Latest Review
Dive watches are a dime a dozen. It’s probably one of the most bloated categories of watches, but not without good reason. Dive watches are popular with enthusiasts, they go back to a time when watches were tool instruments, and when done right, they can be extremely beautiful. But to create a dive watch that looks unique can often a be a challenge; there are a handful of definitive archetypes that define the category, and a majority of what we see are riffs on these well-established templates. So when it comes to new offerings, it’s always interesting to see how brands and designers tackle the challenge of bringing something fresh to the market. Something that isn’t a direct copy, but rather something that takes some of those existing conventions and plays with them.
(Editor’s Note: Despite being involved with watches for many years, turns out I don’t know everything. As some of our astute readers pointed out, the Evant Tropic Diver is actually based on a rare, little-known ’60s-era Breguet dive watch discovered in 2014. To learn more about that watch, check out this article from ABTW.)
When I first saw the Tropic Diver 300 from Evant, some immediate cues jumped out at me. There’s a bit of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms in there with the hour markers, especially that diamond marker at 12. Rolex and Tudor make an appearance, too, with the lollipop hour hand. But overall, the Tropic Diver doesn’t come off as derivative or played out. Sure, the aforementioned elements come from iconic sources, but together they make something that looks relatively unique as far as dive watches are concerned. Whether the resulting aesthetic is one to people’s liking is up to personal taste. I, for one, really dig the look of this watch.
