And yet again I thought we had seen it all but we actually haven’t. In my recent review of the Arcange AS06 Salmon I talked about how, through watches, we can emulate a new version of ourselves, travel through time and space, and rewrite or write a new story about ourselves. And although the Arcange is a de facto classic and elegant looking timepiece, which is not the first type of watch you or I could gravitate towards, it holds tremendous psychological and emotional power. But rarely do I come across a watch that makes me travel whilst being home, feel a bit more culturally versed, and curious about places I haven’t been to. This is only possible if the brand has accurately translated the culture it emanates from into horological design codes we can instantly understand. And if the design doesn’t overtake the functionality of the watch or the specifications be the only story to be told. 

So let’s talk about Ianos, a relatively new brand created by Jacob Hatzidimitriou, and its latest creation the Dytis. The two previous collections Jacob designed, the Avyssos and Mihanikos, were nothing we’ve ever seen before, being both aesthetically unique whilst being mechanically very capable timekeeping devices. I didn’t get a chance to handle either models so I was glad to get my hands on the Dytis. And though I borrowed both versions, blue and white, I’m putting the emphasis on the latter for it appears to me to be one of the most singular looking divers I have ever seen. Because indeed the Dytis is a 300m diver complete with loads of lume and a good movement inside, beyond being a remarkable work of art in its own right. The Dytis retails for 1,850 CHF/$2,260 USD (excluding taxes) and is available for purchase started today,  April 25, 2025. 

Specifications 

It is a real privilege to write about a watch that looks so unique and which is also made to perform well in the environments its aesthetics call it to be put in. Here, the water, the sea, the oceans from Greece or anywhere in the world or in your backyard on the weekends or orbiting Earth on a spaceship. (See how far my imagination is taking me already?) For the Ianos Dytis is a dive watch with 300 meters of water resistance, a screw-down crown and case-back, a domed sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating, and lume-filled hands, hour markers, and pip on the bezel. It is also a lightweight underwater exploration watch made of Grade 2 titanium (the bezel too) which is covered by something Ianos describes as a “shotblasted” compound which means, as far as I know, that it was material-blasted where the material is of unspecified nature. Regardless of what it is, the case comes with a pearlescent matte finish which looks outstanding. 

The Grade 2 titanium case comes with moderately hefty proportions—between the modern and the traditional for divers—with a diameter coming in at 41mm, a lug-to-lug of 49mm, a thickness of 14mm (we will get back to this in a second) and a lug width of 20mm. The white strap you see on the photos is a single piece of rubber that has a grainy finish, is supple, and lodges itself perfectly in the middle of the case-back thanks to something Ianos describes as a “Strap Channel”—while I pride myself having my own way with words, “strap channel” perfectly describes what this is: a recessed channel which runs in the middle of case-back and within which the strap perfectly fits in order to eliminate the problem of added thickness with this type of fastening system. This is utterly genius and I wonder why nobody thought about it before as it does not at all affect the water resistance of the Dytis. 

So 14mm is generally considered to be thick by many watch enthusiasts but here it isn’t since the strap is part of the 14mm total thickness. (Typically, any single-piece NATO-style nylon or rubber strap adds a few millimeters to the watch so don’t come in here moaning about 14mm including the strap and the domed crystal.) Moreover, the lugs have a fixed construction which means the Dytis is indeed meant to be used and abused and that’s exactly what I want to do with it. Too bad though that I live in the suburbs of Paris where a polluted river is the only body of water I have to test the Dytis in. Lastly, this model is equipped with a Swiss made Sellita SW360-1 caliber which ticks at 4Hz and has 42 hours of power reserve. (The SW300 family of calibers are thinner versions of the ever so popular SW200 movements.) 

Design

It’s always best to stay clear of stereotypes in any and all circumstances, but I will dig into them here as I don’t believe I have a choice. Because Jacob proudly displays his Greek heritage and that the brand breathes and lives the worlds of ancient and modern Greece. Everything from the brand name—Ianos is the Greek God with two heads of the beginning and endings of things—to the model names—Avyssos which is Greek for Abyss and Mihanikos which refers to the beginning of sponge diving on the island of Symi—to the Evil Eye symbol of protection found on the dial at six o’clock to the colors used on both models of the Dytis. There is a lot to unpack here but first we will look at this model from a pragmatic perspective: its superlative legibility and pronounced utilitarian nature. Indeed the hands and hour markers are massive and therefore easy to see whether you’re diving at noon or shipwreck diving at night. 

