Citizen Tsuyosa Shore

Citizen has added a rotating bezel and bolder dial to the very popular Tsuyosa, and this one is dubbed the Citizen Tsuyosa Shore. While at first glance it looks like a dive watch, it’s more what one would call a dive-style watch, or maybe a sports watch. Why not a true dive watch, and why bother with the bezel at all? My guess is just another variation of the Tsuyosa, as it’s been quite a big seller for Citizen since debuting in 2022 as an extremely affordable homage to the Rolex Datejust and Oyster Perpetual. This Shore model has the look of a dive watch, without being a true 200m diver, but let’s face it, many who buy dive watches never dive, and this Tsuyosa Shore is quite an attractive watch. While not a diver, it does have 100m water resistance along with an automatic movement and a sapphire crystal.

Specifications

40mm Stainless Steel Case

22mm Lug Width

45.3mm Lug to Lug

12.5mm Thick

164 Grams

Sapphire Crystal 

Aluminum Bezel Insert

3 Link  Bracelet (3.4mm Thick)

Push Button Clasp

Miyota 8210 Automatic Movement

Blue Green Color

Price from Sakura Watches: $304

MSRP $495

https://www.sakurawatches.com/citizen-collection-tsuyosa-nj0231-56l

This Citizen Tsuyosa Shore is based on the original Tsuyosa model, sized at 40mm with a 45mm lug to lug, and a barrel-shaped case and integrated bracelet/lugs. It currently comes in 4 colors, shown below, and I believe Citizen refers to this color as green blue, and in certain stock pics online, it can look more like a turquoise or aquamarine color, but it’s actually more of a subtle blue green, and I call it ocean blue. It definitely is lighter than the navy or standard model they sell. At this time, these are the only four colors.

The 4 colors of the Tsuyosa Shore

Case design and finish have remained the same on the Citizen Tsuyosa Shore. The barrel-shaped case, brushed steel on top, but the case sides are highly polished, as well as the edge of the rotating bezel and the push-pull crown. The crown remains unsigned, but I have to say the finishing here for a watch that is selling for the $300 pretty regularly, is really well done. Nice brushed lines, while high polish is prone to picking up marks and scratches more easily, this Tsuyosa model does not look all marred up, at least not with the time I spent with it. I love the case shape as well, especially from the side profile; it’s a flat slab with unique downturned ends, which flow nicely into the integrated lugs.

Of course, the big change here from the regular Tsuyosa model is the rotating bezel, and the dial has more sporty style hands, bolder and thicker polished hands, and thick applied rectangular indices. It has a gorgeous sunburst dial, really grabs the light, and because of that, the more light that is on it, the more it can give the dial that greenish hue. The carryover from the original Tsuyosa is the date magnifier, not my favorite on any watch, but it doesn’t look horribly out of place on this piece.

The bezel insert is aluminum, more than sufficient at this price point, and it really matches the dial well, both in color and material. And more interestingly, is the action of the bezel. Unlike the Citizen Promaster Dive, which has a 6o click unidirectional bezel, Citizen gave this Citizen Tsuyosa Shore a 120 click bezel, and the action is better in my opinion compared to the aforementioned dive watch.

The Shore has a budget movement, the same movement as the standard Tsuyosa, the Miyota 8210, and this is the latest version of the movement, which hacks, a big improvement over the older versions. And you can see the movement through the exhibition case back, though I believe the crystal here is mineral, not sapphire.

While there is lume applied to the dial indices and hands, the hands will glow a bit longer than the indices, and of course, the triangle on the bezel is not lumed at all. There’s lume, it’s decent, but don’t buy this watch for the lume at all.

The bracelet is solid, a good heft to it, matter of fact, I feel the Citizen Tsuyosa Shore is a solid feeling watch throughout, and more solid than I was expecting for a watch like this. The center links and high polished as well as the bracelet sides, the links are held together with the pin and collar system, and the links are 3.5mm thick. The clasp is pretty basic, a push-button style, though it does have a machined hinge opening, and is not stamped.

The fit of the Citizen Tsuyosa Shore is excellent. Even though it’s only a 40mm watch with a short lug to lug, I don’t find this watch to look small on my 7 1/2 inch  (19.05cm) wrist at all, and from the factory it should fit up to an 8 inch wrist. The bracelet flows perfectly from the case, and it’s extremely comfortable while looking good.

