Four years into the re-launch of Aquastar, we’re getting one of its icons brought back to life in a modern Benthos 500 monopusher chronograph. The modern Benthos made its first appearance last year with the Heritage One time-only watch based on the design of the original 500 from 1970, and had many of us asking when we might see a proper return of the famous centrally mounted chronograph. This year, we’re getting exactly that with the modern Benthos 500, which hasn’t compromised on the original formula thanks to a collaboration with La Joux-Perret, who is providing the movement to make it happen. The result is exactly what we’ve been waiting to see from Aquastar, a celebration of one of the most innovative dive watches of the ‘70s.
Watches boasting a centrally mounted chronograph are a rare sight these days, but were a bit more common in the ‘70s with variations from Lemania and Valjoux mounting the minute totalizer at the center hand stack. The Benthos 500 utilized a modified A. Schild 1902 and later 2162 caliber to mount the 60 minute timing hand at the center, ditching the hour totalizer altogether. This allowed for a highly focused and legible dial with the core functionality of a chronograph, meaning no compromises needed to be made to accommodate the complication within a traditional dive watch framework.
Let’s pause here to recognize the Sinn EZM1, released in 1997 with a similar approach using a modified Lemania movement. Today, Sinn uses a modified Valjoux movement to achieve this in their modern EZM1 variations. It’s a rare application outside of the likes of Agenhor, who make their own high-end caliber for H. Moser, Singer, Ming, and others.
The new Benthos 500 retains the centrally mounted chronograph functionality thanks to a partnership with La Joux-Perret, who has created the exclusive caliber 1MPS for Aquastar. This keeps the 60 minute totalizer hand mounted at the center, and again forgoes any sub dial totalizers to keep the focus as simple and clean as the original. The only change you’ll notice is a swap of the crown and pusher locations, with the newest example placing the pusher at 2 o’clock, and the crown at 4 o’clock, inverse of the original. The rest of the watch keeps things very nearly (the Geneve SA has been removed from the dial) as they were, and you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart at a glance.
One change that is certainly welcome is a slightly revised case. The top down cushion shape remains unchanged, however, thanks to the new movement, the case thickness has been reduced from the original’s 16mm, to 15.4mm. All this with a flat crystal as well, but if you’re concerned about such numbers, this was likely never going to be a watch for you in the first place. The curvature of the mid case and protruding underbelly should keep this watch plenty wearable (and provides a 500m depth rating), and at the end of the day that’s what really matters with a watch like this. We’ll give a final verdict on that count once we are able to spend some time with the watch next month.
This is a design I’m very happy to see return, and dearly hope that we see additional applications for this movement from La Joux-Perret, as the centrally mounted chronograph is deeply under-represented in this price range. I applaud Aquastar for taking the effort to make it happen rather than release the watch in a more traditional chronograph configuration.
The new Aquastar Benthos 500 will be limited to 300 units, with the first half expected to ship this May, and the second half expected to ship in June. Pre-order pricing is set at $2,790, while the MSRP is $3,790. Aquastar