ENNEBI 5218-MM 'Black'

By TLex ENNEBI Instruments have finally seen fit to release the 5218-MM onto the market. For those of you, who have been with me a while you may or may not remember my post about this incredible dive watch a couple of years back. The 5218-MM as it is now know (for it has no official name) was commissioned by an English collector living not too far from Ennebi's atelier in Prato Italy. It has been designed and built to similar dimensions as those watches worn by historic Inccursori (Italian Naval Divers), who were breathing pure oxygen. Its 65mm x 22.5mm case has been constructed from AISI 316L Stainless Steel, which has been micorpeened. It was thus built for operational needs and was worn as part of a divers equipment.



When Alessandro Bettarini of ENNEBI set about the design of the case he used no references from either watches of this type on sale or from the past, or indeed worked from any prototypes. He has however incorporated several new technical features into the watch's case, such as its specialized leaver (left lateral side) used to lock its bi-directional divers bezel and the watch's specialized charging crown with double gaskets that assure the watch's water-resistance up to 30ATM or 300m. Thanks also to an O-ring seal located on the recharging axis and an energized-fluoropolymer lip seal, the watch's movement can be recharged even during deep immersion; simply put you can wind the watch up whilst underwater. The bezel can also be removed via 3 specialized screws on it caseback; this will not effect the watch's water-resistance.



Underneath a massive domed organic-crystal is its black dial, which has been engraved by means of a mechanical pantograph, the incisions then filled with a vintage luminescent paste. The massive case is home to a Swiss made ETA6497 mechanical hand-wound movement. The watch comes in a leather case and is supplied with all the tools for its maintenance along with as its operating instructions and maintenance booklet. Also included is a CD-ROM containing all the documents illustrating the history of the 5218-MM from start to finish. The Titanic has been built as part of a limited series of 89 pieces, which are finished and assembled to order, the process of which takes around a month to a month and a half. Its price from Gnomon Watches (an authorized online ENNEBI dealership) is 11'800USD.