LUMINOX Deep Dive 1500 SERIES Review

BACKGROUND LUMINOX are a Swiss watch brand specializing in rugged sports and military watches. Whilst their watches are Swiss made, they are known for their affordability and great value for money. LUMINOX watches have been chosen by a number of professional military teams such as the US Navy SEALs and the United States Coast Guard, whose members have been wearing them for more than 20 years now.



PACKAGING
The Deep Dive came in two boxes; an outer high-quality black cardboard box with a large embossed, shiny deep sea divers helmet and a Luminox logo along with some text in white: 'Deep Dive, 500 meters / 50bar, ISO 6425 Certified. An inner dry box of the type made by Pelican housed the watch along with its paperwork (warranty, instructions, certificate etc.) and a rubber divers extension strap. I like the fact that Luminox had put an actual metal name plate with their logo on the box rather than just slapping a sticker on it as most do. A fitting presentation, really.



AESTHETIC
The Deep Dive isn't going to win any awards as fashion accessory or an item of luxury horological jewelry. It has been designed with a real purpose in mind. There's none of this suede wannabe dive watch nonsense that we sometimes get with watches named ‘Deep Diver’ or ‘Abyss Diver’ that aren’t even fit for your bathtub! It actually is a dive watch and has been designed to be a utilitarian diving tool that if it had anything to say it would be: ‘take me diving’! On the other hand it isn’t too sore on the eyes either; if glossy black and lifeboat orange aren't already best mates they should be. The Deep Dive has the ultimate sleek and sporty color combo.



CASE
The case has a diameter of 44mm and thickness of 17.5mm; I don't think that's including the specialized crown protection and bezel locking devise though, which does add a little more to the watches' overall size. It has been constructed from 316L Stainless steel and then PVD coated in a black brushed finish. There's the ubiquitous HEV on its left lateral side; I like the fact that this has been highlighted by leaving it in steel, a nice detail.



BLS Both the crown and bezel are protected by a LUMINOX patent pending system that simultaneously locks the bezel in position whilst guarding the crown. The 'Bezel Locking System' or BLS prevents the bezel from being turned or accidentally bumped whilst on a dive. So what's wrong with a standard unidirectional divers bezel, I hear you ask?



To start with, bumping and moving the position of the bezel whilst being a distinct possibility isn’t that common (is it?); the worst that could happen if you did accidentally move the position of the bezel (for arguments sake, if you weren’t using a dive computer (why wouldn't you be?), or let’s say you were, but it crashed on you); is that your dive time would be cut short. This is the very reason why Luminox feel that, whilst not critical to live or death, having your dive time cut short is an annoyance that could and should be avoided. The BLS completely illuminates any chance of this ever happening.



USING the BLS couldn’t be simpler; it’s just a question lifting the latch to either adjust the crown or re-position the bezel, when you have finished you simply push the latch back down until you feel the reassuring click of the system locking.

BEZEL The bezel itself is a 60 click type, with 60 deep notches that have been cut into its outer edge. This gives a really nice grip. The action of the bezel is firm and deliberate, there is zero play. The bezel has an elapsed dive time scale marked out in five minute increments. The numerals have been painted on in silver. But I kind of think an engraved bezel would have looked better and would have been far more durable. At the 12 o’clock position there’s a large triangular silver marker with a small glass capsule containing a blue tritium tube.



CROWN The crown, which is signed with the Luminox logo is protected anyway as it’s a screwdown type with multiple gaskets, but it is further protected by the BLS, which doubles as a full closure crown guard.

CRYSTAL The Deep Dive has a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides, so you get that lovely blue tint on the glass (see photos) that you get with some of the great Swiss divers from Breitling or Omega, and which is so attractive! Excuse the pun, but this also gives a crystal clear view on to the dial.



CASEBACK The Deep Dive has a slightly domed screwdown caseback. It has super cool deep-etched deep sea divers helmet in its middle. LOVE IT! Then there’s a ring of white text around the perimeter of the helmet engraving. The text includes specifications and serial numbers.



