I will add that the caseback is rather cool with the EPSA medallion and they've upgraded the movement too. Is this as exciting as a Bel Canto? Clearly not, but it's not the disaster some on here seem to think. Did you guys drink decaf this morning by mistake?

I don’t understand this. Nothing about it seems like an evolution of the previous SC. And that dial comes off as a novelty to me, almost gimmicky. There’s a “what if we…” aspect to this as opposed to a “how can we improve upon…” aspect.

albionphoto wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 11:43 am …Did you guys drink decaf this morning by mistake?

Masterwoodsman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 9:53 am First impressions looks like a childs watch
Secondly it's a hybrid of the previous model compressor with a Divetimer inner, which quite frankly nobody will ever use that function....
It will certainly gain attention and be a talking point around the dinner table. Will be interesting if it flies off the shelf....not so sure

You got me distracted now, around the dinner table there are flies? What's been shelved? Getouthere

I hope my wife isn't watching: she'd certainly be amused that in a watch I can expect for no real purpose the simply excessive engineering that produces 150m of WR and in this case the Super Compressor methodology involved and yet when it comes to the equally function-driven dial I go all squeamish!

The dial is certainly not for me. I think the caseback is cool though.

Is this the first of any “Elite” model not to be titanium?

ajax87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:33 pm Is this the first of any “Elite” model not to be titanium?

I was thinking the same thing. What makes this elite exactly? The upgraded movement? And it’s quite a premium over the standard SC!

@jkbarnes
It’s a chronometer Drew.

Neil

Not trying to be dense but I too am trying to figure out what is the difference between the SC and SC Elite besides the dial, movement, and the coin on the back that will inevitably come off because it is probably glued-on.

jkbarnes wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:44 pm

ajax87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:33 pm Is this the first of any “Elite” model not to be titanium?

I was thinking the same thing. What makes this elite exactly? The upgraded movement? And it’s quite a premium over the standard SC!

+$500 for a COSC cert for the elite over the standard SC does appear a big jump. Maybe the half solid caseback drives some price too?

I can't really find another line to compare this with, but perhaps if you look at the Aquitaine auto vs. the Dartmouth it will shed some light. They're very similar watches spec-wise, with the primary difference being COSC rating for the Dartmouth.

$1160 for Aquitaine vs. $1295 for Dartmouth (both on bracelet). A $135 premium where the primary difference maker appears to be COSC.

I'll admit when I saw the email and saw "Elite" I started salivating at the thought of a titanium SC. Then was let down a bit by the design and the price.

Still, the color scheme is fun and I know people will buy it and get enjoyment from it

This edition makes the regular SC more interesting to me actually. I was always kinda considering it but I think for next summer it will be a perfect watch on the new tropic strap.

ajax87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 1:39 pm

jkbarnes wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:44 pm

ajax87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:33 pm Is this the first of any “Elite” model not to be titanium?

I was thinking the same thing. What makes this elite exactly? The upgraded movement? And it’s quite a premium over the standard SC!

+$500 for a COSC cert for the elite over the standard SC does appear a big jump. Maybe the half solid caseback drives some price too?

I can't really find another line to compare this with, but perhaps if you look at the Aquitaine auto vs. the Dartmouth it will shed some light. They're very similar watches spec-wise, with the primary difference being COSC rating for the Dartmouth.

$1160 for Aquitaine vs. $1295 for Dartmouth (both on bracelet). A $135 premium where the primary difference maker appears to be COSC.

I'll admit when I saw the email and saw "Elite" I started salivating at the thought of a titanium SC. Then was let down a bit by the design and the price.

Still, the color scheme is fun and I know people will buy it and get enjoyment from it

The SW300 COSC in the new SC Elite is an upgrade on the SW200 COSC in the Dartmouth.

Good call out @OllyW

I'm sure there are other factors I'm missing too. The bottom line is that some people will really like this watch and they will buy it and they will enjoy it, and nothing else really matters except to us crazies here

I think I prefer this.

It's not for me. I do highly covet my existing SC and this doesn't come close.

