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A Month on the Wrist: Squale Sub-39 Black Arabic
I’ve had a nice month with both, and have come out of it with some opinions and wishes, though perhaps not what you’d expect.
Jun 24, 2024
I’ve had the lucky opportunity to wear Squale’s Sub-39 Black Arabic for a month now, on loan from Gnomon Watches. This is a first for me in many ways. This is my first loaned watch for review, a big deal for me and leap of faith on the part of Gnomon (thank you Samuel and Anders). This is also my first hands-on experience with Squale and the common — but not mediocre — Sellita SW200 caliber, uncommon in my own limited collection. I’ve had a nice month with both, and have come out of it with some opinions and wishes, though perhaps not what you’d expect.
Initial Feelings
First impressions account for a lot in how a relationship develops. Upon opening the package from Gnomon Watches, expertly packed and rapidly shipped to the U.S., my first reaction was surprise. I had before me not the Sub-39 SuperBlue, as I had thought I was being sent, but the Black Arabic. Upon quick confirmation with Samuel, I learned the team had thought perhaps the Black Arabic would be a better model for me to wear and review. Whether intentional or not, this mixup in expectation set me up with having little to no pre-concieved notion about what I was getting until it was already in my hands. I might have been slightly dissappointment, as I do love dauphine hands as the SuperBlue employs and rarely wear black (which the Black Arabic is very much so).
Whatever shock and/or disappointment I might’ve initially felt was quickly offset by the beautiful lines of Squale’s Sub-39 case and some of the more subtle design notes present on the Black Arabic that I came to know over the month in my possession. Beyond my feelings or opinions about specific models, I was nonetheless very pleased to be wearing a watch from a brand with such a sterling pedigree in horology. Squale has been at it for a while, and had quietly (and perhaps not so quietly) been chugging along behind, alongside, and sometimes in front of other brands more prominent in the popular psyche.
A Short History of Squale
There’s no need, or room, to go into all of Squale’s short yet colorful history as case-maker for other brands such as Blancpain, Sinn, Doxa, etc. and as watchmaker in their own right. What should be acknowledged, however, is that Squale has often been part of the nuts and bolts of many historically relevant dive watches from bigger names.
Squale has been dive watch focused all the way, from the company’s inception in 1946. At first, cases and components were supplied to other watch brands looking to develop further into dive-watch territory. Meanwhile, squale was supplying their own purpose built dive-watches directly to divers and dive shops. Eventually, in 1974 Squale released their watches into the general watch market under their own name. But the work of establishing themselves as quality dive watch or case manufacturer had already been done. Squale, either by their own name or as case used by other watch brand, has accompanied many of the greats of the diving world and many of the “firsts” in underwater records established by said greats. In short, Squale, while never a name-brand among the office divers, has always been a cult favorite among those that “know”: those that dive.
Today, thier spread of watches present a succinct curation of the case designs that made history and made their bread and butter. Perhaps anachronistic at first glance, certainly encompassing “retro” designs, don’t be fooled. They are every bit as genuine Squale as they were when first released through the decades, slight changes and water resistance increases aside. Thier specs can still keep up with any other “modern” dive watches, and at a price point not inflated by luxury marketing and popular opinion accompanied by scarcity. These are very much tools. They also happen to have beautiful lines and design cues of yesteryear.
The Sub-39’s Evolution
Squale’s Sub-39 line of watches are a re-interpretation of one of their earliest dive cases made especially popular by one of the earliest Blancpain divers, but also released under Squale’s own name. They’ve been up-sized from the original 36mm to the modern 41mm in diamteter (with bezel, 39 without), and water resistance has been increased from the — at the time — impressive 50 fathoms, or almost 100 meters, to the superfluous but welcome 300 meters. Mineral glass and tritium have been upgraded to double-domed sapphire and SuperLuminova, respectively. Elements like the thin coin-edge bezel and sweeping curve from lugs through midcase have remained untouched, retaining the essence of the classic watch in modern form.
One thing that has very noticeably changed from the originals is the crown. Whereas the predecessors were equipped with a standard knotched cylinder ubiquitous with dive watches, the modern iteration has a much more flamboyant conical crown. Typical for early pilots watches along with with large onion crown, it contributes to the retro feel of the Sub-39. Yet however pretty it may be (and it is), it detracts from the practical use- and abuse-ability of the Sub-39s. I have conflicting feelings about it for precisely this reason.
Design Features of the Black Arabic
Crown aside, the Sub-39 Black Arabic is one of the closest recreations of a classic Squale has released. The Squale Black Arabic was a very real watch from the 1960s, and previous changes mentioned along with a few other subtle shifts have done nothing to detract from one’s ability to recognize the original in the present model. The orange and white sword hands are still there, gracefully elongated with the increase in size. The minimal black bakelight bezel has been upgraded to a visually identical glass insert. Really the biggest change from the original is in type-face and layout.
