For today’s review, I’ve got the Aquatico Dolphin on my desk. This 39mm automatic diver has all the basic specifications you want in a dive watch: 300m water resistance, an AR-coated sapphire crystal, 120-click bezel, and a good coat of lume in all the right places. It also has a nice price, coming in at $299 with a 20% discount taking it down to $239 and an extra 10% for Black Friday (BF2021 until November 30) for a final price of just $215.
Watch brands far and wide have once more embraced the idea of truly mid-sized watches. Now, I realize that this is neither a profound insight on my part nor a groundbreaking development in watchmaking, but when I first started collecting watches in earnest, the big case trend was in full swing, so 42mm was the norm for men’s sports watch and they just seemed to balloon from there. I still wear big tool watches when the mood strikes, but with a 6.75″ wrist, 38-40mm is my sweet spot, and I can wear much smaller watches without issue, so I appreciate having the choice. The Dolphin comes in at 39mm wide, 46mm long, and 12mm thick with 20mm between the lugs, making it just about Bum-perfect, even with a buttoned cuff.
Aquatico offers the watch in Black, (dark) Blue, White, Orange, and Yellow, in addition to the Bright Blue featured here. I chose the Bright Blue because that aqua hue is hot this year. It wasn’t until after I unboxed it that I realized with the orange second hand, this Dolphin watch wears the Miami Dolphins team colors.
Color aside, it is a handsome and very traditional dial. The Mercedes hands are a good choice; the layout is clean and legible. I am particularly pleased to see that they paid attention to typeface, using a lightweight serif for the model name and even mixing it up a tad with the sans-serif by going all lowercase for “automatic.” My only let-down is that the markers are printed and flatter than flat. A little dimension would have gone a long way here.
BGW9 is one of the brightest in the SuperLuminova spectrum, and it certainly does the job here, popping to life with a bright blue glow when the lights go down.
The Aquatico is brushed on top and polished on the sides and crown, offering a pleasant reflection that enlivens the case. Its 120-click bezel has polished edges and an engraved and filled stainless steel insert. Action is tight, requiring a firm grip to twist it through its rotation. The top center triangle is lumed but not framed, making it easy to lose sight of in daylight, although perfectly visible at night.
As one would expect on a 300m watch, the crown screws down. Its head bears the Aquatico leaping dolphin logo.
On the flip side, we find an engraved image of a mermaid riding a dolphin, because why not? This is not the most detailed or attractive of line drawings, though. Frankly, I could have happily done without it. Unscrew that lid, and you will find a trusty Seiko NH35 automatic, ready to supply years of durable, trouble-free service.
Like a proper dive tool, the Dolphin has a waterproof attachment – two, in fact. The first is a brushed, oyster-style, 3-link, although those sections are fused, not individually articulated. It tapers to an 18mm, signed, flip-lock clasp with four micro-adjustments. It has a bit more play in the links than I might prefer, but it is still better than what you might expect from a similarly priced Seiko. The absence of a push-button release on is a drag, though.
The second is a dark blue, tropic rubber strap, similar to those supplied with the Aquatico Sea Star collection.
Overall, the Dolphin is a pleasant watch that delivers all the right specs; just know that you must sacrifice a couple of details to get that relatively low price. For more information or to order your own, visit AquaticoWatch.com.
