DWF 2008 New Dive Watch of the Year - Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea!

[OnTimeGabe]

Thanks to all who voted in the year end poll. We had several hundred members casting over 900 votes, and the winner is the Deepsea. I'm not surprised at all by this result, as the DSSD is an impressive piece that improves on the legendary Sea-Dwellers of the past. What is surprising is that the upstart Zinex Trimix almost snatched the crown (pun intended) from Rolex. Joe should be very proud to see the huge amount of support for his new models (the Nitrox finished in at a very respectable 13th). And if he hasn't put Demo on the payroll as a photographer, he should do it today! Here are some other random thoughts on the results:

• Congrats to Poul are also in order for the strong 3rd place finish of the Korsbek Ocean Explorer. This watch was much anticipated, and by all accounts it met and exceeded everyone's expectations.
• I remember over a year ago when the Longines Legend Diver was first announced, it was met with lukewarm response. Some thought the hands were odd, the lume was too sparse, and the lack of date was a show stopper. Fast forward to today and this watch has cataputed into the top 5 favorite new watches on the forum (for good reason IMHO). And seeing the strong finishes of the IWC Aquatimer reissue, JLC Polaris, and LM-7 tells me that the retro look is definitely 'in' right now.
• Speaking of the LM-7, I'm a bit surprised at the 8th place finish. Given the tremendous amount of discussion it generated here over the past couple of years, I would have thought it was a lock for the top 5. I guess the Ploprof case really is a love-it or hate-it design.
• Another big surprise to me was the 5th place finish of the RGM diver. Though the price is a bit steep, there's no doubt that the styling is a huge hit.
• Finally, congrats to Kremke for the top 10 finish of the Subzilla. I love the fact that these new companies can hit the scene and immediately compete with long-time forum favorites like Seiko, Doxa, Breitling, and Sinn. We've got some great designs being released by the industry leaders, as well as an ever-growing list of upstart companies providing fantastic bang-for-the-buck. These are very good days to be a dive watch enthusiast, that's for sure.

Thanks again for participating everyone. Best wishes and happy watch hunting in 2009!

1	Rolex Sea Dweller Deepsea	76
2	Zinex Trimix	67
3	Korsbek Ocean Explorer	51
4	Longines Legend Diver	44
5	RGM Professional Diver	41
6	IWC Aquatimer Automatic	36
7	Seiko GS Spring Drive Diver	35
8	Ocean7 LM-7	33
9	Doxa SUB 800Ti Professional	30
9	Kremke Subzilla	30
11	Sinn U2 Black	29
12	Breitling SuperOcean Heritage Chronograph	28
13	Kazimon Eintausend	27
13	Zinex Nitrox	27
15	Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk Pro 1000M	26
15	JLC Polaris	26
17	Sinn U1000 Chrono	23
18	Breitling Avenger Seawolf Chronograph	21
19	Oris Diver Regulator	20
19	UTS Stealth Chrono Diver	20
21	MKII Sea Fighter	19
22	Bell & Ross BR02 Chronograph	18
22	Doxa SUB 5000T Sharkhunter Military Edition	18
24	Eterna Kontiki Diver	17
24	Glycine Lagunare Chronometer 3000	17
26	Ball Watch Engineer Master II Diver GMT	16
27	Omega Seamaster James Bond Collectors Edition	14
28	Seiko Direct Drive 200m Kinetic	12
28	Victorinox Swiss Army Dive Master 500 Black Ice	12
30	Rolex Submariner Blue	10
30	Zenith Defy Classic Diver Chronograph	10
32	Benarus Barracuda	9
32	Citizen Air Diver's 200m Radio Controlled	9
34	Boschett Reef Ranger	7
35	Limes Endurance 1Tausend Diver	6
36	Hamilton Below Zero Diver	5
36	Orient Star 200m Diver	5
36	Ulysse Nardin Blue Seal Chronograph	5
39	Citizen Aqualand 20th Anniversary LE Titanium	4
40	Deep Blue Master Explorer	1

Original polls with pics can be found here:

DWF 2008 Year in Review Part 1 - Vote for Your Favorites!
DWF 2008 Year in Review Part 2 - Vote for Your Favorites!

[outstretchedhands]

Interesting results. I'm glad to see the RGM doing so well, too!

[David Woo]

boy, surprising results: thanks for all the work, Gabe.
Dw

[lordsinclair]

Great work, Gabe. Thanks for all your efforts. A well deserved win by Rolex. And congrats to the new companies, too, on their remarkable showing.

One thing: I'm not sure myself that the RGM's price is "a bit steep." At $3500 on a strap, it is priced well below others on the list. And even with the bracelet, at $4250 it compares extremely favorably to the Kobolds, IWC's, and GP's of this world, to name but three.

Don't get me wrong. I would be only too happy to see the RGM priced lower. It was my dive watch of the year, and is top of my wants list.

[TLex]

Thanks for all your efforts Gabe! Nice one!

[Collektor77]

Excellent work Gabe, thanks. Makes me want a DSSD even more now.

[kiwidj]

Good stuff!

[Denizen]

imo, is the rather strong showing of the Seiko GS Spring Drive Diver in the voting...totally unexpected. this is not a watch that is owned by many members on WUS and has not generated a lot of talk here on the DWF or even in the Seiko/Citizen forum.

in any event, i talk the results of this type of poll with a more than a grain of salt. imo, a lot of the people who cast votes didn't understand or choose according to the stated theme.

[OnTimeGabe]

Originally Posted by Denizen

in any event, i talk the results of this type of poll with a more than a grain of salt. imo, a lot of the people who cast votes didn't understand or choose according to the stated theme.

Could you clarify what you mean? The "stated theme" was to pick your favorite new watch release(s) of the year. Here's what I said in the initial poll posting:

"As for the voting, I thought this year we would open it up to multiple choices. It's always been a debate as to whether one should vote for a watch that they own or plan to own, a grail or dream watch, best bang for the buck, etc. Now you'll be able to throw a vote towards all your favorites no matter what the criteria."

We specifically didn't try to force people into a specific theme for this poll. To some, looks and esthetics rule. Others look for technical innovation. Others want a great value. Rather than debate these criteria and which are more valid, we went for a result that reflected the wide range of viewpoints present on the DWF.

[OnTimeGabe]

Originally Posted by lordsinclair

One thing: I'm not sure myself that the RGM's price is "a bit steep." At $3500 on a strap, it is priced well below others on the list. And even with the bracelet, at $4250 it compares extremely favorably to the Kobolds, IWC's, and GP's of this world, to name but three.

Don't get me wrong. I would be only too happy to see the RGM priced lower. It was my dive watch of the year, and is top of my wants list.

Good points, but just from reading the forum, the common consensus seems to be that it's a nice watch that's priced too high for most members. Those lucky few that own one are very happy, but I don't see many people selling off large chunks of their collection to drop 3-4 grand on the RGM. But for something like a Planet Ocean, you see it happen all the time. I think your mention of UTS is a very good one, and the two brands seem to occupy a similar segment of the market. But there are numerous other small watch companies priced much more competitively than RGM, and people are definitely voting with their pocketbooks (Korsbek, Zinex, Kremke, etc.). My statement wasn't to say that the RGM isn't worth what they're charging, but rather to reflect the repeated comments made here about the price.

[moishlashen]

Good work Gabe. It was fun to vote and now its fun to absorb the results. Interesting to see the differant price points represented along with what you pointed out with the new companies competing with the established ones. Cool all around.

Thanks for putting it all together

[por44]

Nice to see the new watch brands fairing so well.