Tired of Vintage-Inspired Dive Watches? This Modern Affordable Diver Is the Cure

If you’re in the market for an affordable dive watch, especially if you’re looking at microbrands, then you’re almost exclusively limited to watches inspired by vintage divers from the mid-twentieth century.

It’s easy to understand why that is. Modern dive watches were invented in the 1950s, with icons like the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster 300 all debuting that decade.

The 1960s and ’70s then saw the explosion of military-issued dive watches, along with more adventurous designs such as Super-Compressors and colorful decompression timers. I love mid-century dive watches as much as the next guy, but sometimes, I’m in the mood for something fresh and different.

If you’re like me, then allow me to introduce you to the Peren Regia Lunar Eclipse Dark.

Peren

Going Dark

Peren is an independent Swiss brand whose watches carry the Swiss-Made designation and which also boast some niceties like in-house assembly and regulation, and some hand-finishing on the cases.

The brand’s latest offering, the aforementioned Regia Lunar Eclipse Dark, is packed to the brim with the kinds of specs I’ve come to expect from a microbrand diver in 2025: an AR-coated sapphire crystal, Sellita SW200 automatic movement, BGW9 Super-LumiNova, 200m water resistant with a screw-down crown … you know the drill.

But what sets the Peren apart is its unique styling. This is not your grandfather’s dive watch, a statement which, when discussing much of Peren’s competition, requires a double-take before confirming.

Peren

The 39mm stainless steel case features a black DLC coating all over (save for the caseback), with a unique finishing mix consisting of mostly bead-blasting accented with hand-polished chamfers on the lugs. The look is sleek and rugged with a touch of elegance.

The 120-click unidirectional bezel is especially unique, as I’ve never seen one quite like it. It’s black DLC steel and mostly sterile, save for a round white lume pip at 12 o’clock. This is reminiscent of a Unimatic, until you get to the side of the bezel.

Peren

There’s coin-edge knurling on the base of the bezel, which gives way to an engraved concentric ring pattern that decreases in size from bottom to top, giving the bezel a sloped profile. It’s an interesting design and looks very contemporary without betraying the watch’s rugged ideals. The crown is also sloped with matching knurling and concentric serrations.

The dial is unusual as well and doesn’t resemble any other watch I know of. It’s black, of course, and glossy, and features white hour markers fashioned from 3D blocks of Super-LumiNova. The indices are three-dimensional outlines, which should create a pretty neat light show in the dark — unfortunately, Peren doesn’t have any lume shots in their press materials, or else I’d show you.

Peren

A date window appears at 12 o’clock, an uncommon placement, and it’s about as unobtrusive as a date window can be. It’s small and round and appears to be the same size as the hour markers, with white text on a black background. It’s there when you need it, but effectively disappears when you don’t.

The stepped dial has very sparse text, with Peren’s logo — in a fitting Tron-like font — sitting near the center of the dial and the 200m water resistance rating showing up above 6 o’clock. The handset is probably the most standard feature on the watch. It consists of fence-post hour and minute hands and an arrow-tipped seconds hand, all of which are white and lume-filled.

Pricing and Availability

The Peren Regia Lunar Eclipse Dark has a cool factor that just feels authentic. Its futuristic design doesn’t look like anything else out there, it has many unique stylistic touches and finishes and it’s loaded with the specs I would expect at this price point (and then some).

Speaking of the price, the watch comes in just under $1,000 at CHF 777, which as of this writing converts to $969. It’s available on either a black fabric or FKM rubber strap. The rubber features horizontal grooves that recall the knurling on the crown and bezel, so that would be my pick. Both are available now on Peren’s website, alongside the rest of the Regia diver collection.

Peren

Peren Regia Lunar Eclipse Dark

Specs

Case Size	39mm
Movement	Sellita SW200-1 automatic
Water Resistance	200m

• $969 at Peren

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