Amphibia 0253

Effortlessly stylish and highly functional, the Raketa Amphibia 0253 watch recalls an iconic diver watch design from the 1970s, bringing the features up to date for the modern era. Presented in a stainless steel casing fitted with a rotating bezel, the model is sealed to withstand the depths of up to 400m, and is powered by a precision in-house automatic mechanical movement.

Established in 1721, in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, the massive production facility which today is known as the Raketa Manufacture is the oldest factory in the country. With a name that translates as ‘Rocket’, Raketa have experienced a stellar rise in popularity with watch collectors around the world, who have discovered the unique collections of this exciting independent maker. Displaying a number of styling references inspired by a Raketa diver watch from their archives of 1970 the watch is beautifully styled and constructed.

The Raketa Amphibia 0253 is housed within a 43mm stainless steel casing with a height of 13.65mm. Robust in architecture it has a black PVD steel rotating bezel, and is fitted with a chunky screwed in crown. The dial displays an excellent combination of matte black, pristine white and vibrant orange which complements the colour codes of the bezel while also giving the watch a distinctively cool appearance. Largely uncluttered, with outsized numerals placed at each quarter and with prominent hands for the hours, minutes and seconds, the dial offers superb readability. Furthermore with a liberal application of luminescent material on all the elements, the dial comes alive when the lighting is poor, with the numerals and hands emitting a green glow, while the bezel markers and dot hour markers display vibrant orange.

On turning over, the Manufacture in-house automatic Calibre 2615 is revealed through a sapphire caseback. Beating at 18’000 vib/h it has a power reserve of 40 hours, and is equipped with a bi-directional rotor rendered with a wonderful etched wave decoration.

The Raketa Amphibia 0253 watch comes presented on a beautifully executed stainless steel link bracelet.