Watch Review: Ocean Crawler Core Diver

What’s your 2019 gonna be? I know what my focus is, positivity. I have witnessed so much negativity, anger and hate in this hobby of ours. It is sad enough that the media focus is mostly negative, but to face it in our “escape from reality” is quite upsetting. In the past I would react to negative comments/posts with anger and during some reflection I realized something. By responding with anger I am no better than the original source of the negativity. Every year I try to grow and better myself just as I try to better my blog here. I want my experience and my readers experience to be a positive one. I try to see the beauty in everything and using this method has not only helped me overcome the demons of my past but it also has helped me realize how much more beauty and positivity there is in this world. Much more than the negative ugliness that receives undeserving attention. I have had so much positive experiences with Ocean Crawler watch owner Christian that is so inspiring. The positive focus of his brand is very apparent in each of his watch designs. The Core Diver that we will be exploring together today is packed full of diving charm.

Ocean Crawlers Core Diver case comes in at a size that I can really appreciate, 44mm x 15.6mm thick, L2L 50mm and a lug with of 22mm. I say a size that I can appreciate because it has a good heft to it that won’t make me feel hesitant to use it as it was intended to be used for, reliable in the field dive watch. Now just because it has a large, brushed finished stainless steel case doesn’t make it immediately reliable. There has to be other details that come into play to earn the title of a reliable dive watch. I know when I am diving or just in the water relaxing there are certain details that are a must for me.

One of those details being is that a bezel must be easy to grip, easy to operate, and easy to read. The Core Divers bezel was very easy to grip with wet hands while I was in the water and out of the water. The bezel has a combination of eye shaped notches and line marks on it that act as both aesthetic details and as functional details. Gripping the bezel to operate its precision 120 unidirectional clicks is done without fail no matter what environmental conditions you are in. The same can be said for whatever the lighting may be because the sapphire crystal bezel has BGW9 markers that make it easy to read in low-lit and dark environments. I mentioned its precision clicks and by precision I mean no extra play in this bezel.

A reliable dive watch must also have a worthy crown as well. My definition of a worthy crown is that it must be larger enough to grip with gloves on, must have easy to grip edges and it must be a screw down operating crown. First of all I have to say that I love the domed shape on the Core Divers crown. Since I went to aesthetic details first, I will continue to make mention of these details by stating the crown is also signed with an engraved Ocean Crawler logo and has gear/cog style edges. That last mentioned detail not only looks good but also lends a helping hand in terms of actual function. Like the bezel, the crown is easy to grip and easy to operate. I like the clean look of the crown side of the Core Divers case because of it having no crown guards. Located on the opposite side of the case is an escape valve to help protect the watch when in the pressure building water depths.

On the top of the case you are protected by a 4mm thick sapphire crystal (AR treated) and on the bottom of the case is a solid screw down caseback. The vintage inspired shape of the case allows the Core Diver to wear comfortably on the wrist and it also allows for it to wear smaller. The short lugs cut back on wrist over hang and the mesh stainless steel bracelet is extremely comfortably. I was really surprised on how I found the mesh pleasing in both function and aesthetics. It helps balance out the way the Core Diver how the watch wears by cutting back of potential of becoming top-heavy. I’m not typically a fan of how mesh bracelets look when I see them in pictures but seeing the Core Diver on one in person really looks nice.

There’s something so incredibly magical about the water and how the shades of blue appears to change so easily, that magic has been captured by the sunburst blue dial on this Core Diver. So much magic in fact that I found myself playing with my wrist in all different lighting. The hands, with their orange borders and 7 layers of BGW9 lume guarantees optimal legibility in all lighting situations and in all weather conditions. The applied markers and bezel insert also are received that same lume treatment. I personally think that placing a date window at 6 o’clock is more aesthetically pleasing if you must have a date window on a watch. Even more aesthetically pleasing on the Core Diver because it is a round date window. I would love to see companies stepping it up on date windows though. In the case of the Core Diver, having a blue date wheel with orange numerals would look fantastic in my opinion. I like Christian’s design choice here by the fact that his Core Divers date window didn’t eliminate the 6 o’clock marker. It helped maintain a nice balance to his dial here. I also like the depth on the Core Divers dial that is created by the laid silver minute track and the applied markers that are both set against the blue ocean depth style dial.

Someone posted a question on one of my Facebook posts questioning what does testing a dive watch in cold weather have to do with a dive watch? My response basically was this: in my experience in my years of collecting watches, reviewing watches and as an active member in the watch community, I would say that maybe 1 to 5 percent of people who buy dive watches, actually use them to dive with. Yes I do take my watches diving to test them, not for depth testing but for legibility, durability, ect. I also like to see how they handle themselves in extreme weather conditions, because if they hold up and perform well in these conditions, they are definitely going to hold up for guys who buy watches for every day use. No, I am not saying that I am better than anyone because I test my review watches to the extremes, I do it for the people so that they have peace of mind knowing that their watch isn’t going to fail them when they use them for the important things that they purchased the watch to do. Whether it is for office use, outdoors use or weekend play use. The Core Diver easily handled -30 F temperatures for 24 hours without fail.

Christian makes sure that each of his watches are delivered with quality intact. After multiple reviews I have done on his watches, I absolutely recommend them to anyone who is looking for an affordable, limited edition dive watch that not only looks great on the wrist, wears great on the wrist but most importantly functions great without fail.

Thanks for sharing my obsession and passion for watches.

Thank you Christian for making such awesome watches.

From https://www.oceancrawler.com/collections/frontpage/products/ocean-crawler-core-diver-blue-orange