How the Radiomir case should be - The Nivada Depthmaster

Lately I have been doing more and more reviews about dive watches, and no wonder, these are the most popular among enthusiasts and non-watch lovers. Lately almost every brand has a touch of vintage look/feel but a few of them actually have the pedigree to sustain the configuration. This is not the first time I came across Nivada watches, I was lucky enough to review their beautiful Chronomaster and always wondered how would a dive watch fit in their current catalogue, well the Depthmaster is definitely one of a kind and fits right in.

As mentioned before Nivada used to produce the Depthmaster in thr 60s, so this is not a reproduction of a watch with some beige lume on it, is a faithful recreation of a diver that looks, feels and wears spot on. Like the Chronomaster the new Depthmaster is the real thing, is not oversized to accommodate a cheaper/larger movement, the date and no date versions are equally impressive in detail and with a sub 1000 USD price this is a hard to beat package, let's begin.

Specifications:

The Depthmaster is 39mm in diameter which sounds perfect and I believe it feels that way too. The cushion case is easy to wear and at 47mm lug to lug it's also very compact, usually when you talk about cushion case watches, brands tend to have a very large case (44m onwards) because they can get away with the short lugs but sometimes the effect is not so positive, it is hard to wear a Panerai Radiomir but easier to wear than a Longines Legend Diver (52mm lug to lug if I am not mistaken) so it is odd that not many brands have tried to make a wearable cushion shaped case, until now. The watch is powered by a Sellita SW200 to keep great timing, a sapphire crystal to make it harder to scratch and a package that wouldn’t be completed without 1000m water resistance, yes 1000m which brings honor to the name.

On the wrist:

A cushion shape case always wear well in my 16.5 inch wrist but when you tone it down loke Nivada did with the Depthmaster it just feels at home, it easy to wear on almost every occasion, casual but also vintage looking, great combo. The legibility is perfect which is what you need from a diver and the no date version we tried is just phenomenal, giving a place to admire the so call ''pac-man'' markers, so odd but so well placed, I can really feel the 60s vibe when I am wearing this beauty and all of this is completed by the matte black dial, which is very period correct. The bezel made of steel feels sturdy and is perfectly aligned with what I expected from Nivada, they do have great attention to detail. I've also enjoyed that the watch has a lot of strap options, ours came on a rubber tropic strap and looks very good, I did try it with some of my natos particularly a crimson red and it looks business.

Conclusion:

As my title suggest (not trying to be provocative) the Depthmaster is a watch that can really challenge those big brads with big case designs in a more comprehensive package, not only the finishing is par with more expensive divers but the price is very attractive too. I think there is no need to spend a fortune on a 60s diver when you have so many cool designs around, the only issue with those watches is that the quality is a bit of a letdown and this is why I keep coming back to Nivada, the Depthmaster feels like a watch that can be on your wrist for another 60 years.

More info at: https://nivadagrenchenofficial.com/