Today the winner of my personal quest for a dive watch under $1,000 arrived. I chose the Benarus GMT World Diver – a heavy, bead blasted (there is a brushed version too) 45MM watch with a black bezel. It has amazing lume – Breitlingesque if not better. But what sold me was the array of straps included – 2 rubber, a black Zulu, a black leather w/ white stitching, an olive drab canvas and a bead blasted mesh bracelet. I’ve been wearing it on the Mesh for a couple hours and were it not for being spoiled by the Breitling Ocean Classic would say this was perhaps the most comfortable bracelet I’ve worn.
The dial is black with lumed arabics and batons and the bezel is black with lumed indices. I chose this out of many for the simplicity of design, functionality, array of straps, and last but not least the torching lume. I wouldn’t want to be trying to hide at night with this on.
It comes in a zippered canvas 4 watch travel case and barely qualified at “under $1000.” I suppose it’s pretty basic, but that is exactly what I was looking for. Steve Laughlin in Kansas is the contact for Benarus in the USA and, I believe, the designer. I ordered it Saturday evening, received an email Monday that he had been camping for the weekend, and received the watch before noon today(Tuesday). Not bad. The same cannot be said for my pics – they are typically weak.
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