An Affordable Microbrand Hits the ’60s Dive Watch Blueprint with a Splash of Color

On this side of the Atlantic, Elliot Brown is one of the best-kept secrets in the exploding British watchmaking industry.

The tool watch specialists make affordable, pragmatic designs with a heavy vintage military influence. A cursory scroll through its catalog reveals plenty of black, navy blue and a range of earth tones.

Elliot Brown

But a vibrant new collection of dive watches has just blown in like a cool ocean breeze on a hot summer day.

Elliot Brown’s signature dive watch, the Bloxworth Heritage Diver, has been refreshed with eye-catching colors indicative of 1970s dive watches, and a dial pulled straight from the late 1950s.

Elliot Brown

Dubbed the Chromatic Collection, it consists of four new color combinations, each available on a complementary tropical rubber strap or a brushed steel three-link bracelet.

The resolutely pragmatic watch brand has equipped the collection with a quartz movement because of its unquestionably superior timekeeping efficiency.

A more diver-y dive watch

Elliot Brown switched out the modern hands on the existing Bloxworth Heritage Diver with a retro set borrowed from a late 1950s Omega Seamaster 300. The sandwich dial is replaced with a flat one decorated with a wavy texture.

Elliot Brown

All four watches have a 40mm brushed steel case topped with a 120-clock unidirectional dive bezel. The coin-edge steel bezel frame holds a fully lumed black ceramic insert, and the Arabic numerals every 10 minutes match each watch’s accent color.

Elliot Brown

The centerpiece of the Chromatic Collection is the Boxworth Orange reference, with a traffic cone orange dial and optional matching tropical strap. It has a gray chapter ring with orange dot hour markers and is the only member of the collection with uniform yellow lume on the bezel insert.

The other standout design is the Drunk Tank, with a gray dial and a pink chapter ring, seconds hand point and bezel numbers. Unfortunately, it comes with a black tropical strap, rather than committing to the bit with pink.

Elliot Brown

Rounding out the collection are two more approachable designs. The Seaglass Blue has a black dial and strap with a light blue chapter ring with red hour markers, and a light blue seconds hand tip and bezel numbers. The Harbor Blue uses the same arrangement with blue and yellow.

Dedicated to quartz

Elliot Brown is doing its part to restore the reputation of quartz watches. The British watchmaker uses highly respected Swiss-made Rhonda quartz movements in many of its designs, including the Bloxworth Heritage Diver.

Elliot Brown

Looking past the jumping seconds hand stigma, a quartz movement is objectively more practical in any tool watch. It also helps keep this well-built diver under the $700 mark, even when opting for the steel bracelet.

However, this is one of the rare instances where I recommend the tropical strap over the steel, because it has fitted ends, a center-folding clasp and a hidden woven-rope texture on the underside.

Elliot Brown

Elliot Brown made its rather bland dive watch appealing with a new set of hands, a slight dial tweak and a few fun paint jobs. The blend of vintage influences comes together like an icy, sweet summer cocktail.

Availability and pricing

The Elliot Brown Bloxworth Heritage Diver Chromatic Collection is available now from Elliot Brown for $564 with a rubber tropical strap and $678 with a steel three-link bracelet.

The Bloxworth Orange reference is limited to 100 pieces, and the other three are limited to 50 pieces each.

Elliot Brown

Elliot Brown Bloxworth Heritage Diver

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Rhonda caliber 713 quartz
Water Resistance	200m

• $564 at Elliot Brown

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