To me, blue was the colour of selection for dive watches. However watch amassing is, if nothing else, an train in evolving style, and I suppose it was inevitable that one thing would come alongside and knock me out of my lane. That knock finally got here courtesy of Tudor and the Pelagos 39. In his Owner’s Review of the Tudor Black Bay ‘Burgundy,’ Zach talked about how the suitable watch can flip a swap, waking you as much as potentialities beforehand discounted. To steal a line from Zach, the Tudor Pelagos 39 “magically activated” a really particular want for me. After years of amassing, I used to be not simply open to the thought of a ‘fundamental’ dive watch — I wanted one desperately.
I used to be utterly taken by the Pelagos 39 however, as I’m certain you’ve observed, this isn’t a overview of that watch. The Pelagos 39 ignited a transparent need for me, however ultimately, it wasn’t precisely the suitable watch, no less than not for me. The Pelagos 39 had made it very clear that I had room in my coronary heart for a completely trendy, easy, black, dive watch; however as I spent extra time with the watch, I wasn’t completely bought.
However at the same time as I moved on from the Pelagos 39, the itch that the watch impressed by no means fairly went away. It was in that context that I walked by means of the doorways of Windup Watch Honest NYC within the Fall of 2022, and it was with newly opened eyes that I encountered — in particular person for the primary time — Vertex Watches. I used to be smitten.
My On a regular basis Watch
I’ve now owned the Vertex M60 Aqualion ND for a couple of 12 months and a half, and I’m not kidding after I say it has remodeled how I acquire watches. I didn’t purchase the Vertex proper after I first noticed it — I lastly picked mine up in the summertime of 2023 when the suitable items fell into place — however since I acquired my fingers on my Aqualion, it’s been what I’ve come to affectionately name my ‘residence base watch.’
It’s actually the watch I put on probably the most. Until I’ve one thing in for overview demanding wrist time, I most likely have the Vertex on two out of each three days. It’s the watch I attain for at any time when I simply want a watch, and each watch is taken into account in relation to the Vertex, to the purpose that within the weeks and months after I acquired my Vertex, I cleared out my watch drawer considerably.
Gone had been most of the Seiko and micro-brand dive watches, and out the window went most of my rugged, on a regular basis device watches (although just a few of these have since crept again in). Discovering a watch I used to be actually comfy carrying day in and day trip, paired with the admittedly lucky privilege of attending to expertise new watches usually, made me extra comfy proudly owning fewer watches.
It additionally, presumably counter-intuitively, made me get pleasure from my different watches extra. Having a straightforward on a regular basis selection makes the moments after I select to place one thing else on really feel extra deliberate, and with that intentionality comes (no less than for me) a larger sense of enjoyment. If I had been to supply up an analogy, my Vertex is sort of a actually good 24-70mm zoom lens.
Okay, what do I imply by that? Nicely, as many photographers will let you know, an incredible 24-70mm zoom lens is an effective selection for absolutely anything (although not essentially good for the whole lot). Once I was moving into pictures, the one piece of substances recommendation I acquired greater than some other was to get the most effective 24-70mm zoom I may, after which determine the whole lot else out later. It’s the definition of a flexible lens, as simply in a position to take a large panorama shot as a good-looking portrait.
However for pretty much as good and versatile as a 24-70mm could also be, it is going to by no means be as good for portraiture as an 85mm, or the go-to for a avenue photographer who prizes a large area of view and compact footprint. Particular instruments are superior (I for one could be misplaced with out a devoted macro lens), however they usually come up brief when confronted with a scenario they weren’t meant for. It’s in these areas, on these days the place you don’t fairly know what’s coming, the place an incredible zoom lens shines.
The identical is true of the Vertex. In a world the place James Bond has satisfied us all that we are able to put on a dive watch with a tux, the Vertex Aqualion is the proper companion — a watch I can put on nearly in every single place, even when it’s not at all times probably the most good match. I hate to fall again on a drained trope, however the actuality is the Vertex Aqualion is a watch I may put on to the seashore within the morning, and gown up for dinner at evening.
An Object Lesson In Getting the Particulars Proper
So what’s it in regards to the Aqualion that makes it so damned good? Merely put, the whole lot. To the smallest element, the Vertex Aqualion makes a case for itself as probably the most well-considered and well-executed watches I’ve but come throughout, handily competing with comparable watches costing many multiples of the Vertex — and it’s laborious to not examine it to different watches. The straightforwardness of the Vertex’s design virtually calls for it as a result of there’s actually no getting round the truth that, no less than from a distance, the Aqualion may simply be mistaken for any variety of immensely fashionable dive watches. However a faraway look isn’t practically sufficient to grasp the magic of the Aqualion — for that, it’s worthwhile to stand up shut.
Spec-wise, the Aqualion is the whole lot you’ll need from a contemporary dive watch. Its 40mm chrome steel case is water-resistant to a very pointless 600M, its no-date Sellita SW300-1 (with no phantom place) is COSC-certified, and — at 13.88mm thick and 49mm lug-to-lug — the Aqualion is, for a watch of its ilk, completely sized. That’s to not say that it wears small; quite the opposite, the Aqualion, regardless of comparatively compact dimensions, initiatives as an enormous watch. A part of that is all the way down to its bezel, which extends past the bounds of the case and measures in at slightly below 41.5mm on my calipers. It’s additionally not precisely what I might describe as a skinny watch, nevertheless it’s not at all thick (it’s thinner than a Pelagos and akin to a Pelagos FXD with a pass-through strap).
