This time it’s a watch that has been on my radar for a while now, an Aquastar Atoll. Though I’ve serviced/restored a good number of them over the years, a model missing from my own Aquastar collection was a decent Atoll automatic.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
The Atoll was first introduced around 1970 and might be considered a ‘Benthos-lite’. If you’ve never had the pleasure of handling one, the first-generation Benthos 500 is a real bruiser of a watch, 47mm (including the crown) and 16mm thick, there’s no mistaking that it’s a professional tool watch. Being 42mm in diameter (including crown) and 12mm thick, the Atoll is a little more wrist-friendly, but was still a very competent dive watch with a screw-down crown and water resistance of 300 meters.
The early version of the Atoll (as seen in this post), shares some of the characteristics of the early first-generation Benthos 500; the bezel and insert construction is similar, the dials have no Aquastar logo or S.A. branding, and the crown is unbranded and slimmer, with the under-sprung/’wobbly’ feel when unscrewed.
There were subtle design changes made to the dial and bezel inserts during the production run, and in the decade following the retirement of the founder of Aquastar, Frédéric Robert, in 1974, several of the existing models were updated/restyled and new models were introduced, notably the 1000m rated Benthos I automatic and the 1100m rated, quartz powered Benthos II.
After the sale of the Aquastar and JeanRichard brands by the EREN Group to the Seinet brothers in October 1982, the Atoll received a new case and bezel design, the A. Schild cal. 1902/03 used previously was swapped out for the functionally identical, but higher beat A. Schild cal. 2063 (the winding rotor lost its Aquastar branding too at that point), and the Atoll was available for the first time in a blue variant.
It’s worth mentioning too that Aquastar made a quartz Atoll model later in the production run, an altogether different watch reminiscent of a Rolex Submariner. It was available in steel, gold (plate) and PVD cases. There was also a ladies version, which was never the case for the automatic model.
Getting back to the subject of this post, though not exactly a rare watch, since the relaunch of the Aquastar brand in 2020, prices of the original vintage models have risen significantly, so I was pleased to buy this early model for what I considered to be a reasonable price. It wasn’t however without issues…
The case, though scruffy, was still in original unpolished condition and the caseback was still in good order too, with only a hint of ‘tool rash’. Inside, the movement was as expected, an A. Schild Cal. 1902/03 which was in generally clean condition too at first glance, with the correct Aquastar branded winding rotor with yellow decals. It did run on arrival, albeit weakly, and inspection of the oil sinks showed no evidence of recent servicing.
Returning to the case briefly, the bezel was stuck solid, which is never a great start as levering it off can sometimes reveal significant corrosion/pitting on the retaining lip. In this instance, on levered off the bezel I was pleased to find that the case was encrusted with dirt and only needed a thorough cleaning to put things right (you can see the bezel retaining spring inside the bezel in the picture below.)
As you can clearly see in the pictures above, the crystal had significant “crazing”, an effect seen mostly on the thicker crystals used for dive watches, where the acrylic shrinks over time and cracks form both on the surface and in the body of the crystal.
I have had success in the past sanding out the crazing and re-polishing the crystal surface by hand (an example here on a Certina DS-2), but the crazing went too deep this time, so I had no choice but to replace it, which was a shame as I would have liked to have kept the original.
The movement service was straight forward, the only part replaced being the post for the winding rotor as the weight was just beginning to brush the casing ring. Replacing the rotor post would ensure no such issues going forward. The only other area that needed attention was the lume in the hands and on the bezel triangle, which had a section missing.
The bezel triangle was repaired with matching lume and the hands were stripped, cleaned and relumed to match the hour markers. As it typical with many vintage Aquastars, the original lume had cracked and fallen out at some point in the past and the hands had obviously been relumed, so I had no issue with replacing it.
The last thing to do was fit a new caseback gasket and the job was complete.
Rich.
Dear Richard,
I have a strange non-working Aquastar Grand Air. The face has nothing on it but the word ‘automatic’. The bracelet is a gay freres and in ok condition. Due to the total absence of branding on the face, I ghink its either rare or a fake, though it does have a normal back and serial number. Any clues…? Regards, Tony Rooke.