DIAL The Deep Dive has a stepped dial; the lower section is home to a lovely big Luminox logo and a load of text in orange. ‘PROFESSIONAL, 500 METERS, HELIUM VALVE, AUTOMATIC.’ In my opinion printing specification / features text on a the dial is a little unnecessary; firstly I feel it kind of insults my intelligence, I bought the watch for god’s sake, I know all of its features! OK, I mean if I had actually bought it, this one’s a loaner ;) but you know what I mean. But more importantly it crowds the dial and upsets the balance. Dive watch design 101, keep it clean!

The upper deck of the dial is where the hour markers are; big, bold lifeboat orange with tritium tubes in the middle of them. The minute hand is in white so that it contrasts against the orange and black of the dial. The hour and second hands are in orange. At 3 o’clock there’s a massive white date window; why couldn’t’ it have been black?! That would have been so much cooler.



LUME
The Deep Dive is illuminated by a total of 19 ‘Night Vision Tubes’. There are a 14 for the hour markers; three are used for the 12hr marker alone. The minute hand has two, then there’s one each for the hour hand and secondhand pointer. Finally the one already mentioned on the 12 o’clock bezel pip. Everything that is important to reading dive time; the minute hand, the 12 o’clock dial and bezel markers are in blue and the rest are in green.



LOVE HATE I have a love-hate relationship with Tritium Tubes, whilst they can burn for 25 years or so and don’t need any external light sources to charge them up, they don’t offer that satisfying bright glow that we get from say - C3 SuperLuminova. I have to say I find them a little boring. You really need to be in pitch blackness to fully appreciate them. However, I can’t very well argue with the all the modern military units, who seem to favor them over SuperLuminova. In my opinion, an optimum illumination system would consist of balance of both tubes and applied lume.



WATER-RESISTANCE
The Deep Dive has a water-resistance of 500 meters or 50ATM. 500 meters would in my opinion be the absolute minimum depth rating for any watch that called itself ‘Deep Dive’. I mean there are deep dives and there are deep dives. I don’t know why we couldn’t have at least had 1000meters. I guess LUMINOX deemed it unnecessary, which it is. But high depth ratings are cool, aren’t they? In the same way that torque and horse power is.



MOVEMENT
Swiss made ETA 2826-2 Automatic movement with hours, minutes, seconds and date function. I’m not a really a movement geek, but I think it’s pretty much like the 2824-2, but with a larger date wheel.



STRAP / BUCKLE
The Deep Dive has a lovely 26mm wide (tapering to 24mm) black rubber divers straps. The material used for its construction is silicone / polyurethane, which is both durable and comfortable to wear as it conforms nicely to the shape of your wrist. It’s a custom strap that fits flush against the middle of lugs, which incidentally are screwed. The underside of the strap has dozens of little LUMINOX icons that make up its grip. It’s a really nice strap.

BUCKLE The strap is attached to black PVD triple-pronged steel buckle. I love double prongs anyway; they look cool and are twice as secure, but triple prongs are even better!



FUNCTIONALITY
19 Tritium tubes, BLS for locking the bezel and protecting the crown, a unidirectional rotatable divers bezel with elapsed dive time, time, date, a water-resistance of 500m and a rubber divers strap with divers extension. ISO 6425 certified.



DURABILITY / BUILD
The watch I have is a very late prototype version; it’s pretty much the same as the production model. The build is superb, fit finish, everything is nice and tight, it fits together beautifully. Text, markers etc. are lovely and crisp. The PVD coating is nice and even. Great quality strap. High quality components such as Sapphire crystal and 316L Stainless steel have been used. This watch will take pretty much anything your average recreational diver could ever throw at it and more. The PVD coating will take a fair amount of abuse, but this is 2011 and everyone else is using DLC now, as it performs better. I’m not sure how the bezel markers will hold up over time either.

ISO The Deep Dive is ISO 6425 certified, which it means that it complies with a whole catalog of requirements that must be met to get its certification. It’s an added reassurance.



