After a long wait, our Veriwatch Octopus 1973 Classic arrived last month. A watch from Italy with a Swiss movement that we are more then willing to review. In this review you will read about the origins of this watch brand, our experience with this automatic and our opinion about ‘a watch with a unique story’.
Spoiler alert: It is a particularly fine and solid watch that combines a wonderful combination of Italian design with a high-quality Swiss movement. We expect that the Veriwatch will make the hearts beat faster for watch enthusiasts, just as it did and does for us. An inconspicuous gem, which was worth the wait.
History
Veriwatch is a fairly young watch brand from Italy with currently 2 models. The young age of the brand is relative, because the company was originally founded in 1956 by 27-year-old Giulio Copezzuto. After the Second World War, Giulio started selling watches and clocks at the age of 16. More than 10 years later he took the plunge and became a watchmaker himself. He developed various stopwatches and various dive watches. Those dive watches were special and they still are. Although difficult to obtain, the vintage watches are a must have for lovers of classical divers. In the 1970s, the heyday of dive watches, Veriwatch collaborated with Squale, this collaboration provided more exposure and the brand was widely praised for its technology, the refined details in the designs and the quality of its watches. In 1973, Veriwatch launched the iconic Octopus, one of the few medical diver watches with a pulsometer (more about this later). Veriwatch made good progress until it could no longer survive in the 1990s due to the crisis on the watch market. Digital watches were consider to be the future, so less analogue watches were sold. A shame, because this puts an end to the company that developed a high-quality and beautiful watch for enthusiasts. In 2010, however, Alessandro Leali, a vintage watch fan, started a project to develop old classics using modern technology. In 2021, he discovers an old Veriwatch and contacted the Copezzuto’s descendants. He managed to convince the family to transfer the Veriwatch brand and decided to put his efforts in reviving Veriwatch. With his enterprising spirit, he starts with the iconic Octopus and developed the 2 models that were available from March 2023.
The two models
One of the models, the classic that we have on our wrist, has a date indication at 3 o’clock, it has a striking light blue inner ring in the case, a black dial and a ’two-tone’ diving ring (register ring) that rotates on one side with 120 clicks. One half of the diving ring is matte black and the other half matte silver. Let’s be real, more diving watches are sold than people actually dive, so we expect that most wearers will, at best, wear the watch in the pool at least once. The diving ring will therefore be rarely used for diving, and yet this two-tone diving ring provides a nice extra. The diving bezel, with its two different colors, has a major influence on the appearance of the watch. By turning the ring a counterclockwise, this model immediately gets a different look, comparable to the red and blue ‘pepsi diving ring’, but a lot more subtle. The hands on this model are rectangular and provided with lume. Very specific: SuperLuminova. The second hand on this model is partly painted red, so that it is clearly visible against the black dial.
The other model is the no-date, which, as you could expect, has no date indication. In addition, the watch is equipped with a silver inner ring. The diving bezel on this model is matte black, as is the dial. Although the dimensions of both models are identical and it is essentially the same watch, the small differences make it a completely different clock. Especially because the hands of this model are essentially different. The large hand runs in a point and the small hand has an arrow that is fully provided with ‘lume’. This hand is also and looks a lot smaller than the small hand on the model with date indication. Recently, Veriwatch also introduced a variant of the ‘no-date’ called ‘red lollipop’. The only difference with the ‘normal’ no-date is that the second hand is completely red and the inner ring, just like the ‘classic’, is light blue.
Specifications
Both models are waterproof to a considerable depth, 200m! The case, which is 38mm in diameter and approximately 13mm thick, is made of ‘brushed steel’, but the outside of the bezel and the crown are shiny, which we think is a nice combination. The case is a bit heavy for everyday wear, especially with a leather strap (84 grams) and quite thick, but given its dimensions it is quite small on the wrist. However, towards the end of the day it is noticeable that you have some weight on your wrist.
