Benthos H1
This is a review I did of a watch that was never sold. BUT….it is now available so the review is valid…… It was produced during the Covid years and a number of things during that period conspired to delay and eventually kill the release of the watch. A small number were made and will gather dust in the Aquastar archives along with a couple of other watches that fell victim of supply chain, design changes and other variables that all watch makers are subject to. I decided to release the review, (a) because I put a lot of time and effort into it and (b) because I thought people might like to read about an Aquastar Benthos that maybe should and could have been released.
I wore the watch often and posted images of it and quite a number of people asked if they could buy one and others said Aquastar should release the watches anyway. Well, I’m happy to say that those people who wanted a Benthos H1 now have the chance to own one. The Aquastar Benthos H1 has now been released and available to buy.
Let’s try a little association test: the 60: the watch that Dr Don Walsh wore when, along with Jacques Picard, he traveled to the bottom on the ocean, seven miles down, in 1960; the Regate, the Airstar, the 63, the Deepstar: a favorite of Jacques Cousteau’s RV Calypso dive team, the Benthos 500 as worn by Jacques Mayol during his record 100 meters dive in 1976, the Seatime. There are more in the list but I’ll stop here and say one word: Aquastar.
Let’s try another little association test: Doxa, Synchron, Aquastar, Aquadive, Isofrane and Tropic. For most people this is easier: Rick Marei. Yes, he is the man who resurrected all of the above. Vintage brands now enjoying a resurgence and forging a new history. Well, he is up to his old tricks.
After a spectacularly successful relaunch of the Deepstar 2020, the Deepstar II and the Deepstar 39, he has set his sights on another iconic Aquastar dive watch: the Benthos 500. However, it is not a simple story. And before I start telling that story, here is a picture of the original and a review I did on it where you will find a great deal of historical information on the watch. Go read it first, if you haven’t already. What is to come will make more sense if you do.
https://adiveintotime.com/benthos-500/
When the Benthos 500 was released at the end of the 1960s, dive watches were starting to get bigger. The expression: ’tool watch’ was coined to describe a watch that was designed to do a working job, not one that was slated to be worn with a suit at a cocktail party. The Benthos 500 was not a Rolex President. It was a big, thick, beast of a watch and it was designed to assist divers. A large 60 click bezel and a flyback totalizer allowed it to do that admirably.
The Benthos 500 was one of the watches in approved equipment section of the 1973 US Navy Air Diving manual.
I remember talking to Rick Marei when I was writing the Aquastar book: A Dive Into Time. Shameless plug………., you can find it here: https://adiveintotime.com/. We discussed what watches he was going to reissue and in what sequence. He always wanted the Deepstar to be first as it was certainly the most iconic dive watch that Aquastar ever made, but the Benthos 500 was high on the list to be next. There was only one thing that made it unlikely to happen anytime soon and that was the movement.
The vintage Benthos 500 incorporated a 60 minute Totalizer which was originally based on an A. Schild 1902 movement which was modified to incorporate the flyback counter. The top plate of the Aquastar version of the movement was changed to allow the Totalizer to be mounted. Activated using a monopusher at the 4 o’clock position the 60 minute timer was used to time a dive in conjunction with the minute markings on the bezel. Aquastar patented the design in 1968. However, that was 50 years ago and the modified A. Schild 1902 and later 2162 are no longer in production. There really is no Swiss movement being made now which could easily be used.
The only really viable option was to have a new movement designed. But this takes time and money. Of course the unprecedented effect of Covid over two years added a whole other layer of difficulty to the situation and even though I shouldn’t say this, a new exclusive Aquastar Totalizer movement is being developed. There will be a Benthos 500. Just don’t ask me when. Even Rick Marei doesn’t know exactly when, so just don’t ask.
But if there is one thing I know about Mr. Marei, it is that he gets things done. The image above, shows two classic 1960s watches. The DOXA SUB 300T and the Aquastar Benthos 500.
And this image shows their modern equivalents. What’s the connection? The modern variants were both made by Rick Marei.
And that brings me to the watch that has been seen in the last few images. It sure looks like a Benthos 500, but wait a minute, it’s only a three hander, and what happened the pusher? It’s not the Benthos 500, it’s the Benthos H1 Prototype.
The H1 case is almost an exact replica of that of the Benthos 500 with an added bonus that it is made of the higher grade 904L stainless steel. Almost identical bezel, caseback and 4mm thick sapphire crystal, although the vintage crystal is mineral glass. The top of the case uses the same radial brushing as the vintage and the sides are lightly brushed. It has the same depth rating of 500 meters that the vintage Benthos 500 has. Here are the dimensions along with the other watches I’ve used here for comparison.
| WIDTH (mm)
(without crown) |
LENGTH (mm) | HEIGHT (mm) | LUG WIDTH (mm) | WEIGHT
(with bracelet for 6.75″ wrist) (grams) |
|
| BENTHOS H1 PROTOTYPE | 42 | 47 | 16 | 20 | 178 |
| BENTHOS 500 | 42 | 47 | 16 | 20 | 178 |
| DEEPSTAR 39 | 39 | 49 | 17 | 21 | 175 |
| SYNCHRON MILITARY | 42.5 | 45 | 14.5 | 20 | 166 |
| DOXA SUB 1200T | 42.5 | 45 | 14.5 | 20 | 163 |
| OMEGA SEAMASTER | 43 | 47 | 12 | 20 | 150 |
The 500 caseback fits the H1 Prototype but not quite the other way round. The H1 caseback is ever so slightly shallower and because the Benthos 500 version of the A. Schild movement is taller than that used in the H1, the H1 caseback does not screw down fully. Looking at the caseback, the wording on it includes: BENTHOS HERITAGE. FIFTY YEARS 1970 -2020. That just shows how long ago this watch was supposed to be released.
The first prototype I saw wasn’t called the H1. It had another name on the dial. I’m not going to say what it was because it will be used on another watch. It was a good name but it just did not make sense with the Benthos. I spoke to Rick and basically said that I thought: nope, nope, nopety nope for the name. I mentioned the word heritage and that struck a chord and the H1 came from that. Of course, Aquastar had already finalized the wording on the caseback and the orders were ready for it and the dial. They got cancelled and the new dial and caseback designs were done.
My prototype H1 uses a Sellita SW200-1 movement and straight out of the box mine is running at around 1 or 2 seconds a day. However, the production watches use an ETA 2824-2 Elabore grade movement.
The fact the H1 uses an ETA movement rather than a Sellita is definitely a bonus for those collectors who prefer the ETA.
The ETA 2824-2 comes in both date and no date versions. The Benthos H1 has no date, so the watch uses the no date version of the ETA 2824-2.
Aquastar wanted to bring out a Swiss Made watch paying homage to a classic design which would give people a taste of the look and feel of the vintage Benthos 500. The Benthos H1 is that watch.
Whereas the vintage Benthos 500 has a 60 click bezel the H1 Prototype uses a 120 click version. It also uses the newer style 4 prong / finger click ‘spring’, which is actually a ring rather than a piece of wire, commonly found in older dive watches. Initially, I thought this was what the vintage 500 used. However, I have seen photos showing a first generation Benthos 500 bezel assembly which also used the more modern click ring, although with 3 fingers and not 4. That did surprise me, as other dive watches of the same era, which I own, use the single wire click spring. Aquastar were probably in the the vanguard of the new design. The single wire click spring was phased out by most manufacturers a number of years ago in favor of the ring design, except Rolex who went from using a small, simple click spring, right up to the 6 digit Submariners, to using four small spring / ball ‘things’ on their dive watches. From elegant simplicity to overly complex, in my opinion.
There is a slight difference in feel between the H1 Prototype and the 500 bezels. Some of that is due to the 120 clicks as opposed to the 60. I tried to remove the bezels from both watches just to compare. Man, were they hard to remove, which is actually what you want. I did manage to get the H1 bezel off, but gave up with the 500 which is why I know about the 4 prong click spring. The H1 bezel is easy to grip especially if you have dive gloves on. It is easier to turn than the vintage watch and has a good audible click.
The vintage bezel used a Perspex covering over the bezel indices, the H1 changed that to Sapphire. The other difference is that on the vintage only the large triangular marker is luminous. On the new bezel all the numbers and markers are also luminous. As an added bonus, the new Benthos H1 bezel will fit the second generation Benthos 500.
The H1 was slated to come on a black Isofrane strap. It looks great and wears well. I’m not a strap guy. Just can’t wear them so after taking the photos, I removed it and put on my trusty 20mm, Amazon, $20 special, bracelet. I just think this is a perfect bracelet for the watch and you sure can’t beat the price.
So let’s talk about design and wearability. To all intents and purposes, the Benthos H1 is a dead ringer for the Benthos 500. It is a design that originated in the mid 1960s. It was designed as a dive watch, not a fashion accessory. It did its job well. When a watch company resurrects a vintage design, they have a number of decisions to make. Some forced on them because the old movements are no longer in production so they need a modern equivalent. For a standard 3 hand watch this isn’t much of a problem. Defunct movements with complications are. Such is the case with the Benthos 500.
