Deep Blue DAYNIGHT Tritium Quartz Dive Watch Review
Is The Deep Blue DAYNIGHT Worth Your Money? Let’s Find Out
I’m very fortunate to have had some fantastic watches come across my desk over the last several months. I don’t always write a review on every watch I buy, or even the ones that get sent in for me to check out. That’s because life is too short to spend time writing about terrible watches! So, yes, a lot of my reviews are in the favorable direction but that’s because the watches I spend time writing about are typically really great.
This watch really gets my respect and I can wholeheartedly tell you that you would not be disappointed with it on your wrist.
Deep Blue Watches was started back in 2007 and is based right here in the United States in New York City. They have a huge catalog of dive watches and you can tell they’re serious about their craft. Definitely check out their website and see some of their accomplishments – which includes a dive watch with 3000 meter water resistance, definitely impressive.
Today, I do have a positive review for you of Deep Blue Watches’ DayNight Diver. As with most of my reviews, I set out to answer the question of whether a watch or piece of gear is worth your money; I try to frame it around what is the value proposition that the piece brings to the table.
So right off the bat, I can tell you that as far as value goes, the Deep Blue DayNight Diver is an outstanding value. In fact, if you take a look at Deep Blue’s website and go through their watch specs, you’ll see that the majority of watches from Deep Blue are a great value all around.
The automatic counterpart to this diver made our List of Durable Automatic Watches
This is a watch you won’t realize you have on the wrist, unless of course it’s nighttime and you see the lume from a mile away.
Sometimes I feel like my reviews make me sound like a broken record. I like to hit on some of the same points every time, and that’s true in the case of this watch as well. I look for several things in every watch as guide posts against the competition. This helps to pinpoint where the watch fits in a very crowded and cutthroat market.
A few things I like to look at are: the material the case is made from, the crystal that’s on the watch, the movement inside and, of course, how it wears on the wrist. All these things go into my decision about whether a watch is great or something not to waste my time with.
Then I get into the nitty-gritty details such as lume, aesthetics, the dial layout, the strap that it comes on, the intended purpose and other little things that go into making a watch.
Another thing I really like about Deep Blue is that they state right on their website that their intention is to build a quality product at a competitive price.
It bears repeating that in today’s environment, it’s extremely difficult to stand out from the crowd when it comes to wrist watches. The market is flooded by the big three: Seiko, Swatch and Citizen.
Beyond that are the luxury brands and, of course, each month a ton of microbrands come on the scene. With all these brands fighting for your money, you have to look very hard at all the little, yet important, details of the watch in question.
I’ve been wearing the DayNight diver for a few months now. I’ve taken it on a couple camping trips, worn it as a daily beater and worked around the house with it. All in all, I have put it through its paces and I can tell you this watch is a performer.
It’s light on the wrist, the lume is utterly outstanding, and it’s good-looking! If you like a tactical, adventure-looking watch, then this is for you. The black on black case is well done, and the white markings on the dial really stand out.
The DayNight Diver is constructed with a polycarbonate case, it’s 45 millimeters across with 22 mm lugs and it’s got a sapphire crystal. Inside, it’s running a swiss-made Ronda 515 date movement and most of that movement is constructed from metal. When it comes to a quartz watch, most manufacturers have a lot of choices and it’s interesting to see what they pick to put inside their watches.
The choice of movement tells me a lot about the intention of the company: how much they care about what they’re putting out there, and what type of product they want to deliver to their customers. The fact that Deep Blue went with a Swiss Ronda shows that they’re serious about the watches they’re putting in the market. It’s a tried-and-true movement that can withstand a lot of abuse.
I think the highlight of this watch has to be the lume. The DayNight Diver has a set of 16 tritium tubes, and this guy lights up like a nuclear submarine! It passes every single loom test you could possibly want to throw at it.
I keep this watch on my nightstand when I go to bed and I love waking up in the middle of the night to look over and see it’s still glowing at 3 and 4 in the morning. It’s super awesome. I can’t say enough about how cool the lume is.
If you’re really interested in learning more about the tritium tubes (and lume in general) Hodinkee recently had an article up on their blog that explained all the different types of lume available, the pros and the cons of each, which one lasts the longest, how much they cost, and all that good stuff. It’s a great resource and I’m going to link to it right here. I definitely suggest you check it out.
I really didn’t know the history of lume, how far back it went, who was the first one to put lume on watches, etc. It’s definitely something pretty cool to learn about.
