# Incoming Vintage Aquadive



## sharkfin

Dive, dive, dive... A*Q*U*A*D*I*v*E

Hey guys, it all finally came together for me to finally bag another grail.
This one has eluded me a few times due to poor timing and chance.
But I love it when a plan comes together and boy, its sweet when it does.

So here we have the real deal, a vintage Aquadive 1000 Ref 709-1 case, aka- discosub. Haha, love this ref name.
I fell in love after seeing only a very lucky few collectors post theirs.
There are other versions such as the Jenny caribbean 2000 among the more well known of this model in existence.
Variants also included an eletric blue, orange, and black dial for these discosubs.

Shame that my particular piece has endured some polishing to the caseback and all the engravings & info are gone.
But these were produced in the early 70's and I think mine was probably born in '72.

Interesting how the 70's era was so influenced by the whole Disco era, and that may have been an influence to the discosub references.

This piece is a 15mm thick, 44mm monocoque SS case. Models were manufactured and sold as Aquadive, one of many other brands, by the Jenny & Cie SA. hence the fish logo on back.

These had a signed crown with this fish logo much like what the Doxa's use today but not on mine.
I haven't opened or looked at my movement, but based on other collectors, this one should be housing a 25 jewel ETA 2783.

Another special and unique, possibly ground breaking at that time, is the patented "Triple Safe" seals for water resistance.
There is three gaskets that keep this monocoque case dry inside. Invented in 1968 by Werner Jenny and patented four years later.
Basically under the bezel you'll find crystal retaining screw ring. One gasket is under the ring itself, another fits between the ring and on the case, and finally the third is under the crystal itself.
There you go, Triple Safe sealed goodness.

These were rated for 1000m or 100atmos as on the dial. 
Screw down crown has an interesting split stem for accessing the movement for service.
Bezel is unidirectional 60 clicker.
The insert is a really cool acrylic type, with lumed pip/numerals, painted minute hashes, and chromed markers for 5min increments.
For a watch from around '72, the lume is only barely visible and doesn't last long for the parts that still do.
This would look great all lumed and fired up I'm sure.

The crystal is most likely mineral crystal. Its flat, but gives dial a vintage dome look.

Also there were really cool SS bracelets that looked sorta like a Tropic strap with the large holes down each side and a signed fish logo clasp.
These are practically extinct but lucky collectors have found or hoarded these parts.
Also, parts for these are also impossible to come by these days, so, I hope I don't need to painfully source parts in the future.
Pitfalls of vintage collecting I guess.

Here's an interesting fact. This particular Aquadive was once owned by our dear Noah. The seller had bought if from him earlier.
Actually I had wanted to buy this from Noah long ago, but the timing was not right and missed out.
So now I have a lucky trio that has come from our good friend Noah. My auto Tuna, discosub (as Noah called it "the Toilet Seat"), and the Sharkfin Tsunami. 
These three watches will always make me smile, and bring on fond memories of the man himself.

I'd like to thank Chris Moy, a Jenny owner, for sharing his passion & knowledge of his Jenny Caribbean 2000. With out that, these watches would be a mystery to me.
Love the Jenny!

Wears very comfy right now on the Isofrane, less thicker than I anticipated.

So on to the pics.
Enjoy the show. 

Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers, Dave.




































































































Comparo with SBDX005 tuna 51.5mm - 16.2mm thick / Aquadive 44mm - 15mm thick


















The Noah trio


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## W. C. Bartlett

Congrats Sharkfin, we seem to have two things in common. We both own a Seiko tuna, me the Seiko Emperor and we both own a Tsunami, I own the stealth version and kudos on your Aquadive acquisition. A very sweet watch. Enjoy it.


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## Aquadive mod1

WOW, what a #1 Stunner!!! Its in beautiful near NOS shape and your pics are fantastic. Congrats and wear it in great health!


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## roo7

Congrats on bagging that grail.

The condition is perfect !

Here's mine, just serviced last month.

























There's all 3 of the gaskets


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## Aquadive mod1

Great pics as well Roo!


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## sharkfin

W. C. Bartlett said:


> Congrats Sharkfin, we seem to have two things in common. We both own a Seiko tuna, me the Seiko Emperor and we both own a Tsunami, I own the stealth version and kudos on your Aquadive acquisition. A very sweet watch. Enjoy it.


Great minds think alike. ;-)

You have a great collection Bill, very good taste as well IMO.

cheers.
Dave


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## sharkfin

Aquadive mod1 said:


> WOW, what a #1 Stunner!!! Its in beautiful near NOS shape and your pics are fantastic. Congrats and wear it in great health!


 Thanks, shame these are practically extinct.
Really digging this one, and very glad and excited that Aquadive is back!

cheers, Dave


roo7 said:


> Congrats on bagging that grail.
> 
> The condition is perfect !
> 
> Here's mine, just serviced last month.
> 
> There's all 3 of the gaskets


Great pics Jie. 
Nice to see these in every which way. just a thing of beauty.
I've read your blog and been drooling at yours for a while. hehe.

