ABOUT THESE WATCHES

When Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan developed the first “aqua-lung” breathing apparatus in 1943 and introduced the world to SCUBA diving, it quickly became necessary to develop adequate watches that were waterproof as well as easy to read underwater to calculate dive and decompression times. As the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner were among some of the most famous professional dive watches developed in the mid 20th century, the advent of SCUBA diving saw expanded popularity in diving for recreational purposes as well as the introduction of “skin-diving” watches made for light underwater activities. “Skin-diving” is essentially diving without standard professional gear and it’s increased interest led to several watch companies competing for market share throughout the 50’s and 60’s. Four of these competing brands are represented in the collection of watches I currently have for sale, yet three of them were too lazy to develop their own design.

Although we find that each watch looks slightly different from one another they are pretty much the exact same watch, produced and designed by A. Schild using a Felsa/A. Schild 400 automatic movement. Although they’re offered at various price points based on condition, desirability and rarity, they are all fantastic and in proper working condition. The Aqualung is definitely the most desirable of the bunch because of its true gilt dial, but also because the Aqualung brand is the reason any of these watches exist. The Voit divers I consider some of the most unique watches anyone could wear because of the cool comic book style logos, but also because it’s funny wearing a watch from a brand known for making volleyballs. The Orator is in very nice condition and the brand has a rich history of making superb high-quality timepieces. The Schild is cool because they actually developed the watch and movement. Talk about in-house.

All of these highly unique watches are completely original with unmolested lume and dials. They are an absolute joy to wear and at 38mm in diameter and only 12mm thick they are the ideal size for most wrists. You won’t be disappointed.

WATCH SPECS

Maker: Aqualung, Voit, Orator, Schild
Model: Aqualung Diver
Reference: 1573-666
Year: 1960s
Material: Stainless steel
Dimensions: 38mm diameter; 12mm thickness with crystal
Crystal: Plexiglass
Lume: Radium
Caliber: Felsa/A. Schild 4004 17 jewel automatic movement
Bracelet/Strap: Vintage Tropic style Aqua GS black rubber strap
Lug Width: 19.5mm
Box/Papers: N/A

Note: No guarantees of water resistance because of it’s age