More than 200 years after the story began, one of the great names in British diving is returning to the wrist.
Can a great watch name be reborn? The watch industry has shown that it can.
There was a time when Panerai was known mainly to enthusiasts. Its association with military diving was already part of its history, but the name was far from becoming the internationally recognised watch brand it is today.
Then a new generation discovered its diving heritage, distinctive design and sense of purpose. Specialist equipment became something collectors around the world wanted to own.
It is a powerful example of how history can be brought to life again in a way that feels relevant. And it raises a question that has occupied Danielle and me for several years: could Siebe Gorman have a new chapter too?
A Name That Helped Write the History of Diving
Long before the modern dive watch existed, the Siebe name was associated with people actually going underwater.
The story reaches back more than two centuries to Augustus Siebe and a remarkable era of British engineering and invention. Siebe Gorman would become one of the most important names in diving equipment, from the classic diving helmet and breathing apparatus to Henry Fleuss’s pioneering work and the Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus.
This was equipment created not as a lifestyle accessory, but because people’s lives depended on it.
That distinction matters to us.
We are not manufacturing a heritage story.
The story is already there. Our responsibility is to treat it with respect.
200 Years Later
Perhaps the most moving part of this project has been seeing Siebe Gorman appear on the dial of a professional diving watch, more than two centuries after Augustus Siebe began his work in London.
We don’t take that lightly. The Type-D has taken years to reach this point because we wanted to create something worthy of the name. We didn’t want to reproduce a watch from the past; that would have missed the point.
The great Siebe Gorman engineers were innovators, solving problems for people entering an environment in which human beings simply aren’t designed to survive.
So our question became: If Siebe Gorman were creating a diving watch for today, what should it be?
The Type-D
Our answer is the Siebe Gorman Type D: a modern, British-designed professional diving watch with 300 metres of water resistance.
It features a 41mm 316L stainless-steel case, an automatic Miyota 9039 movement, sapphire crystal, a helium escape valve, a ceramic 120-click diving bezel, Swiss Super-LumiNova, a custom anti-magnetic movement holder and a purpose-designed bracelet with on-the-fly adjustment.
The specifications are serious. But we wanted something else as well. Character.
We have spent much of our working lives around diving and professional tool watches. One thing we have learned is that technical capability does not have to mean anonymity.
A professional watch can be tough, functional and beautiful.
Danielle’s work with colour and detail has therefore been as important as the technical specification. The Type-D is not intended to disappear on your wrist.
It is intended to become your watch.
Could Siebe Gorman become coveted again? We hope so. That may sound ambitious, but why shouldn’t we have that ambition? We find Panerai’s story inspiring - not because we imagine competing with a major international luxury watch house, but because it demonstrates what can happen when enthusiasts rediscover a remarkable diving history.
A powerful story can make a name desirable again.
We would love to see something similar happen with Siebe Gorman.
Perhaps one day somebody will see an early Type-D on another collector’s wrist and say:
“I’ve been trying to find one of those.”
That is a wonderful thought. But collectability cannot be manufactured. It has to be earned. And that means getting the watch right. A famous name and a great story are not enough. The product carrying that name has to deserve it.
That is why we have spent so much time on the Type-D: its proportions, bezel action, bracelet, dial colours, hands, lume, finishing, packaging and even the way it feels when you first pick it up.
There have been prototypes, changes, frustrations and delays. There have also been moments when Danielle and I have looked at the finished watch and thought: This is exactly what we hoped it could be.
Heritage without the heritage price
We don’t believe rediscovering an important historic name should make it inaccessible.
The modern watch industry has become extraordinarily expensive. We love luxury watches, but we also believe there is room for something else:
Exceptional design. Serious specifications. Limited production. Fascinating history. And a fair price. That is at the heart of what we want Siebe Gorman to become.
Someone might buy a Type-D for its history, another for its engineering and another simply because they love the dial. Perhaps it will connect with someone who has never previously considered spending serious money on a watch.
That is more exciting to us than creating something deliberately exclusive through price alone.
A New Chapter
We can’t recreate the past, nor should we try.
We can acknowledge it, learn from it and create something worthy of carrying its name into the future.
More than 200 years after the story began, Siebe Gorman is returning to the world of professional diving equipment in a new form.
The first chapter belongs to Augustus Siebe, Henry Fleuss, Robert Davis and the engineers, divers and adventurers who made the name part of diving history.
We are beginning another.
Where it goes will ultimately be decided by the people who choose to wear these watches. Perhaps, decades from now, these first Type-D watches will be coveted by another generation of collectors.
We would love that. But today our ambition is simpler: To respect the past. To create something new. To make it attainable. And, above all, to create a diving watch worthy of the name Siebe Gorman.
SIEBE GORMAN TYPE-D. SUB AQUA VITA