The Baltic Aquascaphe Classic Black Gilt is a vintage-inspired dive watch from the French microbrand Baltic. Its 316L stainless steel case is 38 mm across the case and 39 mm with the bezel, 13 mm thick (11 mm without the crystal), with a 47 mm lug-to-lug length and a 20 mm lug width. The grained black dial uses a sandwich construction at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, with gilt accents and Super-LumiNova C1 lume. It sits under a double-domed sapphire crystal with internal anti-reflective coating. Inside is the Miyota 9039, a no-date automatic movement with hacking seconds and a 42-hour power reserve. With its screw-down crown, the watch is water resistant to 200 meters (20 ATM).

The Aquascaphe shows hours, minutes and seconds with no date. Its 120-click unidirectional bezel has a sapphire insert, which gives it a “bakelite” look in the vintage style while resisting scratches. Baltic offers it on a vulcanized FKM rubber sport strap, a steel beads-of-rice bracelet or a steel flat-link bracelet, and all of the brand’s 20 mm straps fit it. The Classic line also comes in other dial colors, such as Blue Gilt and Black Cream. Baltic lists the Black Gilt at EUR 600.

The Aquascaphe is one of the most praised microbrand divers. Worn & Wound found that the case looks and wears thinner than its numbers suggest, Fratello liked the sporty feel of the large sapphire bezel, and Baltic’s own press page quotes reviewers calling it a thoughtful and detailed take on a new-vintage diver. Owners mostly praise its comfort and proportions, while some note that the dial can look a little dull indoors and that accuracy is only average. The Aquascaphe Classic Black Gilt is in production and listed as available on Baltic’s official website.