Siden du nevner Aquastar er det kanskje på sin plass med et sikle-innlegg...
Disse klokkene begynner å bli ganske ettertraktede i markedet, spesielt de siste par-tre åra. Benthos 500 leder an, jeg husker de første jeg så rundt 2009, de lå vel ikke på mer en $1000 eller deromkring. Nå går de for $1800-2000 og oppover.
Men det er fortsatt mulig å få fatt i pene Seatime, Deepstar eller Atoll... Eller kanskje en Regatta? Til meget hyggelige priser. Dive Watch Connection (DWC) er et annet forum jeg "henger" en del på, og der har vi en kar fra Madrid som har en sjuk Aquastar-samling. Flink til å ta bilder er han også:
Vær obs på at Seatime kom i mange konfigurasjoner, noen mindre vellykkede i mine øyne. Men når de treffer: Wow!
Også Deepstar, da. For ei klokke. Det litt kjipe med disse er at de aller fleste er skikkelig vann-skada. Typisk brukt med dårlige pakninger i sin tid, og er klokker jeg personlig ville holdt meg unna. Men når de dukker opp i nær mint tilstand...
Verkene var stort sett A. Schild, bl.a. AS1701 som også ble brukt i Glycine Airman Special. Men det er en annen historie.
Aquastar ble startet av Jean og Frederic Robert i 1962, to tidlige SCUBA-dykkerne. Disse klokkene utviklet av dykkere og ment til å være et verktøy for dykkere. Litt historie (fra
http://watchipedia.wikidot.com):
Established since 1962 in GENEVA on the lake Leman side, AQUASTAR was not only born from the passion of one man for the sub-marine world but was also reflecting a period where, for the first time, the sub-marine world became of interest. In the Sixties started the first sub-marine discoveries. Through its first collection of professional diving watches, AQUASTAR became part of all those adventures. Just after its creation, AQUASTAR started to develop the first diving watch provided with a metalic internal turning bezel which was operated by the same crown that the one used to set the time. This invention enabled the diver to measure with the maximum of security its diving time and thus the patent was registered. The drawing, showed hereunder, will give you an idea about the construction of this type of internal bezel. As usual, the main problem to be solved was the place left for the gear of this internal bezel and the dial had also to be curved accordingly.
Further on, our interest got naturally enlarged to the sailing world and to the yacht races. In order to allow the skipper to be present on time on the departure line, a timer was still missing which would enable a clear and accurate visual indication of the minutes and seconds as they elapse. This was made possible with the indication of ten colored balls on the dials, becoming at turn blue and red as long as the ten minutes were elapsing. The technical feasibility of the system started in the sixties to materialize in its final concept in 1973. The result of it was to launch on the market the first specific regata watch. This invention was duly patented and the drawings below demonstrate the complexity of this mechanism and the automatic movement it is linked to.
Costeau brukte Aquastar-klokker i flere av sine filmer. Costeau brukte som kjent også Rolex og Omega klokker, så Aquastar er i trivelig selskap her.
