Nauticfish Thusunt | Hands on Watch Review

Nauticfish Thusunt

As I have said many times before, In the world of watches, the competition is fierce. You may have not heard of Nauticfish if you are newer to the watch world, but they have been around for at least 10 years. They are brand that honestly had dropped off my radar for a bit, until I saw them posting about this new model on social media. The new model is the Nauticfish Thusunt (Thousand) and while it has great specs and is obviously a dive watch, I feel the design itself may have been a little safe. It reminds me of a Deep Blue and a Benarus Moray. That is not necessarily a bad thing either, both of those brands make attractive watches. The Thusunt is not exactly cheap though either, coming in around $900, as it houses an ETA 2824 automatic movement. So, is it worth the price, or more specifically, will you think it is worth the price. Keep reading for the full details.

Nauticfish Thusunt Specifications:

• 43mm Case Width
• 48mm Lug to Lug
• 16mm Thick
• 22mm Lug Width
• Domed Sapphire Crystal
• 1000 Meters Water Resistant
• Leather, Rubber, or Steel Bracelet Options

Price $938 USD

http://www.nauticfish.com/asp/home/index.asp?Programm=211&Suchen=&Data_Art=0&Data_Typ=0&Data_Material=0&Data_Werk=0&Data_Zustand=0&Data_Sort=1&Data_Sortwie=&data_Hersteller=873&data_modell=0&OK=Search+now

The aesthetics of the Nauticfish Thusunt are pleasing, even if familiar. The markers and hands are easy to see, the bezel ratchets nicely and the crown is nicely protected by machined crown guards. I do feel the screws on the bezel were not necessary. They do not add any function and I’m not sure they add anything in the looks department either. The white hour and minute hand look like they have tritium lume applied to them, but it is just the way the lume paint was applied, no tritium on this watch. The second hand is not lumed either, but more on that in a bit. True to the all “tool” watch diver look, the case is all satin brushed and I will say it is all uniform and even, the whole watch feels very well put together and finished.

Something I am sure some out there are sick of me saying is that the HRV or Helium Release Valve is not needed and watch companies should stop putting them on the watch. I have gone in-depth on this subject before, so if you are not familiar with why it is completely unnecessary, I ask you to google it and you should find the info easily. I will say even though I find the HRV to be overkill, at least on this Nauticfish Thusunt they decided to give it a black PVD coating that I think kinda looks cool, at least better than what it normally looks like. On the other hand people may start asking why you have a button on the side of your watch and what does it do. If they do that, tell them it ruins the credit of people that ask silly questions. They will probably get the point quick.

The profile of the bezel and the case itself have that rugged diver look about it and the bezel is easy to grasp and turn, as it should be. Being 1000 meters water resistant that does make the case back thicker than say something 200 meters water resistant, but the back is not domed so you don’t get that bubble back type of deal where it raises up on your wrist a bit. Even though the Nauticfish Thusunt is 43mm in width, the case back and the domed crystal give it an overall much chunkier appearance than it really is, but some people are going to love that.

Beating away inside the Nauticfish 2824, one of the most popular movements put in automatic watches over the past 20 years. It is for a reason of course, it has been proven to be reliable, accurate and has a nice smooth sweep because of its high beat rate. Of course, it still is a standard base Swiss Automatic that gets the job done. Fortunately Nauticfish went with a solid case back and didn’t try to show off the movement just for the sake of showing off the movement. There is nothing to see anyways, it is rather plain looking.

I love leather and I do not really mind it on dive watches, but I do admit it is rather odd to ship a dive watch mounted on a leather strap. Nauticfish does include a silicone rubber in the box as well, and I love the leather strap they used, it is phenomal and feels great against the wrist. I think many would agree though that a bracelet or a really great custom natural rubber strap would have been nice at this price point. If you do not actually plan to take it into the water at all though,    the leather really is great.

The one thing I really did not mention yet is the gradient dial. I will be honest, I first I was not sure if the watch had a gradient dial or not. I might still not be. It is not easy to photograph because of the domed sapphire and the way the light hits it, and I really thought at first it was just a shadow effect. Looking closer though, you can see that it gets lighter towards the middle of the dial, gradually, and offers something other than a solid color dial. It is not a very vibrant gradient dial though, but after all, this is supposed to me more of a tool watch and not blingy. I think the wrist shot above shows it off the best.

The one major flaw of the Nauticfish Thusunt is the lume, or lack thereof. I have always stated I do not consider myself a lume junkie and being real, most of the time at night my phone is right there with me or I’m in the car and the time is right there etc. I have stated many times though, If you are going to apply lume to a watch, especially a dive watch, it should be good and last long. The pic below was after 45 seconds of exposure to light and it is the best it will look. While it may seem okay in this pic, check out the Youtube video above to see how quickly it starts to fade.

What’s the consensus here on the Nauticfish Thusunt? Well, I will say that the build quality and overall presentation is great and it does wear comfortable on the wrist, which is important. The lume is lacking and I would have liked if a bracelet were part of the package, as at this price point I think they are somewhat on the high side. Granted, every business is different and pricing is different to justify their costs. I don’t think everyone needs to compete with the $300 Kickstarter brands but at $700 I think there would be a bigger audience for these. Ultimately the decision is up to you, so what do you think? Leave your comments down below.

Edit* A bracelet option is offered for another $130 added to the cost, but it is not a nice beefy link bracelet with a great dive clasp, rather it is a somewhat generic looking mesh bracelet.