Even though we are in the intermediary period between summer and winter, therefore between living outside sporting t-shirts and shorts and comfortably cocooning in our warm bed wearing polar pyjamas, here we are again looking at a dive watch. And that makes sense because submersible timekeeping devices are equally apt for summer and winter, as well as spring and fall, on account of their mechanical and aesthetic versatility. This is why we wear divers all the time and that they often appear on the wrists of our friends and celebrities skiing in the Italian Alps or jet skiing off the coast of Venice Beach. And even though a little internal voice exclaims I don’t need yet another diver when seeing images of a new one, well we ought to ignore this warning because watch collecting doesn’t make sense—it’s a passion and hobby, not a business plan or sound investment. So…we should buy what pleases us and what we can afford.

Somewhat in parallel to the above: the ways in which dive watches function and look (generally speaking) have been codified in the 1950s and rarely do brands venture too far outside the well-traveled paths of horology when designing a new diver. While we should welcome avant-garde thinking and outside-of-the-box creativity, I for one appreciate classically shaped and looking tool and sports watches because they blend in more easily with my standardized outfits and meh daily activities. So I like dive watches, you like dive watches, and they do too, and perhaps we’re all looking for a well-rounded diver which strikes the perfect balance between visual blandness and luxury extravagance. And you have guessed it already, I have for one you today: the Mark & Mors Opera Viva Red Dawn, a €1,250/$1,468 USD diver which presents a healthy spec list and certain unique design elements which we’re about to take a close look at. 

Specifications 

Whether this is your first or tenth visit to Mainspring, and whether you are green in horology or a world-renowned watch expert, you probably already know that divers are known to be robust tool watches. Given their intended purpose of being submerged several or many meters below the surface, they are naturally engineered so that water doesn’t at once penetrate the case and ruin the movement, at least not before you reach X meters in depth. Watch Wisdom dictates that a proper dive watch should have 200 or 300 meters of water resistance irregardless of whether or not this makes sense or that you would ever need it. But should you indeed need it or care too much about this, rest assured that you won’t have to worry about this with the Opera Viva Red Dawn as it comes with a 300-meter depth rating thanks to a screw-down crown and closed case-back. That is enough of it and cool given the case dimensions of 39 x 48 x 12.4mm. 

Because the greater the water resistance the thicker the case must be so that it is better at withstanding the increasing pressure the further down you go. More metal means more physical resistance, and generally the thicker the crystal and case-backs which tend to bend inward as the pressure rises. All of this is to say that 300 meters of water resistance is very good in a case measuring 12.4mm in height. So within that nice body of brushed and polished stainless steel (more on that later,) we find a Sellita SW200-1 Élaboré (4Hz/±38 hours of power reserve) which is factory-regulated in three positions to run at ± 7 seconds/day (up to ±20 seconds/day.) This is a neat choice of a caliber for a diver retailing at €1,250/$1,468 USD even though there is much more that goes into factoring in this observation. For example the ice-blue glowing BGW9 is very generously applied on the hands, applied markers, and from 0 to 20 minutes on the ceramic bezel insert.

The bezel also comes with 120 smooth yet precise clicks of the ball-bearing type of mechanism, with a unidirectional rotating action, making it a solid piece of equipment for a proper diver. Complementing the seemingly good package we get a three link, Oyster-style stainless steel bracelet tapering from 20mm at the lugs to 16mm at the clasp, equipped with polished center links, brushed outer ones, screwed links (with particularly thick screws,) and an old-school push/pull deployant clasp with a safety latch and four holes of micro-adjustments. From an engineering standpoint, the clasp isn’t anything worth writing home about, however, it comes with the visual benefit of looking classic (which matches the design of the Opera Viva) and of being comfortable to wear. What this watch lacks in the bracelet technology department it more than makes up for in the design and finishing department as we’re about to see.

Design

A very human habit we have is to categorize everything we see (and experience) so that it’s easier to talk about it. So I’m going to do just that. The Mark & Mors Opera Viva Red Dawn is (1) a diver, (2) a classic diver, (3) a sports watch, and (4) an elegant sports watch. These are good things for a watch to be in my opinion because you are not all as attracted to military-esque tool watches as much as I am—alas—and because sometimes it’s nice to wear something a little bit more…urban. So visually, the Opera Viva is indeed elegant and dressy even though it is a tool watch at its core on account of the dial and case design. (The bracelet too I suppose given the polished center links as it does pair well with the rest; but the former two elements really stand out to me.) And before we continue, know that the Opera Viva also exists in two other colors which are more classic and agile than the Red Dawn: black (Night Sea) and blue (Blue Wake.)