Cheers, thanks for sharing.
Dave


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## tanwill

Thanks Dave for the great picture.
i miss the AquaDive..


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## sharkfin

tanwill said:


> Thanks Dave for the great picture.
> i miss the AquaDive..


Yes, I totally understand.
Thanks for the smooth sweet transaction dude.
Cheers, Tanwill!
Dave


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## tanwill

No prob dude.

See what i did to the Orient. A relume and Seiko Monster hands change.
ehh..sorry for the side track.


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## miksudbeck

I live in Maine. I bought a vintage Aquadive 1000 Carribean. It needs to be cleaned, but there is NO ONE in Maine that works on these...at least not in the Bangor Maine area. Does anyone know who I can send my watch to for cleaning? Does anyone on this thread do this type of work? my work home email is [email protected]. Thanks for your help. Mike


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## renkly

I have a women's vintage aqua dive with the blue face. It needs to be sent for cleaning and to make it work again, plus I have misplaced the original wrist band. Does anyone know where I can go to get this running again and to find a vintage strap?? I bought this in the 70"s and would like to be able to use it again. Thanks for any help you can offer!!


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## renkly

I am wondering if you can help me?? I have my original Aqua Dive Caribbean triple safe with the blue face, ladies addition. It needs to be repaired and it is missing the original metal wrist band with the holes down the sides. I would love to get this running again and to get the original wrist band!! Is there anyway you can help me out?? Thank you, renkly


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## arutlosjr11

renkly said:


> I have a women's vintage aqua dive with the blue face. It needs to be sent for cleaning and to make it work again, plus I have misplaced the original wrist band. Does anyone know where I can go to get this running again and to find a vintage strap?? I bought this in the 70"s and would like to be able to use it again. Thanks for any help you can offer!!


Perhaps contact Aquadive directly and they could offere you more info... just a suggestion.


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## Zenrag

renkly said:


> I am wondering if you can help me?? I have my original Aqua Dive Caribbean triple safe with the blue face, ladies addition. It needs to be repaired and it is missing the original metal wrist band with the holes down the sides. I would love to get this running again and to get the original wrist band!! Is there anyway you can help me out?? Thank you, renkly


I believe one of the mods here provided you some very decent advice.


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## PloProf Pimp

renkly said:


> I have a women's vintage aqua dive with the blue face. It needs to be sent for cleaning and to make it work again, plus I have misplaced the original wrist band. Does anyone know where I can go to get this running again and to find a vintage strap?? I bought this in the 70"s and would like to be able to use it again. Thanks for any help you can offer!!


Try here,

https://www.watchuseek.com/f459/how-contact-aquadive-regarding-service-your-ad-timepiece-659245.html


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## sierra 18

Congrats on scoring the NOS piece, I love the look of that. A beast of unique beauty, the way a B-52 bomber is frightening and awe-inspiringly-beautiful all at the same time. Its a real beaut, and I'm pretty certain you'd be the only guy on your block to have one!

Wear it in good health,

C


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## renkly

I have called them, e-mailed and live chat - NO ANSWER has come back. So I will try another company for the repair. Do you guys have a clue were to find the ladies vintage strap in metal with the holes going down the sides?? Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.


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## PloProf Pimp

renkly said:


> I have called them, e-mailed and live chat - NO ANSWER has come back. So I will try another company for the repair. Do you guys have a clue were to find the ladies vintage strap in metal with the holes going down the sides?? Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.


Give them time, as they are a worldwide company that probably gets a lot of inquiries from around the world. What you're looking for is basically as rare as rocking horse poop. There are no spare parts for vintage Aquadive watches. And even if you did get remotely lucky and find one of those vintage bracelets, it would cost you a pretty penny. Those watches were made 30-40 years ago, and Aquadive (like many other old Swiss brands) shut down in the early 1980's when the quartz & digital watch boom hit. So they no longer make any of those old watches, or the parts. That is why you don't see them for sale on their website, Ebay, or on this forum. I have collected many vintage Aquadive watches over the years, as have many of my friends. And I have rarely seen any old vintage parts come up for sale anywhere. Those old watches are valuable because there weren't many made in the first place.

There are literally millions and millions of Rolex's around, and maybe a couple hundred of those old Aquadive's left in the world. I don't know if you realize it, but repairing those old vintage watches is very expensive, and that there may not even be any parts still around to even fix it. Also, a mechanical movement has many moving parts, and there could be hidden problems with it or the watch itself, to where it would never function properly again. Aquadive is located in Europe, not the US. So when you ship a watch to Europe to be repaired, you have to insure it and ship it overseas, and the watch is often there for many months. Sometimes anywhere from 2-6 months. You could also be looking at a potential repair bill of anywhere from $350 to $500. Hope that puts things in perspective for you. :-!


