We rarely come across a dive watch with a moonphase complication, let alone a moonphase complication that piques our interest, but the Linde Werdelin Oktopus II Moon ($29,400) has managed to do just that. Why does a dive watch need a moonphase display, you ask? Perhaps it’s to track the tide or plan a night dive by the full moon? Both reasons are good enough for us (and when the watch looks this good, it doesn’t take much). Danish watchmaker Svend Andersen designed the photo-realistic moonphase, and this update to the original Oktopus Moon attaches the complication to the brand’s first completely in-house movement.
The Oktopus II Moon is based on the revised Oktopus II case released at the BaselWorld watch fair last year, and the line has, shall we say, more personality than ever. It is still designed to work in tandem with the company’s clip-on “Reef” digital dive computer module, making the usually mandatory rotating bezel unnecessary. Linde Werdelin is a collector’s brand that makes no attempt to create mainstream watches — and that makes them both endearing and polarizing. As a continuation to movement upgrades and a refined aesthetic, Linde Werdelin’s Oktopus II Moon represents a great jumping-in point for those with the confidence to stand out from the crowd. (The octopus etching on the caseback is the icing on the unique cake.) If anything was going to push buyers over the edge, these luminous silkscreen-printed moons should do the trick.