The utilitarian aspect of the Dytis evidently come from the matte treatment of the Grade 2 titanium case and especially the grainy texture found on the unidirectional bezel—appearing almost like flattened volcanic rock or dense natural sponge, soft to the touch and visually striking, and separated from the crystal by a similarly treated fixed ring. The knurling on the bezel is well-machined and the bezel easy to grip and operate, and the grainy texture of the rubber strap perfectly matches that found on the case and bezel. The screw-down crown measures 6.2mm in diameter and is sandwiched by two rounded crown-guards, and the case-back received a similar treatment as the upper sections. So indeed we find a utilitarian looking diver whose technical aspect is matched, as we know, by an impressive list of specifications so that the hardcore divers in us can confidently take the Dytis diving. 

So now let’s discuss the unique design of this diver and how it is connected to Greek culture. First, the white and blue color schemes immediately made me think of the whitewashed homes of the Greek islands everybody I know seems to have vacationed in at some point in their life. You know the white houses with the blue roofs and windows? This is perfectly represented here as the white dial has a matte texture and the hands as well as any blue accent on the dial also come with a matte but grainy texture. (I hope you can see this on the photos for the blue surrounds of the hour markers and the Evil Eye disc for the running seconds.) The minute markers are designed to represent the kampanelopetra diving technique of freediving (where the diver returns to the surface by way of a rope) in the shape of circular blue stones. And if you know your flags well, then you would have spotted the 12 o’clock marker in the shape of the contemporary Greek flag. 

Last but not least, the case. Beyond its finish we already went over—what I described as being a pearlescent matte treatment which I know is a bit contradictory—the case is endowed with as much personality as is the dial. The lugs, for example, are long and wide and stubby, fully matte of course, but twist inward so that the space in-between each lugs narrows down towards the piece of rubber so as to visually and practically keep it steadily in place. This design of the lugs is quite neat to me as usually brands play with intricate alternations of brushed and polished surfaces to make it appear as if the lug changes course at some point in its design—but here it actually does. Furthermore, the lugs turn down abruptly towards the wrist which makes the Dytis comfortable to wear. The entirety of the case + bezel combo is striking and mostly so due to the various surface treatments they were endowed with. 

The Heart of the Matter

At the heart of the matter is the fact that the Ianos Dytis is a singular tool watch both in the ways it looks and how it’s made. Obviously, it is choke-full of visual clues which connect horology with Greek culture, heritage, and design. And where Jacob’s artistic inclinations shine the most is how he managed to create a balance between what is commonplace to find in a diver—a bezel, a legible dial, good lume—and what is unique to the brand’s philosophy—its Greek heritage. And here Jacob artfully integrated classical codes of Greek design—the Evil Eye, the colors, and the country’s flag—into that of a capable tool watch. He didn’t, for example, paint blue and white straps on the dial but instead used the 12 o’clock marker as the repository for the Greek flag. And he didn’t shape the hour markers in that of the Evil Eye, but used the shape of the latter to replace the commonly found thin seconds hand by a full disc which colors matches that of the rest of the dial. 

In other words, the Ianos Dytis is the epitome on how to showcase a culture onto a watch. 

Conclusion 

The Dytis is launching today, April 25, 2025, directly from the brand’s website for the not-so-modest price of 1,850 CHF/$2,260 USD. So here we go again talking about prices and how they relate to design—on which we cannot put a price tag—and specifications—on which we can. From a purely specs perspective, the Ianos Dytis is fully loaded—great lume, a good movement, 300 meters of water resistance, sapphire crystal, a great rubber strap, and a unique case construction and finish. From a design perspective, the Dytis is equally fully loaded with unique design traits and constructions, for example the stone-looking applied minute markers, the running seconds disc in the shape of the Evil Eye, and the rough-looking but soft-to-the-touch finishing on the bezel and the unique pearlescent treatment of the case, again connecting this model back to underwater exploration. 

So, how do you now look at the price of the Dytis from this perspective? Exactly. 

Thanks for reading.