MEET THE WATCH: Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Titanium Limited Edition

There are certain watches that I have always admired from afar, but never actually owned. I have watch collecting friends that have a wide range of timepieces that they have acquired, and I can often live adventurously through their buying and selling patterns. Knowing people with the watches we covet is helpful for those of us who have a large appetite for watches, but a limited budget (that we attempt to stick to).

There are also advantages to “trying before buying”. Sometimes, we can wear a buddy’s watch to see if it is really for us or ask them for unfiltered opinions of a watch. Even if we like the way a watch looks in internet photos, there is no substitute for actual wrist time. I have literally bought a watch, tried it on, hated it and sold it the next day. It can happen to even the most cautious watch buyer.

Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 LE. Photo: Stephen McGee

The watch featured in this article is one of those faraway watches that I have never been able to handle in person, though I have always been interested in it. I am speaking about the Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Titanium Limited Edition, which is owned by my buddy “Stevo”. Steve McGee is a friend that I met on the Watchuseek forum a few years back and he is genuinely one of the nicest and coolest cats around. He is also lightyears ahead of me as a collector.

I have similar taste preferences in watches as Stevo does, and I’ll admit that he has influenced me on more than one occasion by steering my collecting pursuits into new and previously unknown watch brands or models. He is always one step ahead of me. If I were to ask him “Have you seen the new watch by Longines?” he might reply with a wrist shot of him wearing the very watch. It’s always good to be friends with people who are smarter than yourself so you can learn from them. haha

The limited edition box for this titanium Dive Master is also blacked out. Photo: Stephen McGee

Stevo does a lot of watch flipping. This is a necessity to get to the next grail watch. That is where the Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Titanium Limited Edition comes back into this story. He had this particular watch and sold it for a great price. I found out after it was gone and kicked myself for not being more on the ball. Good deals go fast on the forums so you had better hustle if you want them.

Victorinox Swiss Army has made a total of three Dive Master 500 watches from titanium, and they all look different. There was the original Dive Master 500 Ti (241262), the Dive Master 500 Titanium Mechanical Limited Edition (241175) and the Dive Master 500 Titanium Mechanical Chronograph Limited Edition (241660).

Comparing the images above shows just how versatile titanium can be as a design material. It is surprising that the same material can look so different going from a look similar to stainless steel in the 241262 to a matte sandblasted finish on the 241660. Obviously, the black PVD on 241175 has a coating that hides the base titanium and the fact that this watch is made from a material other than common steel. It should be noted that titanium can also be treated with heat to create a wide range of colors from bronze to blue, but that treatment is more likely to be seen on racing mufflers than watch cases… but it could be an interesting effect to explore for daring watchmakers.

It’s important to know that the PVD may get burnished in high-wear areas, which adds to the serious look of this tool watch. Photo: Stephen McGee

For those who don’t know about the wonders of titanium, then I can testify that watches made from this material are known to wear very light on the wrist, but are incredibly strong. Titanium has a different feel than steel because it seems to warm to body temperatures faster than stainless steel. I can literally feel some warmth from my body in the bracelet of a titanium watch. The lightness and warmth of titanium make it one of the most comfortable wearing metallic watch materials around… at least from my personal point of view. Supposedly, there are people with nickel allergies prefer titanium watches because stainless steel can react with their skin so that’s a bonus too.

The Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Titanium Limited Edition is similar to other Dive Master 500 models in size and style. It has a 43 mm wide case, a lug-to-lug distance of 53 mm and a height of 15 mm. Considering the watch is rated to withstand 500 meters (1660 feet!) of water pressure, those dimensions don’t seem too outlandish.

At first glance, this limited edition is similar to other Dive Masters, but there are significant differences. Photo: Stephen McGee

The design language is fairly consistent throughout the Dive Master 500 Mechanical range with the dials featuring polished round and rectangular markers that are deeply filled with lume. A 24-hour scale is printed on the dial inboard of the indices and the dials usually have stamped planes to give it dimension. The cases have swooping crown guards that lead to the well-proportioned screw-down crown. The dive bezels are dimensional and have the first 20 minutes filled with the same powerful Superluminova that appears on the dial and Roman sword style hands. The sweeping second’s hand is indicated with a lollipop disk of lume.

Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Titanium Limited Edition is obviously limited in production. Victorinox only made 900 of them so seeing one is somewhat rare. That does not mean you cannot find them, but it might take a while to track one down on the used market. At first glance, 241175 looks really similar to the other Dive Master watches. You might think “what’s so special about a black dive watch?” Using Steve McGee’s photos will help emphasize different aspects of this limited edition watch’s design.

Even tough-wearing PVD can age leaving a patina seen here as a lighter case compared to the bracelet. Photo: Stephen McGee

Let’s start with the coating of the watch. It is truly a dense black PVD treatment, or at least it started out that way from the factory. Physical Vapor Deposition involves plasma to vaporize material so that it adheres to metal surfaces. It is different from electroplating. For this discussion, all you need to know is that the stainless steel is coated with a thin, durable protective coating. Victorinox Swiss Army used a half-strength gray PVD called “gunmetal” on the majority of the later Dive Master 500 models. The limited edition 241175 gets the full strength treatment making giving the case a black satin appearance. You’ll notice that reflections look diffused and not sharp so there is a possibility that the titanium was sandblasted in advance to get this effect.

You can see where some parts touch and wear down the PVD. I don’t mind the look. Photo: Stephen McGee

This particular specimen has a well-worn look and that was one reason that I was interested in it. I own several other black PVD cased watches and over time the harder edges of the case can start to wear off the PVD, which highlights the edges. I am actually a fan of this look, especially on a chunky dive watch. This watch is designed to be used in demanding environments so go ahead and use it as it was intended. The only downside to wearing off the PVD is that it also becomes noticeable on the deployant clasp that is often scuffed while desk-diving. It is something to be aware of before purchasing almost any PVD watch.

Big date complication

The dial has a feature that is not mentioned in the name of the limited edition watch and it is so subtle that I had a “Eureka!” moment when I finally saw it. The dial is partially made from carbon fiber, which can just be seen in outboard of the applied indices. Carbon fiber is often used in conjunction with titanium and is also known for its stellar high-strength to low-weight ratio.

I am not usually a fan of the use of carbon fiber on watch dials. Most iterations that I see tend to appear in race-inspired watches and the weave pattern inherent in the material can greatly diminish readability of the dial. Swiss Army designers must have known this and used it sparingly on the periphery of the dial. That is brilliant.

The treatment of the date is particularly interesting on this limited edition piece. Instead of using the single date disk that appears on other Dive Master 500s, Victorinox used the less common “big date” complication that uses two wheels to display the date. This allows the date to be probably double the size of a normal date window! Wearers will notice the outer wheel moving every day and the inner wheel moving every 10 days.

The only other differences that can easily be discerned are the smaller Roman sword style hands compared to other Dive Master 500 Mechanical Watches. This was done so that the length matched the position of the applied indices that appear to have been pushed slightly towards the center of the dial, presumably to show off the carbon fiber outer ring. The back of the watch shows the upgraded ETA 2896 automatic movement and engraved edition number.

The beautifully finished ETA caliber 2896 can be seen from the display window. Photo: Stephen McGee

Some may call the Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Titanium Limited Edition a sleeper and “just like all the other Dive Master 500s”, but a closer look has revealed that is not the case. Victorinox produced a limited edition with thoughtful though subtle design cues that are there if you look. I believe this model is worthy of the limited edition moniker.

A big thank you to Stephen McGee for all the photos in this article.