The Breitling Watch Blog

I’ve been eyeing Lum-Tec for a while, ever since they started releasing the Combat Models and they started showing up on eBay a few years back. Some great designs combined with quality German-made cases really caught my attention. But then they started releasing a bunch of PAM-looking stuff without trying to look too much like a Panerai, which kind of turned me off. I do note that they have become immensely popular with the general buyers, however.

The new Lum-Tec 300M-2XL is another story, however. It features relatively traditional diver styling, but adds a few Lum-Tech features such as the Super Luminous Bezel, which is covered in Sapphire Crystal – Nice. It also has the Trademarked (Not Patented) MDV Technology, which stands for “Maximum Darkness Visibility”. See the writeup below for a little more detail on the MDV Lume application:

Overall, a nicely styled diver with some trademark Lum-Tec features and good quality parts inside and out. While the Sii NH35 movement is not quite as desireable as an ETA 2824-2 in my opinion, its still a good movement with hacking and handwinding – unfortunate that it beats at 21,600, which will have a choppier second sweep. Price direct is $925, discounted to $786.25 currecntly, so it is not a cheap watch!

Specs:
45mm width excluding crown.
24mm lug width.
316L Stainless steel.
Titanium Carbide PVD hard coating.
Uni-directional 60-click rotating luminous bezel with sapphire insert.
Alternating brushed and high polished finish.
21,600 BPH Sii NH35 Japan automatic movement with hacking and handwinding features.
Sapphire crystal with clear double side Anti-reflective coating.
Threaded solid stainless steel caseback.
LUM-TEC MDV technology®. (2-tone)
Screw lock crown with double diamond sealing system.
300 Meters / 990 ft. water resistance.
2 straps included. Stainless steel bracelet with diver’s extension and molded rubber.
One year limited warranty.
Free lifetime timing adjustments.

Color me a Doxa fan, but recently, much of the re-issue pieces are absolutely atrocious. However, this Shark Ceramica line is absolutely outstanding, and the XL limited edition model even more so. The watch is a limited edition of 1200 pieces, and features a Shark Motif on the dial. The style of the watch case more closely resembles an Omega Seamaster to me than a Doxa however. The ceramic bezel and gigantic 46.5mm case diameter really make a showstopper out of this watch!!

The watch was announced in March, and was only mentioned on the Asia site and appears to be an Asia model. I’m not familiar with how the Doxa brand is marketed in Asia, as it does seem to have significantly more models available there than they do in the USA.

The watch comes in all black as well as an orange and black version as you can see. The basic specs are as follows:

Movement: ETA 2824
Outer Case Diameter: 46.50mm
Crystal Diameter: 35.00mm
Thickness: 14.27mm
Details: Black Ceramic Bezel Ring Insert, Worldwide Limited to 1200 pcs., with Certificate
Crystal: Scratch Resistant Sapphire
Case: Stainless Steel
Buckle: Stainless Steel Pushers folded buckle
Water Resistant: 300M

Overall an outstanding watch from Doxa that has some design cues taken from Omega’s Seamaster and perhaps a little bit of Oris thrown in there as well. I would really like to own one of these!

Yet another new addition to the world of Online-based specialty dive watch companys.. enter Armida Dive Watches. Armida watches is a Hong Kong based designer of Dive watches that features both Swiss and Japanese movements. The choice is yours! The Swiss costs more, of course.

Currently the company makes two watches, the A1 and A2 Divers. The A1 is a more unique product with a very cool domed sapphire crystal and 1000m water resistance, whereas the A2 is more of a Submariner clone in a larger 42mm size and 500m water resistance. The A2 is also available in PVD black.

While there isn’t a whole lot here to excite me personally, there is some potential. Many of these boutique online-only companies put out some pretty cool stuff like Korsbek and UTS… but many fall into oblivion. I wonder which category Armida will fall into?

The MontresGB, or MGB Diver, is a German Made watch made for BMS Jewelry in Scottsdale, AZ. Interestingly, their website has less info about them than their eBay site. They also sell other watches by brands such as Tag Heuer and Breitling.

The MontresGB watch is a 1000m Diver designed by BMS Jewelry, and is actually a pretty nice watch. They are currently selling them for $600 on their eBay site, and claim the retail pice is $1500. Given the specs of the watch, there are many others out there selling for that kind of price with similar features, but stronger pedigree.

As you can see, the watch is fairly attractive as Divers are concerned, and features similar minimalistic design as Kobold watches, the arctic diver in particular. The MontresGB is actually quite feature rich for its $600 price tag:

1000m Water Resistance
Swiss ETA 2824-2
Sapphire Crystal
41.2mm Case Diamter
German-Made 316L Stainless Steel Case
SuperLuminova

Nice matte black dial with what looks to me like a Kobold-inspired look, with a bit of Rolex Sub thrown in. Of course everything these days seems like a derivative work, but so I’ll just leave it at that, but it is a nice looking, balanced dial with great lume. Easy-to-read, and nothing to distract you from telling the time.

The German-Crafted case is indeed very nice, and exceeds the quality of more entry level luxury Swiss watches such as Hamilton. The “GB” signed crown is rather uninspired, but I suppose is better than nothing. Unidirectional bezel is easy to turn and use. Sapphire Crystal is flat and no AR coating is present.

Case back is quite nice, with everything deeply laser etched into it, giving it a quality look and feel. The lugs are interestingly only 20mm, which to me looks a bit odd sometimes. Its probably my biggest complaint with the watch as I would really have liked to see 22mm lugs, especially since the lugs themselves are somewhat puny. The watch would look much more substantial with a bit more lug width.

Bracelet is very nice for the price point and appears to be a variation on the all-popular Watchadoo bracelet.

Finally the money-shot. Great wrist presence and in the end what I would call a poor-mans Kobold. Very happy to keep mine as a beater, and will probably use it for a while at least. The 1000m water resistance and quality German and Swiss craftmanship sold me on this watch and I was not disappointed.

Been loving the Dievas Vortex since it came out two years ago, and this new Vortex Professional Diver is even more awesome! The Dievas Vortex Professional adds several new features over the original Vortex.

A few of the new features of this Dievas Professional include a DLC Black Rotor, even though its hidden beneath a solid caseback; the same German-made titanium Fricker case, but this one featuring a scratch resistant Plasma Finish; and a killer off-white fully SuperLuminova’d dial!

Specs:
Caliber: ETA 2824-2 automatic w/DLC Rotor
Jewels: 25
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Case Metal: titanium w/scratch resistant Plasma treatment
Diameter: 44mm
Height: 14mm
Finish: Waterproof: 50 atm/ 500m
Crystal: sapphire with anti reflective coating
Dial: off-white with Full SuperLuminova
Lug Width: 22mm