World Première of the H.Dessault STARK watch. The new product by the French company part of C4 Carbon family is another step towards the widening and completeness of the offer. The main strengths? Big numbers on the screen (a big thanks by all the over ’40s!), great battery life, strong and resistant materials and user friendly menu. Thought for spearfishing, but also freediving, the HD Stark dive watch includes in fact some settings for pool swimming and freediving. The price? 219 Euros!
Design and materials
Reinforced shockproof thermoplastic
The HD Stark dive watch has a nice design, even though it utilizes reinforced shockproof thermoplastic material components and not steel ones. In fact, the bezel is made with a rough surface, which gives the Stark a more refined look. The watch screen is made with a mineral glass.
Menu with four buttons
The menu is selected utilizing the traditional four buttons. On the HD Stark dive watch these are orange, made of thermoplastic and are of good dimensions for an easy use. The bezel helps identify the selectable menu for each button, as the the words START, RESET, MODE and LIGHT are engraved in the thermoplastic.
Watch strap
The watch strap is in a resistant and medium hardness thermorubber material, and has a cool modern design with horizontal carvings on both sides of the case. On the watch strap are two strong and thick loops to keep the end of the strap in position. Additionally, both loops have a rectangular hole on the upper side, where a protuberance of the same shape on the other and of the strap enters to ensure a locking effect.
The base of the case is made of a stainless steel cover, tightened to the case thanks to four Torx screws. On it are indicated the serial number and the maximum depth resistance of 100 meters.
Dimensions and weight
The HD Stark dive watch computer weighs exactly 100 grams, a low value thanks to the thermoplastic material used for the majority of components.
The maximum diameter of the case, including the four menu buttons, is 56 mm. The watch screen is a monochromatic solution with backlight. The screen has a diameter of 34 mm, but the usable screen, meaning the clock face excluding the internal indexes crown around it, has a diameter of 31 mm.
The total circumference determined by the watch strap and case is indicatively 31 cm. This means that it can be worn even with very thick wetsuits, even though it does not have the double length strap option. Additionally, the medium softness thermorubber of the strap and the special loops permit to have the strap well locked and wrapped around the wrist.
Another key feature is that the watch strap is 4 mm thick, insuring great abrasion resistance.
Functions
- The HD Stark dive watch is a simple offer complete with the key features. The main modes are Dive, Watch (a classic solution) and Chronograph.
Dive
The HD Stark dive computer activated in Dive mode automatically starting from 1.5 m of depth. This function can though be cleverly blocked when freediving in the pool. A safety feature permits to set the maximum depth at which the alarm beeps.
During the dive the screen shows the water temperature in the upper part, the day time in the central part and the depth in the lower part.
Moving back to less than 1.5 meters of depth the HD Stark dive watch switches to Surface mode, which indicates the minimum water temperature of the dive, the dive time and the surface recovery time.
After 30 seconds with no contact with the water, or pressing the Mode button for 2 seconds, the watch switches to Current time mode.
Pressing the Mode button again the HD Stark dive watch switches to the Dive recall mode, indicating for each dive the minimum water temperature, the time of the dive and the maximum depth.
The HD Stark dive computer can record up to 100 dives, indicating for each dive the total dive time, the maximum depth, the minimum water temperature, the starting time and date.
Chronograph
The new dive watch by H.Dessault includes a stopwatch function which measures elapsed time and current split time. The chronograph has a measuring resolution of 1/100 second and a range of 100 hours. This is a useful function, also united with the possibility to block the automatic dive mode under 1.5 meters of depth. Still, in Indoor Apnea a key function, not present here, is the self-resetting countdown….word of Luciano Morelli!
Big numbers
As anticipated, a key plus of the HD Stark dive watch, which will be highly appreciated by many divers, are the big dimensions of the numbers indicating the key data of the dive. This will clearly help readability of the information, especially for presbyopic individuals.
In detail, the dimensions of the biggest numbers are, by our measurements, 9 mm high and 4 mm wide. These characters indicate the most important safety data, such as current and maximum depth, but also surface time.
Battery
The watch utilizes a non-rechargeable battery. For simple watches this is a very good solution as the battery lasts for a very long time. H.Dessault declared more than 2500 hours in dive mode, an amazing duration. The battery is easily substitutable unscrewing the four Torx screws of the steel rear cover. Still, the warranty will be valid only with the replacement of the battery at authorized centres.
