Professional dive watch brand Squale are celebrating their 65th anniversary, having been founded back in 1959. Throughout 2024 they’ll be releasing a suite of watches that pay tribute to some of the important watches that form their heritage. First up in this anniversary series is the new Squale Master Titanium 120 ATM, which I have here for a thorough review.
Strapping the watch onto my wrist, the first thing to note is that it’s very lightweight, as expected. This is because it’s the first Squale dive watch to have a case made entirely from grade 5 titanium, the extremely light and strong material that’s having a serious surge in popularity at the moment. Plus, the dive timer bezel is made from dark grey ceramic, another lightweight and durable material. It’s also well sized at 41.65mm in diameter.
However, the most important statistic of the case is the improved water resistance rating of 120 ATM, which translates to 120 bar or 1,200m. Hence the name Master Titanium 120 ATM. That’s four times greater than the standard 300m that’s required for professional dive watches today. The improvement is based on the Master collection from the 1960s which had a water resistance rating of 100 ATM. So, to be honest, it’s been an impressive dive watch for almost the entirety of the brand’s 65 years even during a period when skindivers were the popular archetype.
Taking a closer look at the case itself, it’s based on Squale’s signature design called the Von Büren. Its key features are the crown positioned at 4 o’clock, the asymmetrical sides with a round side on the left and straight edged on the right and the helium valve. Lots of these features aren’t noticeable from a direct, front-on picture of the dial, but become more evident as you rotate the watch around and wear it.
As for the Master Titanium 120 ATM’s dial, I really like it, it uses a sandwich style construction with three layers. The first of which is a complete disk coated with old radium style lume, above which is a second disk with only the hour markers cut out from it that allows the lume to shine from below. Then on top of that, the borders of each index feature a raised third layer making them stand out even more. With three layers maybe we should call it a club sandwich dial?
In terms of colour, the use of old radium lume with its off-white colour gives the hands and hour markers a weathered, vintage look suitable for a tribute to the 1960s. The main dial itself is matte black, darker and more intense than the grey of the bezel. The use of black in tool watches is very common because it provides a solid base for the markings, making them easily legible and the Squale uses this to its advantage nicely.
Below the surface of the Master Titanium 120 ATM is housed the Sellita SW200-1 Elaboré movement. It’s a widely used and trusted movement and at Elaboré grade it has an improved accuracy of +/-7 seconds per day and has been adjusted in more positions. The power reserve of 38-hours is a little sub-par these days but that’s made up for by its accessibility and ease of repair – any service centre worth its salt will see dozens if not hundreds of these movements regularly.
At £2,190, it’s competitively priced in the realm of professional dive watches with water resistance greater than 300m. Plus, considering how light the watch is, it’s perfectly suitable for daily wear. We don’t currently know what the other watches in the 65th anniversary series will be, although Squale has hinted that it will focus on the other Von Büren case collections such as the 1521 and Matic. But if they’re anything like this, it’s going to be a happy birthday for the brand.
Price and Specs:
More details at Squale.
