The Dive Watch Connection

Hi everyone,

I posted this review over on the TZ-UK forum here, but I figured you guys might like this as well, so here we go....

I would like to present my latest acquisition - a rather rare Crepas El Buzo.



I say "acquisition" deliberately, because this was always a bit of a grail for me and damn was it hard to find... As you may know, Crepas is a Spanish microbrand and the El Buzo (The Diver) was one of their first watches, the whole design decided upon through a groupthink process done by a bunch of diver watch enthusiasts on the big Spanish watch forum Relojes Especiales and made in a limited edition of just 333 watches. Often that kind of collective decision-making doesn't end well, but this a perfect example of how it can work and end up with something rather special.

These watches occasionally surface for sale in the U.S., at rather high prices compared to what they originally sold for, I don't think I've ever seen one for sale in the UK, and it seems the majority are still in the hands of Spanish owners, so I placed a WTB on the R.E. forum and waited. A couple came up for sale, some discussion using Google Translate (ugh!), but the owners preferred a sale within Spain - can't blame them. Eventually a very nice gentleman on the forum living in Luxembourg responded, and a long process ensued of him driving to Belgium, handing it over to a relative of mine, me waiting a month, then finding someone to hand-carry it to me here in Kenya. He was really a great guy to deal with, international transactions are always more difficult for both parties, but this one went very smoothly. Phew! It finally arrived...

The EL Buzo is a 500m chunky diver with GMT function (ETA 2893-2) and twin crown internal and external rotating bezels, enabling 3 timezones (the outer black is a normal external bezel, the inner white internal bezel is controlled via the top crown). Specifications are: Bezel Diameter 43mm, Case Diameter 44mm, Crystal Diameter 32.5mm, Thickness 16.5mm, Lugs 22mm. I read that they actually over-specced it as when they sent it for testing in Germany it withstood 800m without leakage or other issues.

I had decided I definitely needed no less than a 500mm diver because I occasionally get raindrops on my other watches and once splashed a few drops on one of them after taking it off for the shower. I figure it's better to play safe, right? No, I have no need at all for such an over-engineered beast of a watch, but I just always loved the twin-crown design...





Some people don't like microbrands like Crepas, but I was very impressed indeed with the quality of my Tactico TC2 (Tactico is a branch of Crepas) and the EL Buzo surpasses even that. The attention to detail on this thing is amazing as is the finishing quality, it's one of the best I have seen.

Things in particular that stand out are:

- 5.05mm very thick sapphire crystal
- Sapphire bezel
- The twin 6.5mm signed crowns with the propeller design on the main crown matching the caseback.
- The 3D shark/propeller engraving on the caseback is stunning
- The quality of printing on the dial and its design is very fine indeed, the plongeur hands are nicely done, and the "invisible" GMT hand (black hand with white tip) works very well.
- The brushed case is heavy, chunky, and just oozes quality in my opinion.








The whole package is rather impressive - the watch comes with a rubber strap with signed deployant, gorgeous steel mesh if you like that kind of thing (I don't), Orange & Black NATO strap, tools, and even a spare dial in orange and set of different hands - should you prefer that. I prefer the black dial, you can see the orange dial and hands here. At the time, there was also an optional package of orange rubber strap and steel bracelet I believe - mine didn't come with that and I'm not a bracelet person anyway so I was fine with that.



My plan was to wear it on a NATO strap but when it came down to it the watch is so chunky anyway that I felt the black rubber strap with deployant was the better fit. Of course this watch is just screaming out for an orange or maybe green Isofrane, I'm just not sure yet if I can pull that off....

Going back to that attention to detail, let's take a closer look at those twin crowns and caseback as they are really one of the nicest and unique features of this watch:







OK, so that ends my mini-review of this rather rare slab of engineering. As you can probably tell I am rather chuffed with this watch :-)

Have a good day everyone...

Nice.

Very well done review and great pictures, too. I owned one awhile back and remember it being a great piece of kit.

Great review of a very cool watch. Thanks for posting.

Bad ass watch, I've always like it (and it looks rather nice with the orange dial too!). Congrats on finally getting one!

Thanks for the kind comments guys. What do you think about straps? I was gonna wear a NATO as all my other watches but at 16mm thick and the case back design it's rather chunky already, the NATO made it hang out a bit too much. This is the first deployant I've had and the black rubber is quite nice, but I can't help thinking this would be sweet on an Isofrane. But not sure I could carry off the Orange, and black while safe seems a bit boring. What do you think - orange, green, blue?

Love the El Buzo. I owned one a ways back and regret selling. I found it to be most comfortable on an ISO or mesh. Congrats and enjoy.

Great review. I like all their watches.
Mesh, Iso or thick leather.

It is indeed very comfortable on the mesh, I just don't like the look. Thick leather, now that's a good idea actually, for some reason I didn't think of that. And given this isn't going to go diving (sacrilege, I know I know...) that should work nicely. Thanks!

Damn that looks great!

Awesome review,

Great watch...Congrats

Old thread, but great review and I love the story behind you finally finding one.

Cool watch!

Nice review, excellent pics and a really cool watch. Really like that rubber strap with the signed deployant. Especially cool on a micro to see that. That GMT hand just disappears and with all the rest going on with that dial, that was a good choice.

I recommend isofrane or leather. Look forward to new pics when you get it strapped. Congrats on finding your grail - I cannot imagine the logistics of working out such a deal from Luxembourg to Kenya!

Great review bud-thanks for posting.

Nice I like their pieces and wished I had bought a couple of the others before they sold out.

aikiman44 wrote:Great review. I like all their watches.
Mesh, Iso or thick leather.

I finally took your advice on thick leather idea... Had a bridle leather strap made for me by Steveo Straps, liking it a lot....

Great looking watch and great review. It would certainly be too thick for me but I do like the look.

I think there's a Crepas for sale on WUS for a good price.

Hi... just a heads-up to any potential El Buzo buyers... there was a scammer on the Watchuseek forum using my photos to offer this watch for sale (same serial) via private message to people who had posted a WTB for an El Buzo. The potential buyer reached out to me and I confirmed I still have mine and it isn't for sale. The scammer, who said he was from Colombia, has since been banned on WUS I'm told but I figure he may try elsewhere so just wanted to alert anyone looking to buy.

Good watching out brother!

Nice watch and nice review. I have a Crepas CfVM and tactico TC2 and love both of them. The tc2 was a grail for me and took a year to find so I can guess how you feel. Btw, love the user name... occams razor, very cool

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

stonehead887 wrote:Nice watch and nice review. I have a Crepas CfVM and tactico TC2 and love both of them. The tc2 was a grail for me and took a year to find so I can guess how you feel. Btw, love the user name... occams razor, very cool

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

I also have the TC2, it's a great watch and very wearable. I wish Crepas would make some more watches that size.

rafy11 wrote:Very nice!! Thank you

Stop bumping old posts.