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This Vintage Tool Watch Fever Dream Is the Diver I Didn’t Know I Needed

It’s the best watch of 1958. Too bad it debuted in 2025.

Close-up of an albishorn watch crown with a triangular logo, a textured bezel, and a red rectangular button on the side, set against a black background.Albishorn
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By Johnny Brayson

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Albishorn is a strange watch brand.

The entire purpose of the nascent Swiss indie is to create vintage watches that could have existed but never did. It’s a unique and fun concept, and so far, Albishorn has knocked it out of the park with every one of its releases.

Those releases have included a 1940s-style chronograph that could have been ordered by the French military and a tool watch imagined for alpinists looking to tackle Everest in 1950. Now, Albishorn’s imaginary journey through horological history has arrived at 1958 with a highly inventive regatta timer-skin diver hybrid.

A wristwatch with a black textured rubber strap and a stainless steel case. The watch face is dark with large white circular and triangular hour markers. It has multiple red and white hands, including a second hand with a red tip. The bezel is divided into two colors: black on the left side labeled "LOW TIDE" and turquoise on the right side labeled "HIGH TIDE," with fractional markings in white and red. There is a prominent red button near the crown on the right side of the case. The brand name "Albishorn" is visible on the dial.
This watch did not exist in the 1950s, but Albishorn thinks it should have.
Albishorn

Skin timer? Yacht diver?

Every Albishorn watch so far has been tied to an historical event, and the new Marinagraph is no different: 1958 marked the return of the America’s Cup sailing competition after its lengthy World War II-induced hiatus. According to Albishorn, the Marinagraph would’ve been the perfect watch to welcome the prestigious race’s return.

The watch is unlike any other tool watch I’ve seen, in a good way. Albishorn says it’s a cross between a skin diver and a regatta timer, but even that doesn’t scratch the surface of how weird this thing is.

The general design mostly reads “skin diver.” The case is 39mm across with a box sapphire crystal, no crown guards and a coin-edge bezel. The dial has highly legible hands and hour markers with plenty of Super-LumiNova, and the strap is a Tropic-style rubber affair. Water resistance is 100m, perfectly appropriate for a skin diver.

Close-up of a black watch dial featuring white triangular and circular hour markers, a red second hand, and a subdial with a blue and red segmented scale numbered from 0 to 5. The watch has detailed minute markers around the edge and a small circular window showing a red and blue indicator.
The retrograde countdown timer is unique for a regatta timer.
Albishorn

But that’s really where the skin diver attributes end. There are no dive markings on the bezel. Instead, the friction-fit bezel allows you to track the tide’s cycle over a 24-hour period. Useful for a snorkeler, I suppose, but hardly customary for a skin diver.

Then there’s the movement and complication, which is where the regatta timer influence shines through. The watch, like Albishorn’s previous releases, is powered by a version of the brand’s own Calibre ALB01 A automatic chronograph movement, this time modified to accommodate a patented retrograde 10-minute countdown timer displayed from 8:00 to 6:00 on the dial for timing yacht races’ starts. There’s also a running indicator at 3:00 backed by a multicolored disc in place of a running seconds hand.

Side view of a wristwatch with a brushed stainless steel case, a textured silver crown featuring a triangular logo, and a prominent red rectangular button next to the crown. The watch has a thick, domed crystal and a black bezel with green and black markings, including fractional numbers like 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4. The strap appears to be white fabric or nylon.
Albishorn’s unorthodox red chronograph pusher has become a brand signature.
Albishorn

The chronograph is of the monopusher variety and is actuated via a pusher at 9:00, but this is no ordinary pusher. In what has quickly become a trademark of Albishorn’s watches, the pusher is broad, rectangular, ridged, integrated into the case side and made of red anodized aluminum. The idea behind its placement and structure was to make it as easy as possible to operate. The crown, meanwhile, is located at 10:00 and does not screw down.

The design and functions of the Marinagraph are strange enough, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the watch’s color palette. There are two versions. The more standard, which is still quite loud, is the “Classic Racing,” which features a sunburst black dial with blue and red accents and a combination teal and black bezel. Even more daring is the “Paraíba Racing,” which has the same bezel but doubles down on teal, replacing the black dial with a teal one and swapping out the blue accents for even more teal.

A wristwatch with a turquoise dial featuring large white and black geometric hour markers and a red second hand. The bezel is black and turquoise with markings for "HIGH TIDE" and "LOW TIDE." The watch has a white textured strap and a red crown on the side. The dial also includes a small gauge with numbers from 0 to 5 and two small hands. The brand name "Albishorn" is visible on the dial.
The teal Marinagraph “Paraíba Racing” is about as daring as watches get.
Albishorn

Pricing and availability

The Marinagraph is one weird watch, and that’s probably why I love it — no one could ever accuse it of being boring. From the combined vintage tool watch influences to the radical use of color to the unique complications, this is far more exciting than your average dive watch.

Each color of the Marinagraph is limited to 99 pieces and priced at CHF 3,950, which as of this writing converts to around $4,926. That price doesn’t include tariffs, so your final price will likely be considerably higher, given that the 39 percent tariff on Swiss watches levied by the Trump administration is still in effect for U.S. customers. Sales of the Marinagraph kick off tomorrow, August 29, on Albishorn’s website.

Black dial albishorn wristwatch with large white hour markers and hands, featuring a red second hand and additional red and blue sub-dials. The bezel is black and turquoise with white and red markings indicating "HIGH TIDE" and "LOW TIDE." The watch has a textured black strap and a silver case. The brand name "Albishorn" is displayed on the dial.Albishorn

Albishorn Marinagraph

Specs

Case Size 39mm
Movement Albishorn Cal. ALB01 A automatic chronograph
Water Resistance 100m
About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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