This watch took me a little by surprise, I like to think in pre-pandemic times I would have been a little more on the ball. Well, I was not, so surprise a diving watch from Vertex. On reflection this should not be a surprise as most watch fans would expect every self respecting watch brand to have a diver in their range, with the honorable exception of Fears of course. The difficulty is to produce a watch that can be identified/classified as a dive watch without it being a submariner homage.
So Vertex offer us all the essentials:
- 40mm stainless steel case
- The usual selection of straps, steel, rubber & nylon
- Sellita SW300-1 Chronometer automatic movement
- Date or no-date option
- Ceramic uni-directional bezel
- 600m rating
- Meeting ISO 6425 professional dive watch standard
- Solid caseback
You will all probably now think of Vertex as a British watch company producing modern updates on the their historical military models. With this watch there is also a “back story” it is directly linked to the work of Claude Lyons who founded the firm back in 1916. A decade before establishing Vertex, Lyons borrowed £1,000 from his father-in-law to set-up another dial name called ‘Dreadnought’ which was symbolised by a mythical creature, half lion, half fish. All watches also carry a serial number on the case back and the movement that starts with ‘FN’ “Fear Nothing” being the natural translation of dreadnaught.
The M60 AquaLion – which is available with or without a date display (‘M60 D’ and ‘M60 ND’) – is also equipped with a uni-directional dive bezel made from matte-finished ceramic and featuring knurling based on the sight adjustment mechanism found on the Bren light machine gun introduced at the start of WWII. The Vertex-ness is added through the use of the moulded Super-LumiNova dial markings . In the case of the AquaLion, the Super-LumiNova used is of the latest ‘X1 Grade’ that glows considerably brighter and for up to 1.6 times longer than the standard material, offering unrivalled visibility in low light conditions both in and out of the water.
VERTEX M60 AQUALION – SPECIFICATIONS. Case: Stainless steel, diameter 40mm, thickness 14mm. Case back: Stainless steel, screw-down type with engraved AquaLion trademark. Crown: Screw down type. Bezel: Scratch-resistant matte ceramic with engraved dive scale filled with Super-LumiNova Grade X1. Dial: Matte black with moulded Super-LumiNova X1 Grade hour markers and Super-LumiNova X1 Grade coated hands. Water resistance: 60 Bar/600 Metres ISO Rating: 6425 (international dive watch standard) Movement: Sellita SW300-1 (with or without date). Hours, minutes; hack seconds. Power reserve: 42 hours. Straps/Bracelet: One stainless steel bracelet; one single-strand Zulu strap; one rubber dive strap.
Packaging: Multi-purpose Peli Case ‘Ruck’. Waterproof, buoyant. Price: £2,850 Including UK VAT £2,375 Excluding VAT
I think Don Cochrane has succeeded in presenting us a very clearly “Vertex” diver – well done
For more detail visit – https://vertex-watches.com/collections/m60