I recently had the privilege of conducting an email interview with one of my favorite watch industry icons: owner and founder of Bathys Watch Company, John Patterson. In 2005, John Patterson created Bathys, a small watch company based out of Hawaii. Bathys started out small with very limited models, but has expanded so rapidly in the past two years that in 2007, they were invited to Baselworld (one of the biggest watch industry shows on the planet). In less than two years, Bathys Watch Company has gone from a single quartz model to three separate lines of automatic watches.

Bathys specialize in a very unique line of super tough dive watches: The 100 Fathom, The AquaCulture, and The Benthic. Bathys designs and creates watches with a rare passion for quality, ease of use, legibility, and customer satisfaction. They are a wholly cool company that brings a young fervor to the ancient watch industry.

The following is an email interview with the owner and founder of Bathys Watch Company, John Patterson.

View the Casio Pathfinder PAW1300-3V picture gallery.

When I reviewed the Casio Pathfinder PAW1200 about a year ago, I referred to it as "one of the most advanced digital timepieces in the world". Of course, it is also one of the biggest. The new PAW1300 takes all the same features and technology of the PAW1200, and fits it into a significantly slimmer package.

How much smaller is the PAW1300 compared to the PAW1200? The PAW1200, weighing in at 83 grams, is 64mm long, 48.9mm wide, and 14.4mm thick. The PAW1300 is a comparatively diminutive 60 grams, and 56.9mm long, 47.4mm wide, and only 11.5mm thick. Yes, we're only talking millimeters here, but with respect to something as small as a watch, every millimeter counts. To have taken almost a full 3mm off the thickness is really very significant.

I don't want to spend a lot of time going over the features of the Pathfinder PAW1300 since I've gone over them in detail in the review of the PAW1200. Rather, I'd like to defer to Watch Report reader Sam Tannous who related his experiences with the new PAW1300 in this email:

We don't usually talk about high-end dress watches, and even more rarely about custom-made mechanical pieces, so this article is a bit of an experiment for us. But RGM -- both the company and the watches -- is too unique not have some mention on Watch Report.

As amazing as it might sound, America used to be the preeminent watch maker in the world in the pre World War II timeframe. Brands like Hamilton, Elgin, Gruen, Benrus, and Illinois led the way in automated production and railroad-grade watches, producing high-quality timepieces at a broad range of prices. Their decline can mainly be attributed to the quartz revolution of the 1960s.

I'm explaining a bit of history to give you some idea of how unusual RGM is. Roland G Murphy, based in Lancaster PA, makes and sells high-end and custom mechanical watches for prices that are a lot less than the Swiss marques. Moreover, many of his creations are available with vintage American movements such as the Hamilton 921, making for a beautiful watch that is truly American made.

His company is called RGM (his initials), and is known for impeccable hand craftsmanship and the use of unusual techniques like rose-engine guilloché (an interwoven, ornamental pattern). As a small company, you can actually talk to Roland himself, which is not exactly an option with most watch companies. RGM also specializes in one-off custom pieces, so you can call up and get exactly the watch you've always wanted. That's not to say it'll be cheap, of course. From the RGM history page:

Bell & Ross came to the market in 1992 determined to offer high quality Swiss timepieces to professionals in extreme working environments (see Bell & Ross: Watches for Professionals). Now with the instantly recognizable square design of the Instrument collection (the cases literally look like gauges lifted directly off of fighter jets or submarines), Bell & Ross may have found the individuality it needs to keep competing with better known and long-established brands. Bell & Ross continues to push forward with a Breitling-like passion for professional timepieces, and a combination of avant-garde style and Swiss watch making tradition.

All the watches in the Bell & Ross Instrument collection have automatic ETA movements, anti-reflective sapphire crystals, luminescent hands and markers, and are water-resistant to 100 meters (about 330 feet). There are 11 different models available with the following complications:

• No date.
• Small date.
• Big date.
• Chronograph.
• Power reserve.

Across these five basic versions, you can get all kinds of variations, including:

• Stainless steel, black carbon finished steel, pink gold, or titanium cases.
• Leather, canvas, rubber, or alligator straps.
• Limited edition orange or blue accents (blue version pictured here).
• Diamond encrusted with mother-of-pearl dials.

The Instrument Collection has become the symbol of the company's brand image, and will likely be their calling card for many years to come. While Bell & Ross may want you to believe that their Instrument collection is for serious professionals, I believe that these watches will be very intriguing to the enthusiast who appreciates style and passion over brand and history. The cornerstone of this business is quality and character -- something that Bell & Ross seems to have come to understand very well.

By James Stacey