TESTCENTRE
Luminous luminary
Navy SEAL 3550 Series
COMPANY: LUMINOX PRICE: £ 499 WEB: WWW. LUMINOX. COM
While the 21st Century trend for smartwatch diving devices shows no signs of abating, the traditional diving watch still retains popularity among its all-singing and all-dancing digital counterparts.
Luminox( Latin meaning: Lumi for light and Nox for night), has proved a popular brand since its inception back in 1989, with a mix of classic looks combined with modern aesthetics. New to their range is the Navy SEAL 3550 Series, which continues the legacy of the brand’ s original 1992 Navy SEAL 3001.
Designed to withstand the demands of the United States Navy’ s elite special operations force on underwater missions and night-time operations in extreme conditions, the 3550 Series has a more streamlined profile, designed to fit a wider range of wrist sizes.
It appears to do just that, with the refined 44mm case and its integrated strap design looking and feeling just as good on my slip of a daughter’ s wrist as it did on my own. Weighing only 74g, it is also a lot more lightweight than it looks. Although only 16mm high, the Carbonex case’ s numerals, indices and bezel combine to give it a much deeper, 3-D aesthetic.
The 3550 Series offers a nice selection of colour choices: Black & White, Blackout, Black & Red, Black & Green plus a stunning deep Blue, my favourite, all of which are depth-rated to 200 metres.
The RONDA 515, Swiss Quartz movement is encased in a Carbonex case, with a black stainless-steel crown and an antireflective sapphire crystal. The matt stainless steel back features the Navy SEAL logo in all its glory.
All of the company’ s timepieces benefit from the Swiss manufacturer’ s patented Luminox Light Technology( LTT) tubes and the Navy SEAL is no different. This always-on luminosity is one of the best in the business and its bright, constant visibility is guaranteed for 25 years. There’ s no mistaking the hands in the dark either, with hours, minutes and seconds glowing green, orange and green respectively. The unidirectional bezel is raised in 10-minute intervals and turns with a resounding click along its sixty rotations. The watch’ s battery should be good for 60 months and of course its LLT luminosity will continue to shine on regardless. NH
SCUBA SAYS
Luminox’ s Navy SEAL 3550 Series is a great-looking timepiece with allgender appeal thanks to its slimline design and lightweight materials, while retaining the build quality and robustness required by the US Navy’ s elite special ops unit.
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