Pre-Baselworld 2018, Angelus reaches new depths far below sea level with its first diver’s watch, the U50 Diver Tourbillon. Since its earliest days, Angelus has been an integrated manufacture producing exceptional timepieces. Now, Angelus culminates its expertise in producing high-performance haute horlogerie movements into the brand’s first diver’s watch, the U50 Diver Tourbillon. A first for Angelus and also the watch industry, the U50 Diver Tourbillon marks the first time a diver’s watch has ever been made by the brand and a diving watch equipped with a tourbillon.

What makes the U50 stand out from other diver’s watches is its uniquely structured skeleton movement in a highly legible execution. Crafted in a 45 mm wide lightweight yet robust Titanium case, the U50 Diver Tourbillon features two large screw-down crowns. The two-position crown at 4 o’clock is used for winding and setting the time, while the crown at 2 o’clock is used to rotate the uni-directional 60-minute flange ring, in lieu of the more common exterior rotating 60-minute bezel found in diver’s watches.

Opposite the crowns on the left side of the case at the 9 o’clock position, a helium escape valve is placed to ensure the watch’s water-resistance of 300 meters (1’000 feet), even during saturation diving where the watch would be exposed to helium gas that could make its way into the case under pressure.

Instead of a solid dial, the U50 Diver Tourbillon features an open display with a highly contrasting flange ring in blue and yellow lacquer, featuring white Superluminova on the indexes. Matching the legible flange ring, the hands are rhodium plated with blue and yellow lacquer, with Superluminova applied in the middle of the hands.

The result of no less than four years of intensive R&D, the U50 Diver Tourbillon’s A-300 caliber was designed as a skeleton from the ground up rather then simply being a cut-out version of an existing movement. Much reduced in weight, it has maximum rigidity from its beam- type bridges and the fact that all the movement’s main elements, such as the wheels and barrel, are firmly secured between two plates. This design replaces the conventional main plate and bridges construction and massively increases the mechanical resistance of the movement. Even though the A-300 caliber in the U50 Diver Tourbillon is intended as a high-performance movement ready to take on more extreme situations, the ultra-slim movement has painstakingly executed contemporary haute horlogerie finishing with snailed black ADLC coating and chamfered edges. The design is enhanced by a skeletonized ratchet and barrel in the exclusive Angelus six-spoke design.

The watch’s rigidity is further enhanced by the Angelus in-house six-spoke design, which reinforces the wheel train and protects the skeletonized ratchet and barrel. With its core functions – hours, minutes, small seconds and one-minute flying tourbillon —the A-300 caliber has 23 jewels, a Swiss lever escapement and measures just 4.3 mm in thickness and 32.8 mm in diameter. The 4 Hz / 28,800 vph frequency is a guarantee for high performance and precision.

The U50 Diver Tourbillon comes on a black rubber strap bearing the Angelus “A” logo, with a Titanium pin-buckle. While conceived with all the properties sought in a diver’s watch, the U50 Diver Tourbillon is above all a sporty-chic, high-performance timepiece, able to withstand all kinds of physical activities —above and below sea level. The new Angelus U50 Diver Tourbillon is available in a limited edition of only 25 pieces.

A watch that we can't wait to see in the metal next week at Baselworld 2018 from where we will be reporting live starting Wednesday 21st. Make sure you download our free mobile app so you don't miss any updates.

Sticker Price $32,995 USD. For more info on Angelus click here.