Remember when I reviewed the revived Sheffield Allsport and said it was cool, but I wished it looked more like the original? Well, lo and behold, they were clearly thinking the exact same thing because just a few months later, they released the lovely Sheffield Allsport Diver 1A. I bought one right away. My personal watches always get bumped down the review queue, but I’m finally ready to tell you how much I’ve been enjoying it.
Jay Turkbas of Utah was 11 when he got his first Sheffield. He still owns that watch and has since added the long-defunct Sheffield brand name to his collection. I reviewed his all-new Allsport last year and found it to be a tough and handsome watch.
Like the model 1, the 1A has a brushed and polished stainless steel case that is 40mm wide, 48mm long, and 13mm thick with 20mm between the lugs — identical to those of the first model. As such, it looks, feels, and wears the same way. The flat sides, thick lugs, and burly crown guards make the watch appear more rugged and athletic than its 36mm ancestor, but this is not a bad thing. It has the bearing of a modern tool watch without overloading my 6.75″ wrist.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the 1 and the 1A is the movement. Gone is the Miyota quartz, replaced by a stalwart Seiko NH35 automatic. When it comes to inexpensive divers, I will take the NH35 all day and twice on Sunday. You just can’t beat the cost, reliability, and ease of service. I try hard not to be a snob about quartz; I really do! Still, if given the choice of movement for a three-hand watch, I will always take the mechanical option.
Its specs are also the same as the previous model and far surpass what the $13 original delivered in the 1960s, such as 200m water resistance, a screw-down crown, and an AR-coated sapphire crystal. The bezel is 120 clicks, unidirectional, and sports a gloss black PVD edge and insert that looks fabulous. In fact, with its engraved and lumed markers, you might initially mistake it for ceramic. The downside is that its action is too light, making it easy to overshoot your mark, and I even noticed some slippage in daily wear. This is my one real gripe about the watch, and I hope it will be resolved in future releases.
The face is brimming with retro goodness. We have the mint green Swiss lume, arrowhead hour hand, applied coffin-shaped markers, and that glorious logo that says, “It’s the swinging 60s, and I am a very classy product. Want a cigarette?” I love it. Love. It.
I even like the date magnifier. Regular readers know I am not generally a fan of cyclops lenses, but it is a feature that graced many of the original Allsports, so I appreciate the vintage vibe. Given the overall design, it just makes sense.
Sheffield supplies the 1A with its excellent FKM rubber tropic-style strap. Sure, they could have saved a few bucks and given us synthetic rubber or silicone instead, but how long before we replaced those stiff or lint-speckled straps with something superior? Better to have the FKM. At 130/80mm, it’s a tad long for me. Folks with 7″ wrists or larger won’t mind. It’s fitted with quick-release springbars that are also accessible via the drilled lugs.
The Sheffield Allsport Diver 1A is exactly the watch I had hoped for. It costs about 65% more than the quartz, but that still brings it to only $178. That’s impulse-buy territory.
If you would like to indulge that impulse, visit sheffieldwatches.com. As of this writing, the next batch of steel and black 1As is due to be shipped in May.
