Product: Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Chrono
Manufacturer: Victorinox
Wired Rating: 8
Who needs concrete shoes to sink a body to the bottom of the ocean when there’s the Victorinox Swiss Army’s Dive Master 500?
This quarter-pounder (actually 4.7 ounces) of eye-grabbing design and Swiss engineering takes its name from its 1650-foot water resistance. Yes, you read that right; the Dive Master 500 sucker is capable of descending over a quarter mile below the surface where it will still function. To put it in perspective, you could break the world record for deepest scuba dive (1,083-feet) and still drop the distance of almost two football fields before the watch (or you) malfunctioned.
The Dive Master’s heft and diving prowess are only part a Davey Jones’ Locker full of geeky features. There are central 60-second and 60-minute counters, a 12-hour counter and a data calendar. A bi-directional rotating bezel helps calculate how long you stay underwater or, for us, how much money was left on the parking meter in front of the Y.
Some might complain that the orange-on-orange might be look like a neo-PantoneTM nightmare, but it actually serves a purpose. When you’re six feet underwater or several hundred), things get dim, but a bright watch (complete with luminescent hands and hour markers) is easy to read in murky situations.
We dig the Dive Master 500, but it’s not really for day-to-day wear. This is a watch for people who spend a good portion of their lives under the sea and hooked to scuba gear. Still it’s an elegant timepiece that can survive a drop to some seriously deep depths, even if you don’t.
WIRED Endlessly elegant Swiss precision. Can handle aquatic pressure over a quarter mile down. Multiple functions. Insanely cool, if not ostentatious, design.
TIRED Is that a boat anchor on your arm, or are you just happy to see me?