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It takes a lot of guts to shake up an already-established industry. Back in 2013, MINUS-8 was born with the intention to put a new industrial-focused spin on watchmaking. Named after the California time zone (GMT-8), the Bay Area-based company aims to push the needle of watch aesthetics while still creating designs that will feel timeless decades from now. Launched in 2022, the Diver 2.0 embodies this mission, while giving you unbelievable value at an affordable price.
Bringing an industrial, almost brutalist, approach to watchmaking, the Diver 2.0 will immediately draw attention to your wrist because it simply doesn’t look like anything else on the market. Available in both PVD-coated black and gray colorways, the 44mm titanium case features a monochromatic aesthetic that extends to the matte dial, graduated bezel, and matching titanium bracelet. Despite the larger case size and a 14mm thickness, the titanium material helps cut the weight significantly and provides corrosion resistance as well.
Under the AR-coated sapphire crystal, the cardinal points (3, 6, 9, and the “-8” at the 12 spot) are a touch lighter than the matte dial below, while white is used for contrast on the rest of the hour markers. But this is a diver committed to low-light visibility. As such, the markers and handset tips are coated in green-glowing Super-LumiNova. The 60-minute bezel is also lumed up to the 20-minute mark.
Inside, the watch doesn’t settle for a cheap caliber but instead goes with the reliable Seiko NH35 automatic movement. Water resistant at a whopping 300m, the timepiece also sports an off-set screw-down crown at the 4 o’clock spot with a helium release valve.
Priced at just $598, the Diver 2.0 is available from MINUS-8’s website. An optional rubber strap is also sold separately.
