This Is the Dive Watch You Design When You’re an Accomplished U.S. Navy Diver

Dive watches are arguably the most popular style of analog watch worn today, with luxury models like the Rolex Submariner, Omega Seamaster and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms having reached iconic status and popping up on nearly every enthusiast collector’s wishlist.

Although those watches are all highly capable as actual dive watches, I wouldn’t say that’s their first priority. They are luxury objects that are designed to look good and make their wearers feel good. Most people who own them won’t ever take them diving; the watches will spend more time in front of a keyboard than underwater — that’s why we have the term “desk diver.”

But what if a modern dive watch were created solely for diving and prioritized functionality over fashion? Or, to be more specific, what would a dive watch look like if it were designed by an actual U.S. Navy diver who stripped away all excess to create a pure diving instrument?

Well, as it turns out, it would look a lot like the new JB300 Profonde from French dive watchmaker Jacques Bianchi Marseille and U.S. Navy diver Brock Stevens.

Jacques Bianchi-Marseille x Deepsea.edc

Deepsea diver

I’ve met Brock Stevens — better known by his social handle @Deepsea.edc — a few times at watch events, and I’ve made a couple of observations about him. First of all, he’s one of the nicest guys in the watch biz. Secondly, the guy is basically Gear Patrol in human form.

He spent over seven years as an active-duty U.S. Navy diver, he’s a professional photographer, he lives in the woods, he drives a Land Rover Series IIA, and he’s obsessed with EDC gear and watches, routinely testing products for cool brands like Prometheus Design Werx, Watches of Espionage, Tornek-Rayville and more.

For his latest endeavor, Brock has teamed up with Jacques Bianchi Marseille, the modern reincarnation of a legendary French military dive watch brand from the 1980s, to create his first-ever watch collaboration, which is effectively his own interpretation of what a purpose-built dive watch should be.

For me, a mission watch is one that disappears when focus is required. You don’t think about it— you rely on it.

Brock Stevens, AKA Deepsea.edc

Using the Jacques Bianchi’s signature military diver, the JB300, as a platform, the new JB300 Profonde makes a number of tactical upgrades. While the utilitarian case shape with its beefy lugs remains the same, Brock’s version swaps in stonewashed Grade 5 titanium for stainless steel.

The lighter material is more tolerable on the wrist during extended dives, it’s corrosion-resistant and the rugged stonewashed finish makes it more resistant to damage from abrasions. The crown has also been moved to the left-hand “destro” side of the case, which Stevens tells me is probably his favorite feature of the new watch.

Jacques Bianchi-Marseille x Deepsea.edc

“The destro crown, on any dive watch, is a must-have for me,” Stevens says. “All divers, civilian or professional, will tell you that the last thing you need during a long dive is a hotspot on your wrist. It’s the small annoyances that add up to a bad experience underwater.”

The maxi-style indices on the matte-black dial are now applied for more pop, and they’re filled with blue-emission Super-LumiNova, along with the hour and seconds hands. The minute hand and bezel pip, meanwhile, glow green, making it easier to distinguish your mission timer in low light. Additionally, the bezel retains its distinctively chunky knurling, which makes it ideal for turning while wearing gloves.

Jacques Bianchi-Marseille x Deepsea.edc

The date window has been jettisoned from the dial, giving you an extra glowing index at 3:00 and making the watch more focused for the task at hand. The 24-hour military time scale remains as a track on the inner portion of the dial, but it’s now executed in a high-vis yellow color. This color is derived from a helmet Stevens used during work dives and is repeated on the seconds hand tip and on the minute track, denoting every five minutes.

The crown screws down, ensuring a healthy 300m of water resistance, and the crystal is made of sapphire for unbeatable scratch protection. The movement is a reliable Swiss-made Soprod automatic with a 38-hour power reserve, and the watch comes on a practical JBM webbing strap in olive-khaki with a center stripe in yellow to match the dial’s accents.

Jacques Bianchi-Marseille x Deepsea.edc

Naturally, Brock spent a considerable amount of time diving with prototypes of the JB300 Profonde before they settled on the production version, putting the watch through its paces to make sure it performed under (literal) pressure.

“Those dives confirmed what truly matters underwater: how the bezel turns with gloves, how quickly the dial reads in low light, how the case withstands salt and abrasion,” Stevens said in a press release.

“It also reminded me why functional design fascinates me. When you return an object to the element it was built for, you learn restraint, purpose, and balance. Every mark on those prototypes tells part of that story — the proof that this watch wasn’t just imagined for divers, it was tested by one.”

Jacques Bianchi-Marseille x Deepsea.edc

Pricing and availability

The Jacques Bianchi Marseille x Deepsea.edc JB300 Profonde is limited to just 150 examples. Considering how cool this thing is and Deepsea.edc’s sterling reputation in the watch industry, I expect them to sell out pretty quickly.

The watch will be available to preorder on the JBM site on October 30 and is priced at $1,350. If you want to be notified as soon as they go on sale, you can sign up here.

Jacques Bianchi-Marseille x Deepsea.edc

Jacques Bianchi Marseille x Deepsea.edc JB300 Profonde

Specs

Case Size	41.5mm
Movement	Soprod Cal. P024 automatic
Water Resistance	300m

• $1,350 at Jacques Bianchi Marseille

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