Review: The alternative divewatch; The Aquastar Deepstar 39

I had two divers in my collection: the Rolex Sea-Dweller 116600 and the Seiko Marinemaster 300 SBDX001. Both watches are fabulous in their own right, but they share a similar style and feel on the wrist. I was lusting for something fresh and different. So, I bid farewell to the Marinemaster and welcomed the Aquastar Deepstar 39mm Reissue chronograph.

Aquastar, as a brand, and specifically the Deepstar, have a rich heritage in dive watches, and the reissue remains faithful to the original design. The 39mm reissue falls in size between the original 37mm version and the 40.5mm 2020 reissue. The lug spacing is a somewhat bothersome 21mm, the lug to lug measurement is 48.5mm, and the thickness is close to 17mm, slightly more than the 14.8mm stated by Aquastar themselves and the result is a quite top-heavy watch.

The bezel is a bi-directional bezel that features two scales. The inner scale is a standard 60-minute elapsed dive time scale commonly found on most dive watches. On the other hand, the outer scale can be utilized in conjunction with a diving log to measure nitrogen off-gassing in preparation for a repetitive dive. While it's not something I would recommend, it does provide some enjoyable tinkering.  However, the bezel does have a couple of downsides. Firstly, the 120-click bezel action feels rather inexpensive, lacking a satisfying click. Secondly, due to legibility concerns, the bezel can be quite challenging to adjust in everyday use.

Rick Marei, the creator of both Aquastar and Tropic straps, unsurprisingly decided to complement the watch with either a BOR bracelet or Tropic and NATO strap options. In my case, it came with the latter. The Tropic strap is exceptionally comfortable, soft, and durable. The nato I have not tried because of the shiny nature of the nato. Additionally, I have also worn the watch on Monochrome nato straps in various colors such as grey, beige, and green. All of them provide a fantastic look and feel great. The downside is that strap options are quite scarce at 21mm, limiting the variety available for the watch.

The Aquastar is equipped with a La Joux-Perret automatic chronograph movement featuring column wheel actuation. It operates at a beat rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour and boasts a power reserve of 55 hours. The precision of this movement has been truly remarkable, running at nearly 0 +/- per day.  Furthermore, the chronograph function of the watch can be utilized during dives, with a water resistance rating claimed by Aquastar to be effective down to 100 meters. An interesting observation regarding the pushers is that the start/stop pusher feels noticeably lighter in comparison to the reset pusher.

The watch comes in black, blue, grey, and a limited edition green. All dial configurations feature a prominent "big-eye" minute counter at 3 o'clock and a dual-sided running second hand at 9 o'clock. There a bigger lume plots at 6, 9 and 12 and smaller plots at 1, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11. The proportions of the dial is spot on and the huge silvered coullared 30-min counter at 3 is the watch trademark. To my surprice the legibility of the watch is not that good, expesaly in bright daylight where the hour- and minutehand tend to disappear. In lowlight situations the lume is not great either.

Overall, I appreciate the aesthetics and feel of the watch. Its quality is superb, and its remarkable history adds to its appeal. Moreover, it stands out from the crowd at watch gatherings, as it is not commonly seen on everyone's wrist. However, the legibility falls short of expectations for a diver's watch, the watch sits quite high, think old gen Tudor Black Bay, and the limited strap options remain a drawback.