Sporting a pair of screw-down chronograph push-pieces, a solid bubble case back, and a helium release valve, this inexpensive Deep Blue Sea Chrono 1K quartz-powered diver is rated for whole 1000 meters of water resistance!
Designed to withstand such enormous pressure (yes, 100ATM is something to be reckoned with when you design a piece of machinery that has lots of places through which water can get inside the case and ruin the fragile mechanism that makes the timekeeper actually keep time), the Deep Blue Sea Chrono 1K is predictably big.
Although the Miyota OS 10 quartz movement (a time-proven, reliable workhorse, which is very popular among numerous watchmakers, including Citizen itself) is compact and slim, the new Deep Blue Sea Chrono 1K is supplied in a fairly large stainless steel case more than 45 millimeters in diameter and whole 15 millimeters thick.
Some part of it is the current fad of making and buying oversized “sporty” chronographs, but of course, you need some extra vertical space to house an extra-thick sapphire (that’s a rare choice of material in this price range, by the way) crystal.
Well, for a timekeeper of this class this is more of an advantage: people searching for an “extreme” diving watch expect it to have a certain presence.
Or, putting it simply, they want the gadget to make a statement.
As I have already noted, the watch sports all the amenities that one might expect from a diver. Its satin-finished steel body sports a helium escape valve, which is comfortably placed at 10 o’clock, and has a rugged-looking, easy-to-grip, unidirectional rotating bezel with the usual diving scale that, unlike many recent divers with sapphire bezels, has only one luminous dot at “00.”
Since the dial is not terribly large (according to official specs, the dial opening measures only 32 millimeters in diameter,) the inevitable tachymeter scale was transferred to the bezel flange, which means that you will only be able to comfortably see readings from 60 to 80 km/h and then from 300 to 500 km/h without twisting your wrist off.
On the other, um, hand, the tachymeter (and, for that matter, chronograph) would probably be the last function that most of us would seek in a semi-professional diver, so I would say that both are here purely for decorative purposes and in this sense, they do their job well.
Anyway, for only $299 (if ordered on their site, a shipment not included,) this is a brilliant timekeeper that one can use both as an everyday beater (if jeans or khakis are your choices of clothing) and a diving companion.
See also: MKII Paradive Type 1B Diver with Sapphire Bezel
Photos: Deep Blue
Deep Blue Sea Chrono 1K (1000 M) specification
Price: $299
Movement: Quartz, caliber Miyota OS 10, Made in Japan
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph
Case material: Stainless steel
Shape: Round
Size: 45.50 mm
Case height: 15.00 mm
Dial: Different colors, 3D waffle pattern
Hour markers: Luminous
Hands: Luminous
Water resistance: 1000 meters
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet with a wetsuit extension; rubber strap can be bought separately for $25 (plus shipping)
Crystal: Sapphire
Back: Solid, bubble