At full retail of $500, there are a lot of options out there these days from factory brands, microrands, and of course, buying grey market. At $304, its current price from Sakura Watches, this Citizen Tsuyosa Shore is not a bad deal at all. It has the look of a dive watch, has enough water resistance for day-to-day activities, and the design is suitable for both casual and dress, especially if you opt for one of the two-tone versions.

I was mostly surprised by the heft and overall build quality of this watch. For whatever reason, I was expecting a watch that was lightweight and rattled, and this is anything but. I’m still not sure what to classify this watch as; it looks like a dive watch, but it’s clearly not. It’s much better built than most fashion watches. Whatever the category, I do really like this Tsuyosa Shore, much more than I thought I would.

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Yema Navygraf Phantom

The Yema Navygraf Phantom is a limited edition of 200 pieces, which takes the standard Navygraf and gives it a stealth look with an all-black IP case and bracelet, a vertical brushed dial, a black matte ceramic bezel insert, and the Yema Manufacture Movement CMM.10, which can be seen through a tinted sapphire exhibition case back. It retains the iconic yellow hands that the Navygraf has become known for, and this is a more straightforward, and some would say sleeker, dive watch than the Superman Diver. With the Yema movement and only 200 pieces being made, it’s not exactly cheap, and it brings up $1000 more than the standard Navygraf at $2,099.

Specifications

38.5mm Case IP Black Plated

46mm Lug to Lug

19mm Lug Width

11..05mm Thick (excluding crystal)

2.5mm Double Dome Sapphire

132.5 Grams

Matte Ceramic Bezel Insert

300m Water Resistant

CMM.10 Manufacture Movement

H- Link Black IP Bracelet

Price $2.099 USD

https://yema.us/products/yema-navygraf-phantom-cmm-10-limited-edition-21-26-10-66-snl-m6

I have always had a fondness for the Yema Navygraf, as I love the vintage aesthetic to it, which is, of course, intentional, as it’s a recreation and redesign of the Navgraf model from the 70s, and this modern collection serves as an official partner for the French Navy. While the Superman diver is unique in its own right, I have always liked the classic and slim lines of the Navygraf and just always found the case and dial to be a very pleasing design, a design that can easily be worn daily, while also being 300 meters water resistant and ready for the sea or ocean, if one chooses to do so.

This Yema Navygraf Phantom takes it up a few notches, more so than I originally thought, and there are more differences from the Heritage model than I realized, which I guess justifies the $1000 price difference between the two models. The Heritage has a date window, an SW200-1 movement, a Hesalite domed crystal, and the bezel inset is enamel, and has a pretty standard flat painted dial.

This Phantom model, beyond the all-black case and bracelet, has no date due to the CMM.10 movement, for more dial symmetry, a vertical brushed black dial similar to the Superman Skin Diver I reviewed a few months ago, a double dome sapphire crystal, and a matte black ceramic insert.

I really admire the overall look of the case; it has a very industrial look about it, sharply defined lines, an all brushed case, vertical brushing on top with horizontal brushing on the case sides, and just a hint of high polish with a thin chamfer running down the top edge of the case. I also love the integrated crown guards and the taper from the lugs to create said crown guards, and the fact that this case is just a touch over 11mm, especially for a watch that is rated 300m. Despite this only being a 38.5mm case (more on that in a bit), the crown is still large enough and easy to grasp with my medium to large-sized hands, and has a great feel about it.

Same with the bezel. This is a steel bezel with the matte black ceramic insert, and while there are numbers and hash markers engraved on the bezel, Yema chose to stay with the phantom theme and only lumed or colored in the triangle 60 mark. This bezel, unlike the Superman divers, does not lock, so it’s your standard 120 click bezel, and yet I find it to be a great bezel with great action, easy to turn but not loose, and very crisp and precise.

The dial of the Yema Navygraf Phantom retains the now iconic yellow hour and minute hand, and has a tapered stick second hand, as well as the exclamation point marks, which are not exactly old radium lume paint colored, but more of a pale yellow. No date window here, which I personally like because it does not interrupt those markers, and I am just a sucker for no-date dials anyway. The big upgrade with this dial is vertical brushing, which I could just stare at all day, and looks great with that 2.5mm thick double dome sapphire above it. The dial is a definite upgrade over the standard Navygraf.

