Aquastar Watch Company

For years, I have always admired the Aquastar Benthos dive watches. So I wanted to type up an informational thread on the company and provide some photos of some of their watches that from the past few decades.

The company was formed in 1962 by diving enthusiasts. Aquastar originally specialized in diving watches, as well as other equipment for diving such as compasses, temperature and pressure gauges. The first Aquastar diving watch, called the Benthos 500 introduced a new technology of round ‘o’ rings. This was new in the diving arena, as the previous method of flat ‘o’ rings didn’t resist the entry of water at any significant depth. The new Aquastar technology allowed for water resistance up to 500 meters.

The company has three watch patents, one of them received in 1964 allows for the counting of a restricted number of minutes. Sailing experts have embraced this because it enables them to countdown exactly the five or ten minutes prior to the start and end of the race. TAG Heuer collaborated with Aquastar on some of the first Regatta watches. Some of these watches are co-branded with Heuer and Aquastar and are very valuable collectors items. Aquastar watches have consistently met the needs of match racing enthusiasts and the company continues to develop new leading edge nautical timepieces.

THE SIXTIES

BENTHOS 500 DIVING WATCH.

Automatic self-winding mechanical movement. Produced at the end of the sixteen's.

When diving, by pressing on the button at 4 o'clock, the orange minute hand is set automatically at 12 o'clock and the diving minute count-down starts. The duration of diving in hours is obtained by rotating the bezel and by placing the triangle at the same position as the hour hand.


THE SEVENTIES

REGATTA WATCH - OLYMPIC START



Provided with an automatic self-winding mechanical movement with regatta countdown for 2 times 5 minutes.

The pusher at 14 o'clock allows the re-setting of the regatta function to zero.

To mark the minutes, a colour disc is elapsing in the 5 round cut windows of the dial between 10 o'clock and 14 o'clock. A well seen second central hand of orange colour is marking the seconds of each elapsing minute.

During the first 5 minutes of the count-down, a blue disc is elapsing in the windows. During the following 5 others minutes, a red disc is elapsing and is marking the remaining minutes until departure.

THE EIGHTIES

BENTHOS I DIVING WATCH


Provided with a mechanical self-winding (automatic) movement.


Diving countdown with the twice orange central minute hand.

Case is made out of one single steel piece, waterresistant to 1000 meters.

TODAY

MATCH RACE II

REGATTA TIMER


Please note: All pictures are from the company website. The historical data provided above is sourced from internationalwatchclub.com.

Here is a link to the company website: http://www.aquastar.ch/en/index.asp

This brand is really intriguing Mark !..I thought the co-branding
thing with Tag Heuer was pretty cool. Not to mention the watches
themselves look NICE as well. Each one of their watches has a
different look that you don't seem to see every day. The Benthos
Diver has a fantastic shaped case, with interesting blocks going
around the outside of the markers themselves. Then the Regatta
Watch-Olympic Start has those super cool discs that are used for
count-downs. NICE !!! The Benthos I has those same cool blocks
around the edge, but has a tough looking bracelet, while the Match
Race 2 takes the whole discs theme digital. I also like the Regatta
Timer ! The dial seems really deep and those colors, as well as where
they are placed on the dial is excellent. Great stuff and great site too !
Thanks !

I know...I really dig all of their models, even the new digital regatta!

My favorite is still the Benthos 500 from the 60's!!!

Great finds Mark...

...it's great to see some watch heritage beyond what we see on a daily basis!

The historic ones are really nice and had seen the 500 model before but did not know about their patents. Thanks. The new ones - meh.

I saw a collection of watches a few weeks back and the guy had the 500 diver. First time I saw the brand, really like the look of the watch.

andrema wrote:

I know...I really dig all of their models, even the new digital regatta!

My favorite is still the Benthos 500 from the 60's!!!

ME too!

I really like the Benthos 500 and the Regatta! Just very cool watches in not only looks but features.

Nice looking pieces, I really like the vintage ones. Do they manufacture them themselves?

Grade "A" for you report, Mark. Thanks.

merichar wrote:

Nice looking pieces, I really like the vintage ones. Do they manufacture them themselves?