Let us therefore first slow down to dissect the dial, and here already we see a couple of design elements which can be categorized as being proper to Mark & Mors and the Opera Viva: the hour and minute hand design as well as the twelve o’clock marker. The hands are shaped like really big pencils, a shape we are all very familiar with, but which are made of a line which bisects them in their center. Apparently, the hands were designed in this way to represent the underside of a ship—the line being the keel of the hull—in other words, as if we were diving and looking up to see a watercraft cruising above us. I think this is very neat, that it looks great, and that it makes for a unique visual spectacle. The fact that the hands are also entirely polished emphasizes their singular design as well as endowing them with a pronounced classic elegance, which is also the case of the needled-shaped seconds hand complete with a lumed lollipop element. 

The twelve o’clock marker goes hand-in-hand with the zero index on the bezel insert, the former sculpted like two truncated monoliths forming a v-shape to which the latter, composed of a circle and triangle (the upper and lower case Greek Delta symbol) paying tribute to the Po Delta in northeastern Italy—where the Opera Viva was born—can join. In other words, the bezel index fits within the twelve o’clock marker and also evokes the idea of a ship sailing the seas. So not only did Mark & Mors put a lot of meaning to these unique design elements, but they are also exquisitely executed and finished, something we’re about to find again with the rest of the Opera Viva. This is true when looking at the brand’s logo composed of three leaf-shaped stylized “M” which refers to the names of the three brand’s founders. And that logo is also finely made and polished and looks superb as each “M” is faceted and so refracts light at any angle with great intensity. 

The rest of the dial is equally well designed and finished, for example the hollandaise sauce-colored creamy dial comes with a fine sandy texture which looks metallic, all the applied markers are finely polished, and the 4:30 date aperture features red printed numerals on a color-matched date disc so that it blends in and is easy to read. But we must talk about the case and we’re running out of time: I love the 4 o’clock fully polished, deeply knurled, and decorated crown; the serrated coin-edge shaped bezel which is easy to grab and operate; but more importantly the boar-hoof-shaped muscular lugs which are long and wide and curve inward at their end, paired with massive polished chamfers sitting atop a slightly teardrop-shaped mid-case where it curves down at the lugs. I’ve never seen a case designed this way and I love it. And again look at how massive the mid-case indeed is and how the equally massive lugs drop down towards the wrist. 

Shoot, I could have written 1,000 words just about those lugs and case. 

The Heart of the Matter

But we must stop our analysis of the Mark & Mors Opera Viva Red Dawn’s design as I must now gather my thoughts about what the heart of the matter is. So what is it? Well, on the one hand, the Opera Viva is a robust and professionally spec’ed out tool watch—300 meters of water resistance, excellent lume, a precise and functional bezel, a reliable and accurate caliber, and an overall great wearing comfort—and on the other hand, it both looks ultra classic whilst showcasing some unique and fine design details—the twelve o’clock marker, the zero bezel index, the hour and minute hand design, and the case profile (about which I should have said more.) So the Opera Viva is something worth taking a closer look at and not dismissing at once solely on the basis of its commonplace design—which could bore some people—or its ambitious price tag of €1,250/$1,468 USD—which could upset micro and independent watch snobs. 

Therefore, Mark & Mors did bet on revisiting the classics while taking some risks, embarking on a narrow path which could make it tricky for some to pull the trigger on an Opera Viva. But should you decide to do so, I can tell you that you won’t be disappointed by its mechanics, manufacturing, and finishing, and if you like the way it looks, then you have therefore found your next daily diver. 

Conclusion

The competition for submersible tool and sports watches is more tough today than it has ever been, because each year more of them come to market and are added to the already long list of divers that were already there. So starting a watch brand with a diver for a first model is ballsy, even more so above the $1,000 nervous-breakdown-inducing price point, but better go big or go home as the saying goes. So I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Mark & Mors Opera Viva Red Dawn and I encourage you to read more about it on the brand’s website. 

Thanks for reading.