This Affordable Revival Dive Watch Offers the Category’s Coolest Feature

For my money, one of the coolest features in all of horology is a destro crown, meaning the crown is placed on the 9:00 side instead of the 3:00 side.

Originally designed for left-handed individuals, the name comes from the Italian word for “right” and is historically linked to Panerai military divers. But, as a righty, I enjoy the novelty of the look and appreciate not having a crown dig into the back of my wrist.

Eska Watches

Destro watches are not very common, which is part of the appeal, and rarer still is the option to pick your crown placement. Fortunately, French indie brand Eska now offers that choice for the Amphibian 250.

Faithfully based on the Amphibian 600 from the 1960s, this modern revival perfectly encapsulates the Golden Age of Dive Watches. It looks like a blend of the Blanpain Fifty Fathoms and the Yema Superman, with a sandwich dial and lollipop seconds hand thrown in.

Eska Watches

Along with choosing between a black or white dial, both with a sandwich-style top plate over a creamy yellow base layer, you can decide whether you want your crown at 3:00 or 9:00. Since there is no date, both options use the same Sellita Caliber SW200 automatic movement.

The 40mm stainless steel case is otherwise the same with both crown placements, finished with a vertical satin brushing and topped with a coin-edge steel bezel frame.

Catch you on the flip side

Even without the destro option, the Amphibian 250 is a hidden gem for vintage dive watch fans. Eska was revived in 2024, but the brand was originally founded in 1918 before falling victim to the quartz crisis in 1987.

Eska Watches

Both dial options feature oversized, stencil-style printed numerals at 3, 6, 9 and 12 for enhanced legibility, which is obviously maximized with the matte black dial plate. The cardinal hour markers and a 60-second track on the outer rim with numerals every 5 spaces are color-matched to the base plate.

Small red accents are placed at the outer edge of each hour marker, as well as the tip of the seconds hand.

The bottom layer of the sandwich dial is exposed through large rectangular hour markers and a small triangle above 12:00 on the seconds track. This sandwich design adds depth and texture to enhance legibility.

Eska Watches

Every creamy yellow detail on the dial, along with the entire 60-minute track on the sapphire bezel insert, is marked with green-glowing Super-LumiNova.

The big arrow minutes hand features a lume inlay that matches the obelisk hour hand, which can make the time a bit confusing to read at a glance. However, Eska nailed the lollipop seconds hand because the dot does not cover any of the dial markers.

Eska Watches

A domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating sits atop the dial, protruding slightly from the bezel for a total case height of 13.5mm. The reverse side is sealed with a solid steel screw-in caseback, which, along with the screw-down crown, ensures the titular 250m water resistance.

Availability and pricing

Regardless of which dial color and crown placement is chosen, the Amphibian 250 comes with a black nylon two-piece pin buckle strap, along with an additional creamy yellow perforated rubber dive strap with a pin buckle.

The Eska Amphibian 250 is available now from Eska Watches for $1,039 with a destro or traditional crown. It comes in a functional waterproof diving case that matches each dial color.

Eska Watches

Eska Amphibian 250 Destro

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Sellita Caliber SW200 automatic
Water Resistance	250m

• $1,039 at Eska Watches (Black)
• $1,039 at Eska Watches (White)

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