Esquire: The Best Luxury Dive Watches That Aren't Just The Rolex Submariner
“The (underwater)realm of the premium dive watch is surprisingly sparse. Affordable dive watches have been an enormously popular part of so many brand’s strategies in the last few years, but swimming in luxury waters is the preserve of horology’s biggest fish (plus a few eccentric indies). As you’d expect, that includes the brands that were there at the dawn of the dive watch: Rolex, Blancpain and Panerai.
Being expensive is no guarantee of excellence, however, and you may note a couple of high-profile absentees from this list – brands whose dive offering just doesn’t stand out in this company, or works just fine on a technical level but needs a design rethink. Innovations (or gimmicks) like depth gauges have been left behind for now, so these are just good looking, well built, luxury divers. Perhaps controversially, they’re not all ISO-certified, but they must have at least 100m water resistance and, shall we say, a diving ethos at heart. If you’re ready to take the plunge, read on.”
