Stowa Continues Their 95th Anniversary Celebration With The Prodiver Vintage 95

Earlier this year Stowa celebrated their 95th Anniversary by releasing a limited edition piece that tapped into classic pilot watch design. Deciding on the Flieger Verus 40 to celebrate another trip around the sun makes sense considering that the flieger watch is what Stowa does best, right? Or so I thought. Their catalog has much more to offer and expands into a range of “all purpose” divers in the Seatime and Prodiver models. Unlike their sleek, minimally designed flieger watches, the Seatime and Prodiver dive watches have a robust build, an aggressive aesthetic and are sportier by nature.

Stowa continues to celebrate the anniversary by using their dive watch platform with the release of the Prodiver Vintage 95. At first glance, it’s clear that the Prodiver Vintage 95 takes cues from their previous limited edition by using an existing design, modifying it, and adding in some more contemporary elements. The result is a blend of different styles that really does make the Prodiver Vintage 95 an “all purpose” watch.

The dial has a lot going on, in a good way. The Prodiver Vintage 95 uses a sector dial design that houses the minute track on the outer portion and Arabic numerals positioned at the cardinal hours on the inner. You’ll notice that Stowa elected to go with dotted minute markers as opposed to hash marks for the first fifteen minutes on the minute track. If I were to guess the reasoning behind the design, it pays tribute to the days where dive watches were essential tools below the surface and the first fifteen minutes were marked differently on the bezel to time decompression stops. There might not be a functional purpose to it being on the dial, but it’s a subtle feature that gives the dial a distinct look. The raised and rounded markers pop off the dial and provide a modern digital-like display, but at the same time possess a vintage feel with the “old radium” filling.

The case is constructed out of titanium with a sandblasted matte finish. It’s the same form we’ve seen throughout the Prodiver line: a 42mm angular case that serves as a base for the ceramic bezel to sit atop of. Again, there’s an emphasis on the first fifteen minutes on the bezel, marked in a white color as opposed to the rest of the old radium toned circular plots. The black crown, helium escape valve (located at eight o’clock) and 300 meters of water resistance add to the modern aesthetic and capability of the Prodiver Vintage 95.

This watch is a step away from the usual for Stowa and seems appropriate to celebrate an anniversary with a model that is distinguishable from the rest of the Prodiver line. The Prodiver Vintage 95 encapsulates many elements from different types of watches. There are traces of a flieger (handset), a field watch (3, 6, 9 & 12 hour markers) and a dress watch (sector dial and partial cross hairs) all packaged into a sturdy diver case body.

The Stowa Prodiver Vintage 95 is limited to just 95 pieces and currently available directly through the Stowa website. The Prodiver Vintage 95 limited edition is priced at $1,835 (€1,795). Stowa