Desta Skin Diver Automatic, late 1960s

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

Why We Love It There is no doubt that diving watches hold a special place in the hearts of many collectors, ourselves included. In fact, Analog:Shift was founded with its eyes set on vintage divers. So many interesting watch brands have been lost to time. From the well-known to the completely unrecognizable, any number of Swiss brands failed to survive the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s, folding completely and disappearing or being rolled up into conglomerates that pillaged their stores of parts. Desta is one such brand. Frankly, we couldn't find out much about them - other than that the name Desta was a French market brand name for Tressa , and that they primarily existed in the 60s. We imagine they were what we would call a "boutique brand" in the watch world today. What we DO know is that this watch - a stainless steel diver dating from the late 1960s is just plain cool. Featuring a 38mm stainless steel case with a domed acrylic crystal, an automatic-winding movement, and a near flawless matte black dial with a rich patina across its luminous elements. Additionally, this watch has a framed date window, a bi-directional dive timing bezel, and a printed SCUBA diver at the 6:00 position on the dial - totally awesome! Skin divers such as this one are fun and wonderful timepieces, and there's no telling if and when one of these in this condition will surface again, so don't wait!