With New Labels Only, we have had the opportunity to go around the world at the comfort of our office. But we never imagined that we would be reviewing a watch from Taiwan. Yes, Taiwan! If you are a watch lover, you know there is something inside us which tells you, “you need that watch”, even though you already has 100 watches and only one watch wearing wrist. When we saw the Havaan Tuvali Bluefin, we knew we must have it and showcase it to the world. We’ve had some stunningly designed watches at New Labels Only such as the ROUE HDS One, and the Bluefin has to be up there as well as being the perfect diver watch.

Havaan Tuvali

Before we find out a bit more about Havaan Tuvali, we have a full interview with the founder, Eric Yeh, coming soon. In our latest segment of ‘ A Moment With‘, we’ll be finding out what motivates Eric and his journey in the startup world.

So who is Havaan Tuvali?

Havaan Tuvali was started by Eric Yeh, the only person running the company. He is also the chief designer, assembler and sales person. As a child, Eric was into mechanical and would try to break down things in order to understand how they work and slowly ventured into understanding how watches work.

However the search for his first watch was not fruitful. The watches he wanted were either too expensive and the one he could afford were simply not to his taste. His first watch was an Aquanautic King Cuda but that was just because it looked ‘cool’. So he set off to create his own watch brand and this is where Havaan Tuvali was born.

The brand name, Havaan Tuvali, originates from the Taiwanese aboriginal Burun tribe language meaning “The deer’s sunset”. The ancient Burun people believed that at suns down, when the deer came out from the forest to browse for
food and water, that’s the time for the people to finish up their day of work, in some ways, it is also how they tell time.

“Our goal is to make reliable watches that their owners can proudly wear for years.”

Havaan Tuvali

Havaan Tuvali currently has 8 watches in their diver watch collection, Code Zero-6 Diver, and they also have 4 watches in their previous Squadron One collection, which is very popular among watch enthusiasts. Each timepiece created not only have the looks, but also the performance to match them, which is why only the finest materials and parts have been used to create them.

The Diver Watch Collection

BLUEFIN

MARLIN

ORCA

SNAPPER

Squadron One Collection

BLACK & BLACK

BLUE & BLUE

There are more diver watch on Havaan Tuvali and also the Squadron One watches which have been sold out!

Unboxing

BLUEFIN Diver Watch Specifications

Movement – Swiss sellita SW290-1 automatic movement

Case – Surgical grade 316L stainless steel case w/ helium escape valve

Size – 43mm diameter, 15mm thickness, 52mm lug to lug

Bezel – Unidirectional ion-plated 316L stainless steel bezel

Crystal – Double-domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal

Dial – Superluminova C3 hands and hour markers, 8 o’clock sub seconds, center temperature indicators

Strap – 22mm stainless steel bracelet / rubber strap / mm parachute strap

Water resistance – 800m / 2625ft

The Review

So let’s find out why the BLUEFIN is the perfect diver watch.

First lets start with the packaging. It is very different compare to your 4×4 box and the it came in a genuine leather watch case which was very well done. To have a better look and get a better feel of the packing, do watch the unboxing video above.

Inside, we were given three two extra straps, a rubber strap and a parachute strap. The watch itself came with a steel bracelet. Included in the leather case was the mechanical tool to help with changing the straps.

The first impression when we saw the watch was, “this is definitely a good-looking watch”. The blue dial, the brown minute marking on the bezel and the white markers combine very well to create a very captivating watch. There is not much doing on in the casing of the watch with the signed crown positioned at 2 O’clock and the helium escape valve located at 10 O’clock. Personally, we think this was actually a great idea as it keeps the aesthetic look of the watch and maintain the focus on the dial.

With our first impression done, now lets talk about the specifications of the watch. First the watch is actually quite heavy. It has to weigh more than 120g. This is definitely a good sign that the watch isn’t cheap and the materials used are not knock off pieces. Even with a case diameter of 43mm, the watch does not look to big but the width of the watch is noticeable with 15mm. The casing of the watch has been well done with the 316L stainless steel finish. The lug is quite wide to be honest at 52mm but the case diameter does help to hide it.

The ion-plated bezel with its matte finish looks great to say the least. The use of the brown marking does make sure that it does not get lost with what is going on in the dial. The bezel is uni-directional with only 60 clicks and works quite well. It is not too hard to move rotate the bezel and the action is good enough. However, a 120 click bezel would have given the rotation smoother flow and click.

The double-domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal has been well-chosen for this watch as it makes sure that dial is noticeable and clear while also making sure the other features on the dial is visible. The BLUEFIN diver watch is water-resistant up to 800m. With most diver watch water-resistant up to 300-400m, the extra 400m will do you no harm.

The movement is a Swiss sellita SW290-1, with 31 jewels, 28800 A/h at 4Hz, a 38-hour power reserve and an angle lift of balance of 50 degrees. The movement has been carefully chosen and also well-chosen by Eric who also regulates each movement. The accuracy of the movement is close to perfection and did not lag during the week it was worn.

The hands along with the sub second dial hand have superluminova for low light visibility and it is passable. Apart from the second dial on the dial, the temperature gauge is very interesting and also very useful. There are 9 handmade temperature indicators on the dial and it works between the range of 0-40 ℃ with 5℃ increments. How it works is that if the temperature is at a 5℃ increment, the 5℃ indicator will turn green. However if the temperature is 13℃, the 10℃ indicator will turn brown while the 15℃ will turn blue, to indicate that the temperature is in between.

How does it sit on the wrist?

The watch sat pretty well. Even with a width of 15mm, the thickness did cause a problem and the cushion shape case took its place quite well. As we said, it is a heavy watch and it will take some time to get use to the weight. We wore the silver bracelet throughout the whole week and it did not go out-of-place and was very secured.

How much does it cost?

The watch retails at $550/ £390/ €450. Some of you maybe thinking that this is quite pricey for a diver watch. So we asked Eric Yeh the question.

If I had £400~, why would I spend it on a Havaan Tuvali watch rather than a Tissot Visodate?

“You can buy a Tissot Visodate any day anytime, but if you spend it on a Havaan Tuvali, you’re among one of the few people who will ever own the particular model. I have no interest in making the same watch over and over, there’s no fun in that. Each year I release a new model, and in limited quantity of course, once it’s sold out, it’s out for good. People who buy Havaan Tuvali watch can be sure that they are owning a timepiece that’s uniquely theirs for years.”

So you are not just buying any diver watch, you are buying a watch made from the highest quality materials, a watch which will never be released again and a watch which will last for years.

So that was the review of Havaan Tuvali BLUEFIN diver watch. If you want to find out more about Havaan Tuvali and their watch collection, do visit http://www.havaantuvali.com/ for more detail. We would love to know what you think about the BLUEFIN, do let us know in the comment below!

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