Here are my thoughts on this release. I have been working on a Super Compressor 4 years of ownership article that I hope to make live toward the end of the summer.

I have owned the original Super Compressor since the introduction (I got mine in Nov 2020).

The original Super Compressor was always a niche design. You either liked it or you didn't. I think that some of this is due to the fact that it relies heavily on design cues from the 1970s and if you have no interest in those designs you won't like this watch either. That is fine. It falls right in my wheel house but that is largely due to personal taste and really doesn't say much about the watch itself.

The original C65 Dive Timer release was also met with mixed reviews although the batch sold out very quickly. I think this is due largely to the statement above. You either like dive watch esthetics from the 60s/70s or you don't.

I will try to address the different aspects of this watch one by one.

Movement:

The SW300 COSC is a really big step up from the original SW200. I think that to get the Elite moniker it needed to go here. This movement does not come cheap and even more so in the last year or so. When I last looked the standard SW300 was $300-350 at retail. I looked a couple of months ago and they are now running $400 at retail. Taking a conservative 30% markup (supplier markups are very different from finished goods retail markup) that leaves wholesale at $310. Add $50 for COSC. Then take CWs 3x markup and we are talking $1080 for the movement alone. There has been a sharp increase in component prices across the board in the last 12 months or so. I don't know if it is a result of consolidation of manufacturers or possibly fewer suppliers making it through covid unscathed but it is definitely happening.

Dial:

This dial is classic, busy and useful all at the same time. While most people will never use it doesn't mean that it isn't useful. I am a big proponent of knowing how stuff works and never relying on a single point of failure. It is true most, if not all recreational divers rely on the computer (elite divers tend not to for the redundancy reason and also because they are too conservative for the types of work they are doing) they shouldn't. It is a single point of failure and if you don't know what the computer is doing behind the scenes you are putting yourself at a disadvantage when things go wrong. If you are involved in sports that entail risk it usually is a matter of when things go wrong not if. Now, no one would really use the watch. Knowledgeable people would pull out a copy of the tables and start planning. But it is there and you could use it in a pinch. For me more than anything it evokes a time when jumping in the water truly was a dangerous activity and most people were pushing its boundaries on a regular basis. So a heavy dose of nostalgia, yes indeed. I also recognize that this is another aspect that you either like or don't.

Bezel:

I think removing the fully graduated bezel was a mistake. Having the extra minute hashes would not have added that much to an already cluttered dial. As it is, I think having them removed emphasizes the clutter to the inner dial (move the minute markers to the bezel from the inner dial) and focuses a flashlight on the dial. Lean into the busy and even it out.

Case Back:

I think the case back is really cool. It adds a nice visual element while still highlighting the orange compressor ring. Worth the few extra bucks to the RRP in my opinion.

Stainless Steel:

Interesting choice here. I can only surmise they wanted to keep the price below 2K and making it out of titanium would have pushed it over. No other reason not to do it that I can see.

Price:

See above discussion about the movement - I think this is an exercise in how much component costs have risen in the last year. I am also guessing that the dial is pretty pricey given that even the smallest imperfection in the printing would be very noticeable. This translates into a higher failure rate raising the cost per piece. It would not surprise me if the dial costs more than the one on the 12. It is tough to look at though when you compare the SC Elite to the 12 Ti. Elite - $1825 / 12 Ti - $1895. Both have the SW300 COSC. One is stainless steel and the other is titanium. It would not surprise me in the least that the next 12 Elite will be over $2K. I am interested now more than ever to see the price of the Ultimate 300 which is yet to be released.


All in all, I think this is a good offering. The price will put some people off. The look will put off yet other people. People who love the SC will like it although current owners will probably not rush out to grab one (EDIT to add - people looking for a dive watch will probably wait to see what the Ultimate 300 looks like then make a purchase decision). I personally won't as my original SC has some meaning to me and I really love the dial, misprint and all

Note 1 - The on wrist render for the bracelet version is really bad (the tropic strap isn't much better). The color is way off and it is immediately identifiable as a render. I am not sure how that got through editorial.

Note 2 - I like the two-tone tropic strap and will probably pick one of those up.