# Paradive Report



## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Guess what arrived this morning? :-!

First of all, nice job Bill! This is a sweet watch in many ways. I absolutely love the classic type one dial and hands. They work well with this case shape

Although I have owned four of the Blackwaters in the past I do not have one currently so I can't take side by side comparison shots. But I would say that based on memory alone, the Paradive is just a tiny bit larger and I don't think it will be a problem for those who are unsure if they can manage a slightly larger watch. Although I have become accustomed to larger cased watches these past couple of years, for me on my 7 inch wrist, this is a very nice fit.

The watch measures 43mm or so at the narrowest part of the case, 49.5mm lug to lug and 15.5mm tall. The double domed crystal harmonizes with the tapered bezel and rounded case and makes for an extremely sleek package, just like the Blackwaters. This is one of the design features that I have always loved about this watch. It is plenty tall enough yet fits under your sleeve with ease.

The shiny acrylic bezel is not my favorite I have to say. I'd really like a matte finish or regular old anodized aluminum insert a little bit better. I find the shininess to be a little distracting and out of harmony with the blasted case and matte black dial. However, the lumed numbers do help make up for that.

The lume is a step in the right direction for sure. If I were to rate earlier MKii watches with C1 lume on a scale of 1-10 I'd give them a 5. I'd say this is a 7.5. The dial and hands are easily legible if you step into a darkened room without previously charging up the watch with an external light source. However, the bezel is dim unless you have dark adjusted eyes. The fact of the matter is, the color blue is not as visible to our eyes as green, period. I wish Bill would make a few dials and hands that were in C3 but that is just my personal nitpicking.

I'm not a huge fan of the military style straps so I tried out some leather and a 20mm Watchadoo bracelet. Both were very nice and work well I thought. I decided to keep it on the bracelet for now. One thing I did notice was that the lugs are milled just under 20mm so a strap will have a nice tight fit but for the Watchadoo I had to take it to a scotchbrite wheel and narrow is down slightly to get it to fit in between.

All in all, I think Bill has done his typical bang up job here. This watch is a keeper for me for sure and I'll be putting it into my daily rotation.


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)




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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

BTW, if you can't see the pictures it's probably because you are at work and my pics are hosted on my website which has the word "knives" in it. :roll:


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## Peahi (Jul 4, 2007)

the blackwater "XL" looks great!!! |>
Sometimes I feel like my blackwater feels small, so I bet this would be a good fit for me.


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Exactly what my thought was and the reason I sold all my Blackwaters. This one is just big enough that it hits a sweet spot.  

This watch is solid in every way. And it feels slightly heavier to me than the Blackwaters did.


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## mikeand (Aug 23, 2007)

Looks like another bang up job by Bill. Thanks for posting the review Peter.


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## manitoujoe (Aug 28, 2007)

Wow, that is nice.


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## Beau8 (May 24, 2008)

Very nice fit and finish~Cheers! ;-)


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## cpotters (Jan 29, 2009)

I kid you not! That watch looks so good in those pictures that I may actually SELL my Benrus Type I to buy a Paradive. 

You KNOW that the homage is good when the collector would rather own the new design over the old one.

Congratulations on a fine watch. Wear it well!


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## GregoryD (Jan 31, 2009)

Wow, the fit and finish look really great. I'd love to see a bracelet for this watch - that would bump it up on my short list!


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

I'm not at all unhappy with the Watchadoo but I agree it would be nice to have a higher quality bracelet for it or even an end fitted rubber strap.


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## Rafael_T (Mar 17, 2006)

*That looks awesome!*

:-!


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## Tom R (Mar 11, 2006)

Seeing that watch with the dive bezel has put me over the edge and wanting to add one. 

I have two MKII's and I just tried, unsuccessfully, to buy an LRRP off the boards o|. Bill builds one hell of a watch.

Quite nice and thanks for posting. :-!:-!:-!

TR


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## dave43 (Oct 13, 2007)

Hi Peter,

Are you the owner of Atwood tools? Nice watch BTW.


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Dave, yes I am. Thanks!


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## caesarmascetti (Dec 17, 2007)

Peter Atwood said:


>


Beautiful watch I wonder if the bracelet for the Seafughter will fit the Paradive, looks like it might


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## nullidentitat (Sep 29, 2008)

No-go. SeaFighter lugs measure 22mm; the PD's, 20mm.



caesarmascetti said:


> Beautiful watch I wonder if the bracelet for the Seafughter will fit the Paradive, looks like it might


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## caesarmascetti (Dec 17, 2007)

nullidentitat said:


> No-go. SeaFighter lugs measure 22mm; the PD's, 20mm.


Ah thanks I was not aware of that I figured since the size of the Paradive was slightly larger than the blackwater, maybe the lugs were widened as well. Pitty the Seafighter bracelet would have looked great on it.


