A Dial For Diving — The Singer Divetrack Is One Of The Most Impressive Watches I’ve Seen In 2024

Singer Reimagined had quite a surprise in store for us with the introduction of the Divetrack chronograph. It’s not a typical dive watch and even goes beyond the dive watches we already find unusual (okay, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms X Fathoms might be an exception to a certain extent). The Divetrack offers a dial that is all about diving. If you want to read the time, you’ll have to look somewhere else.

Singer Reimagined Divetrack

After running Fratello for exactly 20 years this month, I must admit that it’s not always easy to feel excited about every watch release. It’s not that we see that many bad watches, but there are often no real surprises anymore. A surprise doesn’t have to be a big thing. It can be a small detail, a color, a specific movement, you name it. But it’s often that one element that makes you look twice or lose your breath for a second.

Earlier this year, on my way to the Patek Philippe craftsmanship exhibition in Geneva, I stopped at one of the hotels because my colleagues told me I should check out the new Singer Reimagined watch. I contacted the brand to ask if that would be convenient, and after a positive response, I set course to the famous Beau-Rivage Hotel, which offers a view of the Jet d’Eau (fountain) in Lake Geneva. Singer was exhibiting its watches in one of the beautiful suites. Among them was this new dive watch that some members of the Fratello team had been raving about.

Simply for the appreciation of beautiful watches

Now, before I get to the watch, yes, I get that it is too big to be comfortable for everyday wear, too expensive for a dive watch, not a replacement for a dive computer, and did I mention the price? But it’s not about those things, at least not to me. Without wanting to own one, I can also appreciate a Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach 5000S, or perhaps more fittingly, a Singer Porsche 911. These watches and cars are just for the sake of appreciation. If you’re fortunate enough to buy one of them, more power to you.

It’s thick, and I love it

Marco Borraccino created the watch’s concept and design. When he and his team showed me the watch and, better yet, let me try it on, it surprised me like no other watch at Watches and Wonders 2024. The 49mm diameter and especially the 19.67mm thickness are not for the faint of heart, but if I had unlimited funds, I would’ve made that black credit card smoke like never before.

The Singer Divetrack looks incredibly good on the wrist, but, crucially, it also feels great. Grade 5 titanium keeps it light, and the textile Velcro strap gives it a tactile look, so if you have the wrist for it, you’ll get away with it.

It somehow reminds me of the vintage Seiko (Grandfather) Tuna 6159-7010 from 1975. The red ceramic-coated aluminum pusher protector gives me a bit of a 1970s Seamaster 600 PloProf vibe as well. But this is something different! While there are some 1960s and ’70s undertones, this is an incredibly modern dive watch.

It tells time too!

A partially skeletonized titanium case and stainless steel bezel hold three sapphire crystals in place on the front, back, and side. The last one allows the wearer to read the time on a rotating hour disc. On the dial, we only find information related to diving but not limited to the time you dive.

There are three hands, all connected to the center pinion, that will give you information about your dive, the time between dives, and what activities are safe to do after your dive. The large orange minute hand and the dive-scale bezel support you during your dive. This is something most other dive watches have done since the 1950s. Then, there’s an always-useful central seconds hand to show you that the watch is running.

Where things get unique

But there’s also a smaller hour hand with a dedicated 24-hour scale on the dial. This scale is divided into three sections (0–6 is “Chill,” 6–18 is “Dive,” and 18–24 is “Fly”).

For those unfamiliar with diving (I’m not even remotely close to being a diver), the human body needs enough time between dives to get rid of the gases it absorbs. These gases will exit the tissues, enter the blood, and be exhaled into the atmosphere again. This takes time, and in the first six “chill” hours, it is recommended to determine how long you should stay surfaced depending on your previous dive time, depth, etc.

When the hour hand is in the “Dive” zone, you can dive again after meeting the required surface-time interval. And “Fly” indicates you must wait at least 18 hours after your dive to step inside a plane again. As mentioned, I am not a diver, but you must be very careful with these intervals, so make sure you know what you’re doing. Here, you will find some more useful tips about your post-dive time.

Protect Ya Pusher!

Anyway, to start measuring time on the dial, flip up the red pusher protector at the usual 2 o’clock position. This allows you to start and stop the chronograph. After starting it, slide the protector down again. At the normal 10 o’clock position, you’ll find the reset pusher. This pusher only works when the chronograph has been stopped, which can’t happen by accident as long as the red protector is in place.

Automatic helium escape valve

At the typical 8 o’clock position, you will find the automatic helium escape valve, as can also be found on dive watches like the Rolex Sea-Dweller, Seamaster 1200M Ploprof, and several others. At 4 o’clock, there’s the regular (stainless steel) crown for correcting the time displayed through the sapphire crystal at 6 o’clock below the unidirectional bezel. This peripheral time indicator has markings for quarter, half, and full hours.

Singer added enough Super-LumiNova to all the hands, five-minute markers, and the bezel scale to almost light up a room.

A mechanical marvel

As with many watches, part of the magic is on the backside of the Singer Divetrack chronograph. There, through a sapphire crystal, we are treated with a beautiful view of the AgenGraphe 24-h Automatic Chronograph movement. This caliber comprises 479 components, including 56 jewels, ticks at 21,600vph, and offers a power reserve of 72 hours.

It’s a variation of the chronograph movement used in the Singer Track 1, but it offers a different layout (of course) and an increased power reserve (up from 55 hours). The architecture of the movement is nothing short of stunning.

Some thoughts

No, at CHF 85,000, this Singer Divetrack isn’t cheap, and the production capacity is limited to 25 units per year. There are more affordable and accessible dive watches out there that will also help you during your dive, just like a Volkswagen Golf GTI probably offers exactly what you’d use a Porsche 911 for. It’s just the d(r)iving experience that will be different. However, even as a non-diver, I would love to wear this watch just because of how it looks and works. And I guess nobody would complain. It’s all about the appreciation for the design, the construction, and its beautiful movement.

The Divetrack is an impressive piece of engineering in the style of all other Singer Reimagined watches. The folks at Singer certainly achieved their goal of developing a thoroughly modern dive watch based on the 1960s/1970s designs. It fits perfectly in the brand’s lineup of special chronograph watches.

You can find more information on Singer’s dedicated Divetrack website.