Last week’s WatchTime L.A. event was populated by many dozens of luxurious timepieces, ? tourbillons, perpetual calendars, astronomical world timers, and any number of other high-end and often idiosyncratic complications. But those looking for a little “tool watch” appeal in their timepiece also found quite a few to strike their fancy, including several highly individualistic takes on the humble, albeit mega-popular, dive watch. Here are five that are worthy of note.
De Bethune unveiled its first-ever divers’ watch this year and, in typical De Bethune fashion, it?s highly memorable. The DB28GS Grand Bleu features De Bethune’s 27th in-house produced movement with a five-day power reserve and a manufacture produced balance wheel made of titanium and white gold. The 44-mm case is made entirely of titanium and offers a water-resistance rating of 105 meters. The newly designed lugs feature black zirconium inserts referencing the middle side of the case. The Grand Bleu’s unidirectional dive-scale bezel (the first one appearing on a De Bethune timepiece) rotates in the traditional manner but the scale’s numbers are actually applied to the sapphire crystal, a design De Bethune says it chose to keep the watch thin. The most intriguing aspect of the new diver is the application of a mechanical dynamo system that emits a blue-white light around four spots in the bezel. Using zero electronics or batteries, a pusher flush to the case at 6 o?cloc...