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## renkly

Thank you for answering me  . My father was an antique clock and watch repairmen, so I definitely understand what I am up against. I assumed as much for shipping, repairing etc.. and I am willing to put this kind of money into the watch but need to know where to send it to and if it is even possible. From your e-mail it sounds like it is not even possible to repair or ever find the bracelet. I am the original owner and would like to get it fixed. I have misplaced the bracelet and was wondering if any one ever came across one to give me a "holler" so I could purchase it but it sounds like that will happen when hell freezes over. I have contacted a Swiss watch service in Chicago and I am waiting to hear from them, to see if they can repair it. I guess I need to throw it back in a drawer and go get a new scuba watch  how sad............. thank you for your time...........


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## Zenrag

renkly said:


> Thank you for answering me  . My father was an antique clock and watch repairmen, so I definitely understand what I am up against. I assumed as much for shipping, repairing etc.. and I am willing to put this kind of money into the watch but need to know where to send it to and if it is even possible. From your e-mail it sounds like it is not even possible to repair or ever find the bracelet. I am the original owner and would like to get it fixed. I have misplaced the bracelet and was wondering if any one ever came across one to give me a "holler" so I could purchase it but it sounds like that will happen when hell freezes over. I have contacted a Swiss watch service in Chicago and I am waiting to hear from them, to see if they can repair it. I guess I need to throw it back in a drawer and go get a new scuba watch  how sad............. thank you for your time...........


Sorry you feel it is sad, but we are mostly enthusiasts and collectors here... we are not repair people, nor most of us do not own watch retail/vintage business.

I would seriously consider looking at ebay to see if you can get a vintage bracelet from another brand to use on the watch... I know that from that time period, "grains of rice" bracelets were fairly popular, so to vintage mesh bracelets.... I would give this a go. You can find some great vintage brand names if you put the effort into it.

Like all of us here, to find that "jewel in the rough" it takes many of hours to scour watch forums, online auction sites, or even vintage watch shops.... but when we find it, it is the most rewarding experience in the world.... but again, it takes time and much searching.

good luck!


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## JonasForsberg

As a "quickfix I would recomend a search on the net for: Aristo Rallye bracelet... or....seiko Rallye bracelet 6139-8020 This is as closest as you get to the Caribbean/Aquadive bracelet you´re looking for...without buying/making an the original. As the experts here says: they are hard to find... but you WILL find it if you search for a year or so (I´ve seen them for sale).


renkly said:


> I have a women's vintage aqua dive with the blue face. It needs to be sent for cleaning and to make it work again, plus I have misplaced the original wrist band. Does anyone know where I can go to get this running again and to find a vintage strap?? I bought this in the 70"s and would like to be able to use it again. Thanks for any help you can offer!!


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## JonasForsberg

JonasForsberg said:


> As a "quickfix I would recomend a search on the net for: Aristo Rallye bracelet... or....seiko Rallye bracelet 6139-8020 This is as closest as you get to the Caribbean/Aquadive bracelet you´re looking for...without buying/making an the original. As the experts here says: they are hard to find... but you WILL find it if you search for a year or so (I´ve seen them for sale).


OOOOOPS I forgot.... When you make your search... look at the pictures NOT the text search... Then you will see the braceletes.


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## jeff wilson

Looking good great watch and this is mine


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## sharkfin

Update:

In light of the new discoveries about fake, unauthentic Aquadive watches, referencing my watch here in particular, it appears my Aquadive discosub as presented above is just that.

I was unaware of this until recent findings on another thread that exposes the batch of fake watches being sold to unsuspecting collectors out there among the forums.

Thread link to exposing the counterfeits:
https://www.watchuseek.com/f74/fake-vintage-aquadive-watches-808213-7.html

Warning::rodekaart

I was informed by a member here, that over on a Singapore forum, theres a guy selling these using my thread on WUS to sell his watches.
These guys can't even use their own pics and info to sell the same counterfeit watches.:-|

Here's the link:
FS: Vintage Aquadive 1000m $900

Beware, I'm starting to believe there are nothing but fakes out there regarding this particular black dialed model.:rodekaart


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## jeff wilson

This is mine and its a Fake as well thanks to Watch-Navi eBay seller he has sold 13 of them on eBay



jeff wilson said:


> Looking good great watch and this is mine


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## jamesrich10

W. C. Bartlett said:


> Congrats Sharkfin, we seem to have two things in common. We both own a Seiko tuna, me the Seiko Emperor and we both own a Tsunami, I own the stealth version and kudos on your Aquadive acquisition. A very sweet watch. Enjoy it.


Hey I have a aquadive1000 just like the one in the pictures except it has a yellow buzzle. It's in good shape! How much are they worth? I can't find anything about value. Thanks lot!


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