Turning the watch over, though, things start to get a little wierd. Yema chose to show off their CMM.10 movement here, which I understand as they are proud of their movement, and with great accuracy and a 70 power reserve,  they should be. That said, for some reason, they chose to do a black-tinted crystal, which I show in the above video, just how much this blacks out everything, unless you get just the right light and angle to see the movement. It’s called an exhibition case back for a reason, so this had me scratching my head.

I also have an issue with the size of the case in proportion to the bracelet. This Yema Navygraf Phantom is listed at a compact, refined 38.5mm case, yet I measured it with my calipers at 39.3 from 10-4, and since my calipers were correct in measuring the lug width and bracelet, I am not sure how they came to that measurement.

And that brings me to the bracelet, which has a few issues. The lugs are 19mm, and the bracelet starts out at 19mm and then tapers immediately to 18 and then 16mm towards the clasp. My preference for larger watches aside, I just feel the bracelet is much too thin for the size of the case and feels really off balance.

My issues with the bracelet, unfortunately, do not stop there. This is a sample piece from Yema, and as such, I am not sure if it was not finished to the same standard as the production models. The coating is listed as black IP, not DLC, which I do find disconcerting, but the coating and finish do look good until you get to the inner links, which were clearly not coated separately; they were coated with the bracelet assembled, as you can see the rainbow mark between the links. This is not something I would expect to be on a $2000 watch.

It doesn’t end there, though, as this is a very basic clasp, functional with an old school dive extension, yes, but again, considering the price, and that it is limited, I expected the new Yema quick adjustment clasp, which is available on the Pearl Navygraf, which retails for $2500.

And because it was a sample piece, it did not come with any extra links, and was extremely tight on my 7 1/2 inch (19.05cm) wrist, and with issues I described above, along with not really being able to wear this Yema Navygraf Phantom for more than 5-10 minutes, I really did not enjoy how this Yema Navygraf Phantom looked on my wrist. I really like this design, but the thin bracelet width, coupled with the short bracelet, made it awkward-looking on my wrist. While this is a smaller watch, I do hope that production models come with more links; it would only fit up to a 7 1/4 inch (18.42cm) wrist.

On a brighter note, pun intended, the Super-LumiNova is pretty good on this Phantom model, especially considering these are painted markers instead of applied, and the thin area where it is applied to the hands. The second hand does not glow well at all, but it looks great in the dark with a nice bluish-green hue and lasts for around 4-5 hours.

The Yema Navygraph Phantom does have a lot going for it, and it has a lot of upgrades over the Heritage edition, more than I initially realized. I love all black cases and think the blackout theme works well for the Navygraf model, and I love the touch of color and contrast with the yellow hands and markers. The vertical brushed dial looks fantastic, and while I would prefer a bigger case for my wrist, this may be perfect for others. Everything is subjective at the end of the day. I do hope the bracelet links are evenly coated on production models, though, as I would be disappointed with an $800 watch with links like that, let alone $2100.

Yema 

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Canopy Field One

The Canopy Field One is the second watch from the young watch company, their first being a dive watch. Their take on a field watch is familiar but with some modern touches, such as a 1200 Vickers hard coating and Lumicast 3D numerals and indices. The design is similar to say a Hamilton Khaki field, but at $599 its much more affordable, and it is availbe in 4 colors, the green I have for review, as well as standard black, a blue, and a vibrant orange. The matching titanium bracelet has a tool-less on-the-fly adjustable clasp, and at 39mm, it’s a very wearable piece, and let’s be real, 39mm is a very popular watch size these days, so a smart move by the Texas-based company.

Specifications

Canopy Field One
Grade 2 Titanium case and bracelet
Clear DLC coating for hardness (1200 HV)
39mm case diameter
10mm case thickness
46mm lug-to-lug 
20mm bracelet width (lugs) tapering to 18mm (clasp)
99.6 Grams in Weight
100m water resistance
Miyota 9015 automatic movement
Double domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
Forged carbon case back
Tool-less micro adjust clasp
SuperLuminova LumiCast C3 X2 numerals and indices

Price $599 
https://www.canopywatchco.com/collections/field-one

I think many will agree with me that in the watch world,  at the top of the food chain is dive watches, and then right below it are field watches. Now I neither dive nor have ever been in the “field”,  and I am betting neither are 90% of the population of watch buyers, but field watches are extremely popular for a reason. For the most part, they are timeless in appearance, simple and clean, and they are watches that can be worn in almost any situation, a perfect GADA watch. I would say that this Canopy Field One fits the bill, though with the bead blasted case and bracelet, it’s a little too rugged for a stand-in dress watch, but otherwise, this is a great piece to wear every day.