On paper they say the watch measures 45 mm, but I can tell you on the wrist the watch does not wear anywhere near 45 mm; it feels more like a 42 or 40 mm watch. I think one of the reasons the watch wears so well is because of how lightweight it is. I love titanium watches because of their lightness and this polycarbonate case is even lighter than titanium and feels just as durable to me.
This is a watch you won’t realize you have on the wrist, unless of course it’s nighttime and you see the lume from a mile away. Deep Blue offers this watch with several strap options. It comes on a branded NATO strap, but one of the strap options is one of the coolest things out there. It’s a matching polycarbonate bracelet. It has articulating links and everything. Deep Blue has a quick video on their website about how to size it and you can get a good look at the bracelet.
The watch is entirely a strap monster and I’m constantly switching it back from a NATO to the bracelet and then back to a strap. It wears so well on my wrist that I enjoy swapping different straps out and achieving a different look with the same watch.
I’ve been pretty rough with this watch and it has held up extremely well. I’ve worked on my car with it, I’ve gone on several trips with it and I wear it a lot. I’ve hit a couple doorknobs and scraped it on the banister and over all this time it barely shows a mark. I do think the poly case will show some deep scratches and dings if you really, really knock the watch around, but I have not seen that being an issue yet and I’ve hit it pretty hard.
The DayNight does have a screw-down case back, but it does not have a screw-down crown. But what I do find very interesting is that the watch still has 200 M of water resistance. The crown is excellent on this watch.
Even though it’s not a screw-down, it’s really hard to pull out and it has a very pronounced click when you push it back in, so I think the water resistance is probably spot-on.
The more and more I get into watches, I’ve started to really look for a few traits or specifications and one of those is a screw-down crown. I really don’t like taking a watch out into the woods or somewhere that I’m going to have to rely on it for a couple of days if it doesn’t have a screw-down crown.
If you look at the catalog of Deep Blue watches, they’re definitely a serious watch company, so I don’t think you’ll have any issues on water resistance on this watch with a push-pull crown. One of the things that Deep Blue talks about all over their website is water resistance. They’re very proud of that, so even with a push-pull crown I think it’s going to be a safe bet that this watch is the real deal and it would definitely handle the 200 meters of water resistance.
Another thing I really like about Deep Blue is that they state right on their website that their intention is to build a quality product at a competitive price. You would think that most companies put this out there as a mere statement to appeal to consumers, but if you look closely, many other companies don’t mention anything about their intentions and the products that they build.
I think that really means that Deep Blue is committed to their craft and is building solid watches with their customers in mind throughout the entire process: from design, to build, to pricing, to sale, to wear.
Overall, the construction of the watch is excellent, the fit and finish are well done, the watch is put together extremely well, and it has the looks to match. With a retail price of $299, the watch is well worth throwing down some money for. I do like looking at the whole field of watches available at a certain price point when we’re reviewing a watch.
At $300, the market is extremely competitive; you know that I’ve talked about it before. I think the DayNight Diver stands out in the construction and choice of material for the case.
The polycarbonate is really cool. And, again, the lume is just amazing. What’s also very nice about this watch is that the price is fair because it’s got a tactical look and it has a lot of options. Deep Blue could easily charge more money for it….like some other manufacturers do, but shall remain nameless.
I really like looking at watch companies and gear manufacturers who charge a fair price. We all know, ultimately, what this stuff costs to make and bring to market. It’s okay for people to make a profit and that’s what we’re here for, but it’s really nice to see that Deep Blue charges a very fair price. You get a lot of watch for your money from these guys and I never feel like I’m getting taken advantage of.
This watch really gets my respect and I can wholeheartedly tell you that you would not be disappointed with it on your wrist. It has performed well, as I mentioned, it has great specs with a Swiss quartz movement, the loom is super, it has versatile good looks, and it’s priced just right. Deep Blue Watches has really hit the mark with the DayNight Diver.
Watch Specs: The Deep Blue DAYNIGHT
Here are the basic dimensions and specifications of the watch.
Blair Witkowski is an avid watch nut, loves pocket knives and flashlights, and when he is not trying to be a good dad to his nine kids, you will find him running or posting pics on Instagram. Besides writing articles for Tech Writer EDC he is also the founder of Lowcountry Style & Living. In addition to writing, he is focused on improving his client’s websites for his other passion, Search Engine Optimization. His wife Jennifer and he live in coastal South Carolina.
