Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Alsta made beautifully-engineered wristwatches for men and women of intellectual and creative substance. After decades of dormancy, our first timepiece in over 40 years was released in 2017: the Nautoscaph II, inspired by the Alsta Nautoscaph dive watch as worn by Richard Dreyfuss as the character Matt Hooper in the classic movie, Jaws. Our 21st century iterations of classic watches are sure to become conversation pieces and personal treasures.
The original Nautoscaph debuted in the ‘60s and led to several alterations and configurations. Similar to Joseph Alstater, the original founder of Alsta, when posed with the question regarding more Nautoscaph designs and styles, our answer is typically “Why not?” Below you’ll find a brief overview of the history of Nautoscaph line over the past five years.
There were almost twenty configurations of the original Nautoscaph, including a host of different bezel materials and colours, dial details, such as stick indices, coffin-shaped indices, numbers at 3, 6, 9, 12 and various other combinations.
Of course, all our Nautoscaphs can be found here.
Nautoscaph Superautomatic Reissue
The Alsta Nautoscaph Superautomatic was first released in 1970 and was immortalised by the 1975 blockbuster movie ‘JAWS’.
Alsta is proud to announce a faithful re-edition of the watch worn by Oceanographer Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss, in the movie. The Nautoscaph Superautomatic will be limited to 1975 pieces worldwide. It is manufactured and assembled entirely in Switzerland except for the movement which is by Seiko of Japan.
The OG Jaws watch, back in action
While there are scores of features to extol about the Nautoscaph Superautomatic—unique design, burly construction, seriously deep water resistance—it’s perhaps best known as the watch Richard Dreyfuss wore in Jaws. It’s a streamlined and stylish diver in a stainless steel case, with coffin-shaped indices and sword-shaped hands. This new run is individually numbered and limited to 1975 pieces in honor of the year Jaws hit the screens.
The Superautomatic 50
For the golden anniversary of the original superautomatic, we released the Nautoscaph Superautomatic 50th Anniversary Edition, affectionately known as the Superautomatic 50. Featuring a Sellita movement and a gilt dial, this is our most technically impressive piece to date.
The Nautoscaph II & III
These were the first redesigns of the Nautoscaph line since the rebirth of Alsta. Both the II and the III are similar pieces, the main difference being the PVD coating on the Nautoscaph III.
At this point, we are not creating any new Nautoscaph II or III pieces, if you see an available model online it’s likely one of the last available pieces.
For the Nautoscaph II, we tried every option on the design table and chose this clean and contemporary configuration for the Nautoscaph II, increasing the size to a modern 40mm from 36mm. The Nautoscaph II watch case is cast from 316L grade Stainless Steel.
It’s cousin, the Nautoscaph III sees the addition of the number 9 and the modern twist of PVD-coating, also with an updated 40mm case size.
Nautoscaph IV
Our next installment in the famed Nautoscaph lineup was the IV.
While there are scores of features to extol about the Nautoscaph line — unique design, burly construction, seriously deep water resistance—it’s best represented by the Superautomatic as the watch Richard Dreyfuss wore in Jaws. Much like the Superautomatic, the Nautoscaph IV is a streamlined and stylish diver in stainless steel, with a black dial and coffin-shaped indices and sword-shaped hands. Upgraded with modern-day materials like sapphire glass and a PVD-coated bezel, we brought this time-honored classic to the modern man’s wrist in style.
In addition to the standard black and stainless Nautoscaph IV. We additionally released the Great White, the Blue Shark, the Tropic and the Coral.
Nautoscaph V
Due to the great response of the Nautoscaph IV, we decided to create the Nautoscaph V. The V will come in two styles, the Anacapri in blue and the Porcelana in chocolate brown. These striking pieces are equally as elegant as they are functional.
Both models feature handmade Italian leather straps with Alsta signed bronze buckle, a new design entirely for this line.
Stay tuned.
