Jacques Bianchi Introduces the JB200 Aquastrike Collection
I don’t know this for a fact, but I imagine it’s a real challenge to be a brand focused on dive watches in 2025. The dive watch is ubiquitous, and transcends the sport of diving. It’s become a shorthand for “sports watch” or “everyday watch” among many (but certainly not all) people who consume watches. And they are so simple, by design. The whole point of them is to be incredibly legible, reliable, and easy to use. Over decades, that’s translated to certain design codes that are just standard across the genre. Big lume filled hour markers, an easy to grip bezel, a robust and sporty case. Once you incorporate these necessities, it’s got to be tough to find ways to insert creativity and brand identity into a finished product. And then, of course, there’s the simple fact that many dive watch customers don’t even want brand identity or creativity in their dive watch, hence the enormous archive or articles on this very site and many others that seek to highlight innumerable watches that all kind of look alike.
This is all a big windup to say that Jacques Bianchi has figured out a way to put their own unique spin on the genre with every release. Their watches have a playfulness and romanticism to them that feels very much their own, whether it’s a fully lumed dial (which, OK, is common enough) or a SCUBA diver motif, there’s a sense of whimsy to their releases that is hard to ignore. Their latest collection, a reintroduction of the JB200 Aquastrike, is actually fairly straightforward by Jacques Bianchi standards, but leans heavily into bold colors inspired by the Mediterranean.
The Aquastrike’s origins date back to the original JB200 model issued by the French Navy to divers in the 1980s. The new watches retain a classic dive watch silhoutte but the colors are thoroughly modern. At launch, the Aquastrike offers a choice between colors Jacques Bianchi refers to as Cerulean Blue, Orpiment Yellow, Coral Orange and Pure Green.
When we think of watches inspired by the sea, our minds usually go right to blue. Obviously, we have a really nice looking blue dial represented here, but Jacques Bianchi finds inspiration for this collection in a variety of ways. For example, the yellow dial is said to be inspired by maritime navigation markers. The orange dial is a modern and more contemporary take on classic orange divers prized for their instant legibility (Jacques Bianchi calls it a “deeper, more even” shade of orange).
Let’s address the elephant in the room: if you’re a dive watch enthusiast, it’s likely impossible to look at these watches without thinking about Doxa divers that are available in a similar variety of bright colorways. It’s a fair critique, if you want to make it, that Jacques Bianchi is dipping their toes into Doxa’s pool a little bit here. It’s also obvious that no single brand “owns” colorful dive watches, these particular watches from Jacques Bianchi don’t really share any other similarities to the far more niche Doxa collections. These are rather straightforward 42mm divers in satin finished stainless steel cases, running on a Soprod P024 automatic movement.
The new Aquastrike collection launches today at a retail price of €825 (with VAT excluded). The order window for these watches will last three weeks, according to Jacques Bianchi. Delivery is expected in July. Jacques Bianchi
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