Back in March of last year, Zach Weiss reviewed the Vulcain Skindiver Nautique. This was a case where the headline really said it all, but of course the whole review is worth a read for a fuller context. I had some hands-on time with this watch as well, and agree completely with his sentiments. Describing the watch as “very reasonable” is really essential to understanding it. It’s not extraordinary, it’s not a revolution in watchmaking. It’s a deeply adequate and relentlessly normal execution of tried and true sports watch format: the skin diver. And that’s OK! The entire idea of the modern skin diver is really based on the fact that a handful of brands really nailed the design decades ago. It’s not a platform that needs to be played with. There are lots of new versions of this type of watch from a huge variety of brands, and I think “reasonable” is really what most of them should be shooting for.
Vulcain has just announced a total of four new variants of the Nautique Skindiver, and they strive to offer a little more variety than the initial drop from last spring. New dial variants include options in orange, brown, and green, as well as a new reference with a bronze case and black dial, and a very striking variant in yellow gold plate with a dial in a dark shade of blue. This one, I have to admit, is a little outside the bounds of reasonable, and might be striving for something a little more.
All of the new Skindiver Nautique variants have the same 38mm case we saw last year that measures 12.2mm tall, running on a reliable ETA 2824 movement. All references are water resistant to 200 meters and also feature a standard black ceramic bezel, which slightly undercuts the vintage vibes Vulcain is going for here, but still looks pretty sharp. I think the colors all appear to be nicely executed, particularly the brown dial, which suggests a dial that has baked in the tropical sun for decades.
The gold plated version is a surprise, and brings an aesthetic to the Nautique line that we honestly wouldn’t have imagined a year ago. The skin diver, at its core, is a casual, function first, tool. Luxury divers in precious metals are a more recent phenomenon, and we rarely see the look intermingled with something in the skin diver niche. It goes just a little bit against the grain, which is not something we’d have counted on a year ago from a watch so awash in reasonableness.
Pricing starts at $1,610 for the steel models, and shoots up to $1,900 for the gold plated version and $2,150 for the bronze. More information can be found at Vulcain’s website right here.
