I don't know about you but I get a bit nervous when a company feels they have to add the word 'premium' to the end of a name. You don't see Rolex coming out with Daytona 'Premium' the brand image should already imply that it is. Steinhart, fortunately is a brand that you definitely 'get what you pay for' with. Although Steinhart watches have been reported to be delivered to the customers defective, The company will follow through on any dissatisfied customers and if you want to play it safe, you can always order from Gnomon Watches which QCs their inventory before shipping - if you don't mind having your watch ship out of Singapore.
The design of the watch is no doubt reminiscent of the Rolex GMT Master II, a pilots watch.The Steinhart is not a replica; it is an homage of the Rolex with subtle differences all around. Some people are against homages (me personally) but I believe Rolex has set a benchmark for what a diver's watch should look like and as long as Steinhart doesn't make an absolute lookalike, I am fine with that.
On to the specs of the watch. Firstly there is a satin-finished titanium case that is super lightweight (as compared to a traditional Stainless Steel one) and inside ticking away is the ETA 2893-2 movement. A respectable movement found in many different watches. Repairs and maintenance should come by pretty easily and relatively easily. The bezel is a glossy ceramic blue/black bezel with luminous material and the domed sapphire crystal is double coated with Anti-Reflective coating. Giving it a vintage feel with modern anti scratch technology. Not only is lume present on the bezel, the dial and the hands also sport luminous material making legibility at night or while diving excellent. The lume they use is reported to be Super Luminova BGW 9 which has excellent luminous properties.
The watch is 42mm in diameter which is pretty standard for divers of the sort, it is 13mm in height and weights 80g. The watch is also water resistance to 50ATM (although Steinhart ambiguously uses the wording 'waterproof' on their website). Flip the watch onto it's face and you will be greeted with an open caseback.
To me, this image is extremely disappointing. I think the brass rotating wheel makes the watch look cheap. However, this is a trend with Steinhart; they love their clear casebacks. The caseback is a sapphire crystal that allows full view into the ETA-2893-2 movement that it houses. Steinhart really should have just stuck to a solid caseback in my opinion as there is nothing special going on back there.
Expect to pay 660 euros (tax included) for this watch on the Steinhart website.
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