Coming around late May or early June of each year, watch media outlets are saturated with articles and news stories about the latest and best watches for the summer. Typically, a diver. And generally now, a diver with bright and poppy colors because summer = fun and relaxation = brightness and lightness. But we aren’t all into minty greens and sunset oranges dials, some of us prefer the timeless simplicity of monochromatic ones paired with classically proportioned and designed cases. And some of us are further into keeping things on the down-low. We like watches for one of many reasons and sometimes that reason can be their understated nature, a sort of spectacle destined to ourselves and no one else. Because the more common something looks on the outside the further in one has to examine it to fully appreciate it in all its intimate glory. So sporting a monochromatic diver is in reality making a quiet statement, mostly to ourselves. 

The Italian brand HTD Watches’s leitmotiv is the classic sports watch. As we saw a little while ago, the classic mechanical chronograph for one and as we’re about to see, the classic diver. Most models the brand releases come in two versions and so we have an Aquatìc MkII SpaceBoy and Bicchierini, respectively references A25F09S and A25F09B. Both presenting the same case and specifications, but coming with slightly different dial layouts. The shielded 3-6-9 layout of the SpaceBoy instantly appeared vintage-classic and totally up my alley. And right away I will share one thought about it: it feels darn good to come across watches that were designed not to blow your mind away or aid in starting a conversation with a fellow enthusiasts/collectors/WNA* members, but simply to accessorize your everyday life, be mechanically sound and aesthetically pleasing to work in all situations. There are folks like yours truly out there who strive not to stand out. 

*Watch Nerds Anonymous. 

Specifications 

Though this is very subjective, it appears possible to narrow down the ideal dimensions for an everyday diver, regardless of wrist size. And that would be the magical sub-40mm diameter and 48mm lug-to-lug, regardless of the thickness. The latter doesn’t matter as much when the case is well proportioned east to west and north to south. Well I’m happy to report that the Aquatìc MkII SpaceBoy comes with a diameter of 39.4mm, a lug-to-lug of 47mm, a total thickness of 11.5mm, and a lug width of 20mm. The lugs aren’t drilled and the bracelet doesn’t come with quick-release spring-bars because…well, it’s a watch that was created to stay on your wrist as is, not change shoes every six hours. The stainless steel fastening system has a classic Oyster-style three-link construction and double-pusher deployant clasp with four holes of micro-adjustments. I don’t know why HTD opted for this type of clasp but it is totally fine to me. 

Regardless of style, a well-engineered bracelet doesn’t need an on-the-fly micro-adjustment system to be comfortable to wear. The science to a good bracelet is the length of the links which is more or less equal to the number of micro-adjustment holes found on the clasp. The bracelet of the Hesagraph MkII had a similar clasp and bracelet and I never felt I wished it had a better adjustment system. Further, old-school clasps are thinner and shorter and therefore very much comfortable to wear. That’s it. With a 7mm screw-down crown and case-back, the Aquatìc MkII comes with 200 meters of pressure-tested water resistance, an ultra-domed sapphire crystal with clear inner AR, a Miyota 9000 series caliber inside, I assume a 9039 (4Hz/41 hours of power reserve,) and a 120-click unidirectional bezel endowed with precise clicks, a glossy aluminum insert with a lumed pip at the twelve, and a wavy-faceted finger-gripping pattern to actuate the bezel. 

The latter functions well above water, less so below it. 

Design 

Bouncing off the above comment regarding the bezel insert performance, though the HTD Aquatìc MkII is a dive watch, it wasn’t designed or engineered to be used by navy divers. It was designed and engineered to be worn and used everyday by folks like you and I to do about anything anywhere, being a capable watch with a legible dial and great water resistance to perform well in all situations whilst looking subtly elegant and gently athletic. Which makes of the SpaceBoy a mid-range SUV and not a Humvee. (It’s been a while since I’ve dipped into car analogies!) Which is why we find, for the lack of more elevated words, a dropdead gorgeous case with a flat, elongated profile made so by the fully polished slab-sided flanks, the wide and beefy lugs and their polished inner sections, the unguarded crown, and the thin bezel. The Aquatìc MkII has a similar case design and profile as that found on the Hesagraph MkII and another model I photographed called the Tennis Sport. 

Remember that HTD Watches’ leitmotiv is the classic sports watch. And so the theme of the classic also inhabits the dial in two ways. First, the shielded 3-6-9 markers made of negative numerals surrounded by large sections of blue-glowing SuperLuminova (so I assume BGW9), paired with an inverted triangle at the twelve, long and narrow, and thickly applied baton markers everywhere else. All of the off-white color accents on the dial indicate the presence of  lume so you can easily, and rightfully so, imagine that nighttime legibility is really good. Second, all three hands are fully polished and stand out from the sandblasted matte black dial and overall matte-themed accents found on the latter, with pencil-style hour and minute hands and a thin seconds hand decorated with a narrow arrow-shaped element. All three hands are lumed with BGW9 as well though appear clean white during the day. So overall, a dial which won’t offend anyone whilst being easy to read day in and day out, and that’s the beauty of it. 

The Heart of the Matter

Not all dive watches need to be over-engineered. And not all divers need over-engineered dive watches. I will go out on a limb here and say that most WNA members who sport dive watches don’t dive, and that most decide to wear dive watches because they like the way they look and how versatile they are made by their inherent complete specifications. I don’t claim to know all members of our niche community, of course not, and I don’t mean to come across as being lazy for going for the overly repeated stereotype about desk divers. But I do know this: most friends I’ve made in the watch community over the past decade that wear dive watches don’t dive, and diving isn’t something all of us can easily do or have access to. Unless you live within a reasonable distance from the water, which only 10% of the global population does, then you won’t often find yourself diving. And you don’t have to dive to wear a diver. 

To put this within a personal context, I’m a certified recreational diver and the last time I went two meters below the waterline was a few years back. I live in a city and don’t venture near the sea regularly, and when I do, I don’t necessarily have the budget for a couple of dives. But I love to wear dive watches on a daily basis because they remind me of the passion I have for diving and the affinity I have for the sea. And they also make for the perfect daily companion regardless of what I do. So when I do dive, the HTD Aquatìc MkII SpaceBoy would be enough despite its less-than-ideal underwater bezel action because I dive with an instructor whose job is to keep track of time. In other words, the Aquatìc MkII would be perfect year-round and for the two hours in total I would allegedly spend in the water every so often, and surely look amazing all other times. 

Conclusion 

It is commonly said and agreed upon that dive watches are the most popular type of timekeeping device for their inherent visual and technical versatility. The screwed-down crown and case-back, more-than-sufficient water resistance, superlative daytime and nighttime legibility, and timing functionality of the bezel, do indeed provide us with everything we need for daily wear and reasonable adventures. The fact that HTD doesn’t specify which reference of caliber and blend of lume they use indicates that these tidbits of information do not matter because the Aquatìc MkII—although it is a capable timekeeping device—was created to be worn everyday and not solely to do maintenance on oil rigs or fix the the doors of torpedoes tubes on submarines. And for the asking $930 USD, this model can do it all for you discreetly and year-round. 

Thanks for reading.