Talking about watches and inspiration can spawn some pretty interesting debates, and for good reason – especially in the dive watch category. Of course, early dive watches weren’t “inspired by” anything; dive watches were tools created with a very distinct purpose. That said, as the years went on and the dive watch category moved away from practical utility towards desirable daily-wearers, design inspiration soon came into play. Today we’re looking at luxury watches inspired by the ocean, and digging into the stories behind the creation of each piece and how they relate to the big blue beyond.As mentioned above, there is no reason to go into a Rolex Submariner history lesson here; however, the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea with D-Blue dial (a variant of the original Deepsea that was first unveiled in 2008) has a very distinct connection to our world’s deepest waters.The origins of this piece come from Rolex’s involvement in (read: sponsorship of) James Cameron’s deep dive into the Mariana Trench. Though not limited in production, the piece is commemorative of the 2012 dive, and features a gradient blue to black dial that mimics the loss of light as one descends into the ocean’s depths. Additionally, the green chosen for the DEEPSEA text on its dial is matched to the color of Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger Submarine that took a prototype Rolex watch all the way down into the trench affixed to one of its robotic arms.The legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau is unparalleled in the world of underwater exploration, and many years ago (back in 2004 to be precise), IWC decided to become a partner of the Cousteau Society – a non-profit organization looking to continue the initiatives set out by Jacques-Yves several decades prior. From the onset of the partnership, IWC has included special limited-edition Aquatimer models in their collections, with a portion of the proceeds of each watch headed towards the organization.Of their bigger undertakings, Cousteau’s famed research vessel (named ‘Calypso’) was raised from the sea floor after sinking on account of an incident in Singapore in 1996. Progress on Calypso has been slow-going, and a fire on the ship while docked in Turkey two years ago has slowed things further. Naturally, there are rumors swirling that a redesign of the IWC Aquatimer line across the board will appear in conjunction with the vessel’s unveiling.
Before introducing this replica watch, I want to tell you guys a bad news, I think that most of you have heard this in some forums, that is Noob factory has been down for more than twenty days. Some people told me that they are on holiday, but it seems this is not true, the truth is that their workshop was raided months ago. So, if you guys still have orders in Noob factory, you need to wait, they are not able to be back and can not make your watches currently. I also do not know when they will be back.
Ballon Blue, the classic of V6 factory, and also the best in the market. V6 factory makes three versions for Ballon Blue, one is with Sea-Gull 2824, one is with ETA 2892, the last uses Sea-Gull 2892. The one with genuine ETA 2892 movement is the best Ballon Bleu, and absolutely sold at a high price. Rhodium plated dial has a strong three-dimensional feeling.Steelfish from H factory is very cost-efficient, it has a considerable finishing and weight. The dial has black and blue options.AP 15703 is an important milestone in replica watch world. I recommend the 15703 replica made by JF. If you want a better price, choose V7 with 2824 movement, considering a more stable movement, you can choose V8 with Miyota 9015.Now black Sub comes. This replica has already been manufactured well. About movement, I prefer 3135, the winding direction is correct and winding feel is very good. Highly recommended.
Several years ago, Panerai published Luminor Submersible 1950 PAM 382, which raised a bronze storm in watch industry. The story between XF and bronze started from Panerai’s PAM 382. Afterwards, XF unveiled PAM 507, PAM 671, Zenith Type 20 Pilot Extra Special, Tudor Black Bay Bronzo, these are all art work of XF that are made of bronze material. So, we can see that XF factory continuously researched bronze and applied this material in their watch-making process, today, they released this IWC Pilot Spitfire bronze watch, it is the first IWC watch that is made of bronze.Actually, it is not hard to make a bronze case, but the difficulty is that bronze case should be oxidized to our expected result at the speed we want, XF has always been researching this, now the oxidized result on this IWC Pilot Spitfire has achieved a perfect condition, which is closest to genuine, compared with the bronze case from small factories, you will find that their oxidized color is uneven and there is even rusty spot.
D-Blue and Black Submariner all belong to top replicas. There are two movement options, Hangzhou 6300 and Shanghai 3135. The size is 44mm and 40mm. In my opinion, if you want a comfortable winding experience, choose 3135 movement, if you have a limited budget, then choose the cheaper 6300.IWC371446, case diameter is 41mm. It uses the most stable Dandong chronograph movement. This Portuguese replica is made by GP, ZF or 3A factory. The version from GP factory is the best.PAM 111, the must-have Panerai watch, because it is in high quality and with a cheap price. The replica is equipped with a Sea-Gull ST3600 manual winding movement, which is very stable.
