Victorinox Updates the Inox with 3 New Models

When Victorinox first announced the INOX line two years ago, we couldn’t help but be impressed. Engineered from the ground up to be nigh-on indestructible, the original INOX survived everything from a 12G impact to being run over by a 64 ton tank all while packing that durability into a handsome, sporty package. For 2016, Victorinox has taken the concept even further with a pair of additions, the INOX Professional Diver and the INOX Leather.

Leading off the pair, the INOX Professional Diver takes its pedigree for sturdiness all the way to the deep ocean while bringing in its own unique flair. The hefty 45mm case is pure modern tool watch, with thick wide-set lugs and a sharply beveled stainless steel unidirectional bezel helping to offset some of the visual mass. Topping all this off is a tall double-domed sapphire crystal. A large blue SuperLuminova pip at 12 gives easy grip for rotating, and just as importantly makes an instantly visible reference underwater. While the case of the INOX Professional Diver shares almost everything with the main INOX line (the outer case, lugs, and even the bezel shape is the same), it’s amazing how much a set of diver’s markings, a screw-down crown and a lume pip do to differentiate it from its stablemates.

Differentiating it far more, however, is the dial. While sharing the same one-piece stamped construction (as opposed to applied chapter rings and indices, adding to the watch’s ruggedness) as the base INOX, the INOX Professional Diver replaces the slightly pointed rectangles of the original with more traditional diver’s markings. This wide rectangles at 3, 6,and 9 and circles at 1, 2 ,4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11 approach is capped by a lumed Victorinox shield at 12. In addition, the dial text has been changed to reflect the new model, proudly proclaiming its 200 meter Professional Diver status, along with a surprising antimagnetic rating. The slightly bulged baton hands, meanwhile, are holdovers from the original INOX but come with a small but valuable adjustment. The hour hand, along with the second hand and the rest of the indices, are filled with green SuperLuminova, but for the Professional Diver the minute hand has been changed to blue SuperLuminova to match the bezel pip. That makes dive timekeeping functions readable at a glance, even at depth, and provide an eye-catching contrast out of the water.

The INOX Professional Diver is powered by a Swiss Ronda 715 quartz movement, and while it may not be as exciting as a mechanical it’s undeniable tougher and more accurate. Turning our attention to the straps, the INOX Professional Diver is offered on a rubber diving strap matching one of the four dial colors- black, indigo blue, red, and an eye-catching bright yellow.

Another new addition to the INOX family is the INOX Leather, bringing not only leather straps but two stunning new dial options to the lineup. While not as drastic a change to the formula as the INOX Professional Diver, the INOX Leather manages to reinvent the core concept in a subtler, more wearable direction. Slightly smaller than the Professional Diver at a still-large 43mm, the INOX Leather eschews the detailed markings of its brother for a clean, sterile approach. It’s an approach that works well here, allowing the deceptively complex case shape to come to the fore and letting the wide beveled bezel to play with the light uninterrupted.

For the dial of the INOX Leather, Victorinox plays off the textured nature of its namesake with a grainy, almost pebbled dial in either black or a warm, sandy gray. Other than that, the dial here is pure INOX, with tapered rectangular indices and a surprisingly well-done 4:30 date window framing the polished flared baton hands. Inside the INOX Leather is the same Ronda 715 quartz heart as the rest of the INOX line, lending worry-free accuracy and dependability to this modern tool watch. For a strap material, the INOX Leather has gone with, you guessed it, leather. But not any leather, a leather than can withstand their rigorous testing. Rendered either in black or a medium brown, the swap to a leather strap goes a long way to dressing up the design. A simple material change takes what was originally in strictly casual territory to something that might not look out of place poking out under a shirt cuff.

The last addition was perhaps the most surprising, the INOX Titanium. While the name is a bit of clash of terms, the watch made perfect sense. The Titanium keeps the same dimensions, movement, DNA, etc… as the original Inox, but is rendered in matte, blasted Ti, for a darker, lighter version makes perfect visual sense. The aggressive, chunky lines come across tactical in the new material, which is emphasized by the putty grey dial. The Inox Ti will come with either orange, blue or gray rubber straps, which match the color of the seconds hand, save the gray which is paired with Victorinox’s traditional red.

The INOX Professional Diver, INOX Leather and Inox Titanium models are fine additions to the Victorinox lineup, and should be available later this spring, each for $595.