The Arabic numerals of the hours — the watch’s namesake — depart from the angular blocky originals towards more curves, arguably contributing to the increase in gracefulness assisted by the longer minute and hour hands. Where the Squale shark name and logo were the only indications of brand on the original, the Sub-39 version prints Squale twice, above with the aditional Von Buren ensginia along with the original branding in alomost the original placement below. The block text of water resistance is replaced with the elegant script of “30 Atmos” between the “Squale”s. The date window thankfully seems untouched, though further from the edge of the dial with the increase in case diameter.
From a design standpoint, the watch works. All of the elements come together to create an elegant piece with graceful lines. However, it is a significant departure from the original Black Arabic of the 1960’s, a stubby, compact exercise in minimalist readability. Within the confines of using the Sub-39’s case and conical crown, I would’ve appreciated a closer attempt at reproduction in dial layout and the Arabic numerals, arguably the most important element of the watch, being Squale’s only of the sort.
Personal Experience
Nitpicking departures from the original design isn’t an academic exercise for me, at least not entirely. I’d posit that I’m not a typical watch writer, in that I straddle careers between this and the very physical work of tree worker. That involves technical climbing up to hieghts of 60 meters (200 ft.), operation of powerful machinery like chainsaws and wood chippers, and general abuse to body, hands, and the eqpuiment on my person from cutting, hauling and chipping up to thousands of pounds of woody material in a work day. Upon loan of the Squale Sub-39 Black Arabic from Gnomon Watches, I asked if it was okay if the watch accompanied me to my other work and the rigors it involved. I was given the green light, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was not convinced it would survive regularly coming to work with me, with the dings and bangs it would be subjected to.
The one element that prevented its ability to be worn as a full tool watch is the crown. The crown is beautiful, and I think it makes for a beautiful watch combined with the sweeping Sub-39 case. But the conical nature of it makes it ripe for catching on all manner of branches and hard metal surfaces, in my line of work at least. So it worked out that this was a watch I wore in evening after cleaning up and on the weekends, where unfortunately the divers bezel served me the least.
I would have benefitted from a closer rendition to the original Black Arabic with smaller crown, smaller case, and greater legibility at a glance with stubbier hands and blockier numerals. I understand that Squale was working within the confines of it’s current production lines, but a different crown at least would’ve truly set the Black Arabic apart from the rest as something special, and something I could’ve worn more often.
But those evenings and weekends when I did wear it revealed a beautiful piece, somewhat incredible at the price point of $1,140. It’s elegance is subtle, and more is revealed over time. The anti-reflective coating on the sapphire adds a slight blue tint over the matte black dial in any light other than direct sunlight. This creates an almost two-tone effect with the completely black bezel, and made me more comfortable wearing the black watch with the earth-tones that populate most of my wardrobe. That coupled wonderfully with the double-domed bubble aspect of distorting and reflecting light, though legibility at the edges is just fine when viewed anywhere close to straight-on. (The bezel lines up perfectly with the indices too, for those wondering).
The 120-click bezel clicks with a pronounce tone to it. It’s loud to my ears, though not unkindly, and is perfect for such a loud watch, visually speaking. Because all elements come together to make a watch that looks like it should be a limited edition. But this is par for the course for Squale, where every one of their watches has the presence of a limited edition. They were able to achieve the same effect with this number, though with none of the bright colors of their other watches, aside from the orange minute hand.
The strap was my only real qualm with the watch. It’s tapered and matte-black with an elegant Von Buren branded tang buckle that compliments the rest of the black of the watch nicely. However, it is proudly stamped “Microfibra, Made in Italy” on the interior. I am not a fan of synthetic materials, if they can be avoided. The strap wore stiff the entire time I had it, and the tang holes started so far along the strap that I alternated between the first and second with my 6.5 inch (17 cm) wrist. That said, Gnomon does offer a wide selection of strap choices when purchasing the watch, quality leather included, which should help anyone else hoping to avoid microfiber.
The Sellita SW200 Inside
The Sellita SW200 is a tried and true workhorse movement, perfect for the Black Arabic. Its 4 Hz rate and 38 hour power reserve place it firmly within standard fare for a quality watch movement. Squale uses the “Elaboré” grade in this case, but you wont see it through the solid caseback, which is just fine as far as I’m concerned. The unique, screw-down crown makes hand winding to start it up a pleasure. The automatic rotor can do the work just fine, though it’s quite audible, adding to the “loudness” of the watch.
Who is it for?
I understand that this watch isn’t for me. It’s a dive watch, through and through, so no saving it for special occassions as a formal piece. But its elegance is its greatest detractor as far as applicability as a tool watch (for me) is concerned. If I dove, I would be happy to wear this, as existence in the deep blue is usually insulated from the scrapes and bangs of physical activity on terra firma. It’s good looks might place it in the camp of GADA (Go Anywhere, Do Anything) for someone that desk dives during the week and relaxes on the weekeends, if they aren’t too fancy, or too rough. My personal lifestyle and tastes aside, I recognize the attractiveness, historical provenance, and high quality to price point ratio of the Squale Sub-39 Black Arabic. With some edits it could work for me, but then it would no longer be this watch, which happens to be a good watch.
