a five-digit Submariner. Focused, superbly executed, fully equipped, and brilliantly classic, these watches will delight you now and for the next 20 years.
Following last year's burgundy version, it has received identical updates: a slimmer case, a new bezel profile, a new crown, bracelets or straps with micro-adjustment, a slightly matte dial, and, most importantly, a Master Chronometer movement inside.
At a price from 4,260 euros, it's hard to find anything as attractive as these watches on the modern market.
Quick Facts: 41 mm x 13.6 mm steel case – sapphire glass, black aluminum unidirectional bezel – screw-down crown and case back – water resistance 200 m – slightly matte black dial, silver applied markers and hands – automatic caliber MT5602-U, Master Chronometer certified, frequency 4 Hz, power reserve 70 h – steel Oyster bracelet, 5-link steel bracelet, or black rubber strap, all with folding clasp and micro-adjustment – reference M7941A1A0NU – from 4,260 euros
Bold Zenith Defy Extreme Diver
Usually, diver watches are associated with chronographs and pilot watches, but they have long been part of Zenith's collection. One of the most significant to date is the Defy 600m Reference A3648, released in 1969. This year, the brand from Le Locle not only released an exact reissue of this vintage model but also presented its modern interpretation - big, bold, and powerful Defy Extreme Diver watches.
Fully equipped titanium watches with a strong character measure 42.5 mm, have a massive ceramic bezel, an octagonal case with sharp lines, an HEV on the left side, and water resistance of 600 m. Inside is an El Primero version without a chronograph, making it one of the rare high-frequency diver watches on the market.
In addition, the Defy Extreme Diver comes with three interchangeable strap/bracelet options (titanium, rubber, and textile). A high-end offering with serious specifications.
Quick Facts: 42.5 mm x 15.5 mm grade 5 titanium case – sapphire glass front and back, ceramic unidirectional bezel – screw-down crown and case back – helium valve – water resistance 600 m – blue or black dial with starry sky pattern, orange ring – automatic El Primero 3620SC, frequency 5 Hz, power reserve 60 h – rubber strap + titanium bracelet + fabric strap included, quick-change system – 11,800 euros