Just because you can resurrect a design exactly, doesn’t always mean you should, especially when it comes to wearability. The Benthos 500 is a big, tall, heavy watch. Is it the best wearing dive watch ever? Absolutely not. For me, in my limited experience, that honor goes to the old Omega Seamaster SMP 300. It is thin at 12mm, it has a wonderfully flat caseback and the angle of the case means the ends of it are on the same plane as the caseback. The watch just hugs your wrist. The H1 is not as thin as the Seamaster (not many dive watches are) but it wears remarkably well especially on a heavier bracelet.
Of late there has been a bit of a reversal in the trend to bigger, heavier watches and with the Benthos H1, Aquastar thought long and hard about whether to change the design of the 500 and make the H1 thinner and lighter and possibly more wearable. With the H1 they decided not to. In the future, there are many things they could do with other models in the Heritage range, but for this watch, it was “nope, we are making it as close as possible to the 500. We want people to know that the Benthos design is back. Just how do we do that. At this minute in time we cannot give them the classic Totalizer movement 500 but we sure can give them everything else”. It’s always a tough call when resurrecting a classic design. In many cases it is… “you are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
There is another design element about the watch that I initially was against. I thought it would be better to keep the original Benthos 500 symmetry and include a Helium Release Valve crown at the 4 o’clock position, but Rick was against it. He wanted the H1 to be it’s own unique watch and for that reason he neither wanted the crown at the 3 o’clock position or another ‘appendage’ at the 4 o’clock position. I think he really made the right call. The H1 crown is where the vintage Benthos 500 crown is. I don’t know of any other Swiss Made watch that only has a crown at 2 o’clock. I also think Frédéric Robert would have approved.
Similar decisions had to be made with the Deepstar 2020 and 39. The thickness of the case was partially as a result of using a modern, automatic movement whereas the vintage Deepstar used the Valjoux 23 and 92. The saving grace which makes the Deepstar so comfortable to wear for such a big watch is the relatively flat caseback and lugs which angle downwards. The classic Benthos case design is also curved but not as much as the Deepstar and even though it is 1mm thinner than the Deepstar, it feels like the H1 sits a bit prouder on my wrist.
Not surprisingly, because the H1 Prototype is almost identical in size and weight to the 500, it wears exactly the same. I tend to wear my watches loose so they can move around a lot and normally, the bigger and heavier the watch, the more they move, but because of the curve of the case and the relatively flat caseback, the H1 wears about the same as my SUB 1200T, which has a thicker caseback and less curved case. Interestingly enough, I think the H1 wears better than the Synchon Military, which is based on the last of the Synchron SUB 300T cases. Of course, all this must be tempered by the fact that I have a positively anorexic 6.75 inch wrist. All those people in the 7 inch and larger department would love the size and heft of the Benthos H1. Others would prefer the watch to be thinner and lighter.
This image shows the relative thickness of the Benthos H1 Prototype, Synchron Military, Omega Seamaster and Doxa SUB 1200T.
The Lume shot compares the H1 Prototype with the Synchron Military and the Marei era Doxa SUB 1200T.
For the same exposure, the H1 Prototype is definitely the lighthouse with it’s fully lumed bezel.
The H1 was expected to be the first of a series of Benthos models of which there will eventually be the classic 500 with Totalizer. I’ve seen both a 3D printed case and a metal prototype and I know the new movement is under design. I’ve also mocked up a GMT version. I haven’t asked Rick if I could show this but here is my idea. Will it come to fruition exactly like this? Most likely not, as a second crown on a GMT is usually to turn an internal 24 hour bezel. My mock up doesn’t have one but since many people seeing the vintage 500 for the first time assumed the pointer hand was a GMT hand, it’s not a stretch to think that a real Benthos GMT could happen.
The Benthos H1 is limited to 500 watches which I think is a good move. They won’t sell out in a flash and I predict the design of later watches will be tweaked a little, making the H1 a true limited forbearer of the modern Benthos Heritage. It is unlikely the exact same case will be produced again. Now that the H1 is released at a pre-release price of US$ 1090, maybe it will sell out rather quickly!
The H1 can be ordered directly from Aquastar
Ladies and gentlemen, the Benthos is back. The H1 is the first in a range of Heritage models. I’m looking forward to seeing what the H2, H3 and beyond bring to the line up.
My final thoughts are that not everyone wants or needs a 500 with the Totalizer. It will certainly be a more expensive watch and in many, many ways the H1 gives the look and feel of the vintage Benthos 500 and is the perfect entry to the Benthos family.
