Pierre Michel Diver

The History

The history of Pierre Michel watches seems to have faded into oblivion. With as much history as is available about various watch brands you would think that this is a rare occurrence, but that is far from the truth. From the 1950s to the 1970s there were thousands of watch brands that fell due to the quartz crisis and faded away. The other thing that adds to the loss of these companies’ history is that they didn’t have much in the way of history. Most of these companies were really just branding watches with components made by a wide array of companies. The good news is that these watches are often carbon copies of watches from much bigger and well known brands and represent a fantastic way to get into vintage watches at a reasonable price.

The Reference

This Pierre Michel dive watch is evocative of two other much more well known dive watches of the era. Those two watches are the Doxa and the Seiko diver. Both of these watches, and the Piere Michel, feature a large and chunk cushion shaped case that looks, and probably can, withstand a nuclear blast. The case itself was most likely made by Jenny, which is the same company that produced the cases for the Doxa watches so the resemblance makes sense. These watches were made to actually go diving with and many actually did. The big standout between this watch and the others is its blue dial and bezel. A big standout for dive watches from this era.

The Case

The 42mm stainless steel case is in good condition. The edges are very sharp and there is no evidence of a previous polish as a result there are scratches throughout the case. Also of note is a bronze bezel that adds a subtle pop to the design. The Blue bezel also has a fair bit of wear but the blue remains strong. With limited examples to compare to it is unknown if the components are correct. The caseback features a custom engraving.

The Dial and Hands

The dial is in excellent condition and features a beautiful radiant shade of blue that is evocative of the ocean where this watch was intended to live. Furthering the design are wide white hour markers with tritium luminescent material in the middle. The lume has aged evenly across the dial and hands and is all present but has taken on some dirt.

The Movement

This watch features an ETA 2452 automatic movement. The watch is running and the service history is unknown.

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