Today, we have the Scuba, the sophmore effort from the Roebuck Watch Company. If you recall, I was a big fan of their Diviso, the dual-crown, racing-themed watch released early last year. That one was loaded with clever design details so I was keen to see how the brand would interpret a diving watch. I got to sample a stunning rose-colored prototype for this review.
The Scuba is rated for 300m water resistance and features a screw-down crown and case back, a 120-click unidirectional bezel, an AR-coated sapphire crystal, and bright lume. I’d say the specs live up to the name. You can take this one to visit the bottom of your local reef without a second thought. Around the back, we find a nicely rendered illustration of a sea turtle with all the raised portions polished. Inside is the smooth (28.8k bph) and steady Miyota 9015. Non-date versions get 90S5 sibling.
Roebuck took a hard tack to port right away by not choosing to emulate or reinterpret the beloved Submariner design. Instead, the Scuba’s stainless steel case is sharply angular. At 42mm wide, 47mm long, and 11.75mm thick it is a standard men’s sport size and not so fat that you can’t wear it with buttoned cuffs. Technically, it is an octagonal shape but for more complex than it appears at first blush. The leftmost face is about half the size of the others and the rightmost is replaced by the crown and guards. Indeed, bust out the calipers and you’ll see that the eight sides are five different lengths. Four of the sides are faceted and the lugs are hidden. All those sharp creases give it a commanding wrist presence that radiates 1970s swagger.
Interestingly, the knurled sides of the crown and bezel are brightly polished. It lends a welcome dash of flash to the otherwise brushed case and I enjoyed seeing the pattern appear on the case surface as the light bounced off the textured grip. Speaking of grip, the bezel is just all enough to give you a good pinch on its edge. The action is clean and precise.
While we are on the bezel, let me take a moment to groove on that outstanding sapphire insert. I’ve always loved the look of a transparent bezel. They are generally resin or acrylic, and that’s fine, but if you can get it, you can’t beat the scratch resistance of sapphire, and it won’t yellow over time like those plastics will. The index beneath is BGW9 that just enough contrast against the soft gray background in daylight and a bold pop of illumination at night.
But let’s be real here. When you saw that picture on the home page, you weren’t looking at the bezel or the case, you were looking at the dial. Roebuck will offer a blue dial with an orange bezel and a gray dial with a red bezel. Both look mighty cool, but this rose and gray combination is a showstopper. Its a gradient sunbrushed sandwich showing C1 through baton cutouts. It works brilliantly with the intense color, a vibrant magenta that fades to pale pink at the center. It is a lovely complement to the azaleas currently in bloom around my house.
Now look closer. Check out the handset. The brushed hands are a proper length – good start. They are filled with lume, but not the same lume. We see C1 on the fat hour hand and the second hand’s tip and BGW9 on the slender minute hand. The three sections on the hour hand further differentiate the two. But, I need you to look closer.
No, closer. Zoom right in on the tails. There is something decorative there. Why if the two halves line up just right…
Yep. That’s the Roebuck logo. So frickin’ cool.
The Scuba comes on an uncommon style of rubber strap. It fits the hidden 20mm lug gap and flares to __mm for a seamless match to the bottom of the case. It then tapers to __mm at the signed push-button deployant clasp. A narrow channel color-matched to the bezel frames a diamond-textured center, repeating the theme of the crown and bezel.
This is the one aspect of the watch that gives me pause. On the one hand, I appreciate the utility of the rubber strap and I am quite pleased that it is so well incorporated into the watch head’s design, both in terms of shape and color. I love that it is not another Isofrane knock-off or tropic. But… I have a pretty small wrist, and that means a lot of tail to mess with. It’s great that it’s inside, keeps the lines clean around your wrist, but I had to fiddle with it every time I tried to fasten that clasp. Someone with a bigger wrist would have a better time of it. The second issue is that, with rare exceptions, I consider a rubber strap to be a second strap; something to use at the beach but not on a daily basis. You can fit other 20mm straps to the Scuba but I really wish it had a bracelet.
Now that we have toured the entire watch in daylight, let’s flip out the lights. The two-tone lume looks fantastic and glows brightly. Oh, what’s that? A band of lume around the crown? Indeed it is and I say, why the hell not?
The Roebuck Scuba Kickstarter campaign starts July 6, 2021 at 8:00 am. Early bird pricing will be $400 and full retail will be $500. I heartily recommend you give it a good look. Especially the azalea-colored one. For more information and to sign up for alerts, visit RoebuckWatchCo.com.
Update: The Kickstarter campaign is live. Click here.
