FILSON Dutch Harbor WATCH

By TLex Introducing the Filson Dutch Harbor Watch which has been inspired by the pioneering dive watches of the 1950s.



Filson is a Seattle, Washington, United States-based, privately owned outfitter and manufacturer of goods for outdoor enthusiasts.



The Dutch Harbor Watch is the brands first divers model � and not a bad looking watch it is and with a pretty good specification, too.



The Ducth Harbor Watch�s 43mm case comes in either brushed Stainless steel with polished bevels, brushed Stainless steel or with a sandblasted finish with a black PVD coating.



All watches in the Dutch Harbor collection have a Stainless steel casebacks with a brass PVD plating and engraved Filson logo. It is secured by six screws.



The dial comes in just one color which is black matte velvet. Swiss SuperLumiNova has been used on the accents on hands, index and at intervals on the divers bezel.



Divers features include: a unidirectional timing bezel, a curved, scratch-resistant Sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating, screwdown crown and pressure-tested to 30 atm the equivalent of 300 meters of water-resistance.



The Dutch Harbor Watch is powered by a Shinola Argonite 715 quartz movement. Each watch has been hand-assembled in Detroit in the US and is covered under the comprehensive, best-in-class Shinola warranty.

Prices start from 750USD (NATO), 775USD (Leather) to 950USD (Steel). The watches can be pre-ordered direct from FILSON with their product launch on Marth 11th.

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ETERNA Super KonTiki CHRONO 1stLOOK

By TLex ETERNA have introduced a beautiful new chronograph to the Super KonTiki diver family!



The new Super KonTiki Chronograph is powered by and in-house 3916A caliber with 35 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 65 hours.

Its functions include: hours, minutes, seconds, date, and a flyback chronograph with a 12-hour and 30-minute timer.



Its Stainless steel case is based on the same historic barrel design used by all models in the range. It measures 45mm in diameter by 16.5mm thick.

Divers features include a unidirectional rotational divers bezel and an AR-coated Sapphire crystal. Water-resistance is 200 meters.



Its dial is in matte black with SuperLuminova hands and markers. Love what they�ve done with the 12 o�clock marker � pretty unique!

The Super KonTiki Chrono comes on a either a steel Milanese steel mesh bracelet or a black rubber divers strap with embossed logos and a steel buckle. MSRP is 4700USD to 4900USD respectively.

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ZELOS Abyss REVIEW

BACKGROUND Zelos is a Singapore based brand, founded by Elshan Tang, who has been fascinated by mechanical timepieces for many years; building one was the next logical step. He believes that great timepiece designs should not be confined only to luxury brands.

Since the start of Zelos in 2014, they have launched 3 models on Kickstarter with increasing success. Their first model, the HELMSMAN garnered 273% of the targeted funding. The Chroma followed next with 350% and finally the Abyss with an overwhelming 650% of funding.



DIAL The Abyss has a matte black multi-level dial with a circular brushed inner portion and applied rose gold markers and hands. The gold elements of the dial, which also include a couple of lines of text at 6 and the Zelos logo at 12 o'clock create some nice contrast against the black background.

I�m not a huge fan of the red tipped seconds indicator because in my opinion it becomes lost against the dark dial making it quite tricky to point out. I�m also (you guessed it) not such a fan of the white date windows either. However the dial itself and all the rose gold elements are great!



LUME BGW9 SuperLuminova which emits a blue light has been used on the hands, dial markers and bezel�s 12hr marker. The lume is pretty good actually, but I have seen brighter. BGW9 is a personal favorite � I think it was first received notoriety as Rolex choose it for their DEEP SEA. I would rate the lume at good.



MOVEMENT The Abyss is powered by a 24 jewel automatic mechanical movement made by Citizen of Japan. The Miyota 9015 caliber is probably one of the most widely used automatic movements in the micros dive watch sector as it is every bit as reliable as its Swiss counterpart the ETA 2824 but is readily available to all and a little more affordable, too.



CASE The case which has been fabricated from CUSN8 Bronze measures 43mm in diameter with a lug to lug length of 51.5mm. I�m not sure of the exact case thickness but it�s a good 18mm. CUSN8 Bronze is the type the Panerai use. It has a larger copper content so has a lovely reddish tone.

At 9 o�clock on the side of the case is an automatic HEV. The case shape itself is quite unremarkable in that it is of simple design. It has a brushed finish while the edges of the case running along the sides and down the lugs have been beveled and polished adding a touch of elegance.



BEZEL The divers bezel is in black DLC with a matte top and intermittent polished and matte grip on the side. The dive time scale has been engraved while a simple 12hr luminous marker has been flat painted in white. The bezel has a 120-click cycle which while stiff is firm and precise.



CROWN The Abyss has dual crowns � one at 4 o�clock for time-setting and a second at 2 o�clock for operating a second internal timing bezel. The crowns are also in black DLC. Operation of either crowns was not problem, they were both nicely positioned and felt super solid.



CRYSTAL The Abyss boasts a whopping 7mm thick Sapphire crystal with a double domed shape and an inner anti-reflective coating. Remember, while the Abyss is an extreme diver, it is actually rated to just 3000m, so that�s a quite a lot of crystal!



BACK The caseback of the Abyss is in Stainless steel. It has been engraved with a super cool drawing of a deep sea submersible negotiating its way through a deep sea trench. As much as I love the engraving; I personally would have gone for a DLC coating to match the bezel and crowns.



WR The Abyss is water-resistant to 3000 meters. Ten years ago our jaws would have likely hit the floor at such a WR, while these days 3000M has imho become an entry level extreme diver with up to 8000 meters plus on offer. However considering that the Abyss has 2 crowns (considered to be a dive watch�s weakest point) this is very impressive!



STRAP The Abyss comes on a black rubber divers strap with a stunning bronze buckle. The rubber divers strap is of an ISOfrane derived design whilst it looks fantastic and is good and strong; it is quite stiff. I would have preferred something a little softer and suppler.



QUALITY The Abyss is really solid watch - as you�d expect with a 3000M diver. It doesn�t profess to be a competitor of a Swiss deep diver but that is not to say that it hasn�t been nicely put together and finished because it has. Beveled edges, dual layer dial and rose gold applied markers all hint at something special.



If Zelos were to revise the Abyss in the future, I would suggest a better quality rubber strap and perhaps improving details such as the seconds indicator and the simple painted white bezel marker that would have been benefited from being engraved and filled rather painted on flat.



ON the WRIST At 18mm the Abyss naturally sits quite high on the wrist � however it use two important tricks to guarantee sitting well on the wrist: a short lug to lug of 51.5mm and downwardly curved lugs. I just wish the rubber was a little more comfortable.



PRICE The Abyss is priced 820USD and can be ordered online HERE.


� buysluxurywatchesformen

CONCLUSION Abyss is name that has been chosen for more than a few dive watches over the years and most of those watches bearing the name Abyss have no business calling themselves that. The Zelos Abyss on the other hand does � it is proper abyssal diver and not just in name! You can see it in action HERE . . .

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H2O Watches HYDRA & MARLIN Pre-ORDERs

By TLex Here�s a shot of the absolutely stunning H2O HYDRA, which is currently on PRE-ORDER with a special price of 770USD until February 29th (tomorrow) after which it will gone on sale at its full price of 1295USD.



If you�re on the fence about the Hydra, I suggest going over to H2O�s FACEBOOK page and scrolling down to see all the lovely pictures Clemens of H2O has posted of all the different variants of the watch � truly breathtaking!



Here�s a shot of its custom version of the Swiss made UNITAS 6497 with radial Geneva stripes and black DLC coating.



And while we�re on the subject of pre-orders: The H2O MARLIN is also in its PRE-ORDER phase.

More info and details can be found at above link. Stay tuned for more Marlin prototype shots, soon . . .

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GRUPPO Gamma INSTRUMENTS

By TLex Introducing Gruppo Gamma Watches of Singapore, a young online watch brand that has quickly grown along with a loyal group of followers on FACEBOOK.

Gruppo Gamma watches have a strong vintage military style of the likes of some the very earliest Rolexes or Panerais.



The designs probably lean a little more towards Italian Naval brands such as Anonimo or Ennebi and like them it can trace many of its styling cues back to those iconic historic Italian military watches.

While Gruppo Gamma�s watches are of a derivative Italian Naval style their current models are by no means copies or homages rather modern and affordable interpretations of dearly loved historic styles.



Gruppo Gamma�s debut diver was the Bronze Vanguard, a retro-inspired design with some nice contemporary details; perhaps the type of watch the Rolex Ref. 6152 might have turned out to be if it had continued to evolve.

Their earlier series, the Genesis is heavily based on the tool watches worn by Italian Navy commandos in the 50s and has evolved from the Mk I to the current Mk III.



For the Mk III Genesis Gamma has reinterpreted the dial design, giving it a twist not found in the usual homages.

They have also used the new Swiss-made Sellita SW-290 caliber alongside the Japanese calibers such as the Seiko SII NH35, Miyota 8215 and 9015.



Gruppo Gamma use all the typical tool watch materials that are popular, today: Sapphire crystal, marine grade Stainless, Bronze and Titanium.

While their watches boast the latest in dive watch technologies the use of high-quality materials, they are affordable with prices ranging from 400 � 700USD.



The next model which is currently in the works is the Divemaster which promises to be full divers watch.

Follow the link embedded, below for more on Gruppo Gamma Watches . .

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PROMETHEUS Poseidon 3500M YELLOW

By TLex Here�re a couple of shots of the lovely POSEIDON Yellow. I know this watch is sailing pretty close to the wind in terms of how similar it is to the previous generation of AQUATIMER,



but let�s face it IWC have moved on with the AQUATIMER and what�s not to love about all that lovely yellow!



These watches have exactly the same specifications as the BRONZE and STEEL versions that we have previously seen, but just took a little longer in their production.



These are prototype watches, if you are interested in PRE-ORDERing one of the production models; please follow the link.



Liked these, but perhaps want something a little more avant-garde and with a Swiss movement � 

check out the Prometheus Poseidon 350ATM buysluxurywatchesformen SE.

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PROMETHEUS Poseidon 350ATM buysluxurywatchesformen SE PROTOTYPE

By TLex Here are few pictures of the Poseidon buysluxurywatchesformen SPECIAL EDITION prototype watch.



There are a few minor changes that are going to be made such as the minute hand which should have been in black.



Actually I quite like the brushed finish of the minute hand used in this prototype but am sure the all black version will be a little more dramatic.



Another change that will be made is the use of BGW9 SNL for the buysluxurywatchesformen diver icon which will be in keeping with the last Prometheus / buysluxurywatchesformen collaboration.



One shot that is absent from these is one of the caseback with the engraved OT diver icon, hopefully will be able to get you a nice shot when we revive the next prototype.



Liked this? Check out some of the previous OT Special Edition watches: MEGALODON, MANTA RAY, MONO, KALMAR II 8K, X-DIVER . . .



The Prometheus Poseidon buysluxurywatchesformen SE is limited to just 30 pieces; follow the link HERE to reserve yours (subject to availability).



Not digging this special version? Why not check out the regular Poseidon STEEL and BRONZE versions!

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