The automatic Deep Blue Daynight Recon 500M is one of the most attractive “diving tools” on the market if you don’t count in the last year’s CALDIVER 500 “complication” model. Rated for 500 meters of water resistance, it features a case, which is not only robust, but also dressy in its own rugged way, and a unidirectional 120-click rotating bezel with the usual submersion timer.
That, as well as a nice combination of their signature tritium tubes on hands and hour markers, and Superluminova-painted indices and minute marks on the ceramic bezel inlay, makes the Daynight Recon not only easily readable but also a real pleasure to look at!
While Deep Blue could be more stable when it comes to mechanisms (they constantly experiment using not only the well-known, but sort of expensive ETA calibers like the cal. 2824-2 in this particular case, but also Japanese movements outsourced from Miyota,) there is something that they turned into their trademark: traditionally, the American watchmaker equips its diving watches with T100-type micro-tubes filled with radioactive tritium gas.
Although, after Chornobyl and Fukushima, there are lots of people that would prefer to shut themselves in the head rather than get less than ten feet close to a “radioactive” object, this particular technology is absolutely harmless since the charged particles emitted by the isotope simply don’t have enough energy to pass through a hair-thin layer of glass that holds the gas inside the tubes.
While other micro-brands that produce timekeepers with tritium-powered illumination reserve the use of micro-tubes for hands and the main hour markers, Deep Blue spares the parts generously using whole 61 tubes for the hour and minute markers, as well as three more tubes for the hands and a smaller tube on the diving bezel at “00” minutes.
As a result, we have a watch that glows like a Christmas tree even after spending a week or two inside a desk drawer (tritium tubes glow on their own; unlike Superluminova, they never need extra “charging” under natural or artificial light) and guarantees that you will always be able to read time be it deep underwater or during an especially boring blockbuster in an IMAX.
The Deep Blue Daynight Recon comes in a mildly oversized body 45 millimeters in diameter and 16.50 mm in height.
Supplied on a solid-steel bracelet with a diver’s wetsuit extension and safety clasp, it will look good even on a normal wrist, especially when accompanied by a casual or military-style dress.
According to Deep Blue’s website, at this time the Daynight Recon sports an impressive MSRP of $999, but right now you can get the gadget at a more acceptable price of $899. Want one already?
See also: MKII Paradive Type 1B Diver with Sapphire Bezel
Photos: Deep Blue
Deep Blue Daynight Recon 500M specification
Price: $999 (MSRP)
Movement: Automatic, caliber ETA 2824-2, Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 25
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Power reserve: 42 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Case: Stainless steel
Bezel: Ceramic bezel inlay
Shape: Round
Size: 45.00 mm
Case height: 16.50 mm
Lug width: 22.00 mm
Dial: Black / Blue / Orange
Numerals: Arabic (on the bezel)
Hour markers: Luminous, T100 tritium micro-tubes
Hands: Steel, luminous, T100 tritium micro-tubes
Water resistance: 500 meters
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet with divers wetsuit extension and safety clasp
Crystal: Sapphire, anti-reflective on the inside
Back: Transparent