It seems the quickest path toward success for resurrected vintage watch brands is to recreate models from their mid-century heyday. It’s worked for Nivada Grenchen, Universal Genève is banking on it for its huge relaunch and Favre Leuba, which roared back to life two years ago, has also found success with the formula.
One of the most appealing models from the reborn Favre Leuba is the Deep Raider Revival. Based on the brand’s original “Deep Blue” diver from the 1960s, not only is “Deep Raider” one of the coolest watch names ever, but this also happens to be one of the most perfectly executed vintage-inspired divers on the market.
From the arrow handset and 39mm case to the fully graduated sapphire bezel, box sapphire crystal and quirky dial layout, every detail on the Deep Raider Revival feels like it time-traveled from the ’60s, getting only the appropriate materials upgrades along the way.
Now, Favre Leuba has made its vintage diver even more perfect by taking a cue from one of its legendary 1970s divers.
A Clockwork Orange
The newest incarnation of the 300m-rated Deep Raider Revival adds decidedly vibrant doses of orange lume on its dial, hands and bezel. The dark gray sapphire bezel receives luminous orange markings every five minutes, including the triangular pip and Arabic 10-minute markings, while the arrow handset is infilled with the vivid orange Super-LumiNova.
Most interesting of all are the hour markers, which feature printed batons of orange lume at all 12 markers. At the four cardinal points, however, there are applied indexes that frame elongated luminous batons that stretch toward the center of the sunburst gray dial, creating a crosshair-like effect.
