Squale Brings Back The Supremely Capable Master Marina Militare

Squale is getting back to their roots with the help of an old partner, the Italian Navy, or Marina Militare. The pair first teamed up some 40 years ago on a watch that would accompany La Spezia Scuba Diving Corp, and the latest effort from the Swiss brand known for their stellar case work wades into familiar territory, this time built to spec for the Italian Navy, and capable of withstanding a staggering 120 ATM, as tested by Drass Galeazzi. This is the new limited edition Squale Master Marina Militare.

Much like early examples from the Squale Master collection, the latest Marina Militare is function forward, and I’d go so far as to say it’s a bit intimidating straight out of the box. The 16.5mm thick case carries itself with confidence, and the all the black ‘bund’ bezel insert tips you off that this isn’t your ordinary casual diver. The newest Master model has many classic callbacks within its design, but it’s all business in execution. It’s even got some new bells & whistles that push it over the top, from both a visual and capability standpoint.

The steel case measures 40mm in diameter, though the bezel assembly flares a bit further still, making for a tidy yet somewhat tanky presence on wrist, much as you’d likely expect from a watch like this. Lug to lug width, by the way, is 49mm. The thickness is apparent with a glance at the dial, which appears to exist deep within the bowels of the case thanks to the 4mm thick piece of sapphire pulling crystal duty. At steep angles this creates some trippy views down into the sandwich dial, but the net result is a depth rating of 1,200 meters, which is just shy of 4,000 ft, far beyond the realms navigated by even the stoutest of commercial saturation divers. For reference, PADI considers any dive beyond 18m/60ft to be “deep”. Really puts that 50m rating for the Speedmaster into perspective. 

The asymmetrical case of the Master Marina Militare gets a recessed crown at 4 o’clock, and a flush helium escape valve along the case at 9 o’clock. That black ‘Bund’ bezel is a feature for divers that measure their dives in elapsed hours rather than minutes, utilizing a single triangle and a unidirectional rotating assembly. Finally, to really drive home to the formal nature of this diving tool, the caseback gets the four Maritime Republics designed by Charles Von Büren in the 60s. Underneath beats an Elaboré grade Sellita SW 200-1. 

Just 300 examples of the Master Marina Militare will be produced, each coming on a thick rubber diving strap, and is presented in a hard shell case. Pricing is set at 1,350CHF (~$1,400 at the moment). More from Squale.