Squale EagleStar Hybrid Dive Watch No. 8.1
Review by H. Seung
| Case: | Squale EagleStar 1000m Dive Watch |
| Dial: | Custom made Benrus Type 1 dial |
| Crystal: | Domed plastic screw down crystal |
| Movement: | Bulova 17 jewels automatic movement with hack feature |
| Strap: | Bund issue heavy leather strap |
| Crown: | Screw-down crown |
| I found a Squale dive watch on ebay the other day. It had the same Squale case as Bill's Blanford hybrid, except this one was signed Eagle Star on the dial, with blue colored dial and bezel insert. Although it was attractive as it was, I wanted a black dialed one with automatic instead of quartz movement. But I really liked the flourecent orange colored minute hand so I decided to retain the original set of hands. The style of the hands seemed to go very well with a Benrus style dial instead of an MOD dial so a custom made Benrus Type 1 style dial was installed. Bezel insert was stripped off from the bezel but cracked in the process. A local plastic craftsman managed to fabricate a similar looking clear plastic insert, thank goodness. It wasn't exactly the same type, with different fonts and markers, but it was good enough for me and balanced well with the dial. The scratched case was polished by a professional metal finisher. The movement was then replaced with a hacking 17 jewels automatic movement by Mr. Chung. When a Bund leather strap was fitted, the resulting piece looked like a Bund issue Blancpain dive watch with a touch of Benrus Type 1 dive watch. Enjoy the photos! |