And because it’s grade 2 titanium, its extremely ligihtweight at just a tick under 100 grams, the case and bracelet weight combined, and with a clear DLC hard coating, its one that you won’t have to worry about too much as that clear hard coating should keep it looking new for longer, and this is especially great for blasted titanium watches such as this, as they aren’t so easy to remove scratches from, as most any home remedy would damage the blasted finish further.

The case of the Canopy Field One has classic lines, an ever-so-slightly curved case but with straight lugs,  and this is also a very thin case at just 10mm, so very easy to fit under a shirt or coat cuff, and it won’t get in your way either when you’re out in the field or on a hike, etc. The crown does screw down, a decent size for this 39mm case, and it has a cabochon of sorts, with a forged carbon piece on the inside. Not sure if this is sapphire or clear resin coated, but it’s a nice touch with the metallic Canopy logo.

The dial has a light gravel texture, and again, this is classic field watch design here. It’s a well-laid-out dial, with a date at the 6 o’clock position, a 24-hour scale on the inner part of the dial, a tapered index-style hour and minute hand, and a thin second hand with a red arrow tip, giving it the only other pop of color, besides the white date wheel. The big deal here on this dial is the Lumicast 3D lume numerals and dots. This is something we are starting to see more and more of on affordable watches, and I’m all for it. One thing of note, the color of the dial is more of an olive or moss green than what is depicted on their website, but I do quite like the shade of this dial.

The back of the Canopy Field One has a cool suprise and that is a disc of forged carbon fiber, looks like a marlbed carbon fiber to my eye, but maybe its just a standard forged CF, but either way, its a solid disc, and on top is a sapphire crstyal, and attached to the underside of the crystal is metaliic foil for the logo and the specs, making it appear like they are floating. It’s a nice look, something different to see with a case back, and it seems that Canopy is quite fond of carbon fiber, as their first watch, the Wake one, had a forged carbon bezel insert as well. Inside is a Miyota 9015, which I will say, the rotor is not as noisy as I thought it would be, especially with a slim titanium case. I thought it would be really loud, but it’s not that noticeable to my ear.

Of course, with Lumicast X2 C3 Super-LumiNova, I was expecting this lume to be amazing, and for the most part, it is. It will glow, at least from what I tested, pretty strongly for about 5 hours before fading out. Initially, I was hoping this would glow pretty much all through an 8-hour night, but the reality is the dial is on the smaller side, and those little dots and numerals are just that, small, so I needed to adjust my expectations. It looks amazing in the dark, though, especially if it has a lot of light throughout the day.

On my 7 1/2 inch (19.05cm) wrist, this is an extremely comfortable watch. With the Canopy Field One being just under 100 grams and at 39mm, it really is a joy to wear, and for the most part, I forget I am even wearing a watch. While this watch only comes on a bracelet, putting it on a rubber, leather, or nylon strap would really make it feel like you are wearing nothing. The bracelet is an angled 3-link, has that more aggressive look, similar to bracelets we have seen from Helm watches and others, and it uses one-piece screws for the links, and has the on the fly adjustbable clasp, something that has pretty much become standard these days, at least with microbrands, and I’m all for it. I only needed one link out, though, so keep that in mind if you have a wrist larger than mine.

I said in the video review that I am quite fond of this Canopy Field One, and that is absolutely true. I love the texture of the dial, the Lumicast indices, and being a lightweight titanium watch with a hard coating, means I can wear this watch and not have to worry about babying it, and while the shade of green does not match the website, I actually much prefer this one, I wear a lot of olive or military green, a lot of camo etc, and this shade of green is one of my favorite colors. I think the black would be great as well, and blue is always a great dial color. The orange for this watch may be a little too much for me, but it’s nice that they have some color options to choose from.

It’s also hard to complain about the price. I’m sure some will, but at least from my perspective, this is a lot of watch for the money, and on par with what other microbrands would charge, if not a little under these days. I also get a Boldr and RZE vibe from this watch, especially with the Lumicast lume and the titanium with hard coating, but this model has a pretty classic field watch case, and I think that’s what I like most about this watch, how it manages to blend classic and modern, while still being a very attractive and functional field watch.

