Alsta Refreshes the Nautoscaph with Three Vintage Inspired Skin Divers

Fans of the skin diver, the easy to wear style of dive watch that has become core to the watch-nerd lifestyle in recent years, will be excited to hear about the new Nautoscaph Skin Divers from Alsta, a watch brand that was truly there at the beginning of the skin diver movement in the heyday of recreational SCUBA diving decades ago. It’s very easy, in my opinion, to see the appeal of the skin diver. They were made to be an approachable alternative to more professional oriented dive watches years ago, and those design characteristics that made them appealing in the 60s and 70s remain alluring today. These watches tend to have smaller case sizes that are thinner and easier to handle than bigger, chunkier divers that are rated to go much deeper. Plus, you still get an ultra practical, highly legible dial. Ditto for the timing bezel. What’s not to like? 

Alsta is perhaps best known these days for being associated, somewhat loosely, with Jaws, which we covered earlier this year in podcast form. Richard Dreyfuss, as Matt Hooper, wore an Alsta throughout the film, in a way that can only be described as inconspicuous and incredibly casual. It just feels like the right kind of watch for a character who might or might not need to do a little diving, and it looks at home topside in a variety of situations, which is part of the point of a skin diver to begin with. The new Nautoscaphs seen here certainly have a similar vibe, and would make sense on the wrist of Matt Hooper or his modern day equivalent. 

The new Nautoscaphs are available in three varieties: an “All-Red” version in a steel case with a bright red dial, meant to stand out in a crowd of simple black dialed dive watches, and two versions in bronze with dials in black and silver. The bronze cases use CuSn8 bronze, which is notable for its tendency to develop a dark patina over time, and is generally considered to be the most premium of bronze alloys typically used in watchmaking. Across all three colorways, the dials have been given a radial brushing treatment and feature simple layouts with large Arabic numerals at 12, 6, and 9 with a date at 3, and plenty of lume for maximum legibility in the dark. 

The cases of the Nautoscaph Skin Divers measure 40mm in diameter and are 16.2mm thick with a 51.3mm lug to lug span. That’s admittedly a lot of wrist real estate, perhaps more than you’d expect from a vintage skin diver, but these modern incarnations do have beefed up specs. The modern Nautoscaphs are rated to 300 meters, whereas a similar watch from the 1960s would likely carry a 100 meter depth rating. Alsta’s decision to increase the overall the size in the name of being competitive with watches that are made to a higher spec is certainly something that will debated among collectors. 

The new Alsta Nautoscaph Skin Divers are available now via the Alsta website. The All-Red variant carries a retail price of $625, while the bronze versions sell for $825. Alsta