Available Now: The Jacques Bianchi Marseille × Fratello JB200 PoulPro Night Diver Limited Edition
Summer is just around the corner, and dive-watch season is well underway. This means long days in the sun, traveling to exotic locations, and plenty of action in the water, like swimming, snorkeling, and maybe even diving. But as much as we enjoy long, sunny summer days with our divers, we wanted a watch that could take on the season’s most strenuous activities and shine equally bright at night. This is why we’re very excited to introduce the Jacques Bianchi Marseille × Fratello JB200 PoulPro Night Diver limited edition.
For this latest limited edition, we worked together with the French watch brand Jacques Bianchi Marseille. The brand bears the name of its co-founder and is renowned for the watches it produced for French military divers starting in the early 1980s. In 2021, the brand made a comeback, reissuing the classic JB200 diver, followed by the PoulPro model introduced last year. We took the JB200 PoulPro and decided to get it night-mission-ready with a stealthy black PVD case and a full-lume dial. But before we dive into the watch, let’s learn a little bit about the brand and the inspiration for this limited edition.
Jacques Bianchi Marseille
As its name suggests, the Jacques Bianchi Marseille brand has its roots in Marseille, France. This is where watchmaker Jacques Bianchi himself produced the JB200 dive watch. It dates back to the early 1980s when he produced early models in his atelier above the port of Marseille. These French-made dive watches, which used a quartz movement back then, were adopted by the country’s military forces and could be found on the wrists of French Navy divers.
Almost 40 years later, with the help of Fabrice Pougez and Simo Tber, the JB200 diver returned. The JB200 PoulPro model pays tribute to the brand’s home of Marseille. The JB200’s distinctive illustration of a diver on the dial was replaced by an octopus, the city’s unofficial animal, often seen as the mascot of restaurants and hotels and depicted in graffiti throughout Marseille’s ancient streets. This is something we had to see for ourselves. So, to launch this limited edition, we took a trip down to the French Riviera to visit the oldest city in France.
There, we spent some time in the sun, seeing the sights and feeling the pulse of the brand’s hometown. We caught up with Simo (CEO) and Omar (art director) of Jacques Bianchi Marseille. They took us on a tour through this vibrant city. Simo and Omar were great hosts and showed us all the city’s highlights, from members-only clubs with sun-bleached Olympic swimming pools perched on the rocks to influencer-heavy restaurants on the Cote d’Azur. It was everything you’d expect from a trip to Marseille, taking street photography of amazing graffiti and discussing art and watch design while seated at small tables, eating croissants with the constant background noise of the waves of the Mediterranean crashing rhythmically against the rocks.
The Jacques Bianchi Marseille × Fratello JB200 PoulPro Night Diver
The Marseille experience was a great way to test the versatility of the Jacques Bianchi Marseille × Fratello JB200 PoulPro Night Diver. On land, the watch matched the city’s vibrant vibes, but the experience would not have been complete without getting the watch into the water. Later in the day, we got together with a local dive team, geared up, and jumped onto a boat that took us out over the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean. The breeze kicked up small white-crested waves, but the water below was clear and refreshing. In the shadow cast by the dive boat’s hull, the Night Diver’s dial and bezel glowed brightly, making it highly legible.
The watch’s 42mm case is 13.3mm thick with a wearable 47mm lug-to-lug. It’s a well-proportioned case, and, if anything, it wears slightly smaller thanks to its deep black PVD coating. It also has the crown positioned at 9 o’clock, a feature of the original watch meant to increase wearing comfort and improve wearability. Inside, a Swiss Soprod P024 automatic movement keeps time accurately for its 38-hour power reserve.
The unidirectional 60-click bezel is snappy and precise and features a fully graduated and lumed matte aluminum insert. The dial is fully luminous, with all non-lume elements executed in black to provide contrast in both light and darkness. This includes 11 black hour markers, an outer minute track, and the brand’s logo at 6 o’clock below the PoulPro’s signature octopus design. Finally, a 6 o’clock date window with a black date wheel adds functionality and balance to the dial.
The watch will ship on a Tropic-style strap with a matching black PVD buckle. In addition, buyers will receive a black Perlon strap, a popular option among French Navy divers back in the ’80s and ’90s.
Pricing and availability
If you’re as excited as we are about the Jacques Bianchi Marseille × Fratello JB200 PoulPro Night Diver, then I have good news for you. This Fratello limited edition is available now, exclusively from the Jacques Bianchi Marseille online store. Only 250 individually numbered pieces will be produced. Priced at €1,162.50 before taxes and shipping fees (with free shipping for EU-based buyers), it’s the perfect summer watch. The watches will start shipping on the 17th of June, so don’t miss out!
