Hands-On With The New Jacques Bianchi JB200 Maxi Dial
Jacques Bianchi has quickly found a place in the hearts of watch enthusiasts who love the brand’s history and timepieces. With numerous notable releases, the brand has stood out more than once in the past three years. The first ones that come to mind are, without a doubt, the models with illustrations on the dial. From a diver on the dial of the JB200 Méduse to an octopus on the dial of the JB200 PoulPro and the limited-edition JB200 Night Diver that we collaborated on with the brand, they stand out immediately. Another future fan favorite is the new JB200 Maxi Dial. This model is more serious in its approach and will be part of the brand’s permanent collection starting in early 2025.
When the Jacques Bianchi name returned to the spotlight in 2021, many watch fans jumped at the opportunity to buy a watch from this illustrious French brand. The first new release stood out immediately thanks to the outline of the diver on the dial. It’s certainly an acquired taste, and as Robert-Jan explained, some people are not fans, while others love this funny detail. I am generally not one to like funny watches, so I was happy to see the brand also release versions of the JB200 without the diver or the octopus on the dial.
The story of the new Jacques Bianchi JB200 Maxi Dial
With the release of the new JB200 Maxi Dial, the brand introduces a great, clean version of the popular diver that doesn’t feature a pattern or an illustration on the dial. This model takes after the blue-dial JB200 Marégraphe, which was a 150-piece limited edition introduced not too long ago. The main visual differences are easy to spot. The first is that this new version has a black dial. Additionally, it doesn’t feature the line pattern, one of the defining features of the blue-dial Marégraphe.
What stayed is the characteristic Maxi Dial layout with its slightly bigger hour markers and red 13–24-hour markings. For those familiar with the brand’s history, this dial is based on the one in the classic JB300 from the 1980s. For this new version, the brand combined that dial with the JB200 case, and in my opinion, it’s one of the revived brand’s best releases so far.
The details of the JB200 Maxi Dial
The watch has the familiar 42mm stainless steel case, which has a 13.3mm thickness and a 47mm lug-to-lug. It is water resistant to 200 meters and available with the crown on the left or right side. The case features a straightforward mix of finishes, with brushing on the top and a high polish on the case flanks that extends halfway onto the lugs. The 60-click bezel holds a black aluminum insert with a Super-LumiNova diving scale and a full set of hash marks.
As mentioned, Jacques Bianchi has paired the case with a matte black dial. It features oversized luminescent hour markers encircled by a 60-minute track. The vintage-inspired lume for the hour markers matches the lume on the bezel insert and the characteristic handset. At 6 o’clock, there sits a date window with a white date disc and numerals printed in black. It would have been nice if the date disc were the same color as the lume.
Alternatively, it could have been a black disc with white numerals. The crisp white disc here is slightly dissonant in the overall design. Having said that, it does match the white text on the dial. But for the overall composition, I would have loved to see a date disc that matched the lume.
A Swiss Soprod movement
Inside the case, Jacques Bianchi uses the Soprod P024. This Swiss automatic movement replaced the Japanese Seiko NH-series caliber that the brand used in some of the previous models. Soprod’s P024 caliber operates at 28,800vph, has 25 jewels, and offers 38 hours of power reserve. If those specs sound familiar, that’s because this caliber is a “clone” of the ETA 2824-2. It offers an advertised accuracy of -0/+15 seconds per day. However, it must be said that owners often report different numbers. Some are even more accurate, while others do run a few seconds slower or faster.
The watch comes on a black rubber Tropic-style strap with a brushed stainless steel buckle. The strap finishes the look nicely and perfectly complements the watch’s character. Overall, I love how the JB200 Maxi Dial looks.
Wearing the Jacques Bianchi JB200 Maxi Dial
I found that the watch sits very nicely on my 18.5mm wrist. The JB200 hits the perfect balance between its classic purpose as an ’80s diving tool and a current-day daily wearer. It is large without being too big and substantial without being chunky. On top of that, it has plenty of character that kept me coming back to stare at the dial.
On top of that, there is that clever visual trick. The mirror-polished rehaut reflects the luminous hour markers nicely, and because of the reflection, it seems like you can see past the edges of the dial and into the “depths” around it. Of course, that’s not the case, but it kept me returning to the dial constantly.
Final thoughts on the Jacques Bianchi JB200 Maxi Dial
Furthermore, the watch feels like a solid tool watch. The build quality is what you would expect from a dive watch. Pleasingly, the bezel and crown are easy to operate but do give off the quality feel that you would want from a dive watch like this. Overall, it’s hard to fault this new Jacques Bianchi model for anything. If I were to name one detail I wasn’t a fan of, it would be the color of the date disc. Other than that, this is a super solid release from the French brand.
If you follow Jacques Bianchi on its social media pages, you might have seen that the JB200 Maxi Dial was offered for €890 for 48 hours in August. If you missed that limited-time offer, the brand will release the watch in early 2025 as part of its permanent collection for €1,295. Yes, you may have missed quite a good deal, but the future price point is on par with similar-style dive watches from some of the familiar brands.
If you can’t wait that long and would love to add a Jacques Bianchi watch to your collection, the brand still has a small number of the Jacques Bianchi Marseille × Fratello JB200 PoulPro Night Diver Limited Editions available for sale. Reach out to the brand directly to get your hands on one of the very few pieces left. If you want the new JB200 Maxi Dial, you may want to keep an eye on Jacques Bianchi’s website for updates. Let us know what you think of the JB200 Maxi Dial in the comments section.
