Fumé Grey Diver

The dial is the reason this one exists. A fumé finish is bright in the centre and darkens toward the rim, so the watch reads as a different colour depending on how the light hits it — grey indoors, close to black at an angle.

The case came off a donor SKX and was bead-blasted here, which knocks the factory polish off and leaves a flat, even grey that suits the dial better than the original finish did. The hands were relumed by hand so they match the applied indices rather than glowing a different colour.

Because the case was opened, the factory 200m rating no longer describes this watch. It was leak-tested at 3 ATM after reassembly with fresh gaskets, which is enough to say it will survive rain and hand-washing, and not enough to swim in. That distinction is worth being clear about.

Wearing it

47.5mm lug-to-lug on a 40mm case, so it wears close to its size — comfortable from about a 6.5 inch wrist upward. The beads-of-rice bracelet is the reason it sits as well as it does; it articulates far more than a solid-link oyster.