Yes, I believe so.

andrema wrote:

merichar wrote:

Nice looking pieces, I really like the vintage ones. Do they manufacture them themselves?

Yes, I believe so.

I was just wondering, they have a Swiss address on their site and all but they are not listed as a manufacturer by the Swiss Federation. May not be a dues paying member.

Great looking divers for sure....never heard of them, thanks for the report! (Well, except now I'll be looking for one.)

More increadible finds Mark, you've got a great retro eye! I'm lovin' all this vintage stuff you're finding.

cski wrote:

More increadible finds Mark, you've got a great retro eye! I'm lovin' all this vintage stuff you're finding.

Thanks man! I have been on a vintage kick lately...I have to get my hands on one or two soon!!

andrema wrote:

cski wrote:

More increadible finds Mark, you've got a great retro eye! I'm lovin' all this vintage stuff you're finding.

Thanks man! I have been on a vintage kick lately...I have to get my hands on one or two soon!!

Hey, I'm older than Mark, my eyes are more vintage than his.

I saw this version over at http://thewatchspotblog.com/?cat=3 -- very cool on mesh!!!

andrema wrote:

I saw this version over at http://thewatchspotblog.com/?cat=3 -- very cool on mesh!!!

That DOES look cool with the mesh ! Not 100% sure if it's the angle or not,
but that color on the dial and bezel looks like a nice silver blue also !

andrema wrote:

I saw this version over at http://thewatchspotblog.com/?cat=3 -- very cool on mesh!!!

Great looking watch-I read a lot of the article but did'nt see case size. Any ideas? There are some really great looking vintage divers out there, its unfortunate IMO anyway that many are very small.

merichar wrote:

andrema wrote:

I saw this version over at http://thewatchspotblog.com/?cat=3 -- very cool on mesh!!!

Great looking watch-I read a lot of the article but did'nt see case size. Any ideas? There are some really great looking vintage divers out there, its unfortunate IMO anyway that many are very small.

Here is some more specs and photos from scubawatch.org:


Aquastar Benthos I Professional 1000 meter

Case Diameter: 42 mm
Case Height: 15.5 mm
Case length: 43 mm
Lug Width: 20.5 mm
Movement: Modified A.Schild AS2162 with 60 min flyback dive
timer. 25j, automatic, 21,600 bph, 45 hr power reserve
Case material: Stainless steel, one piece design
Crown: Screw down
Bezel: Uni-directional, indexed w/60 clicks
Water resistance: 1000 meters
Vintage: 1980 (approx)

This is an exceptional watch in most every way, which makes the
manufacturer's choice of hands so disappointing. The hour and
minute hands are nearly identical in size and shape, making it all
to easy to read the time incorrectly.

Lemania also produced a version of this watch, virtually identical
except for the Lemania signed dial and case.





geovisit();

Looks GREAT on mesh...

...of course I am biased.

that's a nice looking mesh

. . . . Good Lord!!!! That is a great looking watch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

andrema wrote:

[

[

wagon wrote:

. . . . Good Lord!!!! That is a great looking watch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

andrema wrote:

[

[

Tell me about it! I love that version...I'm not a mesh kinda guy, but that is one diver with mesh that I would wear!!

FYI...that is an OMEGA mesh bracelet...


...you can tell by the extension.

Anomaly wrote:

FYI...that is an OMEGA mesh bracelet...


...you can tell by the extension.

That explains why I like it then...

I saw this video on another site. It is a video review of an Aquastar Benthos as well as a few other vintage divers...pretty cool stuff!!

Fantastic bunch right there Mark !
I like the super deep dial on the Aquastar Benthos. The Sandoz
Typhoon has an AMAZING crystal, and case. Never saw some
of those variations on the Breil Manta either. REAL nice ! It's
actually hard to pick a favorite out of these. The Aquagraph is
also extremely cool too with it's modern looking case, and dial !
Great watches and video ! Thanks !

Love' em!
Are they still working?

Redrum wrote:

Love' em!
Are they still working?

The site? Yep...http://www.aquastar.ch/en/index.asp

The Bathos watches come up on the sales forums every now and then. Usually at pretty steep prices! But once in a while there is one that comes up at a price that is more "reasonable".