The Aquascaphe has been a staple in Baltic’s lineup since 2018, when they introduced their first vintage inspired diver to quite a bit of fanfare. This was still the early days of the vintage inspired, microbrand boom, and Baltic had a front row seat to the incredible growth in the enthusiast watch community that would occur over the next several years. There have been a variety of Aquascaphes released in the interim (a variety of dial configurations, a GMT version, a titanium release, and so forth) but the new watch announced today is specifically being pitched as a “MK 2” release, or a new generation for the venerable vintage inspired diver. Iterating, much less innovating, on a watch like this is tricky business. The whole premise of vintage inspired designs is that they kind of got things right 50-70 years ago. But Baltic, as always, has made a handful of subtle updates that move the lineup forward in predictable but satisfying ways.
The headline here is that all four dial variants (the colors are Blue, Green, Warm Silver and Grey) that are part of this release will be available in two case sizes, 39.5mm and 37mm. This is really smart on Baltic’s part. The original Aquascaphe released all those years ago came in at 39mm, so here we have one in essentially the same size, along with one that’s a little smaller and playing into the current trend of true vintage inspired case sizes. You can see the difference in case sizes in our photos – the green is 37mm and the silver is 39mm. It’s not unreasonable to think that Baltic might have seen the introduction and welcome reception of watches like the Black Bay 54 in recent years and realized that they had an opportunity to lean further into the aesthetic that has always defined them. Also, as we’re fond of saying around here, more options are always a good thing. Giving your customers case size choices (and not prohibiting them from certain dial colors based on case size) is always a good idea.
Baltic says that all components have been upgraded for this release, and the package certainly reflects a brand that has matured quite a bit over the years. The dials, in particular, look great, and the grey and warm silver have been given a subtle texture while the blue and green dials have a glossy finish. The case is also finished to a higher degree – we’ve certainly noticed Baltic’s recent releases have generally improved the finishing across the board, so it’s nice to see them bring that to their flagship dive watch.
All of the new Aquascaphes run on a Miytoa 9039 automatic movement with 42 hours of power reserve. The bezel is unidirectional and 120 clicks, and the crystal is sapphire and double domed. Both case sizes have a case height of 12.9mm (crystal included) with a lug to lug span of 47mm on the larger watch, 45mm on the smaller one. They still have 200 meters of water resistance, and can be purchased on a rubber strap, a beads of rice bracelet, or a flat link bracelet.
All of the new Aquascaphe MK2 watches will be available to purchase on September 25. Pricing starts at around $740 after currency conversion, and deliveries are expected to begin in early October. More information can be found on the Baltic website here.
Zach Kazan
2025-09-22 16:00:00