Greetings everyone!

I recently acquired, after several months in waiting list, this really interesting watch…

Probably many of you never heard of Steinhart, which is a shame, for they have a wide selection of watches, mostly, although not only, hommages to well known models of established brands with some very interesting twists.

This particular watch is in their diving range and is a hommage to the (very rare) classic Rolex Submariner 5517 military issue. You can clearly see the Rolex DNA but, far from copying it, Steinhart took it one step further, updating the design, applying a “maxi-dial” and increasing the size (width) to 42 mm.

Furthermore the markers and hands have a generous amount of Super Luminova applied in a vintage old radium color that, in my opinion, looks just great and shines bright green in low/no light conditions.

You can see it here sitting next to my Rolex GMT and both the similitudes and the differences are quite obvious.

The watch is very well built, in a way that mirrors the classic Rolex construction, from the case to the bracelet/buckle and the screw down crown. It is water resistant to 300 m and the DLC (diamond like carbon) coating over the stainless steel is finished to perfection, giving it the perfect understated stealth look of a military instrument.

The watch is powered by a swiss automatic 25 jewel movement – ETA 2824-2, a very reliable and time tested workhorse that’s been around since the 1950’s in its original design and the 1970’s in this latest iteration. This movement has been the base that has successfully powered quite a few models of the well established luxury brands throughout the years, and here also performs honestly and keeps an accurate timing.

The bezel clicks in a satisfying way with no wobble and the pearl insert is impeccable. The beautiful looking domed crystal is sapphire with an inside double anti reflection coating.

Steinhart is a german company and its joy to deal with, their customer service is above any reproach and during all the time since I ordered and payed for this watch until the moment I received they kept a constant and straightforward dialogue with me.

It’s unfortunately rare and many top brands don’t do it half as good as Steinhart does.

This model is now sold out but there’s a lovely version without the DLC coating that is back in production. Apparently Steinhart has been having difficulties in sourcing from ETA the quantity of movements that they need to keep up to the demand, so if you feel like getting one you’ll need to do it with a bit of patience, but it’s worth it!

The lume is very nice, in a beautiful shade of green evenly applied and it lasts a fair amount of time.

It is rather surprising that a company manages to produce such a nice watch, with such a decent build quality with a price tag in the order of the few hundreds of dollars.

Once again a praise to Steinhart, their watches are great value for money!

Some may argue that the DLC coating doesn’t go well with the vintage look but I really think this watch looks great as it is… Will try some NATO straps on it and post some more photos as soon as I can.

I hope you enjoyed!