ON THE WRIST The Deep Dive wears very nicely, it sits well on the wrist. This is not a particularly big dive watch by today’s standards and because it’s on a rubber strap it’s not particularly heavy either. I couldn’t even say that the BLS interferes with your wrist as the actual latch sits up higher than the crown does. As already mentioned the strap’s super comfortable.



VALUE
The MSRP on the Deep Dive 1500 Series is circa 2’000USD. It’s a little high for a Luminox; I wouldn’t usually expect to pay so much for one of their watches. We’re almost talking Breitling or Omega money here! But the Deep Dive is LUMINOX's high-end diver with a Swiss mechanical movement and a sapphire crystal etc. The good news is that you should be able to pick one up for around 1600USD without breaking too much of a sweat from any of the online authorized vendors.



CONSIDER This is a tough one, I can’t think of anything that is comparable looks wise or spec. wise that is Swiss made. Take a look at the new MAT Watches, they don’t have tubes, but are really nice looking PVD divers with Mil spec. The same goes for the new RALF TECH WRX ‘A’ Auto, which is DLC coated. If you love tubes and are on a budget, check out DEEP BLUE Watches.


© OceanicTime

OVERALL
It looked cool in the first images I saw of it and it looked cool in person. But it was never going to the kind of watch that I would rush out and buy myself. However I was eventually won over by the Deep Dive’s honest approach to its design. Functionality seems to have played a far greater role than aesthetic have. I kept having to tell myself that it’s a dive watch. Unfortunately my perception of dive watches has become a little blurred with all the different styles that there are, so when an actual born ‘n’ bred diver was plonked in front of ,it took me a while to remember that dive watches were never actually meant to be about fashion or style. They’re instruments for measuring elapsed dive time, which the Deep does billiantl!  

The LUMINOX Deep Dive is the utilitarian diving instrument; it does what is says on the box and more!

GOOD NEWS Luminox are very generously providing this watch, which is in tip-top condition for the next OceanicTime Giveaway. Coming very soon!

MANY THANKS To Luminox for making this review possible!

AZIMUTH Xtreme-1 DEEP DIVER Review

BACKGROUND AZIMUTH was founded in 2004 by Singaporeans, Alvin Lye & Christopher Long. The name 'Azimuth' is a mathematical term which defines the arc of a horizon from a single reference point. Azimuth is a mode of measurement used by military men, astrologers, navigators and explorers to survey their bearings. So a chance encounter with one such explorer whilst in Mexico couldn't have been a better starting point for the birth of the Deep Diver. Developed under close consultation with world-renowned explorer, archeologist and high-altitude scuba diver, Fernando Alberto Lozano Andrade, the Deep Diver was designed to specifically meet the rigors of his adventures and escapades into the deep.



AESTHETIC
Unconventional looking yet deeply cool; a utilitarian professional divers instrument with Rock Star appeal! The AZIMUTH Deep Diver will no doubt take the average person and even the most daring dive watch aficionados right out of their comfort zone. The design is big and bold. Its form is brutish and bulky and in many ways over-engineered, yet there is a sleekness to the Deep Diver that comes from the stunning curvature of the outer case and the superb high dome of the crystal. The watch can look very different from each angle. Almost instrument like from face-on and then morphing into a deep sea diving bell as you gaze upon its side profiles. You might love it, you might hate it, but you can't deny or fail to admire its amazing presence.



DIAL
The Deep Diver’s matt black dial has been applied with very large obvious looking luminous markers and numerals. The set up, which includes baton shaped markers (one triangular at ‘12’) and numerals (‘6’ and ‘9’) offers exceptional legibility of the dial. A white date window has been placed at ‘3’. If I had designed the dial myself I probably would have gone for a black date window and then moved it to ‘6’, allowing the Arabic numerals to fall at ‘3’ and ‘9’ or better still got rid of the numerals all together as they aren’t really necessary on a professional divers watch.

Text on the dial includes: The ‘Azimuth’ name, ‘XTREME-1 AUTOMATIQUE’, ‘2000m / 6582ft’ ‘ANTI MAGNETIC’ all in white and then ‘DEEP DIVER’ in red. I feel that because the Deep Diver already has such a big personality, that a less is more approach would have been a better fit for the dial layout; there’s way too much unnecessary text, of which the majority could have been best moved to the caseback.

HANDS I really like the handset. There’s a hint of Panerai’s semi-skeletonized Submersible handset here, but with a twist and Azimuth have cleverly managed to get some lume onto the skeletonized portions. A long luminous applied arrow-head second hand completes the set.



OUTER CASE
The Deep Diver’s case is made up of two parts, an inner capsule, which houses the watch’s movement, and an outer case, which is securely attached to it by means of 6 specialized screws. The outer case measures 56.5mm x 46mm x 20mm. It is constructed from a single massive piece of high-grade titanium that takes on the form of a sort of shield that wraps around your wrist.

The top and bottom lateral sides of the case have been beveled and polished as has the crown guard, itself made up of two separately attached parts. I feel the beveling helps to define the imposing outline of the case; otherwise it might just look like a block of metal on your writ. It doesn’t, though. There’s a large bored out hole at the 9 o’clock position of the case, which meets the HEV of the inner capsule; this and the heads of the specialized screws are in many ways quite crude looking, but give the Deep Diver its unique look; artisan meets heavy industry meets luxury.



INNER CAPSULE Square shaped cases aren’t particularly good at resisting pressure, so you’ll find that most dive watch case designs, at least those with a water-resistance of any significance typically adopt rounded or circular shapes in order to more evenly distribute the forces exerted by such extreme depths. So AZIMUTH have employed an ingenious technique to overcome this problem. By placing a separate movement housing inside their unorthodox square case, they were able to achieve a water-resistance of up to 2000 meters. The inner capsule is equipped with lateral helium escape valve at the 9 o’clock position. It is also constructed from high-grade Titanium.



BEZEL The Deep Diver’s bezel is attached to the inner capsule, however because of the curve of the outer case, it sinks below it in places and then floats above it in others; looking much like the turret of a tank or the top hatch of a submarine. The bezel fascia lends a little from a Panerai Submersible, but with additional lumed minute markers between ‘12’ and ‘3’. Overall the bezel has a nice utilitarian feel to it. It is lovely and firm and moves effortlessly through its 120-click cycle.



CROWN A large knurled crown fits flush against the crown guards so as not to protrude or cause any interference. The face of the crown has been signed with the ‘AZIMUTH’ hairspring logo. A fantastic heavy duty crown stem gives plenty of confidence when adjusting the time and date.

CASEBACK The Deep Diver has a solid titanium caseback, which is in fact part of the outer case. Access to the inner workings must be gained by detaching the inner capsule form the outer case. The caseback features a large etched ‘AZIMUTH’ hairspring logo with text running round its perimeter. This was a huge blank canvas for AZIUMTH to have done pretty much anything they liked with. They could have put a big cheesy engraving on it, but kept it simple and tasteful. I’m glad they did, because the watch already has a lot going on. There are five specialized screws which are holding the inner capsule in place. The caseback is super comfortable against the wrist.



CRYSTAL A 4.0mm thick double domed and double AR coated sapphire crystal is just one of the Deep Diver’s many incredible features. The dome of the crystal is unusually high and steep. However it remains completely distortion free even from the most oblique angles.

WATER-RESISTANCE
Even with such an unorthodox design the Deep Diver maintains a water-resistance of 2000m or 6562ft. This has been achieved by creating a separate housing for its movement.

MOVEMENT
Swiss automatic 25 jewels, ETA 2826-2 beating at 28,800 vph with 42 hour power reserve encapsulated in a movement housing and further protected by an anti-magnetic shield. Functions include: Hours, minutes, sweep seconds and big date.



LUME
The Deep Diver has FANTASTIC lume. An optimal application of Swiss C3 SuperLuminova has been applied to the hands, markers and bezel markings of the watch. Because the dial markers are oversized, the lume on the dial is almost torch-like. And as mentioned earlier, even the sides of the semi-skeletonized hands have been applied with lume. But the coolest lume on the watch, and the one that I most appreciate is the thoughtfully lumed engraved bezel markings. This style of bezel isn’t usually lumed; this is the first time I’ve experienced it. I would rate the lume at excellent.



