I got this from Toptime in Slovakia via Chrono24. Peter Kožár, the owner was extremely courteous and efficient. The watch was delivered via Hermes, with good, detailed tracking to the point of delivery.
Nicely packaged in a good quality box, with a test certificate for the movement, d spare springbars for the strap and a DVD instruction manual.
The case is 43mm diameter; 15mm thick and 49mm lug to lug. It's a hefty watch at 220g with the bracelet according to our kitchen scales.
The fine mesh bracelet is very comfortable - has a wet suit extension and removable link sections near the clasp as well as 3 adjustment holes on the clasp itself, but I'll probably wear this watch more often on the Isofrane it came with, complete with the Aquadive signed buckle. The watch doesn't come with the mesh bracelet pictured on their website - I think they used some Omega mesh bracelets for the photo's - Toptime are an AD & have asked Aquadive to change the pictures to avoid misleading people.
The case design dates back to the 70's it's CNC machined from a solid block of stainless steel with a mostly brushed finish. The HEV valve is neatly located between the lower set of lugs. The caseback is a solid stainless screw-in with the Aquadive logo, model and serial numbers, and water resistance having been neatly engraved. I've seen photo's of early watches with drilled lugs, but mine doesn't have them, which is a slight shame.
The signed, but unguarded crown is large, projecting about 5mm from the case. It feels very substantial but might be of concern to a serious diver although the lack of crown guards is consistent with the 70’s styling. The crown is relatively high in the case side (a function of the selected movement) so it doesn't dig into the back of my hand when wearing the watch. The crown is easy to grip, and operates nicely with a quality feel.
The bezel is easy to grip and moves precisely, but with a slightly "tinny" sound. I like lumed bezels and the lume is very good with the glow appearing to come from deep inside the ceramic insert. Perhaps not the brightest, but very long lasting.
The dial is nicely uncluttered. The text font is extremely small but you don't need to keep reading the it. The hour markers are well lumed with super-luminova, but the hands could have a greater lumed area for better visibility.
I assume they selected the ETA 2836 rather than a 2824 because of its dimensions, since there is no day display despite the 36 having that functionality.
The sapphire crystal is perfectly flat and flush with the bezel with anti-reflective coating on the inside.
Overall, this is a very nicely finished watch, especially for the pretty modest RRP and considering it's a limited edition of 500.
My watch was first supplied in November 13 and aside from some minor scratches on the bracelet clasp (easily sorted with garyflex blocks last night) it's mint.