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

I think the Watchadoo actually wears quite well with it, no complaints. 

The lume on this watch is definitely reasonable. I wore it overnight last night and when I awoke at 6AM the time was still easily legible. It's not Seiko, Omega or Panerai bright but it will do.


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## dave43 (Oct 13, 2007)

Peter Atwood said:


> Dave, yes I am. Thanks!


I have admired your work for years on the Usual Supect Network (USN) I have yet to pull the trigger on one of your pieces but hope to soon. Bill should be flattered that a top notch tool maker like yourself appreciates his tool watches.

Regarding the watchadoo. I bought a watchadoo bracelet a year or two ago planning to put it on a Vantage or Quad 10. When I began to notice the gap on pics because of the bracelets straight ends I decided not to put it on my MKII's. I may have to revisit this. I hope the bracelet fits between the lugs unlike the issues you had with the paradive.


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Well thank you. 

That didn't happen to me with any of my previous MKii watches and I've had about six of them. Must just be this model or this bracelet...


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## watt (Apr 20, 2008)

That is magnificent. :-!:-! Congratulations. Surprised there aren't more around.


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks, it really is a sweet piece. I've been wearing it a lot this past week and it's just a perfect work watch. This is much nicer than the original Blackwater IMO.


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## *2112 (Feb 11, 2006)

*Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*

the impression that Bill was producing a bracelet for the Paradive later in the year; is that your understanding as well ?


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*

I didn't know that but if it's true it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Hopefully it won't taper since it's already narrow enough and a simple 5 link design would be my preference. No Rolex type please.


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## nsmike (Jun 21, 2009)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*

One bracelet type I love thats not being done a lot is the "beads of rice style", like Omega did, but maybe the individual beads could be bigger, for a more rugged effect.


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## caesarmascetti (Dec 17, 2007)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*



Peter Atwood said:


> I didn't know that but if it's true it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Hopefully it won't taper since it's already narrow enough and a simple 5 link design would be my preference. No Rolex type please.


The bracelet Bill offers for the Seafighter with different end links would look great on this watch as well, it's a nice quality and finished nicely.


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## nullidentitat (Sep 29, 2008)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*



caesarmascetti said:


> The bracelet Bill offers for the Seafighter with different end links would look great on this watch as well, it's a nice quality and finished nicely.


I'd personally like to see something that isn't oyster-style. I'm with Peter on the 5-link idea; or possibly something like Sinn's semi coffin-style bracelets. (I'm hoping it'll also be offered with endlinks that match up with the BW.)


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*

Exactly. I HATE oyster style bracelets and they are nowhere near as comfortable as 5 link or even the Sinn style.


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## nsmike (Jun 21, 2009)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*

The Beads of Rice style braclet is a variation of the five link. I borrowed this picture off ebay


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## Thieuster (Jan 22, 2009)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*



nsmike said:


> The Beads of Rice style braclet is a variation of the five link. I borrowed this picture off ebay


I agree on your idea! I've seen oyster in all sorts and sizes now! A BoR bracelet looks great! I own a vintage Doxa with a great BoR bracelet. It has all sorts of small springs inside, making the bracelet very comfortable!

There's on other style... the Omega mesh! (And Eterna mesh for that matter, it's the same, only the logo on the clasp is different). Bill would make a lot of people (including me!) happy with this type of bracelet. While typing this, I'm wearing a 1973 Speedy on an Omega mesh. The mesh is thick, robust and very well designed. Even the so called high end mesh from Jurgen is far behind the style and quality of the Omega!

A mesh (20 and 22mm) would be an 'all purpose' strap! Useful on different style MKII watches. And if Bill would be so kind to ad an extra no-name clasp, the bracelet would by useful on other brand watches too! |>|>

Menno

Here's the Doxa on the (original!) BoR bracelet. The Auri has nothing to do with it...


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## Watchamacallit (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: Looks great Peter...I can't wait to get mine! I was under >>*



Thieuster said:


> ...
> There's on other style... the Omega mesh! ...
> 
> A mesh (20 and 22mm) would be an 'all purpose' strap! Useful on different style MKII watches. And if Bill would be so kind to ad an extra no-name clasp, the bracelet would by useful on other brand watches too!


As much as I agree, and would like to see an open-ended mesh from Bill, I suppose there remains the problem of adjusting chain-link bracelets to different sizes.


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## lycanthropejeff (Nov 19, 2009)

Have you tried rubbing the acrylic bezel insert with an ordinary #2 pencil eraser? be sure it's the wooden kind. that might take the glossiness down a touch. It's a great looking watch otherwise. I'm considering a Type II day/date with time elapsed bezel. Enjoy it in good health!

jtk


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