The inner ring of both models is equipped with a pulsometer, its function helps to quickly and easily measure the heart rate per minute. That is why this watch can rightly be called a ‘doctor’s watch’. With our watch it was noticed that the lume is clearly visible at night and remains when the watch is briefly placed under the lamp. If this is not the case, the time is unfortunately difficult to read without a light source. On top of the watch is a hard and scratch-free sapphire glass, which does not reflect. We think this would be useful under water, where a lot of glass is reflective and it is therefore difficult to read the time! We have not consciously tested the extent to which the watch is actually scratch resistant, but we have unconsciously bumped the glass against stone or metal a number of times. Fortunately, we have not seen any dents or scratches on the glass to date. Furthermore, the watch has a power reserve of 38 hours, so not wearing it for a weekend means that you have to change the time. It is striking that the crown is equipped with a ‘safety seal’ for water resistance. We have adjusted the time several times and found the crown to be a bit fragile when it was turned out. It feels as if the closure is ‘unlocked’ and this makes adjustment a bit more difficult. We felt a little resistance when setting up and were afraid of damaging something, but luckily that didn’t happen. Most likely, this feeling was also because we really experienced the watch as a work of art and were afraid of damaging it in any way.
Watch
The cabinet contains an automatic, the Sellita SW200-1a, supplemented with the Incabloc Anti Shock system. We are talking about a beating heart of 28,800 vibrations per hour, which means that the second hand also runs ‘smooth as hell’ and there is a maximum deviation of 7 seconds every day. The 38-hour power reserve should be fine for wearing the watch every day without ever having to change the time. With the SW200-1, Sellita supplies a reliable timepiece that is also easy to maintain.
A true tribute
Both watches are a true tributes to a classical watch that saw the light of day 50 years earlier. A real comeback from Veriwatch and one that leaves us hoping for more! We see many enthusiasts who would rather trade in their Squale for this gem today than tomorrow, but we also see quite a few people online who find the watch too pricey. As watch fanatics, we ourselves are extremely impressed and experience that a purchase price of (currently) € 1,050 (including VAT and shipping) fits this watch perfectly. We personally experienced that the price is occasionally slightly lower during holidays, but the difference is not big, so if you want to look chic at short notice, the price-quality ratio is already more than excellent!
Watch straps sufficient
In addition to the standard rubber strap, the models are both supplied with two extra 20mm straps (an extra rubber ‘sports strap’ and a black-blue nato). This can be found in the complete box, which also contains a warranty card, watch tool, cleaning cloth and booklets describing the history of the brand. The box is sleek and neat, but in terms of quality you can immediately see that this is not an Omega or Tudor. Well, that’s what the price is, of course. The set is surprisingly complete, although in our view the extra rubber strap could also have been a leather strap. Of course, leather is far from ideal for divers, but then again, most diver’s watches these days rarely come into contact with water. Those extra straps are very welcome. Not only are they of high quality and completely in style with the Veriwatch logo, it also immediately gives the user the opportunity to experiment with the looks of the watch. The watch actually wears and looks different with the various straps. For us, the sports strap (Tropical Sport – rubber with holes) was a lot more attractive. Due to the somewhat heavy case, it regularly slid to the outside of my small wrist on the standard rubber strap.
Experience and judgement
We have now been using the watch for a full month and are becoming increasingly enthusiastic about it. It is amazing how many positive reactions we receive to this unique clock from Veriwatch. The blue glow (through the inner ring) gives the classic watch a playful look and even non-experts can immediately see that there is something special on the wrist. The size of the watch fits well on the average wrist and for narrow wrists it is a relief. Small but very nice! This is a keeper and we are looking forward to the next model with great anticipation. We are certainly counting on the fact that with this beautiful watch the revival of Veriwatch has really started and we are waiting for more from mastermind Alessandro.
Click here for our review in Dutch
For more information or to order directly, visit the Veriwatch website