Aragon Divemaster V1
Looking back at the sales invoice, the Divemaster was a total bargain, in that I paid $78.88, plus $25 shipping (£85.54 at the time) plus £24.41 for; duties, tax & handling charges – so £109.99 for this chunky dive watch on the Aragon site the current ‘sale’ price is $128.88, but it is always worth subscribing to the Aragon newsletter as they continually run sales and promotions and when a good enough offer comes along, I’ll be looking to get a Divemaster II as they look even better.
Now Aragon watches are always large and chunky, but this at 45mm wide is one of their smaller ones (they do have some at 55mm) and it is a heavy beast, especially with the bracelet which on its own weighs in at about 115gms and that is with a pressed scissor clasp, there is a machined one as an optional extra. The watch comes packaged in a hard bright blue PVC(?) covered box, which is of good quality and the watch supported by a large blue felt cushion. Taking the watch out, after registering the weight of the thing, after you peel away all the packaging the thing that really amazes is the sheer quality of the finish, it is as good if not better than some very prestigious watches I’ve had the pleasure to handle over the years and we’re talking in the £3,000 to £8,000 price range here! The case finishing is stunning on my example, with very precise edges, but at the same time though visually sharp, silky smooth to the touch. Indeed silky smooth is the overriding impression, it is wonderful just caressing the case with your fingertips! The transition from the case sides to the bezel is seamless, unless you’re using your nail. The bezel itself is the usual 120 click type with what might be considered a slightly stiff but precise action, but the excellently machined coin edge is easy to grip so isn’t a problem. The insert however is only aluminium and mine has picked up a few scratches over the last 8 months of ownership. Looking at the watch from the front, the dial is deeply recessed, almost like looking into a porthole, behind what is called a K1 hardened crystal and has a superb sunburst finish which looks good in all lighting condition, indeed this is one of the reason I opted for the orange version, it looked good in the pictures, it’s even better in real life. The lume on the applied hour indicators and hands is on a par with my Seiko’s own lumibrite (so in other words very good) though at night the small stumpy hour hand can be difficult to assign to a particular hour as it is quite far from the hour markers so can’t be quickly glanced at to see the time. While we are talking about the hand set I should mention the sweep second-hand, which here is finished in a stunningly vibrant metallic red, unfortunately it does tend to disappear in certain lighting and isn’t lumed. At the back of the watch we have another porthole, this time showing us the Seiko NH36 (day & date complication) which I’d sooner not have as it is a totally uninteresting movement. In fact I’d never really want to have an exhibition case-back unless there was really something special to see – this is the kind of thing you expect to find on lower cost Chinese watches to prove they have a Japanese movement, no give me a solid case-back every time! Around the edge of the rear ‘porthole’ you have the usual engraved details; movement, depth rating, model, maker & so on and is very well finished. The crown at the three o’clock position is semi-guarded, well sized, easy to operate and signed with the Aragon logo (deeply engraved and red filled) and like the rest of the watch the screw down crown feels superbly machined and is actually a pleasure to use.
So all in all a fantastic watch and if you like your watches on the larger side the Aragon’s offerings are certainly worth a look. Currently my Divemaster is no longer on the supplied bracelet I just found it too heavy and initially swapped it out for a PVC dive strap from WatchGecko (of course) but have now moved on to a vintage style orange suede, which I think looks superb. Swapping straps on this and many other Aragon watches with a supplied fitted bracelet is a bit of a trial as the springbars are positioned very close to the case and you might need to invest in some good quality curved springbars.
Now Aragon watches are always large and chunky, but this at 45mm wide is one of their smaller ones (they do have some at 55mm) and it is a heavy beast, especially with the bracelet which on its own weighs in at about 115gms and that is with a pressed scissor clasp, there is a machined one as an optional extra. The watch comes packaged in a hard bright blue PVC(?) covered box, which is of good quality and the watch supported by a large blue felt cushion. Taking the watch out, after registering the weight of the thing, after you peel away all the packaging the thing that really amazes is the sheer quality of the finish, it is as good if not better than some very prestigious watches I’ve had the pleasure to handle over the years and we’re talking in the £3,000 to £8,000 price range here! The case finishing is stunning on my example, with very precise edges, but at the same time though visually sharp, silky smooth to the touch. Indeed silky smooth is the overriding impression, it is wonderful just caressing the case with your fingertips! The transition from the case sides to the bezel is seamless, unless you’re using your nail. The bezel itself is the usual 120 click type with what might be considered a slightly stiff but precise action, but the excellently machined coin edge is easy to grip so isn’t a problem. The insert however is only aluminium and mine has picked up a few scratches over the last 8 months of ownership. Looking at the watch from the front, the dial is deeply recessed, almost like looking into a porthole, behind what is called a K1 hardened crystal and has a superb sunburst finish which looks good in all lighting condition, indeed this is one of the reason I opted for the orange version, it looked good in the pictures, it’s even better in real life. The lume on the applied hour indicators and hands is on a par with my Seiko’s own lumibrite (so in other words very good) though at night the small stumpy hour hand can be difficult to assign to a particular hour as it is quite far from the hour markers so can’t be quickly glanced at to see the time. While we are talking about the hand set I should mention the sweep second-hand, which here is finished in a stunningly vibrant metallic red, unfortunately it does tend to disappear in certain lighting and isn’t lumed. At the back of the watch we have another porthole, this time showing us the Seiko NH36 (day & date complication) which I’d sooner not have as it is a totally uninteresting movement. In fact I’d never really want to have an exhibition case-back unless there was really something special to see – this is the kind of thing you expect to find on lower cost Chinese watches to prove they have a Japanese movement, no give me a solid case-back every time! Around the edge of the rear ‘porthole’ you have the usual engraved details; movement, depth rating, model, maker & so on and is very well finished. The crown at the three o’clock position is semi-guarded, well sized, easy to operate and signed with the Aragon logo (deeply engraved and red filled) and like the rest of the watch the screw down crown feels superbly machined and is actually a pleasure to use.
So all in all a fantastic watch and if you like your watches on the larger side the Aragon’s offerings are certainly worth a look. Currently my Divemaster is no longer on the supplied bracelet I just found it too heavy and initially swapped it out for a PVC dive strap from WatchGecko (of course) but have now moved on to a vintage style orange suede, which I think looks superb. Swapping straps on this and many other Aragon watches with a supplied fitted bracelet is a bit of a trial as the springbars are positioned very close to the case and you might need to invest in some good quality curved springbars.
More pictures of my Divemaster can be found in the Watch Picture Gallery along with some of my other watches and I highly recommend you sign-up to the Aragon newsletter (bottom of page) so you can become aware of their offers as the come along.
