LIV GX Diver's Watch - Diving Squad Report:
(This article comes from the main Diving Squad page on Dive Watches).
Diving Squad Rating:
9.8 / 10
It’s big, it’s loud and it makes a bold statement on your wrist. LIV’s new GX Diver’s Watch is the Diving Squad dive watch of choice and in this review we’ll tell you exactly why.
With beautiful aesthetics, superior quality materials and a price point that sits several hundred dollars lower than it needs to, the LIV GX Diver’s watch is an awesome and badass timepiece for divers.
You can choose from a wide range of colours and a case diameter of 41 or 44 mm, so it’s easy to find the optimal style for you.
Much as we love the LIV GX Diver’s watch, we’ll keep things real with an honest review; one that highlights the features for which we think it’s great but also points out any room for improvement.
Let’s dive in!
KEY SPECS:
- Precision 26 jewel swiss automatic movement
- Scratch resistant and anti-reflective sapphire crystal
- Water resistant to 300 meters / 1000 ft
- Limited edition to 1000 pieces
- Stainless case made from 316 stainless steel
- Rotating ceramic bezel – unidirectional, 120 clicks
- Crown: screw down with gasket
- Steel sword shaped hands with BCWP luminescence
- High grade silicone strap with black tang buckle (extra strap options)
- 40 hour power reserve
- Dimensions: Case Diameter: 44 mm. Case Height: 12.9 mm. Lug width: 23 mm. Height with lug: 52 mm.
- Five Year Warranty
CONTENT:
(Click green text to jump to detailed review of feature).
1. Buying & Unboxing:
Purchasing an LIV Watch is an experience within itself; starting with a congratulatory and rather amusing email from Chaz, co-founder of LIV.
You’ll receive additional emails from LIV every so often on lighthearted topics: such as how awesome your watch is or giving you the chance to leave a review for discount codes.
The LIV luxury buyer experience continues when you receive your watch which arrives in beautiful, multi-layered packaging that is a ritual within itself to unpack.
Remove the suede bag to reveal a smart black cardboard box containing the watch case and an envelope with the watches’ limited edition certificate of authenticity, a certificate of accuracy, some user information and another message from Chaz.
The watches case is made from black leather and cardboard; it’s great to display your watch from when open and includes a cleaner cloth in addition to the prize item: your watch!
It took me several minutes to unpack and go through the beautiful packaging and various accessories; it was a really nice user experience that would make it great as a gift.
2. First Impressions & Appearance:
The LLV GX Diver’s Watch comes in a variety of colours with the option for the case diameter to be a more refined 41mm or a chunkier 44mm.
You can choose the strap to be made from black rubber, stainless steel or Nato material.
I went with the 44mm Classic Black Gen 2 with a rubber strap which is what you see in the photos.
Besides colour and case diameter, all GX Diver’s Watches are the same in terms of movement, features and materials so this review applies to all varieties.
First impressions were extremely good; the watch has a nice weight to it and feels both sturdy and strong which is also exactly how it looks.
Especially with the 44mm diameter case, this is no delicate wrist-piece – instead it is a strong, active-lifestyle orientated bit of gear.
This bold look has been truly nailed with the combination of laser cut wave patterns on the dial, prominent 12 and 6 stencil markers and sword shaped stainless steel hands with orange accents.
The bottom portion of the dial features the LIV logo. Some user reviews have complained of over-branding, but with top names like Rolex and Omega proudly displaying their logos on the dial, I think it’s perfectly fine for LIV to do the same.
The rotating bezel is made from ceramic and features a beautiful brushed finish with a 120 unidirectional crisp sounding click that precisely aligns with the 12 marker.
(A rotating bezel is the defining feature of any dive watch; by turning the 0 marker to align with the minute hand at the start of a dive you can quickly see how much time has elapsed throughout the dive).
The hands and markers on both the dial and bezel are coated with high quality lume which glows a truly spectacular turquoise in the dark after having been exposed to light for thirty seconds.
I really like how clear the scratch resistant and anti-reflective sapphire crystal is, at times it looks like there’s nothing there at all and I have yet to see a single scratch appear.
(The crystal of my watch features an external cyclops reader for the date but this feature is optional).
The case is very solid and angular around the perfectly round dial whilst the signed crown sits nicely between some solid looking crown guards and when unscrewed pops out easily.
Turn the watch over and everything looks awesome there as well with a slick black and silver colour combo. There’s plenty of specs engraved into the back and a branded rotor on the the ETA movement.
I love my watches smart black rubber straps – they’re very nicely fitted with a soft and sporty feel and with punchy white lines for extra visual enhancement.
It would be nice if the strap also featured a locking clasp and diver’s extension; this would make it a little easier to take on and off over a wetsuit but it’s by no means essential.
3. Performance and Quality:
Besides branding and a great look, you may be wandering what separates high quality watches from their cheaper equivalents.
The answer is construction materials, movement type and in the case of dive watches, water resistance rating.
In the case of the LIV GX Diver’s Watch, it’s rotating bezel is made from corrosion resistant ceramic; which is exactly what you’d expect in a luxury watch (cheaper watches bezels are made from stainless steel which is less durable).
It’s window is made from sapphire crystal which is scratch resistant and anti-reflective, making it superior to the mineral crystal used on lower quality dive watches.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Lume (which makes the hands and markers light up blue in the dark) is of an extremely high, long lasting quality.
All in all, this is an immensely tough and durable watch that’s built like a tank and will be seriously difficult to put any wear and tear on.
It uses a Swiss automatic (ETA 2824) movement. You can read all about watch movements in the info section of my main page on dive watches but briefly regarding Swiss automatic:
An automatic movement is a type of mechanical movement.
Mechanical movement watches are extremely popular with enthusiasts because of the craftsmanship they require; being handmade and containing an intricate series of tiny components working together.
Automatic manual watches, also known as self winding power themselves by harnessing the natural motion of the wearer.
An automatic manual movement is what you’d expect in a luxury dive watch. If it’s Swiss made, this ensures extra quality.
The GX Diver’s Watch is water resistant to a whopping 1000ft / 300m.
Cheaper dive watches only go to 660ft / 200m or less so it gets another big tick again.
Yes, some dive watches can go to 3000ft or deeper but you’ll never need to do this – recreational divers rarely ever go beyond even 130ft!
1000ft is a seriously impressive depth resistance rating for a dive watch and even if you don’t ever got this deep, it’s seriously badass to know that your watch can!
4. Diving Squad Verdict:
When I first got my LIV GX Diver’s Watch it was love at first sight and having since used it a lot and coming to know everything about it – I still love it!
This is a fantastic luxury feel dive watch with a kickass design, outstanding quality materials and craftsmanship and sitting several hundred dollars cheaper than similar alternatives.
It’s certainly a loud piece – there’s nothing subtle about it and that’s what makes it such a bold and powerful statement on the wrist.
The GX Diver’s Watch superbly compliments the strong and militaristic appearance of scuba diving gear.
For all of these reasons, it’s the Diving Squad dive watch of choice.
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