Aquatico routinely piques my interest with its attractive and aggressively priced dive watches, but the review samples they have sent me have been a very mixed bag. Sometimes they are competent pieces, other times they are ruined by sloppy finishing and haphazard quality control. Ever optimistic, I agreed to review another, the Aquatico Sea Star GMT.
I went into this expecting the new watch to be one of Aquatico’s better efforts. After all, the Sea Star V2 and Bronze Sea Star I reviewed in 2021 were both perfectly nice, and the GMT appears to share the same case. Its measurements are identical: 42mm wide, 50mm long, and 14.5mm thick with 22mm between the lugs. Like the others, it has a clean, traditional shape with unbowed sides, crisp edges, and a mainly brushed surface brightened by a polished bezel edge and crown. Aquatico has finished it in a workmanlike fashion that lends itself to the tool watch style.
It fits my 6.75″ wrist exactly as I’d expected, which is to say, with the right amount of dive watch presence and without any undue bulk.
Of course, the biggest difference between this watch and the other Sea Stars is its Seiko NH34 GMT movement. This unit has found its way into dozens of microbrand watches, democratizing the hitherto Swiss-dominated automatic GMT market. (Ok, Miyota’s 9075 didn’t hurt either, but that’s another story.) It has the same key specs as the rest of the Seiko NH line, like 24 jewels, 21.6k bph, and Diashock protection. As such, one can reasonably expect the same bulletproof reliability.
That movement is housed inside a case ready for deeper depths than you will ever likely contemplate. Viton and Tefzel seals help the screw-down crown and a neatly decorated solid case back fight the raging sea down to 300m. It has a domed and AR-coated sapphire crystal that rises above the flat sapphire bezel insert.
The GMT’s oyster-style, 3-link bracelet is a bit fancier than that of the Sea Star V2 I reviewed earlier. Its center links are brightened with a sliver of polish at either end. It tapers to a signed, 20mm signed clasp with a sliding dive extension. Buyers will also get a black tropic-style rubber strap.
This time around, I chose a Sea Star with a full-lume dial, which is always a treat. Aquatico broke out Swiss BGW9 for the dial, markers, hands, and bezel that creates a satisfying, almost nuclear glow when the lights go out is pretty satisfying. Of course, a white-on-white color scheme is not high contrast and so, optimal readability is somewhat compromised. In normal lighting conditions, the brushed handsset provides ample contrast and the black and red GMT hand is perfectly prominent. I found this was more than sufficient for daytime legibility and if the white-on-white really bothers you, you can order it in green, blue, gray carbon fiber, or a dazzling aventurine.
My favorite aspect of the Sea Star GMT’s face is its sapphire bezel. I love the depth this kind of insert displays, and the black and white day/night design is striking. Best of all, it’s fully lumed, just like the dial. The Bezel action was good, snapping smartly through its 120-click rotation. Then, I noticed a dash of red in the space between the 6 and 8. Alas, Aquatico’s quality gremlins had struck again, this time leaving a smear of red under the glass insert.
Aquatico has a 14-day return policy for unworn and unused watches, so if you discover this kind of issue upon unboxing as I did, you could send it back for a refund or replacement. This is a good thing because given the fact that four of the nine watches Aquatico has sent me since 2019, had what I would consider to be unacceptable flaws. I suppose it shows they are not cherry-picking the best of their best to send to critics, but it hardly inspires confidence.
You can buy an Aquatico Sea Star GMT for $499 at aquaticowatch.com, but frankly, you can do better.
