Mitch Mason reveals their sophomore effort with a new dive watch dubbed the Maelstrom. The watch follows on last year?s initial field watch, the Chronicle, which was funded (handily) through Kickstarter. The diver takes a slightly more traditional route, but there?s still plenty of the distinct personality we noticed in the Chronicle to be found. The Maelstrom is equally well considered in its dimensions, offers some rather delicate details to discover, and best of all, will be available for under $500.

Conjuring the image of a powerful whirlpool with the Maelstrom moniker, the watch plays into the theme with an internal rotating bezel and a pair of machined crowns for operation at 2 and 4 o?clock. A deep 3-D stamped caseback depicts a large whale that looks to be of the Baleen type to my untrained eye (any George Costanza types can chime in to correct me), crashing through the water in rather dramatic fashion. 
The dial is offered in 4 colorways, from black and grey, to green and blue. Each receives a sunburst pattern running under the shallow curve of the matte bezel under the dial. More detail awaits on the dial, from the color matched date wheel at 6 o?clock, to the sandwich type construction bringing a bit of depth to the situation. Stylistically, we see a similar ?stained glass? style pattern within the triangular tip of the hour hand, along with solid blocks of lume that span 2 minutes plus and minus of each cardinal hour, making for a quick read in low l...