Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Vintage Dive Watches And Their Modern Expressions

Divers are among the most influential and continuously popular categories in the world of watches. Today, we put our editorial team to the test, asking each editor to choose just one vintage dive watch favorite, and pinpoint a modern watch that is its contemporary descendant. Spanning from heritage heavy hitters to more unconventional quartz-powered references, down below, you'll find some of the most influential vintage dive watches in the game and the models that carry on their legacy into the 21st century. 

Mark Bernardo: Breitling Superocean "Slow Motion" Ref. 2005 (1964)

Image: Christie's

Few watchmakers these days can make a vintage design — even a nearly forgotten one — sing to modern audiences as well as Breitling, and the most recent interpretation of its Superocean luxury dive watch offers a prime example. 

In 1964, Breitling decided to improve upon the original Superocean, introduced in 1957, by doing what had long been its specialty  — finding new and interesting interpretations of the chronograph function. Up to that point, the few dive chronographs that existed were designed with the familiar arrangement of subdials to read elapsed times — but these small subdials were hard to read deep underwater. Breitling’s solution was a large, luminous central minutes hand for the chronograph instead of a central seconds hand. The hand made a complete rotation around a 60-minute scale once per hour instead of once per minute, which meant it was easy to read how many minutes you’d recorded underwater, in addition to the main time. The slow-moving seconds hand gave the model (Ref. 2005) the suitable nickname “Slow Motion.” 

Modern Expression: Breitling Superocean (2022)

The “Slow Motion” faded into the annals of history shortly after its debut, but the model — or at least its distinctive design — became the starting point for Breitling’s major reboot of its core Superocean line in 2022. On the new models, the central chronograph minutes hand has given way to a more conventional running seconds hand with a circular tip that pays a subtle tribute to the  6 o’clock “dot” on the dials of the 1960s and '70s models. The large, luminous square now finds a home on the main minutes hand, paired with a wide sword hour hand. The chunky square indexes, also a nod to the vintage models, are luminous-coated for optimum legibility. The dive-scale inserts on the bezels are made from scratch-proof ceramic. Despite boasting a very robust 300-meter water resistance, the latest generation of Superocean models is seen by Breitling as something beyond just a dive watch — suitable for surfing, swimming, or even just rocking at a beachside bar, as evidenced by the range of colorways available in the new collection. Now the inevitable question (well, at least for some of us fans) is whether Breitling will actually revive the “Slow Motion” chronograph display on future models.

Blake Buettner: Zenith Defy A3648

The Zenith Defy collection has a robust history of experimentation and innovation, and while the divers among these generally aren’t top of mind, they are an important part of the collection’s foundations. The Defy made a splash upon release in 1969, with a broad range of references that included the ‘bank vault’ A3642, a watch that lives on in Revival form in Zenith’s modern catalog. The Defy A3642 featured an impressive 300m depth rating, but had no rotating bezel, a detail now central to the dive watch identity. That would come with the A3648, a more focused dive watch variation of the Defy, which boasted a 600m depth rating, a rotating bezel, and a 4:30 crown position. This watch took the striking design a step further with vibrant orange accents and an arrow-shaped minute hand. It’s a look that holds up just as well today, and one that serves as inspiration for a new generation of dive watches from Zenith.

Modern Expression: Zenith Defy Extreme Diver

In 2023, Zenith introduced a modern Defy Extreme dive watch, a callback to the A3648 interpreted for modern functionality. The design picks up where the original left off, with a highly angular case, bright orange accents, and oversized hands creating a strong contrast for maximum legibility. The Defy Extreme diver retains a 600m depth rating and welcomes a quick-change strap system that allows for a range of materials to be used. This a modern watch that picks up the spirit of Defy as it was expressed in the late '60s, and it’s one of the most compelling modern dive watch designs as a result. 

Erin Wilborn: Heuer Professional 1000/2000 Series

The Heuer Professional 1000 and 2000 lines are a unique slice of the brand’s history, and, given that I have one in my collection (and it's my most-worn watch), it is quite sentimental to me. Created somewhat out of desperation in the post-quartz aftermath, the Professional line was something akin to Heuer’s Hail Mary, a direct pivot to embracing quartz and affordability. Originally launched in 1978, the mass-market formula proved to be quite successful, and, though the brand had water-resistant watches before, the Professional 1000 ref. 844 helped keep Heuer afloat and launched the more contemporary DNA of the brand’s dive watches to follow. The line continued after Heuer’s acquisition by Techniques d’Avant Garde in 1985, so, on the secondary market, you’ll find both pre-TAG models made before 1985 and TAG Heuer logo dials post-1985 and through the 1990s. 

Modern Expression: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph

In the brand’s contemporary catalog, the entire Aquaracer family is the direct descendant of the Professional series, and particularly the angular dodecagonal bezel and dial layout of hour pips and trapezoidal indices marking the hours, and the elevated bracelet options are right out of the Professional 2000 playbook. To me, the Solargraph models strike as the most spiritually connected to the Professional series, but with the upgrade of solar-powered quartz. Aesthetics and quartz aside, these models are also on the more attainable end of the price spectrum within the brand’s current repertoire, which also aligns with the foundational principles of the Professional of yesteryear.

