Magrette Moana Pacific Diver II (10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY Limited Edition)

Welcome to the return of It's All About Watches (or at least the blog portion of the site). Magrette's 10th anniversary is upon us and to celebrate they have decided to release a number of watches to celebrate: a new Moana Pacific Professional Kara (limited to 1010 pieces), two special versions of  their Leoncino (limited to 505 pieces for each version or 1010 in total), and finally the watch featured in this post (which has 4 variations of 500 pieces each). The variations of the new Moana Pacific Diver II are:

1. 44mm w/ yellow bezel
2. 44mm w/ white bezel
3. 42mm w/ yellow bezel
4. 42mm w/ white bezel

Each version has a preorder deposit of $200, with another $420 (ayy) due in January prior to delivery ($385 for the watch, $35 for shipping). At first, I thought it said white dial, but alas the different colors only refers to the text on the bezel. Honestly, I think the watch has potential to look damn good with a white dial (I got bored and made a 3-minute photoshop of what a white dial would look like), which I put below. 

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The white dial version doesn't exist, to my dismay

Maybe it's just my current preference for white dials talking, but that looks sweet IMHO. The difference between versions is actually quite subtle, it's all about how much color a person is looking for. Honestly, I don't think the yellow quite fits with the watch (it appears out of place and too vibrant). I would've preferred to see an engraved bezel like the one seen on some on some of their other watches (the Taniwha is one of the better examples). Although pricey and (I assume) difficult to implement, it'd be interesting to see on a 10-year anniversary watch. The difference between the two bezel colors is also visible at night (as you can see in the image below). Although quite subtle, the difference is still there. ​The watch is powered by the Caliber STP1-11, an automatic movement running at 28,800BPH. Until now, I'd never heard of the Swiss Technology Production, the company who makes the movement. If you're in the same boat as I was, the company is owned by Fossil (who owns Arnold & Son, among others). The movement appears to be essentially identical to the ETA 2824-2 and indeed it is mean to be a replacement as ETA chooses to stop supplying movements to the rest of the industry. ​

​From what I read, it appears to be of similar or better quality when it comes out the factory (at least materials-wise). I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough to speak on how it performs compared to the ETA. It doesn't appear to be an exact clone (though it is remarkably similar). Just comparing the STP1-11's technical drawings to the Seagull ST2130's (a 2824-2 clone) the former is .12mm thinner, for example. The differences are, but since ETA doesn't publish their technical drawings I can't say for certain one way or another. 


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​The Moana Pacific Diver II is currently available for preorder on Magrette's website. 

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