Watch Review: Xam Diver One

Company: Xam Watches

website: http://www.xamwatches.com

model: Diver One

specifications:

movement – Quartz Ronda 515

Diameter – 46 mm

height – 13 mm

crystal – sapphire

Band – Silicone

Water resistant – 200 Meter

case – Stainless Steel

Bezel – unidirectional

€169.00-approximately $185.00 USD

About Xam from their website:

Time is ticking! XAM WATCHES are inspired by a combination of ruggedness and style. A jewel that every situation, raw or trivial, can and will never let you down. We also love our watches and can not stop looking at it and seeing how time is ticking … We hope that you can also find them fantastic!

PACKAGING:

The Diver One comes in a waterproof plastic case, that is lined with foam padding on inside. The outter lid is signed with Xam in white lettering set nicely against the blue plastic box. The plastic is pretty sturdy and can be used as a travel case to keep your watch well protected during travels. The packaging is small, simple and effective. I have nothing negative to say about this packaging. I quite like it.

THE CASE:

The 316L stainless steel case is brushed throughout including the bezel, case top & sides. The case is 46mm in diameter and 13mm in height. The unidirectional ratcheting bezel requires 90 clicks to make one full rotation. The bezel is very easy to grip and rotate because of the squared gear style edges on the bezel edges. There is little to no play in the bezel rotation and rotates really smooth. It’s quite solid and I am very impressed for how quality it feels for a watch in this price range. I’ve experienced watches that were well over $5000 mark that bezels didn’t feel as nice as the bezel on the Xam Diver One. The screw down crown is signed with a ‘X’ and the crown operates as it should. Setting the time and gripping the crown is very easy due to the gear style edges of the crown. I wouldn’t expect a signed crown at this price point and it’s another pleasant surprise on the Diver One. The bezel has a large lume triangle at the 12 o’clock position and counts by 5’s around the bezel starting at 5 and ending at 55. The engraved numbers on the bezel are coated with black gloss and is evenly applied on each numeral and hash mark. The case back is a screw down solid case back with some engraved info on the watch model, including Dutch Made, sapphire, Swiss movement, Diver One and the Xam logo & name. The “turtle shell” style lugs are curved and solid. The curved lugs are relatively short which allows the watch to sit nicely on the wrist. The case is very solid, well made and quite heavy, in a good way. The flat sapphire crystal sits ever so slightly above the bezel itself. I really like the case on the Diver One it is really well constructed and seems very durable.

THE DIAL:

Before I get to the dial itself, I have to say that I am a sucker for black matte dials with white numerals/hour markers. One reason they possess a certain deep beauty that I can’t explain and secondly they are very easy to photograph. They catch the light so nicley. The Xam Diver One matte black diver is very legible and can be seen both in and out of water. The hands of the Diver One are orange and each hand contains lume including the seconds hand which makes time telling very easy in low light situations. The sword style hands are large and fit the dial in a size ratio perspective, in other words they aren’t too big or too small, just right. There are not any numerals on the dial, inplace of the numerals are white, lumed rectangles. The rectangle markers have almost a 3D raised appearence to them resembling applied markers, but these markers are painted on the dial and are actually flat. The dial on the Xam is very balanced and not over crowded. At the 4 o’clock marker is a large date window with a white date wheel and black numerals. The date window itself is bordered in a thin white square. The dial features a small bit of text ‘Xam, Diver One and 200m/660ft’. Very balanced. The dial can easily be viewed thanks to the clear, sapphire cystal.

THE MOVEMENT:

The Xam Diver One has a Swiss Ronda 515 movement ticking away inside. With a battery life of 45 months, you won’t have to worry about changing the battery for quite some time. It has a monthly accuracy rate of -10/+20. I used to be a strictly mechanical/automatic movement kind of guy, but I have started to have an appreciation for quartz movements. I do still prefer automatics/mechanical movement, but I can appreciate a Quartz movement. The seconds hand ‘ticks’ with each movement vs. the ‘sweeping’ motion associated with automatic movements.

THE STRAP:

The black silicone strap on the Diver One is very smooth, soft and oh so comfortable on the wrist. The strap features one keeper that is a large square that nice lines and holes that allow it not to hold water and also allows the keeper to be very pliable to slide up & down the strap easy. The strap features a very basic tang style buckle that does the job, nothing fancy or signed, just a brushed stainless steel buckle. I really like how incredibly soft and smooth this strap is and it allows the diver one to wear comfortable despite the weight of the case itself.

CONCLUSION:

The Xam Diver One is a really good value for the price. The Diver One is a solid made watch, that is great for someone looking for all the offerings of a dive watch but wanting to save money and maybe looking for their first dive watch. What I really like about the Diver One is the bezel, the signed screw down crown and the dial layout. You do get a lot of watch for $185. I would like to see the Diver One with an automatic movement option one day. The Diver one comes in 4 different dial color variations blue, white, black and orange. I would definitely recommend the Diver One to someone looking for their first dive watch.

I really want to thanks Xam Watches for the opportunity to conduct this review and for the continued support.

And thanks to all my followers and readers for making 2015 a success and I am looking forward to 2016.

ADDITIONAL AVAILABLE DIAL COLORS: