Vintage Dive Watches

[NothingClever]

Purchase new in Yanbu Saudi Arabia in 1980...makes it 40 years old...

Yanbu still feels a bit austere but I can only imagine how cool it must have been to dive there in 1980.

Dived a nice wreck (Ionna) up there in 2019. Headed back up there in April.

 

[W W Meixner]

That’s great to hear. I always appreciate stories of watches as that is often the most interesting aspect.

The tuna was really an impressive watch from an engineering perspective and was actually first created by Seiko due to complaints from a Japanese saturation diver that Seiko Divers watches often filled with helium and lost their crystals in saturated environments. The first was introduced in 1975 and is now regarded as the “Grandfather Tuna”. Later, in 78, they introduced a high torque a quartz movement and thus the “Golden Tuna”.

The watch was expensive for the time...shortly after purchasing this watch I bought a Rolex ''Precision"...daily winder...As I recall...the SEIKO was more expensive than the Rolex...

I safe-guarded the SEIKO and wore the Rolex as a daily ''work watch''...we...along with a South Korean joint venture partner were building a 3 Billion Dollar NGL facility and off-shore loading terminal 40 KLM south of Yanbu on the Red Sea...

Forty years have disappeared fast...

W.

 

[OrneryOsprey]

The watch was expensive for the time...shortly after purchasing this watch I bought a Rolex ''Precision"...daily winder...As I recall...the SEIKO was more expensive than the Rolex...

I safe-guarded the SEIKO and wore the Rolex as a daily ''work watch''...we...along with a South Korean joint venture partner were building a 3 Billion Dollar NGL facility and off-shore loading terminal 40 KLM south of Yanbu on the Red Sea...

Forty one years have disappeared fast...

W.

I absolutely believe that. I have some old Seiko catalogs around, but from what I can recall the Tuna was one of their most expensive models.

Considering this was the introduction of a quartz dive watch capable of 600m right in the middle of what was basically the worlds introduction to quartz technology, the price probably reflected that. Super cool. Thanks for sharing!

 

[W W Meixner]

Yanbu still feels a bit austere but I can only imagine how cool it must have been to dive there in 1980.

Dived a nice wreck (Ionna) up there in 2019. Headed back up there in April.

NC...

I didn't dive the Red Sea until 1981...''The Red Sea Divers Club''...our cards had a red Octopus printed on them...

Cruising the reef beyond the drop off was fabulous...the biggest Brain coral I ever saw...and the only place/time I ever saw a sea horse...

Mitsubishi was building a desalinization plant south of where we were...the area where we dove we referred to as Mitsubishi Beach...

Was a great place to go for a ''panic tan'' just before going out on R&R...

W.M...

 

[W W Meixner]

I absolutely believe that. I have some old Seiko catalogs around, but from what I can recall the Tuna was one of their most expensive models.

Considering this was the introduction of a quartz dive watch capable of 600m right in the middle of what was basically the worlds introduction to quartz technology, the price probably reflected that. Super cool. Thanks for sharing!

I gave the Rolex Precision to my Korean counter-part when the project ended...the SEIKO came home...

My mind slips back 40 years every time I look at it...

W...

 

[NothingClever]

Yanbu today is lovely to visit. It’s a tidy town and it amazes me how clean it is and that gives me hope. I’ll take some pictures for you when I’m there next.

 

[W W Meixner]

Yanbu today is lovely to visit. It’s a tidy town and it amazes me how clean it is and that gives me hope. I’ll take some pictures for you when I’m there next.

I'd like that...thank you...

Does the road to the east still take you to old Yanbu Al Nakal...at the time the highway ended there...as I recall..it was approx a 40 minute drive straight east from Yanbu...at that point you were in the foothills of the Blue Mountains...there was never anything so silent...

Did you ever take the trip out to the ''Lawrence Of Arabia'' train wreck...One of the most amazing things I'd ever seen...

I've lots of stories from Iraq and Kuwait..as well as SA...I spent six years in the area...

Best...

Warren...

 

[chrispscott]

I'm a bit of a watch nerd myself! You've got a great collection there with some really cool pieces. I've been wanting to get my hands on a vintage Scubapro watch for a while now but I've not come across any really great pieces yet.



The only thing I've got now that could be considered vintage is my Omega Seamaster Professional 300 2541.80 which is my day to day watch (and my primary dive watch). It's the same watch that Brosnan's Bond wore in Goldeneye (and the first Omega worn by the character.) I have wanted that one ever since I was kid and when I picked this one up about 5 years ago they were still very affordable. They have been steadily rising in price over the past few years but I am too attached to this one to ever consider selling it.

I've traded quite a bit over the past couple of years but I'll always hang on to this particular Omega. As far as more modern dive watches go I've got a Chris Ward, and a few Seikos and they are all fantastic watches.

 

[OrneryOsprey]

I'm a bit of a watch nerd myself! You've got a great collection there with some really cool pieces. I've been wanting to get my hands on a vintage Scubapro watch for a while now but I've not come across any really great pieces yet.

View attachment 570371 View attachment 570372

The only thing I've got now that could be considered vintage is my Omega Seamaster Professional 300 2541.80 which is my day to day watch (and my primary dive watch). It's the same watch that Brosnan's Bond wore in Goldeneye (and the first Omega worn by the character.) I have wanted that one ever since I was kid and when I picked this one up about 5 years ago they were still very affordable. They have been steadily rising in price over the past few years but I am too attached to this one to ever consider selling it.

I've traded quite a bit over the past couple of years but I'll always hang on to this particular Omega. As far as more modern dive watches go I've got a Chris Ward, and a few Seikos and they are all fantastic watches.

Thanks for sharing. The Seamaster is a great watch. I’ve never owned one personally but have read a bit about their history. Yours is developing more and more character each day. I’ve seen that model with some nice natural fading of the bezel insert, and that adds a ton of character.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Here the two watches currently owned and used everyday by me and my wife. They are two Seiko Diver's 150m, quartz version, bought by me and my father in 1976. The one with steel band was his own, my own was with the rubber band. Now I am using the steel band one, and my wife the one with rubber band.
Always been in use, more than 1200 dives each, only swapped the battery every 4-5 years.

Close ups: