Wonder how you guys are going to respond to this...Anywhoo, I've had a crush on the Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver for a while now (Yeah, they covered all the bases with this one...) Croton in the US, Nivada Grenchen in Europe. Same watch either way. Good chrono-calibers, mostly valjoux 23s, 72s and 7733s. I also like tropical dials. Not fucked up, damaged ones, but tropical ones. Exposed to strong direct sunlight for decades preferably, hence the name. You know, it's like patina. A thin line between stunning (or even nice) and damaged goods.
Cut to the chase. Tropical Speedys and Subs are ridiculously priced nowadays. Even the ugly ones. Yeah, some people are crazy... Up til now my vintage collection has been striving towards NOS pieces. But I wanted a watch that's been used (not damaged, mind you), and a tropical diver would be the obvious choice... So, lo and behold, what did I find? A Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver with a tropical dial!
Tried to capture the beauty of the dark chocolate dial on film (or SSD to be precise), but believe me, it looks better in real life (like you haven't heard THAT before). I am still trying to improve my watch photography skills, so bear with me.
First a shot with your standard watch photography lighting:
First glimpse of the chocolate-colored dial:
Direct light should be a no-no, but here it's needed to get a glimpse of the tropics:
Some macro close-ups, pretty dangerous since this is like sitting too close to those old fashioned CRT TVs:
And finally, where the watch belongs, in direct sunlight:
So, there you have it. Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver, valjoux 7733, ca. 1969. Oh. How I wish I lived in the Caribbean somewhere and not on the 59th parallel...
Would love to see other tropical dials in this thread!
either way here it is:
Nice to see a Croton watch that was built to last. 
Not like the crap they make in this day!
