Watches Appreciation And Resouces: Introducing the Undive Dark Sea 500M Professional Diver

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Introducing the Undive Dark Sea 500M Professional Diver

We cover a lot of crowd funded watches here. Many of them are kind of, been-there-done-that kind of watches, or some have little quality quirks that a new brand may have, but every now and then there is the wow watch. Undive is starting their Kickstarter campaign in August and so far from what I see, this might be the one to back. They were kind enough to send me out one of their review samples, so lets check this out.

The Dial

From a visual standpoint, the dial to me just looks like a nice high end watch. The Undive Dark Sea is a three hander with the date window at the 3 o’clock position. The index hands on the hour and minute are nicely polished and are filled with lume. The second hand is very cool because there are two lume dots, one on green and the other in orange. Hands are mounted to a reliable Seiko NH35 automatic movement. The hour markers are large, nicely polished, and filled with a lot of lume. Using polished elements along with the little touches of blue work very well on that dark black face. Covering all this a thick anti-reflective treated domed sapphire crystal.

The Case

The case on the Undive Dark Sea is made from 316L stainless steel. Measuring in at 45mm wide and 15.4m thick this is a pretty large case but did not feel that large on my 6.5 inch wrist. The case style is similar to the Seiko divers with the crown at the 4 o’clock position. Having the crown at the 4 o’clock really makes wearing a large watch like this much more comfortable. I hate having a crown jabbing into my wrist.

The bezel style is very much like a Panerai and I really liked their choice with that. Movement on the 120 click bezel is very smooth but tight. There is a tiny bit of play, but it’s not a major problem. The crown is screw down and is large with the Undive trident logo. The finish on the case is a mix of polishing and brushing. Water resistance on this Undive Dark Sea is 500m or 1640ft which makes this a serious dive watch. Adding a helium escape valve takes this watch into the commercial diving realm. Another good choice for saturation divers who need a watch that can handle the heliox gas in their dive bell. If you not a saturation diver its still cool to tell people about that valve.

The Strap

The strap on this Undive Dark Sea is not some thin little silicon thing, this is more like what you would expect on a serious dive watch. Its thick rubber but still soft enough and pretty comfortable. My only issue is I would like to see alittle more adjustments for a smaller wrist. For sure I would not worry about this strap wearing out. This is made for work.

The Lume

The Lume on the Undive Dark Sea is Super Luminova BGW9 and has a really nice blue glow with the exception of the little orange dot on the seconds hand. I really like that little detail. It just adds to the visual. The only lume on the bezel is at the 12 o’clock position and that’s all you need to mark your time anyway. Does not take much to charge up the lume and although I did not time it, the lume glows for a good amount of time.

Overall Impression

I have to say that from the moment I took this Undive Dark Sea out of the box I was in love. This is not what I expected from a new watch brand. It all just seems to be done right. From the layout of the dial, to the finishes on the case, this is all done in a way you would expect a well known, higher end brand would offer. Since they are a new brand you have a chance of getting a very cool looking well made watch for a great price. Early bird pricing will start at $ 436 to $ 460 USD. You can get more details and sign up for their Kickstarter Campaign notification at undivewatches.com.

Review Summary

Brand and model: Undive Dark Sea 500m
Price: $ 436 to $ 460 early bird on Kickstarter
Who’s it for? Serious dive watch lovers
Would I wear it? Oh yes, anytime
What I’d change: Smaller strap
The best thing about it: That touch serious diver look.

Tech Specs from Undive

CASE – 316 L Stainless Steel Case (with DLC coating on brushed bezel (BLACK STORM version)
WATER RESISTANCE – 500m / 50ATM / 1640ft water resistance with Heilum Escape Valve
BEZEL – 120-click unidirectional bezel
DIMENSION: Width 45mm (47mm including crown), thickness 15.40mm (including crystal), lug to lug 50mm
MOVEMENT: Seiko NH35 movement
DIAL: Matt black dial with Super Luminova BGW9
HANDS: Hour & Minute filled with Super Luminova BGW9 Second filled with Super Luminova BGW9 & Red
CRYSTAL: High-quality dome sapphire crystal
CROWN: Big screw down and TRIDENT logo
STRAPS: Professional accordion-style diver strap Fashion stylish leather strap