The Seiko Kinetic Scubamaster is not the most expensive watch I own, but it is probably the rarest and most unique. In fact, I think it comes pretty close to being the ultimate diver watch. It is feature rich, extremely tough, very accurate, and has a bold, distinguished look. Here’s a feature-by-feature breakdown:

MTM’s secret is the silicon oil filled case which is designed to equalize the pressure exerted on the watch in a way which makes it virtually compression-proof. There are a few other watches out there which make the same claim, but none with quite the unique feature set of the MTM Black Seal.

First up is the TechnoMarine Abyss. This avant-garde brand throws down an interesting looking watch that is ready to dive. The Abyss is a 42.5mm quartz-powered stainless steel dive watch which, at $650, represents the cheapest of the extreme divers. Although suspiciously light on details, TechnoMarine claims the Abyss can withstand 12,000 meters of water, or about 39,600 feet, which is about as deep as deep gets.

24-hour hand. The Scubamaster has four hands: hour, minute, second, and a 24-hour hand. The watch is designed to be able to easily track the time in two different time zones, and to be able to switch time zones quickly and easily. When in you home time zone, you keep the hour hand and the 24-hour hand in sync. When you travel outside your home time zone, the movement is designed in such a way that you can easily adjust the hour hand forward or backward, depending on whether you are traveling east or west. That way, the hour hand indicates the time where you currently are while the 24-hour hand retains your home time.

Bell & Ross has a beauty of a diver called the Hydromax which they claim (and back up with details) will withstand a depth of 11,100 meters, or about 36,500 feet. While not the most extreme of the extreme divers, that still makes it capable of reaching the bottom of Challenger Trench, one of the deepest known points in the ocean. There is, as you might expect, some impressive engineering going on in this timepiece.

I’ve heard that one of the problems with Kinetic watches is that their capacitors tend to degrade over time which results in smaller power reserves. I haven’t found that to be the case at all with this watch. It’s only supposed to hold a charge for 14 days, however even after seven years (yes, the watch is that old), it seems to stay sufficiently charged for about three weeks. The movement is also accurate to between 1 and 3 seconds per month.

Power reserve indicator. The button on the right side of the case above the crown activates a power reserve indicator (which can actually be activated underwater). The watch’s second hand moves ahead to indicate how long the watch will remain operational, then stops there and waits for time to catch up before moving again. As long as I remember to wear the watch a day or two every couple of weeks, power is never an issue.

Double locking clasp. The clasp on the Scubamaster is very robust. It uses a spring loaded, dual button locking mechanism in addition to a fold-down clasp lock. This is probably the strongest and best engineered clasp I’ve ever seen on a watch.