Unlike today, the epoch of motor-racing oriented watches were very large and provided drivers with no other additional functions except the display of the current time. It wasn't until the early seventies, when the emerging sports chronograph watches with an outer tachymeter bezel had been implied, that enables the user to time accurately monitor the speed of each of his racing laps. To this era, in which a now legendary sports watch design was created, we pay tribute with the STEINHART Ocean 1 Vintage Chronograph Two-tone and bow to the technical developments of yesteryear with a little bit of “golden” flair.
|
Steinhart Ocean 1 Vintage Chronograph Two-tone
|
First two-tone Vintage sports chronograph from the Maison, the Steinhart Ocean One Vintage Two-tone is to a very high standard in terms of case execution and finishing. The case of the Steinhart Ocean One Vintage is made from 316L stainless steel. Features a satin brushed finish on the top of the lugs and polished sides of the case. The unique two-tone design is seen on its steel bezel and screw-down crown, treated in yellow gold accent for a nostalgic appeal. The 42mm case is has a 51mm from lug-to-lug dimensions making this comfortable on most wrist sizes.
The black aluminum bezel sits within its gold-tone bezel on the Vintage chronograph, is a nostalgic tachymeter scale. The bezel in works with the central chrono second hand, enables its users to measure their average speed over a predetermined distance; and this particular scale is very much in a purposeful tool kit that gains its popularity in motor-racing.
 |
Two-tone bezel, case and bracelet |
Another striking feature of the STEINHART Ocean One Vintage Chronograph is probably its dial. Matt black with contrasting sub dials and inner ring with fine, red accents, only to be elevated with a set of golden handsets for the counters and central hands. It is then surmounted by a high-domed sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating on the inside, reminiscent of the plastic crystals of watches from days gone by.
But that's not the only highlight of this two-tone retro style chronograph watch. Design of yesterday combined with technology and materials of today, The two-tone screw-down crown and pushers is located at 3 o’clock, and is good for a water resistant rating of 100m. The top pusher when actuated, kickstarts the central chronograph second for time recording (up to twelve hours), and with another actuation it stops the recording, while the one at the bottom restart the operation.
 |
SuperLuminova glows in the dark |
The STEINHART Ocean One Vintage Chronograph Two-tone is powered by the Dubois Dépraz DD 2020, a Swiss automatic movement which is based on the decorated ETA 2824-2 TOP with its gilded STEINHART rotor, which can all be admired through the sapphire crystal window in the screw-down stainless steel case back. Also screwed down is the large, well gripping crown with its discreet red accent as well as the two pushers, which allows for a water resistance of up to 10 ATM.
The Steinhart Ocean One Vintage Chronograph comes with a satin brushed stainless steel bracelet with screw links and fliplock. The ritzy finishing follows through the two-tone stainless steel bracelet where the middle links are in yellow gold tone, accentuating the luxurious touch of the popular 70s two-tone sports watches.
 |
Display caseback
|
Overall, the Steinhart Ocean One Vintage Two-tone gets a sporty charm that’s difficult to resist.Emulating a twos-tone chronograph from the past, the Steinhart exhibits exceptional value with alluring vintage appeal. For the price, you get a Swiss Made watch with Swiss chronograph movement, a unique two-tone 100m sports watch with SEL bracelet and an overall well finished sturdy watch. This was before not achievable until Steinhart arrived and also probably the reason why Steinhart has quite a huge following although only been around for only 15 years.