The 1980s were a tough time for the Swiss watch manufacturers with cheap and reliable quartz watches being available from the far east it became hard to justify the complex and expensive automatics, especially for government issue. With this in mind it is all the stranger that at this time came the birth of a new automatic 1000m dive watch.
Assembled by DPW and sold under various brand names (Beuchat – Civilian, NM and Ushuaia. Adina, Eagle Star, Luxor and of course Candino) with only a few differences detail between them. The watch is an impressive size and weight and wears well. It was introduced around 1980 but the exact year is not known. It’s a well built quality product and it seems logical that the French Military would take these (possibly to replace their ageing Tudor Submariners) for their Divers – The French government prefer to support local business and the Beuchat branded version was a logical choice.
Specs:
- Stainless steel case, 42 mm ø without crown, 15 mm thick, 47mm lug to lug, 20mm lug width
- Gilded ETA 2824-2 automatic with quickset date function, some models hack (Candino) and some are non-hacking (Eagle Star)
- Luminous hands and markers
- Recessed screw down crown at 4.
- 6mm thick sapphire crystal
- 60 click bezel with the bezel teeth polished and angled to help grip – easily turned with a wet/gloved hand
- Matt black / dark grey dial marked “T-SWISS MADE-T” – it is presumed that the luminous material used is tritium
- distinctive handset with very bright orange second hand
- The deeply dished back of the watch is fully polished but has a circle in the middle that looks rough grit blasted, this carries an eagle (or a scuba diver on some models) emblem and the letters “DPW” and the word “International”. The other information on the back consists of “1000 MT AUTOMATIC - SWISS MADE”.
Differences:
Dial Back Logo Strap
1000m Name Automatic
Candino
(Ref. 1.187.1.0.04) No Yes No Eagle Kevlar / leather
Eagle Star Yes Yes Yes Eagle Kevlar / neoprene
Adina
Luxor Yes Yes Yes Diver
Beuchat Yes Yes Yes Diver Kevlar / bracelet?
Sinn (Prototype only and not produced)
Beuchat Ushuaia Yes Yes Yes Diver
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There are three variations of the Beuchat: the civilian ABYSS version and the ones issued to Marine Nationale (French military) are differentiated by the “MN” and year markings engraved into the back of those issued and ABYSS on the dial of the civvy. They have the same dial markers, hands and bezel insert as the other branded versions. The Beuchat Ushuaia is the exception with its yellow index ring and bezel insert details, also by its angular indices.
These are reasonably rare watches but do come up for sale from time to time. In 2005 a few NOS examples of Candino and Eagle Star branded versions were offered by internet sellers but the NOS examples now seem to be all sold and only occasionally do these watches appear on the sales forums.
It is understood that these watches originally came with a black Kevlar type strap but these days most of these have ended up on a bracelet – usually the Watchadoo Lumpy.
These watches are an excellent dive watch and provide all the mass required of a tool watch without being over-sized or bulky – this is what makes them wear nicely on the wrist. The crown is well-hidden by the case recess it fits in, but large enough to be an easy turn and set with one hand.
Acknowledgements
There is little information on these watches available on the Internet and the author is indebted to the following people who’s information was invaluable in the creation of this article:
Roger Ruegger
Colin Miller
MattV
Chris Van Eyck
Shinichi-san
and an unknown source for the Beuchat pictures – Please contact us if this is your picture so we can reference you.
Errors and Omissions
Please note:
This article is a “best endeavours” attempt to document the history and features of this watch – If you have more information that you feel should be included here and / or better photographs, please do not hesitate to contact the site administrator.
Only the diver logo backs have serial numbers, all commencing (well certainly the Beuchats) with 1.187.1.0.xxx. It appears that the non-military issued Ushuaia’s were a limited edition of 200 and have their number in approximately the same place as the MN, date and number as the issued versions.