Jonathan McWhorter: DOXA Sub 300 

Image: Craft + Tailored

The mid-twentieth century could be regarded as the golden era of dive watches, and is a well-trodden territory to pull inspiration for modern watches, if only for the incredible colors that watchmakers were using at the time for these heavy-duty tools of the trade. The traffic cone orange of the Zenith A3648 is an incredible example of this, as is the DOXA Sub. This genre of watchmaking, to me, is the epitome of function determining form, and is part of what makes the Dive Watch such a lasting and popular interpretation of the wristwatch.

Modern Expression: Doxa Sub 200T

The DOXA Sub was one of my earliest introductions to collectible vintage watches. Yet, if not my first, certainly the most memorable. The shield-shaped case, for one, is hard to forget. However, if that slips your mind, the orange dial will certainly leave an impression. My favorite modern interpretation of this watch is, in fact, not the modern Sub 300T, but the Sub 200T (specifically with the Divingstar Yellow dial, iconic configuration, no sunray). The 300T is a great example of a quality modern reissue, but the 200T just suits me better, personally. While I have grown to appreciate a larger-wearing watch these days, the 200T just nails the proportions and is much more wearable. 

The design speaks for itself: I feel like you either love it or leave it. This is a watch that is incredibly capable and will stand up to whatever is thrown at it while also bringing some character, and dare I say, even a certain amount of elegance to the table that can be hard to find from a tool watch. There’s nothing else that looks like a DOXA Sub, and it feels distinct, without jumping the shark(hunter).

D.C. Hannay: Tudor Submariner 9401

I’ve always had an affinity for the devil-may-care swagger of the Tudor Submariner, a watch that throughout its history has definitely seen some action. Given its initial conceit as Rolex’s more attainable sibling, Tudor wearers tended to be a bit less precious about handling their (often military-issued) watch with kid gloves, resulting in some great stories and pretty spectacular wear. And there’s nothing quite like the look of a well-worn Sub, especially those 1970s Reference 9401 variants favored by France’s Marine Nationale, the model that ushered in the “Snowflake” aesthetic. Although bright blue when new, many have aged to a ghostly gray with the ravages of time, and in my estimation, that’s when the 9401 is at its best. It doesn’t take much for my favorite watches to show signs of a life well lived, and I’m certainly no frogman, so why not embrace the journey? Quit worrying and wear the thing.

Modern Expression: Tudor Black Bay 58 925

Which leads me to my contemporary analog to the 9401, the Black Bay 58 925, perhaps the only dive watch in history to sport a case made from genuine silver. You might think that wearing a silver watch in an undersea environment is a terrible idea, and you’re not wrong. But Tudor’s proprietary 925 silver alloy was designed to resist tarnishing, and while silver, much like bronze, is a “living metal” and will show signs of age and wear, its fragility is somewhat overblown. Patina is the star attraction of the best Tudor Subs, and the 925 gives you a significant head start. And trust me when I say this: the silver case has a weight, substance, and downright otherworldly glow that you just don’t get with steel. While the dial layout of the blue Pelagos more closely resembles the 9401’s, it’s the coloration of the 925 that offers the faded feeling of a vintage timepiece. Not quite gray, not exactly brown, the monochromatic coloring of the 925’s dial and aluminum bezel insert does wonders to further that broken-in appearance. There really isn’t another dive watch quite like it, including the 9401 Sub, but for me, it’s less about a perfect visual match, and more about the feeling that certain watches evoke. And that feeling might be summed up for me (with apologies to Kubrick) as How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Patina.

Bilal Khan: Blancpain Bathyscaphe

Blancpain released the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe in the late 1950’s as a diver intended for use in submersibles rather than a pure dive watch. Seen as a more commercial take on the professional diver, the Bathyscaphe allowed for a smaller case size ranging from 34-38mm while retaining the bezel, crown, and diver robustness of the standard Fifty Fathoms. There were several iterations of the Bathyscaphe produced between the late 50s and 60s with case sizes coming in 34, 37, and 38mm iterations but this more attainable diver left a lasting impression as it came back as a modern iteration in 2013 with a growing collection since.

Modern Iteration: Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe

The modern Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe comes in a few variations including 38mm and 43mm case sizes for the time and date as well as a Flyback Chronograph and an annual calendar and moon phase iteration. Personally, it’s that entry-level 38mm iteration that is the standout model that is also the most true to the original. Measuring 38mm wide and 10.8mm thick with 300m of water resistance, this Bathyscaphe has just about everything you need and nothing you don’t from a more casual luxury dive watch.

The contemporary Bathyscaphe has a clean and legible dial along with a unidirectional ceramic bezel with hour-markers done in the Swatch Group’s proprietary Liquidmetal. The automatic caliber 1150 movement has a solid 100-hour power reserve with modern touches like a silicon balance spring. For me, this watch is the perfect balance of timeless design that isn’t too precious about its own “authenticity” while giving today’s buyers what they want. It’s just a classic at this point.

Danny Milton: Longines Legend Diver (1959)

Longine's two-crown compressor style, internal bezel design is iconic. It's the 1959 ref. 7042 that really started it all for the brand, and it's hard to believe that the original watch came in at 42mm in diameter. Influenced by pilots' watches with internal bezels, this watch became a real standout in the format. 

Modern Expression: Legend Diver 59

This year, the brand returned to its roots with the Legend Diver 59, which pays tribute to the 1959 original. While many fans were sorry to see it not come in at 39mm, the 42mm keeps the watch true to form. Longines even kept things aged with the use of faux patina to match the state one might find a 7042 in if they picked it up today. Dive watches come in all shapes and sizes, and Longines really landed on a winner when it designed this one. It works every bit as well today as it did in 1959.