Briston Clubmaster Legend Compressor Collection

Briston's Clubmaster Legend Compressor starts at $660 for the cellulose acetate case and $680 for polished steel. It is a 42mm cushion-shaped case, 14.65mm thick, rated to 200 metres, and it arrives nearly ten years after the brand's first automatic diver.

The two crowns are the point. One at 2 o'clock turns the bidirectional inner bezel; the other, at 4 o'clock, sets time and date and screws down against the case. This is the old super-compressor layout from 1960s dive watches, and Briston has kept the arrangement rather than just the look, pairing it with a 2.8mm domed K1 crystal and a screw-down caseback.

The acetate version is the one that separates this from a standard steel diver. Cellulose acetate is the material sunglasses are made from, not watch cases, and Briston's tortoiseshell finish gives it a warm, faintly translucent surface that steel cannot produce. It is also lighter on the wrist than a solid metal case of the same size, a material property rather than an impression.

Legibility is handled plainly: applied steel indexes and Arabic numerals in green Super-LumiNova C3, a white railway minute track, a red inner track for elapsed dive time, and an arrow-tipped minute hand against a baton hour hand. Inside is the Japanese Seiko NH35, an automatic movement running at 21,600 vibrations per hour with 24 jewels and a 41-hour power reserve, a workhorse calibre rather than an in-house one, which is part of how the price stays where it is. The strap is FKM fluorocarbon rubber on Briston's quick-release presto system, 20mm tapering to 18mm, so changing it takes no tools.