STRAP / BUCKLE
A custom Swiss made natural rubber divers strap in black with embossed ‘AZIMUTH’ hairspring logo at the top of each side where it meets the lugs. The lug ends measures a good 46mm across; then the strap tapers in sharply at its middle to 26mm continuing to the clasp. The rubber is of a really high quality and feels comfortable to wear. A rubber strap is the only strap option available for the Deep Diver; there are no bracelet or leather band options.



BUCKLE The Deep Diver has a massive titanium signed deployment clasp with detachable divers extension. Whilst the clasp is nice and solid and its closure lovely and secure; I felt it wasn’t quite on par with the rest of the watch. My main gripes are that one end of the clasp has an exposed connecting rod and an unsightly end-link. It looks a little untidy and unfinished, and should have really been neatly tucked away somewhere. Also the divers extension was really quite tricky to put on. Admittedly, AZIMUTH say it was a bit of an afterthought, but it supports my previous complaints about the clasp not living up to the rest of the watch. I wish AZIMUTH could have gone the extra mile and had a nice custom push-button butterfly clasp made, this would have made a huge difference to the overall presentation of the watch.



BUILD
The Deep Diver is a beautifully built watch. AZIMUTH have used the highest quality materials such as high-grade titanium and an exceptional ultra-high domed sapphire crystal. Everything on the watch has been finished beautifully. It feels solid and well made, as a 5’000 dollar watch should do. As mentioned before, aesthetically the clasp kind of lets the side down. However it is still a good quality component.

FUNCTION
The Deep Diver’s massive case reflects AZIMUTH's avant-garde DNA, whereas its specifications, which include: a 2000m depth rating, anti-magnetic shield for the movement, a huge domed sapphire crystal, unidirectional divers bezel, screwdown crown, C3 SuperLuminova and lateral HEV point toward a functional divers instrument.



ON THE WRIST I have to admit I was surprised how comfortable the Deep Diver is; looking at it you wouldn’t think so. It’s a big heavy watch, but its weight has been evenly distributed by its large surface area. The watch is quite high, but not particularly top heavy. I knocked the crystal against a glass door once, luckily without incident, so watch out for door frames etc. The Deep Diver reminds me of a piece of a Roman legionnaire’s armor the way it wraps around your wrist, this and the fact that Titanium is a lightweight and comfortable material further the comfort of the watch, which is surprisingly wearable and doesn’t take a hulk to pull off.



VALUE
The Deep Diver is an unusual and collectible watch crafted in Switzerland. The AZIMUTH brand name is starting to gain strength and recognition in the industry; they already have a large and loyal following. There isn’t much out there like it for this sort of price. If you were to explore other high-end, high-spec. titanium divers from Panerai or Corum, you’d pay almost double the Deep Diver’s price, which is listed at 4250USD.



CONSIDER If you’re after something that looks equally extrovert on the wrist, you might also consider the BURAN Stingray, which is as close as you’ll get to the Deep Diver’s build quality and cost. The Stingray which is also made from high-grade titanium, has a 52mm diameter, a stripped down Valjoux 7750 and a water-resistance of 300m. List price on the Stingray is 4800USD, but they can be had for quite a bit less.


© OceanicTime

OVERALL
The Deep Diver is a watch that makes a bold statement on your wrist. It’s undoubtedly an attention grabber, but is in no way an attention seeker. Its avant-garde design isn’t so, just for the sake of art, but is also highly innovative. And in no way has the functionality of the watch been compromised; far from it. It was by overcoming the watch’s square shape that worked against the physics of deep sea diving that AZIMUTH were able to increase its depth-rating to what it now is. Thus illustrating that avant-garde dive watches don’t necessarily have to be impractical, they can also be purposeful and functional. So not just a finely sculpted piece of functional men’s jewelry either, but a capable piece of diving equipment that will put you in good stead whether like Fernando you’re planning on exploring the depths of the ‘Ojos del Salado’ or just want something fun to slap on your wrists at the weekend.

Many thanks to Alvin, Chris and Jessie.