One of Rotary’s most iconic models on the blog this time, the Rotamatic / Aquaplunge diver.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
When looking at Rotary’s vast back catalogue (the company was started way back in 1895), the Aquaplunge models are arguably the most recognisable and collectible watches they ever made. Rotary made a range of Aquaplunge watches over the years but the early diver and chronograph are undoubtedly the two most collectible models.
Both watches were introduced in the 1960’s and neither had Aquaplunge branding on the dial initially. It’s likely that the Aquaplunge name was made more prominent later in the production cycle as the models gained popularity, but I can’t confirm that at the time of writing.
The diver was available with or without date and the early versions have the ‘broad arrow’ style hands rather than the hands fitted in the picture above. Looking at other examples online, it seems that the hands changed style when Aquaplunge replaced the Rotamatic branding on the dial, so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re looking for an all original example.
It’s worth noting too that the diver should have the Aquaplunge branding on the caseback, while the chronograph does not. The chronograph case was a generic design used by many manufacturers during the 1960’s and 70’s.
The watch in this post arrived in relatively good condition from a cosmetic perspective, the original lume, although darkened, was still intact throughout. The bezel too, aside from a little wear around the edge was in relatively good condition, which isn’t always the case on these watches.
However, things inside weren’t quite so encouraging…
The watch had obviously had a reasonable amount of moisture inside at some point. The winding rotor was badly corroded and that was just the start. The automatic winding mechanism was in pretty bad shape and the train wheel pivots too were corroded. Left unchecked, rust can make short work of a watch movement.
Thankfully, the A. Schild AS1700/01 movement was used in many watches during the 1960’s and 1970’s, so rather than try to source all the individual parts needed to repair the current movement, a donor watch proved to be a more cost effective solution.
The AS1700/01 is made in 17,21 and 25 jewel variants, the 21 jewel being the least common, so while it proved to be a little more elusive, this dress watch with a worn case provided a 21 jewel movement in decent condition.
The donor movement was serviced without issue and the rest of the job was straight forward from there. The case was cleaned, crystal polished and a new caseback gasket finished the job.
If finding an Aquaplunge in good condition proves difficult, it may be useful to know that near identical versions of both the diver and chronograph were produced (possibly under licence in some cases), for other brands; Iaxa, Baylor, Lator, Difor, Le Phare and WS (Watches of Switzerland?) to name just a few.
Here is the Rotary alongside a no-date Iaxa Aquaplunge that I had in for servicing at the same time. Again, no Aquaplunge on the dial, but branded on the caseback.
If you still struggle… and I mean really struggle, you could look for the quartz powered “re-editions” of both the diver and chronograph that Rotary released in 2016. That’s quartz though eh… yeah quartz, don’t do that. 😉
Rich.
** Many thanks to Steven Keddy for letting me feature his watch on the blog. **