See more at Canopy Watches.

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Vaer G2 Apocalypse GMT

There are quite a few iconic watches from film. James Bond’s Rolex, the TAG Heuer Monaco worn by Steve McQueen in Le Mans, the Seiko 6105 Captain Willard from Apocalypse Now, and even Marty McFly’s Casio Calculator watch from Back to the Future. Another would be Marlon Brando’s Rolex 1675 GMT Master from Apocalypse Now (yes, two famous watches from the same film), and that’s what this Vaer G2 Apocalypse GMT was inspired by.

Marlon Brando with his bezel-less Rolex GMT Master

The GMT Master was Brando’s personal watch, and production was not sure it was appropriate for the film. They wanted him to take it off, but he removed the red and blue GMT bezel as a compromise, thinking it would be less recognizable with no bezel and on a leather strap. The opposite happened, and while the watch was thought to have been lost, it went up for Auction in 2019. Now, Vaer chose to do their version of this watch, but they made it their own. It’s a 39mm case with lyre lugs, crown guards, and a quartz movement, and it starts at $399.

Specifications

15ATM (150m) water-resistance rating

Locking screw-down crown

316L stainless steel

Single domed sapphire w/ AR coating

20mm lug width

39mm case diameter

Case thickness with crystal: 10.8mm

Lug-to-lug distance: 46mm

Weight: 75 grams

Swiss Ronda quartz GMT movement

40-month battery

FKM Ocean Strap

Multiple optional strap choices

Starting Price $399

https://www.vaerwatches.com/products/g2-apocalypse-gmt-39mm-usa

What’s fun and unique about this Vaer G2 Apocalypse GMT is that they didn’t go the standard homage route. I’ve talked about how the word homage, especially when it comes to watches, has just become a word that means copy these days,  and this Vaer is more of what homage actually means: it’s a tribute, inspired by, but you really wouldn’t confuse the original and this for the same watch.

Vaer has been using the lyre style case for years now, on their dive watches and GMT watches, but now they have added crown guards, the first watch of theirs to have crown guards, believe it or not. These crown guards mimic the round crown guards on the original 1675, but aren’t as stout or blocky, matching better to the twisted lug case. The crown is ibber though at 6.3mm, and it does crew down, and along with the 150m of water resistance, this is a watch that you don’t have to baby, and can be worn daily or in almost any situation.

The other area Vaer needs to tackle is the lack of a bezel. In the film, it was just a Rolex with the bezel removed, which was not an astecihc choice. Vaer chose to go with a radial brushed fixed steel bezel, with a slim polished edge. While a GMT without a bezel is a little odd, it’s not completely uncommon, and I like how they made this area wider and made sure to finish it in a way that would catch your eye. When you look at it, it doesn’t look out of place or like something is missing. It’s intentional, even if it really doesn’t serve a purpose.

The rest of the case is similar to other Vaer models using this case, brushed sides, a thick polished chafer running the top side of the case, and a polished crown as well.

The dial of the Vaer G2 Apocalypse GMT only comes in one dial color, matte black with old radioum or vintage color lume on the indices and hands. For the most part, this is pretty standard Vaer here; date at 6, sword hour and minute hands, a lollipop second hand, and of course, this one has a GMT hand. The GMT hand is orange and distinguishable from the second hand, though I do wish it were an arrow instead of just a rectangle.

Speaking of rectangles, you’ll see around the regular indices on the dial that there are small rectangle indices. These are the 24-hour indicators. Vaer chose to go this route instead of numbers, not sure I love it, but it is funky to say the least. I feel that at certain angles or in certain lighting, this is distorted because of the domed sapphire, and while it may keep the dial less cluttered, they could have just done the standard 24-hour numerals on the inner part of the dial, which, for me, would have been more functional. I think they wanted to have the GMT function, unlike the Rolex from the film, so this would be an actual GMT that can track two time zones, while still retaining the look of that bezel-less 1675.

Vaer is known for offering a lot of value, and as such, this G2 Apocalypse GMT comes with 2 straps. The catch is that there are only a few options that will keep it at that $399 price point. The default strap that comes with this watch is the FKM Ocean strap. There are other FKM options, as well as nylon Nato straps, leather straps, alligator straps, and bracelets. All will vary in cost, though, up to $200 more if you go alligator. So if you want to keep it at $399, pick one of the Nato strap options.

Vaer sent me the khaki single pass as the second strap, and well, that’s what it is called on the website, but this is a two-piece NATO-type strap, so they need to fix the description. The leather strap shown below is not from Vaer, but I put it on as Brando’s Rolex was on a leather strap, so I just wanted to show what it looks like. I like the look of the tan nylon NATO-style strap; it looks great with the old radium lume, but I would prefer a two-piece nylon strap, as I generally don’t care for nato straps. All options looked good on my 7 1/2 inch or 19.05cm wrist.

The old radium Super-LumiNova does look good with the black dial, and in the dark does glow well, but I still would have preferred X1 C2 lume, but I guess going old radium was a nod to this being modeled after a very vintage watch. The lume is not what I would have a 9/10 as the website does, but more of a 7/10, and should last about 4 hours or so in the dark.

This is a fun watch for sure, and I like how Vaer didn’t go the standard homage route like so many other brands would have, and made something more distinct. I also like how this Vaer G2 Apocalypse GMT is the first Vaer to have crown guards, and I hope we see this case being used in other models eventually, especially in the 42mm range.

Unlike many watch enthusiasts, I never fanwed over the movie or the original watch, which is why I dint really comment on it here in this article, but obviously if you are a fan of the movie and/or the watch, this is a pretty cool and unique tribute and taking the movie inspiration out of it, its still a solid GADA watch, and pretty affordable at that $399 price point, which is why at the time of publishing this article, it is currently sold out and slated for restock in July 2026. While I don’t have the connection to the movie, I do appreciate what Vaer did with this model; it’s a solid watch that mimics the original while also not taking itself too seriously.

VAER

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Luminox Pacific Diver

As soon as I saw this model, the Luminox Pacific Diver, I knew I wanted to review it. The Pacific Diver line is unique for Luminox, as it’s not only stainless steel and an automatic, but it also has a lumed ceramic bezel insert, and Super-LumiNova on the dial, and this one, the Midnight Mariner, does so with a full lume dial. Tritium tubes are still used as well, on the hands and with tubes around the chapter ring, so this has the most lume of any Luminox so far. The dial has a wave pattern, sapphire front and back, and 200m water resistance, as it is a dive watch. There are 3 automatic Pacifid Diver models, the others being blue or black dial, and both of those lack the lumed ceramic bezel. A bracelet version is available as well (blue dial), but this one comes on a cut-to-fit rubber strap, and pricing starts at $1745.

Specifications

42mm Stainless Steel Case

47.3mm 9-3 (including crown)

48mm Lug to Lug

13.2mm Thick

24mm Lug Width

123.5 Grams

Sapphire Crystal 

Lumed Ceramic Bezel

Full Lume Dial 

200m Water Resistant

Screw Down Crown

Sellita SW2001-1 Automatic Movement

Cut to fit Black Rubber strap with clasp 

MSRP $1825 
https://luminox.com/products/pacific-diver-automatic-midnight-mariner

Recently, I reviewed another Luminox, the Navy Seals 3001 Heritage, a very different watch than this one, and if nothing else, it does show the range of models from Luminox these days. The 3001 Heritage was a 43mm Carbonox case, and while it does contain a piece of carbon, most would refer to it as a plastic case, and I still think that’s what many think of when they think of Luminox watches, even though they have been making stainless steel watches for probably over 20 years now. This Pacific Diver is not only stainless steel, but it’s an automatic, and coupled with the ceramic bezel and this dial, it somewhat gives me Ball vibes, as this is not what I think of when I think Luminox.

Now Ball is very well known for Trititum tubes, as is Ball, but it’s the higher-end materials here, the sculpted case design, this is an upscale Luminox, no other way to put it. This is not your typical tactical piece, and there’s no plastic bezel, no Carbonox in sight, and unlike many, this is an SW200-1 automatic, not a quartz, which a quick look on the Luminox website shows that the quartz is mainly what Luminox makes, and automatics are used in only a few pieces, 3 models to be exact. This one is shown off through the sapphire case back, and if you’ve seen an SW200-1, you’ve seen them all. I am disappointed, though, that it doesn’t have a black rotor as depicted on the Luminox website.

