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A Deep-Cut Affordable Swiss Dive Watch Sizes Down for Daily Wearing

Its a steel!

Close-up of a stainless steel dive watch with luminous blue markers and a rotating bezel showing 30 and 40.Delma
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By Brad Lanphear

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The Shell Star isn’t a household name, or should I say shiphold name, like the Fifty Fathoms, Seamaster or SUB 300, but it is a Swiss dive watch with deep roots.

Like those icons listed above, Delma’s flagship dive watch is now just as suited for daily wear as it is for aquatic adventure. The stainless steel case is available for the first time in a slimmed-down 41mm diameter.

Silver dive watch with bright blue textured dial, orange markers, and black strap with blue stitching.
The Shell Star now comes in a 41mm stainless steel case.
Delma

Delma is a small, family-owned Swiss watchmaker founded in 1924. It’s been making dive watches since the 1960s and debuted the Shell Star collection in 1975.

The Shell Star has undergone multiple redesigns over the years, but the new 41mm iteration retains the distinctive diver design language of the 1970s, with strong legibility achieved through bold colors and high-contrast geometry.

The new 41mm steel cushion case has chamfered edges, a substantial, curved off crown guard, and is topped with a steel unidirectional bezel marked with a fully graduated 60-minute track in black lacquer.

It follows the downsized proportions introduced by the titanium Shell Star in 2023, which is 3mm narrower and 1mm shorter than its previous standard design.

Easy to read

The modern Shell Star uses a grainy matte dial texture to maximize legibility. It is available in black, white, light blue, orange and yellow, with orange hour and minute tracks on the first three and black on the latter two.

Stainless steel wristwatch with black textured dial and orange-accented hour markers on a wrist.
The Shell Star dial has a grainy matte texture for enhanced legibility.
Delma

The hour markers are affixed dashes with double markers at 6, 9 and 12. A beveled date window with a lined frame replaces the 3:00 marker, exposing a white disc with a black date track on all models except black, where the colors are reversed.

A ruler-style seconds track encircles the hour track, which is graduated to 1/5 increments. Outside of that is a broken-line minute track framing the dial.

Stainless steel Delma automatic dive watch with luminous blue markers and water droplets on the bracelet.
The hour markers, hands, and bezel pip are marked with green-emitting Super-LumiNova.
Delma

All three hands have black bases, with the remainder of the obelisk hour and minute hands in white and the arrow seconds hands in orange. The hour markers, hands and triangle zero marker on the dive bezel feature green-emitting Super-LumiNova.

It is topped with a flat sapphire crystal treated with an anti-reflective coating.

The power is yours (to choose)

Like most Delma models, the new 41mm steel Shell Star is available with both automatic and quartz movements across all dial options.

The same strap options of a steel President-style three-link bracelet or a textured rubber strap with dial-matched stitching are also available with both movements.

Stainless steel wristwatch with bright orange textured dial and water droplets on the bracelet.
The quartz version reads “Professional” at 6:00 on the dial, while the automatic version reads “Automatic.”
Delma

The battery-powered version of the Shell Star uses an ETA Caliber F06.115 quartz movement, and the only visual difference up front is that the dial reads “Professional” at 6:00, rather than “Automatic.”

For mechanical purists willing to drop an additional $500, the alternative is a Sellita Caliber SW200-1 automatic movement. This reliable Swiss workhorse beats at 4Hz and offers a modest 41-hour power reserve.

Back view of a Delma stainless steel watch with visible automatic movement and black strap with blue stitching.
The automatic version has a sapphire exhibition caseback.
Delma

The automatic Shell Star features an exhibition caseback secured by four screws with a round sapphire crystal window exposing a customized rotor with a gold-tone finish, radial brushing and an etching of the brand’s name.

Availability and pricing

If you opt for the quartz movement, which is the practical choice for legitimate SCUBA and free diving anyway, the Shell Star offers a solid deal for a fully-capable dive watch with a fun, retro look. Whereas the automatic version offers a slightly better price than similar 1970s divers from Doxa and Squale.

The new 41mm steel version of the Delma Shell Star is available now from Delma for $1,350 with an automatic movement and steel bracelet, and $800 with quartz movement and steel bracelet. Both movement options are $50 cheaper on a black rubber dive strap with a steel pin buckle.

About the Author: Brad Lanphear is an associate editor at Gear Patrol covering watches and style. Before joining the publication, he previously wrote for Heddels and Men’s Health. Now, he’s on a never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of Japanese denim.

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