The Fleux FLX004 is the Dive Watch Distilled

What separates great watches from the rest is that they were, are, and will always be cool. It’s no surprise that sport watches – particularly dive watches – from the mid-century established an enduring design language that remains a well from which brands draw inspiration. Fleux is founded on the principle of thoughtfully selecting the greatest hits of dive watch design and incorporating them in new combinations. The FLX004, the fourth and final iteration of the FLX skin diver watches, does exactly that…but with a twist.

Like its three predecessors, the FLX004 retains its 38mm x 12mm (14mm to the top of the crystal) 316L stainless steel skin diver-style case, which is also a manageable 47mm lug to lug. Thankfully, the strap-friendly 20mm lug widths and a reliable Japanese NH38A movement beating inside are also here to stay. The FLX004 is paired with a SEAQUAL Strap made of recycled ocean material, and a screw down crown keeps the ocean away as deep as 200 meters.

While Fleux’s skin diver watch collection up to this point has largely been a celebration of the toolish aspect of dive watches, the new FLX004 distills the genre down to its very core. Instead of a gilt chapter ring, the FLX004 features a two-tone crosshair dial, a callback to the military watches and instruments of the past. The Fleux logo and dial text are gilt in color and are printed diagonally opposite each other, which adds a touch of intrigue to the overall look. The broad arrow handset has real presence on the backdrop of the simple dial and is filled with C3 “Old Radium” lume. The sterile bezel rounds out the minimalist design, marked only by a pip at twelve in the same aged color. Remarkably, Fleux has managed to carve away at every extraneous element of design to arrive at a delightfully pure product.

If subtle vintage styling and restraint are your cup of tea, the new Fleux skin diver is right up your alley. True to the original nature of the skin divers, the FLX004 balances performance and minimalism in a piece that can easily be worn every day. The FLX004 is available March 26 for worldwide delivery. Pricing is $499 with free global shipping. Discover the special launch video here and learn more about Fleux watches at http://www.fleuxwatches.com/.