REVIEW – You’re a scuba diver. You’re also a fashionista. How do you make both of those things work together, especially when it comes to your timekeeping tools on your deep dives? Boutique Swiss watch manufacturer, Nove, has the answer with their new Atlantean dive watch.
What is it?
The NOVE Atlantean is a dive watch that is certified water-resistant to a depth of 300 meters or 1,000 feet. It features an automatic movement and a striking abalone shell watch face.
What’s in the box?
- NOVE Atlantean dive watch
- Protective zipper semi-hard case
- Microfiber cloth
- Owner’s manual
- Warranty card
- Thank you card
Hardware specs
- Movement: Swiss Ronda R150 automatic
- Power reserve: 40 hours
- Jewels: 25
- Crystal: scratch-resistant sapphire
- Material (case, bezel, band): 316L stainless steel
- Dial material: abalone shell
- Water resistance: 30atm – 300 meters / 1,000 feet
- Case diameter: 50.5mm
- Face diameter: 30mm
- Case thickness: 13.95mm
- Weight: 8.5oz (yes, that’s more than half a pound)
- Luminous markings: Swiss Super-LumiNova GL C3
- Features: hour, minute, and second hand plus magnified date window
- Models: 1001-02 (silver) and 1002-02 (black)
Design and features
Let’s dig in, starting with the basic setup and a look at the design and features of this watch.
Setup
There are four aspects to setting up a watch like this. The obvious ones are setting the time and setting the date. A not-so-obvious one is getting the watch to fit your wrist. Another not-so-obvious one is unwrapping the watch. Unwrapping it? Yes! NOVE completely wraps the watch in a protective film ensuring that it arrives scratch and smudge-free. If you look closely, you can see the film on the NOVE Atlantean dive watch.
Now, on to the fitting. Why is that a big deal? Because NOVE knows that divers will wear this over really thick wrists that are covered with wetsuits. Therefore, this watch comes sized for HUGE wrists!
Lucky for me, I’m a watch guy and have a tool that makes it easy to pull pins and remove links from the band. NOVE thoughtfully puts pin removal direction guides on the links so you know which way to push the pins out. You can see the arrows on the left side of the links.
I removed two links from the band of the NOVE Atlantean dive watch and it fits great. Unfortunately, the angle of this photo makes it look like I had a horrible accident and lost all the fingers on my left hand.
As you can see from the photo above, this is not a small watch. It is considerably thicker than the last NOVE watch I reviewed, the NOVE Trident Dive Watch. With its 1,000-foot rating, it is a more serious tool. Of course, the fact that it weighs more than half-a-pound means you’ll always know it is on your wrist. I believe that simply checking the time should be counted as a curl.
Since we’re talking about fit, let’s check out the clasp as it has a pretty neat feature that allows you to tailor the fit.
The band has a dual closure deployment style clasp. To open, you flip up the tap on the right.
That then allows you to lift the exposed tab and release the clasp.
If we look under the clasp, can you see those jagged teeth? Also, check out that vertical bar that sits under the bar with “STAINLESS STEEL” written on it. There are tabs from that bar that stick out on the sides of the clasp.
You squeeze the tabs on the sides of the clasp. That system allows you to expand the clasp in five steps. This allows you to size the band in much smaller increments than removing an entire link in the bracelet. It’s a little thing, but it lets you get a more custom fit. That’s a nice touch.
As I mentioned, the NOVE Atlantean dive watch is a thick watch.
The back features an exhibition case back, allowing you to see the weight that rotates when you move your wrist, winding the watch.
On the right side of the case, we find the screw-down crown.
After setting the watch, you screw the crown down against the case, creating a water-resistant seal.
The crown, once unscrewed, has three positions that all do different things.
- Unscrewing puts the stem in the winding position – twisting it winds the watch if needed
- Pull out to one more detent and you are in date setting mode – twisting it changes the date
- Pull out to the final detent and the watch stops – you can then twist and set the time
- Push the stem back in and screw down the crown to lock up the watch and ensure its water resistance.
The face of the NOVE Atlantean dive watch is made from attractive abalone shell material. This means that each watch face is unique. In the “3” position, NOVE has included a magnified date window. Look on the right side of the watch, just above the crown. That looks like a lever. What does that do?
Divers need to know how long they have been diving so they can monitor their air. That’s why diver watches have a rotating bezel with time markings. But this watch goes one better, The rotating numbers are actually inside the watch, under the crystal. Lifting the lever releases the bezel, allowing you to spin the dial where you need it.
Once set, you press the lever down to lock the bezel in place and seal the watch.
Finally, all of the markings and hands have been coated in Swiss Super-LumiNova luminous material. Sorry that these photos are a little blurry – the camera has a hard time focusing in the dark.
Luminous material does not glow on its own – it needs to be exposed to light and then it will glow…for a while.
Performance
Since we were just talking about glowing, let’s finish up the subject. Luminous material just doesn’t glow for that long. I walked through brilliant central Florida sunshine as I walked to the movie theater. I couldn’t read my watch in the theater less than halfway through the movie. That’s not NOVE’s fault. It is just the nature of luminous material, even really good luminous material.
As for the NOVE Atlantean dive watch itself, it works well. Wearing it keeps the watch wound. It keeps accurate time – I didn’t notice any appreciable gain/loss over a couple of weeks of wear. I also tested that 40-hour power reserve claim. You know how manufacturer claims go, right? At 10:00 PM on a Friday, I manually wound the watch to ensure it was completely wound and then put the watch on the counter. The watch continued running until 4:20 PM Sunday. That was just shy of 42 hours.
As for water resistance, I’m not a diver and I don’t have any intention of going 1,000 feet down in the water. I did leave it in water for extended times and experienced no issues.
Based on spending a fair amount of time snorkeling with the NOVE Trident, I fully expect the Atlantean to perform as advertised. It will be coming along on a snorkeling cruise later this summer.
What I like
- Good looks
- Great water resistance
- Solid build quality
- Great price for a deep dive watch
What I’d change
- It is a little heavy, but it is purposely built like a tank to endure harsh environments and the weight did not make the watch uncomfortable to wear
- The luminous markings do not glow for a long time
Final thoughts
NOVE has been around since 2015. While they don’t have the name recognition or cache of Rolex, Breitling, Omega, and such, what they do have is a great line of quality timepieces with Swiss-made movements. If you like the idea of wearing a quality Swiss watch, NOVE should be on your short list of manufacturers to check out. If you are a diver, or just like the looks of a solid dive watch, the NOVE Atlantean dive watch is a nice addition to their offering and worth a look.
Price: $690 (silver), $710 (black)
Where to buy: NOVE (save 12% by using the code: GC12) and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by NOVE.
