The Dive Watch Connection

A lot of immaculate vintage divers on the forum... I did a search on tropical dials but couldn't find much... 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!

yeah...aviation sea diver does cover a lot of ground
what is the read area on the minute counter for, I've seen it on a few watches - does it have a practical application or just meant to draw attention to the first 5 minutes?

rockmastermike wrote:yeah...aviation sea diver does cover a lot of ground
what is the read area on the minute counter for, I've seen it on a few watches - does it have a practical application or just meant to draw attention to the first 5 minutes?

It's a regatta timer. You know, sailing. Five minutes before start, you set the chrono going. When it reaches the end of the red area... GO!

SpaceCowboy wrote:

rockmastermike wrote:yeah...aviation sea diver does cover a lot of ground
what is the read area on the minute counter for, I've seen it on a few watches - does it have a practical application or just meant to draw attention to the first 5 minutes?

It's a regatta timer. You know, sailing. Five minutes before start, you set the chrono going. When it reaches the end of the red area... GO!

another day, another piece of knowledge passed along - thanks!

okay, "technically" I have a tropical dial but it's not actually in a watch - it's the original dial that was returned after the service.
Tropical or faded either way here it is:

Yeah, Flightmaster, nice one!

Looks like you did a full restoration? Personally, I like tropical dials on divers. Kinda makes more sense, diving, tropics, and so forth. I think I would've done the same as you with a Flightmaster.

Very Cool.. Nice to see a Croton watch that was built to last. Not like the crap they make in this day!

Congrats

One watch that does it all, and fantastic condition to boot. Congratulations. It's a keeper.

That looks great.

Personally, I'm down with a tropical dial. I'm not fooling myself into thinking it's anything more than a dial damaged by moisture, but I still like the effect when it's fairly even and mild.

It's cool to see and hear about some of the vintage watches besides the usual suspects (Rolex, Omega, Heuer) sometimes. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful

Late to the show here, but awesome vintage chrono! Love the macros and the tropic!

Nice vintage.




I have a Croton, too.