Eberhard & Co Scafograf 300 (Ref. 41034): A Legend Returns

Eberhard invited us to come see their novelties for 2016, so we did. When they showed the new Scafograf we were immediately hooked by the splashy colorful accent-colors and the comfortable shapes of this dive watch, so let’s quickly take a first look at this dive machine.

Historical Piece – Scafograf

The Scafograf is one of the oldest models of Eberhard. Launched in the exploring 1950s this watch has truly evolved through time. Through time, the water resistance of this piece quite varied: from 100 meters for the earliest models up to 1000 meters with the Scafograf Super in 1983. The predecessor of this year’s novelty bears the same name: Scafograf 300. The number ‘300’ stood for a water-resistant indicator of 300m, which was quite impressive back in the 1960’s. With its diameter of 42.5mm it was a huge watch compared to the standards of those days. The purest contrast was chosen to form the face: black and white. To make it even more functional, the most vital parts for time-reading were given big amounts of luminous material. Besides this ‘standard’ dive-watch setup, there was something quite unusual added: a date at 3 o’clock! I guess Eberhard was one of the first brands who added the date to make the watch more suitable for everyday desk diving. The vintage Scafograf 300 is an interesting piece and still is adored by collectors, but let’s look at the newest child of the Scafograf-family.

Historical overview of the Scafograf family (image by Eberhard & Co)

Scafograf Dial and Hands

The hands are big, legible and of the Baton-type. The seconds hand is where the variations of this watch come in. The Scafograf 300 is available in 3 accent colors: lemon yellow, azure blue and white. To connect elements on the dial there are a few locations where you will also meet this color: at the small pips close to the hour markers and as font-color for the model name. To make the whole a bit classier the Baton hands, hour markers and the date window are embraced by thick mirror polished borders. The hour and minute track is very robust and easy to read. To conclude with the date window located at 3: due the white big hour markers, the white date window blends in quite good. It’s not one of those disturbing windows and due the high contrast it is very functional.

Unidirectional Bezel

The deep black ceramic bezel operates smoothly and has some interesting details. For example, the triangular arrow at 12 is filled with a small pyramid instead of the more common circle-shape. When we look at the font to display intervals everything indicates functionality and legible looks: squared, non-serif, wide spaced numbers. Although I like the originality of choosing two lines next two each other to vary between numbers and lines I do think one (fatter) line was perhaps better in terms of legibility. Grip of the bezel is good because of the squared saw tooth structure on the side of the bezel. One note about luminosity: only the first 15 minutes of the scale is luminous. Call it a vital setup.

Scafograf 300 Caseback

The watch is sealed by a screwed caseback. The quite sober setup is appropriate for a dive watch. The two engraved circular text-paths expose the most important information. An engraved Starfish in the middle forms the center and adds a recognizable touch to the caseback.

Movement Of The Scafograf 300

Eberhard selected one of the most reliable and serviceable movements available: an ETA 2824-2. The movement for low- until mid-segment priced dive watches today. The movement has a central seconds hand beating at 3 hertz (28800vph) and a date at 3 o’clock. The power reserve of this very popular movement is roughly 38 hours.

Case and Comfortable Dimensions

The case has a a helium escape valve at 9 o’clock and is covered by an anti-reflecting sapphire glass. Compared to the ancestor, the new Scafograf has grown from 42.5 to 43mm in diameter. A bit bigger, but still wearable. Let me explain. Because of the medium height-profile of 12,60mm and nicely curved lugs it sits solid on even smaller wrists like mine (16,5cm). The case is satin polished and made of steel. I really like the shape of the lugs. They are nicely curved and dynamically shaped by diagonal edges which increase in thickness when we look at them in off-case direction.

The blue version of the new Eberhard Scafograf 300

Solid Crown

The mirror polished screw-in crown feels sturdy and solid. The size is in balance with the case and the crown protectors are rounded to prevent skin irritations. The crown is branded by a raised Eberhard ‘E’.

Rubber Strap

The strap is how a dive-strap should be in my opinion: sober with a little branding. It’s formed by two caveated tracks and an Eberhard-shield in the center close by the watch case. It feels comfortable, stretchy and flexible. On the inside we find a shield-structure to guarantee an optimal anti-transpire setup. The integrated rubber strap comes with an standard personalized buckle, but can be ordered with an optional deployment clasp, which is a bit more optimal for dive purposes. The alternative is the Chassis-bracelet in steel. This option is standard suited with the “Déclic” deployment clasp.

Blue version

Epilogue

We’ve really enjoyed this watch during BaselWorld 2016. The accent-colors really pop out and everything looks very solid and balanced. It could be used for diving, but also as a casual-chic daily beater. Despite the diameter of 43mm it fits smaller wrists well. The integrated rubber strap feels very comfortable. From my perspective this is a nice watch if you want to buy something which is sportive and all-round, with premium materials like a ceramic bezel. It’s an original and reliable choice/alternative besides competitors like Oris or Tudor for example. The watch will retail for 2490 Euro (incl. VAT) with the rubber strap and 3070 Euro (incl. VAT) with the stainless steel bracelet.

More information can be found here, on the official Eberhard website.