However actually, I don’t actually care about any of that stuff. Certain, I like that the M60 is as water-resistant as I’ll ever want and that its motion retains pretty much as good (if not higher) time than absolutely anything I personal with out a quartz motion or a radio antenna, however these aren’t issues I think about on a day after day foundation — I needed to search for the watch’s motion simply to get by means of writing the final paragraph. And as for the dimensions, I do know this gained’t be a watch for everybody. I do know loads of individuals who will say this watch is simply too massive, and I even know just a few who will argue it must be greater, however that is my watch, and to me, on my wrist, the Aqualion is ideal.
Apart from, the place the Aqualion actually units itself other than the pack isn’t on a spec sheet. As I’ve already talked about, it’s all within the particulars with this watch. The 60-click bezel, with its aggressive knurling sample taken off the rear sight adjuster of the WWII-era British Bren gentle machine gun, is well among the many greatest I’ve ever encountered. It’s exact, simple to grip, and strikes effortlessly whereas nonetheless managing to not slip. Plus it sounds wonderful — severely, the clicking on this factor is unbelievable. I take advantage of the bezel on my dive watches fairly always by means of the day, and a 12 months and a half on, it’s nonetheless an absolute pleasure. And did I point out that the matte ceramic bezel is totally lumed?
If I haven’t, I actually ought to, as a result of lume is without doubt one of the killer options of the Aqualion (hell, it’s one of many killer options of any Vertex. I’ve by no means owned a watch that glows so brightly, and so persistently. It looks like a second within the solar brings with it a comfortable inexperienced glow that lasts for hours. The markers are made from stable chunks of X1 Grade Tremendous-LumiNova — each the brightest and longest-lasting grade of Tremendous-LumiNova — whereas extra conventional implementations are used on the fingers, bezel, and even on the bracelet. This welcome overabundance of lume has been a Vertex signature for the reason that model relaunched practically a decade in the past, and it’s laborious to place into phrases how excited I nonetheless get after I see this factor lit up.
The three-dimensional luminous markers additionally assist so as to add a welcome little bit of depth to the watch’s dial. The structure of the Aqualion’s dial is comparatively sterile, with simply three strains of dial textual content (together with a crimson depth ranking), and little else moreover the markers and the minute observe. The Aqualion drops the total Arabic numerals discovered on most different Vertex fashions and as an alternative opts for Arabic numerals paired with small triangles on the cardinal positions, and baton markers at each hour. All that is rounded out with a pair of contemporary sword fingers, and a teardrop seconds hand.
Out of the field, the Aqualion presents you with just a few choices for find out how to put on it. The watch comes with three strap choices: an excellent and sturdy three-link bracelet, an additional lengthy navy-blue single-strand nylon woven strap, and a completely spectacular black rubber strap. The bracelet and nylon strap are each nice, however for my cash, the way in which to go is the rubber strap. As I’ve spoken about before, once I find the right strap combo for a watch, I’m not really one to swap out straps, and the rubber possibility included with the M60 works so effectively, I’ve not but give you a compelling motive to put on it some other manner.
That mentioned, when you do select to vary straps, that’s the place you’ll discover one of many Aqualion’s sneakiest and greatest tips: twin mounting holes for spring bars. Till I acquired the Aqualion, I had no thought how good an thought this was, nevertheless it’s an absolute game-changer. A lot about how a watch wears comes all the way down to how its strap is positioned relative to the case. Watches whose mounting factors are too excessive and tight to the case make pass-through straps a problem, whereas the inverse is true for two-piece choices. By together with each on the Aqualion, Vertex has successfully solved the fitment drawback for straps, whereas additionally primarily including micro-adjust to each strap in your strap drawer.
Put all this collectively, and there’s not one factor in regards to the Aqualion I might change. Really, that’s not true, there’s precisely one factor I might change. The clasp of the bracelet is absolutely laborious to make use of. This will sound extra like a praise than a knock, however the tolerances are simply too tight, and it’s laborious to open the bracelet clasp. However Vertex has since launched an up to date clasp, one far kinder on its customers’ fingers, and Don Cochrane, the model’s re-founder (and great-grandson of the model’s authentic founder) has assured me that the brand new clasp is suitable with my present bracelet — it even has micro-adjust. I’ve gotten to attempt it out on a number of events now and might guarantee you that it simply solves what was the M60 Aqualion’s solely ache level.
A Traditionally Nice Diver
Within the 18 months or so since I’ve owned my M60, I’ve gotten to see lots of people expertise a Vertex for the primary time, and, with out fail, the very first thing they discover is — fairly merely — nothing particular. Most each time I’ve taken the watch off my wrist and handed it to somebody, their instant response has been “Oh wow, this factor is absolutely good.” And once they do lastly get round to noticing one thing, all of them appear to note one thing totally different; with the Aqualion, everybody’s eyes appear to be drawn in a special path.
Some name out the lume, whereas others discover the bezel. Nonetheless others name out the cohesiveness of the watch or the consolation. For my cash, my favourite factor in regards to the Aqualion is how effectively it synthesizes classes realized from over half a century of dive watches right into a smooth and up to date bundle.
It’s laborious to disclaim that the Aqualion owes rather a lot to dive watches that got here earlier than it. The structure of the dial itself jogs my memory vaguely of early Seamaster divers, and the teardrop seconds hand and Aqualion motif on the caseback do little to shake the Omega connection. And basically, there’s a variety of Submariner and Sea-Dweller at play within the design of the Aqualion. However whereas the M60 Aqualion ND owes rather a lot to all these watches and extra, ultimately, it looks like totally its personal factor. It’s like Don took a Sub, a Pelagos, and a Planet Ocean and rolled all of them into one watch, earlier than including a little bit of his personal aptitude and care to the combo.
I can’t say for certain that the Aqualion will at all times be my residence base watch — I do know sufficient to know that my tastes evolve an excessive amount of for that — however I can say that after a 12 months and a half on my wrist, I’m not even a bit of bit uninterested in the M60 Aqualion. Vertex
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