[quote:amanico]
The choice of materials like the titanium grade 5 for the case, avoiding a certain weight to this big watch, and the ceramic for the bezel, which makes it more resistant to scratches, contributes to the interest of this watch, whose originality is, again, to be an Alarm Diving Watch, faithful to what may be now called a Tradition at JLC.
Is this a perfect watch, so far?
In terms of legibility, and functionality, it is a very good watch.
In terms of aesthetics, I would have dreamt about a ceramic case, to make it even more bestial.
The Titanium grade 5 allows to wear it in different circumstances, and you can also play with the cordura leather strap, or the Nato, which are, to me, the best straps for this watch.
[unquote]
the choice of titanium is not great IMHO, against 316L steel. yes it is lighter and the volume of the watch is big so a steel case would have made the watch heavy ( nowhere near as heavy as the pink gold version). but the titanium used is very "soft" metal and its brushed surface catches scratches in no time despite extreme. It would have been a lot smarter to reduce the thickness of the watch, use steel for the case. The bezel on the contrary is a great technical achievment marrying ceramic and metal.
the tradition of JLC, IMHO is a passion for innovation. This watch does not innovate that much. the complication is dating 50y as you illustrated, none or the material used are uncommon in the current watch world. one thing that I love is the design of the dial and hands. it is very balanced, highly readable and that element makes anyone dream of underwater adventures better than anything else.
Technically there is room for improvement, and, in fact, considering that JLC has been makeing divers watches for the past 50y, one could say that it would be nice if the near future would bring us even nicer watches in which incredible designs go hand in hand with new complications, new material, or more radical designs.
the straps are both innovative and comfortable, even though the "NATO like" woudl have looked even better with a red stripe in the middle, matching the red tip of the second hand.
I do like your suggestion of the ceramic case, however, one has to remember that if seramic is extremely hard and resistant to scratches, it is much more brittle than other material. in other words, a shock won't scratch it but you can get a chip. Not to mention that it seems to be quite a burden to produce the fabulous ceramica cases of the reverso squadra polo fields or the Amvox 3.
to me, a divers watch is not only the ultimate sport watch but it is also 2 more things: a reason to dream about adventure and particularily underwater adventures, and a companion that I take when I go diving. It should be rigourously engineered and designed for this activity, even though, nowadays, the diver watch is no longer the mandatory safety equipment it used to be. Meaningful design adds value to the product. designing big diver watches is not practical as the watch on the wrist will be prone to shocks mostly before and after the dive, when jumping from or going back to the boat. Shooting at 46mm and soon bigger, is a sign that the watch is designed to answer a market need rather than to maximize its technical value. Is this a problem?: not really. One has to design the right product for the righ customer at the right time. But, this does not bring us any closer to " the perfect dive watch".
JLC has all the resources to create the right mix of technical improvment and stunning designs. I wish they could design one divers watch in their catalog forgetting slightly what market studies dictate. add more meaning, to differenciate a lot further would be my advice.