Oceanica Stingray Watch Review - Best Affordable Dive Watch of 2020

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Case

The all new stunning and impressively built $239 Stingray is housed in a 41MM diameter stainless steel brushed case with 200M of water resistance making this one a true tool dive watch! It really is well finished and punches way above most other microbrands in terms of case quality, cut, and finishing. To my belief most brands with this type of quality charge upwards of $350 USD and up for this type of work, but not Oceanica, making this really a bargain. It is sad that most will never seem to realize that though! The lug to lug is 47MM whole the lugs are 22MM and the thickness at 12.5MM. One of the impressive areas is also the embossed custom designed by owner Caseback of a stingray swimming in the Ocean. It really is very detailed and perfect down to the details. The sides of the case are finely brushed with lug guards and a signed shark screw down crown.

Dial

There are two Sunburst dial options for the Stingray and possibly more if they reach 50,000 in funds. These are black and a nice blue which changes hues indoors and outdoors. The ceramic lumed 120 Click bezels are also very solid with satisfaction at each click and a luxury feel. The custom bezel contains good traction for your fingers at all angles, and easy to grip. The dial itself contains orange and red/white colours depending on the dial you choose and a nice arrow seconds hand. The indices themselves and hand applied and bordered with a polished silver border, making them pretty easy to read, as a diver should be. We get a domed sapphire crystal which feels tough, as the watch does with five layers of under anti reflective blue coating.

Movement Automatic

The seiko NH35A automatic movement is utilized here with a beat rate of 21,600 and 24 jewels. It has about a 40 hour power reserve when fully wound and also features hacking , self winding via crown. This is a well known movement and a tough robust one , a good choice for a tough automatic diver. Generally speakong these are usually accurate within 5-10 seconds a day and require little to no maintenance.

H-Link Style Bracelet

I really dig this bracelet, its the same bracelet actually seen on some microbrands that charge around $600 for their watches which I find funny. The custom clasp contains six micro adjustments making it possible for a perfect fit without a quick adjust. The clasp also contains the oceanica logo and a flip over lock with two button eject. Its a comfortable bracelet , and even has solid end links which match the case perfectly. Adjusting this one was a breeze with screws on one side and I removed four links for my 6.5" wrist.

Conclusion

Furthermore, the STINGRAY definitely has features and characteristics seen at much much higher price ranges in microbrand watches. They honestly should
of charged atleast $300 for this one. Well, the value goes to the customer I assume! It really is a great looking multi situational diver which has superb qualities in every aspect. You wont find an area where they skimped on- The bracelet is stellar as well as the caseback and case / dial / lume. I think they knocked this onw out of the park and hope to see more from this young brand which emerged in 2018. If I were you I would reserve one on their Kickstarter as they usually sell out instantly or within days of releasing them on the website...from past experiences.