Havaan Tuvali Code Zero -6 Orca Dive Watch Review

Today we are going to go over a new release by Taiwanese brand Havaan Tuvali , which is owned and operated by Eric Yeh. He is a watch enthusiast and actually assembles these watches himself which is quite imressive. His newest release is the Code Zero line of watches which features some cool new technology such as the temperature indicator located at the center portion of the dial. The watch is also very different than many other micro brands because it has its' own unique design and does not look like anything else out there on the current market. The watch is presented in a genuine leather fold over case complete with a 2 year warranty card and a spring bar remover as well as the 3 straps. Lets get into it!

Case

The Code Zero has a very unique and distinct case design comprised of surgical grade 316L stainless steel, as well as the bracelet supplied with the timepiece. In terms of case diameter we are looking at 43MM without the crown which is placed at the 2 O Clock position. The case thickness comes in at 15MM and lug to lug is 52MM. This is a 800M dive watch, Yes Eight Hundred Meters. This is quite impressive for the pricepoint as most brands usually tend to go for 100-300M of water pressure testing. I assume the 15MM thickness of the case has something to do with this. With this larger depth rating comes the addition of a helium escape valve on the side of the case at the 9 O clock position. The case for the most part is done in a very fine brushed finish besides the short lugs which are completely polished. The finishing is certainly on par with the $550 USD price point this watch is selling for, which is nice to see. 

Movement

Havaan Tuvali spares no expense in their watches and they only use good quality Swiss automatic movements. The 4 hertz ( 28,800 BPH ) movement featured in the Zero series is a Selitta SW 290-1 automatic movement. This movement houses 31 jewels and features 38 hours of true power reserve as I have tested it myself. In terms of accuracy I have been getting +2 seconds a day for the past three days which is really good considering it is not a certified chronometer, but it is indeed running in those specs. I am assuming he regulates the movements before he assembles the watches but I am not 100% sure. Anyway, these Selitta movements are used by many better known brands such as Oris dive watches and even German brands such as Sinn watches which carry a pricepoint of triple this timepiece. The movement features hand winding, hacking, and a date feature which is not present in this model but it is there. I must say the hand winding is buttery smooth.

Dial

Now for the most exciting part of this watch, the dial. To start it off we have a double domed AR coated genuine Sapphire crystal which does give off some nice shades of blue when light is present. The dial is black but is a lighter shade of black and not such a deep deep black like a Rolex Submariner. The temperature indicator is located around the center portion of the dial and is in Celsius. If your country does use Farenheit like the USA you should not really have a problem as google solves all of that rather quickly. This is something new to me and I do find the temperature indicator quite fascinating as I can generally get a sense of how hot or cold it is wherever I might be at the given moment. The square box will show blue meaning that is the present temperature. The 8 O Clock position features your sub seconds dial and is super legible. A nice touch is the C3 superluminova on the seconds hand. The main hands are also generously filled with C3 superluminova as is all the markings on the dial including the 60-0. We do get a 60 click rotating uni directional dive bezel which lines up with the chapter ring perfectly so there are no issues there. It has a rather thin coin edge which is polished with a black matte finish insert. The logo and all of the markings are all printed on the dial in white.

Caseback

The screwed down brushed caseback is rather thick and this is needed for the 800 Meters of water resistance this watch features. There is also a limited edition number for your watch as only 100 watches were produced in each color/strap combination.

Strap - or Straps?

Havaan Tuvali supplies you with Three straps for the Orca model, yes three. The watch comes standard with an oyster style bracelet which has polished center links and brushed outer links. This bracelet is using the pin system rather than screws like the previous Squadron model I reviewed last year. The bracelet does have solid end links which fit snuggly into the 22MM lug opening. Another nice feature is the milled clasp and logo on the clasp which features 4 micro adjustments. The second strap is a silicon strap in black which I have been wearing the watch on because it is indeed super comfortable and suits the watch well. The third strap is something I have never experienced before which is a Marine Nationale type strap which stretches as it conforms to the wrist. To be honest , I am not a huge fan of this strap but the other two are comfortable and of decent quality for this pricepoint.

Conclusion

Furthermore, if you are in the market for a real tropical looking dive watch that is capable of going 800M underneath the water this watch can certainly do that and more, as you can now tell the temperature underwater as well. The overall case construction and finishing is certainly worth the $550 pricepoint and the swiss made Selitta movement is definitely worth it. These movements are tough, reliable, accurate, easy to service, and will last a lifetime with good results. There are a few different dial variations and bezel colors you can choose from this new Code Zero -6 line from HT, I will leave a link below to their website so you can check them out.

​www.HavaanTuvali.com