Step Aside Omega, This Affordable Dive Watch Hides a Trick Made for Real Spies

Tricked-out watches have long been a favorite tool of spies and secret agents, both real and fictional, but it is exceedingly rare to see such a device for sale.

Bernhadt Watch Company, a boutique brand from North Carolina, designed a seemingly common place diver with a code-breaking trick up its sleeve. Adding to the intrigue, it isn’t inspired by James Bond or some declassified CIA gear, but an invention from one of America’s Founding Fathers.

Bernhardt Watch Co.

At first glance, Berhardt’s newest diver appears to simply be a new patriotic paint job for its existing Binnacle collection. It has a 41mm stainless steel case with a sizable dive bezel, highly legible applied hour markers and sizable pencil hour and minute hands with an arrow seconds hand.

However, printed above the 300m water resistance designation at 6:00 is a clue that this watch is up to something. Unlike every other entry in the Fifty Fathoms-inspired collection, this one is marked “Cipher Diver.”

Bernhardt Watch Co.

A cipher is a diagram or device used to create and read encrypted messages, and that is precisely what this watch reveals on its seemingly innocuous dive bezel when illuminated with a UV lamp or torch.

Shuffled between the fully lumed white dive track are all 26 letters of the alphabet, arranged in a random order and hidden from unsuspecting eyes.

Breaking the code

Berhardt Watch Co. designed the Cipher Diver in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson’s estate at Monticello to honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — insert National Treasure reference here.

Bernhardt Watch Co.

The design is inspired by a mechanical cipher invented by Jefferson, whose tinkering was overshadowed by his philosophical and political careers. This is a simplified version that aligns the letters on the bezel to numbers on the raised red minutes track.

Every cipher needs a key, and in this case, it is a designated time. When the pip is aligned to a certain time, it creates a specific alphanumeric alignment.

The bezel insert is actually semi-transparent, with the alphabet printed beneath in a UV-reactive paint. The dive track, applied hour markers and hands are coated with a matching green-blue Super-LumiNova.

Bernhardt Watch Co.

Espionage aside, this is an impressively capable dive watch for its sub-$1,00 price. The 300m water resistance is achieved by an 11mm thick case with a screw-on caseback, screw-down crown and sapphire crystal. It comes on a quick-release three-link steel bracelet with a folding clasp.

Bernhardt Watch Co.

It is powered by a respectable Miyota caliber 9039 automatic movement that beats a 4Hz and has a 42-hour power reserve. Bernhardt regulates each movement in-house to an accuracy of +/-5 seconds per day.

Availability and price

It goes without saying that I do not recommend committing any risky covert acts, such as stealing the Declaration of Independence — sorry, I had to — with this rudimentary encoding system, but it’s certainly a fun trick to have on your watch.

The Bernhardt Watch Co. Cipher Diver will be available on January 8 from Bernhardt Watch Co. for $795. It is a limited edition of 100 units, and the brand will release encoded messages leading up to the 4th of July.

Bernhardt Watch Co.

Bernhardt The Cipher Diver

Specs

Case Size	41mm
Movement	Miyota caliber 9039 automatic
Water Resistance	300m

• $795 at Bernhardt Watch Co.

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