What is a dive watch?

A watch built to be worn under water and to time a dive: high water resistance, a rotating bezel to track elapsed time, a screw-down crown and luminous markers. The Aquamar is water resistant to 200 m and the Depthmaster to 1,000 m.

How do you use a dive watch bezel?

At the start, turn the bezel until its triangle lines up with the minute hand. The minute hand then shows the elapsed minutes on the bezel scale.

Why do dive watches have rotating bezels?

To time a dive or any other activity without a chronograph. On a unidirectional bezel, like the Depthmaster's, an accidental knock can only make the elapsed time look longer, never shorter, which is the safer error under water.

Nov 11, 2026

Dive Watch Essentials 2026: The Aquamar and Depthmaster Collections

Buying guide · 2026 · 5 min read

The Aquamar and the Depthmaster are the two Nivada Grenchen dive watch families for 2026. The Aquamar is a 38 mm diver with a sandwich dial and a black ceramic bezel, water resistant to 200 m. The Depthmaster is a 39 mm cushion-case diver water resistant to 1,000 m, with a helium escape valve. Both run on the Swiss Soprod P024 automatic movement.

In short

Aquamar, 38 mm, 200 m: a colourful everyday diver, in blue, grey, black and the Vintage dial.
Depthmaster, 39 mm, 1,000 m: the deep-water diver, with the Art Deco "Pac-Man" dial, numerals and bronze versions.
Same heart: the Soprod P024 Swiss automatic, with a 38-hour power reserve.

In this guide

The Aquamar collection
The Depthmaster collection
Aquamar and Depthmaster at a glance
Which one to choose in 2026

The Aquamar collection

The Aquamar revives a lesser-known Nivada Grenchen dive watch of the late 1960s, from the Antarctic family. It keeps the original proportions: a 38 mm stainless steel case, 12.9 mm thick, under a double-domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, and water resistant to 20 ATM, or 200 m.

Nivada Grenchen Aquamar Black, a 38 mm dive watch with black ceramic bezel, worn on the wrist by the sea — The Aquamar Black, 38 mm, water resistant to 200 m.

Its signature is the dial. The matte lacquered sandwich dial has hollow-out indexes filled with Super-LumiNova in two tones, which gives it depth and strong legibility in low light. The black ceramic bezel turns in both directions and carries white luminous markers and numerals. On the back, a closed steel caseback is engraved with the Antarctic penguin and a gold medallion.

The Aquamar comes in Blue, Grey and Black. The Aquamar Vintage adds a dark blue and grey dial taken from a design found in archives, and a date.

Nivada Grenchen Aquamar Grey dive watch with matte grey sandwich dial on a black Tropic rubber strap, on a wet surface — The Aquamar Grey and its matte grey sandwich dial.

The Depthmaster collection

The Depthmaster is the deep-water option. Nivada Grenchen first launched it in the 1960s, rated to 1,000 m, and today's models keep that rating: 100 ATM, with a screw-down crown and an automatic helium escape valve. The 39 mm cushion case in 316L steel measures 13 mm thick and 47 mm lug to lug. Every Depthmaster has a unidirectional rotating bezel; on the Art Deco models it turns in 120 clicks with a 15-minute graduation.

Nivada Grenchen Art Deco Depthmaster with matte black dial and Art Deco numerals, among bubbles under water — The Art Deco Depthmaster and its "Pac-Man" numerals.

The Art Deco Depthmaster is the best known. Its numerals at 3, 6, 9 and 12 gave the watch its "Pac-Man" nickname, after the arcade game character. It comes in 39 mm and in a larger 42 mm (49 mm lug to lug, 14.1 mm thick). The Depthmaster Numerals pairs bold luminous numerals with a date, in green or in black and green. The Orange Depthmaster has a half-glossy orange dial with cream Super-LumiNova indexes.

The bronze versions use a CuAl8 copper-aluminium bronze case with a 316L steel caseback and a black ceramic bezel insert. Bronze develops a patina that depends on the wearer's environment and skin. The Depthmaster Bronze Green adds a green sunray dial and a date.

Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Bronze Green with CuAl8 bronze case and green sunray dial, beside diving equipment — The Depthmaster Bronze Green, water resistant to 1,000 m.

Aquamar and Depthmaster at a glance

Aquamar

Case: 38 mm steel, 12.9 mm thick
Water resistance: 20 ATM / 200 m
Bezel: Black ceramic, bidirectional
Movement: Soprod P024 automatic

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Art Deco Depthmaster

Case: 39 mm cushion steel, 13 mm thick
Water resistance: 100 ATM / 1,000 m, helium valve
Bezel: Unidirectional, 120 clicks
Movement: Soprod P024 automatic, no date

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Depthmaster Bronze

Case: 39 mm CuAl8 bronze, 13 mm thick
Water resistance: 100 ATM / 1,000 m, helium valve
Bezel: Unidirectional, black ceramic insert
Movement: Soprod P024 automatic

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All have a screw-down crown and a sapphire crystal. Most come on rubber, leather or a steel bracelet.

Which one to choose in 2026

You want a colourful everyday diverThe Aquamar, in blue, grey or black.

You want a vintage dial and a dateThe Aquamar Vintage.

You dive deep or want the highest ratingThe Depthmaster, at 1,000 m.

Good to know: the Aquamar's ceramic bezel turns both ways, while the Depthmaster's bezel turns only one way, the standard for dive timing. If you want to compare sizes, read our guide to 38 and 39 mm dive watches.

Browse the collections:

Aquamar Depthmaster Swiss dive watches