The case is a familiar bumper case, or at least that’s what I call it, as the 9 o’clock side of the case has a bump similar to the crown guards at 3 o’clock, so it’s a very symmetrical case, and it’s a very sculpted-looking case as well. To create those bumpers, Luminox has these large cutouts on the side of the case, and these are pretty deep cutouts, and the design reminds me of a bottle opener. Again, this is not the type of case when you think of Luminox; even the top of the case has a polished chamfer, and the bezel edge is polished as well, to break up the sea of brushed steel. The crown is not massive at 6.9mm, but I still found it easy to use the screw-down crown, even with those large crown guards.

Moving back around to the dial, and all of the Luminox Pacific Diver models have a wave pattern on the dial, and if you look closely, you’ll see this wave pattern does go through the date window surround, odd, but it doesn’t impede your reading of the date. All colorways have applied indices and numerals; this Midnight Mariner full lume version has them filled with a black paint or enamel instead of the Super-LumiNova, as the dial itself is lume-coated. The dial text is kept to a minimum, and the Luminox logo looks good, applied as well, and all around the chapter ring, you find those tritium tubes.

The hour, minute, and second hands are brushed steel or nickel, and I really don’t love the look here. I feel they should have just gone with black-coated hands against this white dial, and the brushed finish contrasts too much with the polished surrounds of the applied indices.

The bezel and bezel inset are beautiful. The bezel has a great coin-edge grip, easy to grasp even with medium to large-sized hands, and it’s a 120 click bezel, and it’s just one of those bezels that are very satisfying to turn, with a good ratcheting feel. The insert is polished black ceramic, and possibly for the first time, the bezel is lumed, all the numbers and lines are filled with Super-Luminova, and the 12 o’clock space is occupied by a tritium tube in a round chamber.

And yes, the dial of this Luminox Pacific Diver Midnight Mariner has a lot of lume, possibly the most lume ever produced by Luminox, but there are a few things to note here. These are smaller tubes, and like all tritium tubes, they glow best in full darkness. Super-LumiNova, on the other hand, if it’s been charged through the day or was just in a bright lit area, will glow in dim as well as complete darkness. So, if you are outside, for example, and walk into a dimly lit area of your house, you’ll see that full lume dial and that lumed bezel. 5 hours later, that lumed dial probably won’t be glowing, at least not anywhere near as strong, but those tubes will be. What you are getting here is the best of both worlds: a watch that will glow in both dim lighting and complete darkness.

There are 3 colors of the Luminox Pacific Diver, and as I said, this is the only one with the lumed dial and bezel, and there’s another big difference between the 3 as well; only the blue dial comes on a bracelet. This Midnight Mariner and the black dial are sold with a rubber strap, and it’s a candy bar style natural rubber strap, molded with the Luminox name and branded underneath as well, and has a simple stamped dive clasp, though the deployment is milled. I quite like the look of the strap, but the big issue I have is that you need to size it, and that means get out that razor blade, measure twice, and cut once. It’s a large strap, much larger than my 7 1/2 inch or. 19.05cm wrist, but I wish they had gone with a standard hole strap and clasp, or possibly designed a new no-cut strap.

I do love how it looks on my wrist; it’s a 42mm case, and the lugs and strap width are 24mm, which is again, not normal for a 42mm watch, but at least to me, this does not feel like a very large or wide watch. I know that will be different for everyone, and the trend is smaller watches for a lot of brands and a lot of customers, but I love this 42mm case for my wrist. The case does have the faux end piece lugs though, which I don’t mind with a rubber strap, but the 24mm bracelet does not have solid fitted end links, and at least from the photos Ive seen, I’m not a fan. The bracelet also costs $216, as you can not get a bracelet or a strap.

I’m definitely glad I got to review this Luminox Pacific Diver, as this really is a departure for the brand, and for the most part, in a very good way. If you have always thought of quartz plastic case watches when you think of Luminox, this one shows you that’s not all the brand does these days. As I mentioned in my last review, Luminox prices have sure gone up, but so has everything else. At $1825, my only grip is that cut-to-fit strap; if this Midnight Mariner came with a bracelet for the $1825, it would be very much in line with any other watch at this price.

All of them combine Tritium with Super-LumiNova, which is not common for Luminox or any other brand, for that matter, and this one, having the full lume dial with the lumed ceramic bezel, does put it over the edge. It may not be the most tactical piece, but it is sure an attractive piece from Lumionx, and I hope to see more diversity in their model lineup in the future.

Luminox

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