Model # Crepas Cayman 3000
Brand/Model: Crepas Cayman 3000
Movement: Swiss automatic, top
grade
Material: stainless steel case
and bracelet
Complications: none
Price: MSRP: approx. $1,030 USD plus shipping
Plenty of photos follow the review.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
I like dive
watches. I really like dive
watches. So when Crepas introduced the
Cayman 3000 in 2013, I started to look into the brand and the watch and liked
what I saw.
I wanted to apologize
in advance for the reflections in the pictures, as the domed crystal, although
it is anti-reflective coated, is a hard one to photograph and the fully
polished case doesn’t help, either. I
did my best and trust me, it’s a stunner of a watch.
Crepas is an
acronym for Compañía Relojera Especializada para Actividades Subacuaticás (Specialized Watch Company for Underwater Activities)
based in southern Spain. The company
slogan is ‘technical watches for extreme divers.’
Their watches (at
least the Cayman to the best of my knowledge) are assembled in Germany with top
grade Swiss ETA automatic movements.
While not cheap by ‘boutique’ watch standards, the company only makes
automatic dive watches in limited quantities (299 total pieces for the Cayman
3000), so quality and exclusivity are all but assured. And when you think about it, $1,000 USD for a
true 3000 meter dive watch with a Swiss engine is not by any means an unfair
price.
Crepas watches can
only be ordered through the company’s web site and you’ll probably have to wait
a bit, as they produce a certain number of pieces at a time and wait until they
have enough orders to do a production run.
I waited about two
months after my order for delivery, which was totally acceptable and the order
process was smooth. Communication via
email was satisfactory and I was incredibly impressed with the speed with which
my watch was delivered once it was shipped.
It came from Spain in about three days and I was able to track its
progress the entire way. Nice.
Crepas does not
make any watches larger than 45mm, which is still on the large side for many
people. I have thin wrists and 45mm is
my upper limit, but the Cayman fits me well.
This watch starts with a fully polished 316L all stainless steel case
measuring 43mm without the signed screwdown crown; 48mm crown inclusive. The bezel diameter is 44.5mm. It’s nice to see my measurements match up
with those shown on the Crepas web site for the Cayman.
Total thickness of
the Cayman including the 4.6mm domed sapphire crystal is 19.9mm, but remember
that includes the domed part of the crystal.
Crepas lists the case thickness without the crystal at 16.9mm. Lugs are 22mm. The overall heft of the watch is what one
would expect for a 3000 meter diver.
Despite its large
dimensions, the Cayman wears well and doesn’t feel too top-heavy, as some thick
dive watches do. Don’t be scared off by
its size, the Cayman is a wearable, usable watch.
An automatic helium
escape valve is located on the left side of the case at the 9 position.
The caseback is of
course screwed down and very robust, with the Crepas logo (a propeller)
rendered in sapphire with blue SuperLuminova.
A very unique and cool touch, albeit a bit impractical.
Overall quality and
finishing of the watch is superb, although I would prefer a partially brushed
case instead of the full polish. It
doesn’t look bad fully polished, but I always think tool watches look better a
bit more subdued. Also, some sort of
crown guard would be a nice addition.
The bezel is a
120-click unidirectional design with a sapphire coated and fully lumed black insert. Bezel action is tight with no backlash and it
rotates with a satisfying click.
The cleanliness and
functionality of the dial is part of what appealed to me about the Cayman. The dial is pure gloss black, thanks in part
to being a ceramic overlay with applied markers. The hands are simple polished and faceted
pieces with lume and the seconds hand is a simple straight piece with a lumed
arrow-style tip.
Rectangular markers
are used at each five minute mark, with the quarter hour markers larger than
the others. Small hash marks make up the
remaining minutes markers. The dial
looks superb, is easy to read and of course, the lume is superb (blue
SuperLuminova BG W9).
The Crepas logo and
name are under the 12 marker, with ‘Cayman 3000’, ‘3000 meters’ and ‘(9900 ft)’
located above the six marker. This
wording seems a bit redundant, as it would be cleaner to just have the name
‘Cayman’ without the ‘3000’, but it’s not a big deal.
The Cayman is also
highly anti-magnetic, rated at 70,000 A/m.
The gaskets for the case and crystal are Viton and Tefzel. Again, these specs speak of a quality piece.
The dial is capped
by the nifty 4.6mm domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on the
inside. No distortion or defects are
noted on the dial or crystal, it’s a flawless presentation.
The Cayman 3000 is
factory rated for an amazing 3000 meters of water resistance (300 atm) and
Crepas includes a printout of the prototype
of the Cayman having achieved a water resistance of 400 bar, which is greater
than the rated 3000 meter depth. Crepas
says each Cayman is individually tested at 250 atm so you can be assured of its
water-tightness. Why they don’t test it
to the 300 atm rating is a bit puzzling, but are you really going to go that
deep?
Inside the Cayman
beats the venerable ETA 2824-2 Swiss Made automatic movement, this one in ‘top
grade’ fashion (better finishing of the movement). Although you can’t see the nicer movement
because the caseback is not a display type, it’s good to know that Crepas
spends the extra dollars to equip the Cayman with a very high-quality
movement.
The movement hacks
and manual winds and has performed as expected.
The watch winds and sets fine and has ran at about +5/24 hours with an
acceptable 41.25 hour power reserve.
The stainless steel
bracelet that comes with the Cayman is a true ‘beads of rice’ design, with
seven individual pieces of steel on each link.
The beads of rice are polished, with the outer links being brushed, with
all links being solid along with solid end links.
The bracelet comes
with two clasps; a continuous link butterfly clasp and a standard signed foldover
stamped steel clasp with safety lock.
Both clasps have machined deployants and the foldover clasp also has a
machined diver extension.
I installed the
foldover clasp, because it has four microadjustments on it, while the butterfly
clasp has no microadjustment.
The links are held
together with a rod that has a screwhead on one end, with a small screw on the
other end, so you need to have two screwdrivers to remove the rod and therefore
the link. This method is always a bit
cumbersome, but Crepas includes a set of quality screwdrivers for this task, as
well as extra spring bars in a small vial.
The bracelet is
continuous width, measuring 22mm at the lugs and at the clasp. Crepas also includes a rather thick black
nylon NATO style two-piece strap with polished buckle. A leather strap is an option and I believe a
rubber strap is also available.
Presentation is
quite nice, with a large outer cardboard box with removable lid and an inner
black plastic box with pushbutton opening.
Crepas includes the watch, bracelet, two clasps as described above, a
black two-piece nylon strap and buckle, the extra spring bars, two precision
screwdrivers, warranty information, instruction manual, the prototype pressure
readout and a polishing cloth. No
complaints with the presentation, as it is very complete.
The Crepas Cayman
3000 represents a top quality, well engineered automatic dive watch that is
very exclusive given its small production run.
The watch looks stunning, feels great and performs as it should, with
plenty of its own style to send other wannabe divers running for cover. My introduction to Crepas by way of the
Cayman has been very favorable and I’m hoping that Crepas will continue to
produce more unique, solidly built divers for collectors and enthusiasts alike.
Pros: clean, functional look, top quality movement,
high quality throughout, great lume, nice real beads of rice bracelet
Cons: no crown guards, a bit heavy/thick/large
for some, high polish case a bit much
Verdict: a true dive watch for those who dive
and a great looking dive watch for those who don’t, the Cayman delivers it all
at a competitive price with top quality and unique looks. Well played!
Thanks for reading
and enjoy the pics.
Excelsior!
-Marc
No comments:
Post a Comment