You don’t need to spend Rolex money to get a reliable dive watch. Seiko has been making excellent dive watches for decades at a fraction of the cost. If Phoibos was not a good company or not as water resistant as they claim they wouldn’t enjoy the great reputation they have currently. They have some watches with fairly serious water resistant ratings. If they were bogus someone would have discovered it by now with something as simple as a watch water pressure tester.

Micro brand watches can and often do punch way above their price tag. Maranez for example makes a Doxa Sub 300T homage that surprises even the most hard core Doxa fans because of the quality of its build. When you tear into one it is shocking how well made the watches are for their price tag. It is possible to make a $300-400 diver and still have the water resistance and build quality of a $2000+ diver from a more prestigious brand name.

I have been on the waiting list for a while for a Helm Komodo with a white face, but after hearing the positive reviews about the Phoibos Wave master I may give up the wait and order one of them. They are nice looking watches.

shoevb, I wouldn’t cancel your order with Helm. Those watches are just superb. Matt (Helm’s founder is a former North Carolinian who is a class act and a joy to interact with. When I emailed him recently about replacing a lost Vanuatu bracket he responded the next day with a very helpful email. Helm watches are a legit ISO 6425 certified diving watch. For the money I don’t think Phoibos is better it’s just a lot more accessible.

Yeah, I get that it takes forever and that sucks. That get on a list mess is why I have a bit of disdain for Rolex. I waited a year for my Vanuatu but it was 100% worth the wait. I got lucky and won the lottery Helm occasionally holds so I only had to wait an additional 6 months for my Komodo. It is AWESOME! The smaller case of the Komodo is in my opinion the perfect size for a watch.

Phoibos does make very good automatic mechanical divers. Just like Helm they use regulated (fine tuned) NH35A Seiko auto movements so the accuracy should be +/- 10 seconds or better every 24 hours. There is a lot of variation with the NH35A it could be a really good one keeping +/- 1 second a day or it could be as fast to as slow as 15 seconds a day. Just like with Seiko’s own divers the accuracy can be a bit of a lottery but in my experience Phoibos watches perform better than Seiko’s Prospex line of automatic divers that retail for $150-300 more than a Phoibos.

My two Helm watches are ever so slightly more accurate than my Phoibos with my Vanuatu at +5-6 seconds a day and my Komodo is right now consistently keeping +1 seconds a day. That’s an incredible level of performance for a sub $400 watch.

Phoibos builds sturdy watches with more emphasis on being creative with aesthetic design and tend to crank out MANY more offerings than Helm. Helm aims for one new watch a year and really puts a lot of thought into building the best watch they can.

Helm took #1 & #2 on this website as the best ISO certified diver.
Top ten ISO 6425 rated dive watches

Stick, Thanks for all the info on Helm. I’ve been on the wait list for quite sometime and recently broached sub-1000.

Your info helps justify the wait.

Thanks for the info Stickman. I think I'll be patient and wait for my number to come up for a Helm. You echo everything good I have heard about them and I know I will really appreciate the Komodo when I finally get one.

Every time I think I’ve amassed enough watches I’ll be damned if Phoibos doesn’t find a way to pull me back in.

The new Apollo line will ship around September 10th.

These have a Miyota 9015 automatic mechanical movement with a nice smooth second hand sweep that is superior to the Seiko NH35A thanks to its higher beat rate. The Miyota is really Japan’s answer to the Swiss ETA2824-2 with its high beat rate, robust construction and exquisite accuracy.

I resisted the first run of Apollo watches but newest version of their Apollo Titanium watch is SWEEEEEEEET. Thin titanium case with a gorgeous bracelet. Im a sucker for cool hands, neat dials and hours on the chapter ring. The hand sort of looks like the lunar module. These watches were inspired by the Apollo mission. The carbon camo dials are unique but that sandy silver dial is perfect. The black and white chapter ring is unique.

I thought I was done buying watches, other than an uber expensive Sinn Chronograph and an Omega Seamaster Chronograph my collection is more or less complete. More watches have gone out than come in lately. B

Phoibos is running a nice early bird special right now (coupon code : APOLLO3A) with $145 off from Aug 1st-20th then the discount drops to $105 from Aug 21-September 10th. (coupon code: APOLLO3B).

That is a looker