DEESSE 1000M QUARTZ
Another Squale brother from my man, Oliver, at PatinaNationale.com - a friendly chap with a serious eye for amazing watches ( some of which end up for sale on his website... so check it out on the regular).
This one is branded 'Deesse' - said 'DS' like the technically advanced Citroen of the era. It features the classic MRP-made 1521 case, with a Dodane spec bezel (that ocassionally pops up on a few rare Squale), and a dial loaded with creamy tritium lume. And, of course, that killer 'Dive Dude' floating above the 1000m rating typography.
The term 'Deesse' is French for 'godess'... and you can understand how fitting that brand is for this piece. It truly is a beauty.
ASTREE WATCH 1000m
This Astree Watch 1000m belongs to Oliver (@patinanationale on Insta), and is just one of many interesting divers in his collection.
The first thing you'd probably notice when you set eyes on this piece, is that it looks very much like a Dodane. And there is a good reason for this, as Astree was a brand name registered by Dodane in the 1970s. And it probably won't surprise you to hear that the vast majority of watches that wore that brand were 1000m dive watches.
The next thing you'd probably spot was the case. It's chunky but sleek angular lugs with sharp beveling on the edges... it could only be one thing: a 1521. And that's because it is! As with the majority of watches you'll see on this page, Dodane actually liecenced the right to use these MRP made cases from Squale.
Key differences to the Dodane include the fact that this Astree has large amounts of creamy tritium lume, where as some Dodane pieces often ran no lume at all (to increase dial contrast). And many of the Dodane lack the 'dive dude' too (they were far too serious for such graphic frivolity).
LE FORBAN 100 ATU
This here vintage Squale brother belongs to MattS (@mattsworldwatch on Insta). And a very interesting piece it is too. The case is unmistakeable: a 1521 Master... there is no doubt of that! All dimensions and bevels are spot on. But beyond the case... things get a little more interesting.
While Squale did produce orange/black acrylic bezels with identical luminous markers, they did not come with the 15min highlight design featured here. I have seen it on a few other Squale brothers, though, such as on the Darwil branded 100 atmos pieces.
And then we come to the hands and the dial, both of which have similarities to early Squale Masters, but they are delivered in a very unique way. And, most interesting to me, instead of the Squale tradtion of using 'atmos' as the depth rating, here we have 100 'ATU' and on the caseback '1000 metres'.
The brand who 'produced' this was Le Forban Securite Mer - a company founded in 1969, in Brest, France, to sell watches to the Marine Nationale, Coast Gaurds, and Sea Rescue units. So it's of no suprise that Le Forban turned to Squale for assistance in producing waterproof watches capable of surpasing their needs and expectations.
Its a fine watch, and one I have never seen another example of.
