Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Delma Cayman Automatic – an Affordable, Retro-Styled 500m Diver
A nicely designed, powerful dive watch that won't break the bank!
Delma, the independent Swiss watch brand founded in the 1920s made a name for itself with its robust deep dive watches. The latest ‘ultimate divers’ watch’, the Blue Shark III and its 4,000m water-resistant case, is going to be accompanied by another nautical-inspired piece, yet in the affordable segment. Retro style, Swiss automatic movement, 500m water-resistance… for less than a grand. Meet the Delma Cayman Automatic.
What is the Cayman? Clearly, not a revolution, as we’re looking at a very classical offer: a vintage-inspired automatic dive watch, which respects all the codes of the industry. Nevertheless, it is a promising watch, with a nicely designed case, pleasant colour codes and a reliable automatic movement for a very decent price. And that’s enough to tickle our interest.
The case of the Delma Cayman Automatic is a modernized version of a classic 1970s theme. The stainless steel case has robust 42mm x 13.3mm proportions and a design typical of this era, with sharp angles, brushed surfaces and a polished bevel running on the side of the lugs. It features the indispensable unidirectional bezel with diving scale, a large crown and a solid 500m water-resistance – more than enough for daily use…
The Delma Cayman Automatic also comes with a sleek dial, with applied markers and facetted hands. All are filled with luminous paint providing a good contrast and optimal legibility. The display is classical, with hours, minutes, seconds and date at 3 o’clock. The sunray-brushed dial is available in 3 different colours – black, blue and silver – and so is the aluminium insert on the bezel – in black, blue or burgundy.
Inside the case of this automatic version of the Delma Cayman is the ubiquitous ETA 2824-2, a reliable and easy-to-service Swiss movement visible through a sapphire caseback (note that a quartz version is also available). The watch can be worn on either a leather strap with a steel pin buckle or a Milanese mesh steel bracelet.
The Delma Cayman Automatic is a nicely designed, well-proportioned and, above all, a well-priced dive watch. Indeed, the leather strap model will be available for CHF 990 while the Milanese mesh model will be priced at CHF 1,150. More details at delma.ch.
3 responses
If you had described this to me I would have said “not for me” but when I saw it especially the mesh strap with the silver dial and red bezel , a combination I would never expect to work I was really surprised.
Cookie cutter watch in practically all aspects. A transparent caseback is laughable on a diver, honestly. I hope they find their market. I won’t be in it.
This article needs some wrist shots.