aquatimer

As though such a dive watch needed any beautification to begin with? IWC thought otherwise and has now crafted one of its new popular Aquatimer Chronograph watches in gold. This is the IWC Ref. IW3769 and it represents that large demographic of fully capable dive watches that you'd never want to get wet. Unless you find yourself suddenly in a James Bond style action-filled chase that ends up in the ocean, you are going to baby this watch.

All rose gold cased watches such as this feel good in the hands being hefty and solid - just what a good diver's watch should feel like. Aside from rose gold, the case has the sapphire crystal covered bezel, and rubber for parts of the crown and pushers, and for the strap. You also get IWC's special quick release strap that was first seen on the 2009 aquatimer watches. The watch is 44mm wide by 15.5mm thick. Only water resistant to 120 meters though, so don't get any deep diving ideas.

Powering the watch is an IWC in-house made caliber 89360 automatic chronograph movement that I really love. Not only does it have a long-lasting 68 hours of power reserve, but it also has a 12 hour chronograph in a bi-compax array. It does this by have two hands in the upper subdial, making it count both the hours and minutes. IWC typifies the chronograph hands by making them in red. Really a fantastic layout from a popular movement that IWC uses in a few watches. The back of the watch has a sapphire caseback window showing the movement. Nothing is better for "everyday excess" than a luxury dive watch with an in-house movement in my opinion .

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Last year the watch loving public was delighted to see the Vintage collection from IWC that included a vintage styled Aquatimer watch, closely resembling the first Aquatimer watch from 1967. This was easily the best of the new Vintage line watches in my opinion, and still looks great a year later. This year IWC has taken the entire new IWC Vintage line and added 18k gold (white or rose gold) versions of the 44m wide case to the strong lineup.

This is the rose gold IWC Vintage Aquatimer on a honey alligator strap. The look is about as beautiful a retro diver watch as you can get. The internal rotating bezel is controlled via the top crown on the right side of the watch, which is screwed down. Inside is an IWC manufactured 80111 calibre automatic movement with Pellaton winding system and integrated shock absorbers. Sapphire crystals (antireflective) are on the front and rear of the watch. This true diver's watch is water-resistant to 12 ATM. Price likely $15,000 - $20,000 for the gold versions of this highly desirable IWC Vintage Aquatimer watch. Perfect for actual diving or otherwise.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.