# Aquadive Depth And Time



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

This is the watch that took nearly two years to arrive! I won it on eBay in Jun '04 and paid immediately before the seller could think twice. There ensued an 18 month series of delayed emails, misunderstandings, prevarications and just plain laziness on the part of one Ari Paizakis ("omegaiki"). All along he conducted himself poorly, taking weeks to answer emails and acting like he was doing me a favor. A mate on a private watch forum is a wizard with tracking people down on the internet. Once he heard my tale of woe, Steve quickly obtained the seller's home and business addresses and phone numbers. I resorted to threatening to call his boss to finally get him to mail the watch. Doubtless this was the single most painful thing that's happened to me since I started collecting watches. It stands in marked contrast to my recent deals with Hakim (less than a week from a different continent, email to delivery!) and Vic Boyd (less than 24 hours from email to delivery from the east coast).

Yet I'm chuffed - this is one helluva watch!

It has a quartz engine and the depth gauge apparently is oil-filled with a sealed transducer (look at the left of the case in the photo of the back), but I've not removed the back to inspect it. I owe you gents a better shot of the pressure transducer.

It is HUGE, see comparison photos below. It is also very heavy, but comfortable on the Lonestar 24mm brushed mesh I slapped it on. I really don't think any other bracelets/strap would work, but I'm always interested in suggestions.



















It's also about as orange as can be! The lume is quite faded, but at one time it must have been awesome - see the UV shots. Note there is great contrast between the white and orange sections on the dial: more like what you see in the close-up photos than on the more distant photos. My Oly occasionally has trouble getting orange correct and it's almost as if the white balance is affected when shooting really orange dials. I've Photoshopped the images to make the orange close to what I see when I look at the watch. Did I mention it's very orange?










The 12 pip has a great deal of depth to it due to the thick acrylic coating on the bezel.










The SN has been over-printed with zeros, not sure what's going on there.










...continued...

Size comparison - did I mention this is a big watch?



















This is the lume as compared to my older, original-dial PloProf, charged with a UV light and photo snapped immediately. If I waited more than 5-10 seconds, you wouldn't be able to see much on either watch.










While not as wide as the PloProf, it's taller and longer!










Some criticisms: obvious SHS. A grievous error IMO, somewhat exusable in this instance as the depth hand is closest to the dial and would be covered by a large hour/minute pair. The hands themselves are just OK, and coincidentally almost C3 alternate hands-ish! The bezel on this watch is unidirectional in the wrong direction. I need to prise the bezel off and change what is likely a reversed ratchet/locking spring.

Finally, my surreal UV photo of the two monsters:










All in all, I'm glad I waited this one out. It is an exceedingly rare tool diver and a cracker on the mesh. As it should be with a tool diver, it's a deadly weapon when the handbags start flying!


----------



## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

What a great looking awesome piece Colin!

I am glad it finally arrived and you didn't have to send the "boys" to "pay him a visit"


----------



## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Wow, Im seriously impressed, and a great story, glad you stuck with it mate, looks great on the mesh


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Colin do you actually own anything crap? seriously that is a very cool watch, and blimey is it huge! Is it your largest watch?

Looks to be well worth the wait but what a hassle - ive struggled with a few a**holes on the bay but nothing quite so annoying as this guy.


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Incredible watch Colin, shame you had all the hassle but at least you got a superb and very unusual time piece in the end









BTW you could do someone a serious injury with that


----------



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Jon, I've waded through some serious stinkers to find the gems I've got, just as any collector would. Of course, I'm not spending a second taking photos of them to post here. I'm trying to keep it interesting







It's my second-largest. I've got one of those clock-on-the-wrist Russian canteen divers that is absolutely unwearable. This watch is actually reasonably comfortable due to the tapered cushion case and the balance that the mesh gives it.

John, I so was tempted to give some mates in Vancouver this guy's addy. All of them hockey players and policemen - even with the watch he wouldn't have had a chance
















PPS - I'm avoiding the 6N thread as the matches are on Setanta today in the US.


----------



## hakim (Sep 13, 2004)

Colin,

I don't think I would have the patience to wait for 18 months for the watch. I would have just sent the guys in  but I'm glad you got the watch. And what a watch! Fantastic pictures and all that glorious orange! I like everything about that watch including the mesh bracelet. Nice match.


----------



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Just an update. I managed to locate a Sep '75 issue of Skin Diver magazine (on that penultimate yard sale/trash heap - where else?) with both a full page advert and a two page review of the Aquadive "Model 50".




























Happy to email these images if anyone has one of these beasts and needs the info for repair or just archival purposes.


----------



## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

> Happy to email these images if anyone has one of these beasts and needs the info for repair or just archival purposes.


I wish









Great read Colin, its always nice to have literature like this, $275 in 1975? was that a lot?

It must have been an early quartz too


----------



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

It would have been a lot to me in 1975 on $5/week allowance!









I don't know any watch prices from the 70's, but IIRC the PloProf was ~$400-450. Using the relative price calcualtor link from Mac's thread gives a current retail price ('05) of ~$1550 for this watch.


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Is it quartz or some form of transistor? I would have thought that quartz would be a desirable moniker in 1975 and the fact they said electronic and it runs off a 1.35v would make me think its a hummer... but I think Colin would have mentioned that... interesting... Wheres SilverHawk when you need him?!?!


----------



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Update: I managed to snag a non-running Model 50 (identical to my running watch) and took it down to my local shop (I couldn't get the back off myself). They manged to wrench it off with great difficulty - I don't think it had ever been off judging by the corrosion on the battery and the condition of the almost non-existent O-ring.

Unfortunately, removing the battery, cleaning off the corrosion, and putting in a 1.5V did not get it going. The movement is electronic/electro-mechanical: it has a balance wheel! I'll get some movement photos up soon. My repairman suggested I contact an _electronics_ repairman to see if he would be interested in working on the watch. I'm going to pull out my voltmeter and have a go at testing the components (I used to build/mod my own audio equipment) and see if that's where the failure point is. The movement _looks_ brand new, with no readily identifiable faults - unlike some of my amps which could be diagnosed by following the smoke and scorch marks!


----------

