Favre Leuba is one of the oldest names in horology but like many brands have faced periods of inactivity and changes of ownership. They re-emerged into the watchmaking scene in 2024 with the introduction of three core collections: the Sea Sky, Deep Raider and Chief. Now, two years later, they are expanding the Deep Raider series with a new model, the Favre Leuba Deep Raider Power Reserve.
The Deep Raider is a dedicated professional dive watch with a steel construction, 40mm diameter and 300m water resistance rating, all of which are features that the new Power Reserve edition maintains. It also has a unidirectional rotating bezel with ceramic insert dive timer scale that allows you to track immersion time or decompression stops. The unidirectional rotation is a classic dive watch feature that means if you accidentally move the bezel during use, you can only ever assume you need to get out of the water sooner, keeping you safe.
Where the new model and the original series differ is the dial. The Deep Raider Power Reserve introduces more information to the display with the addition of a power reserve subdial at 6 o’clock that shows how much of the 41-hour power reserve remains, convenient for keeping it wound. Alongside this addition, the centre seconds have been moved to a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and the small date window between 4 and 5 o’clock has been replaced by a large triple figure date window at 3 o’clock.
It obviously a busier dial in comparison to the original collection but it’s not cluttered by any means. The metallic borders around the subdials and date window helps to keep the display feeling organised and they’ve made sure that the full 12-hour scale of lumed baton hour markers are still present – just with reduced sizes where they intersect with other functions. That means it still serves as a professional diver with good readability in the depths.
There are five colour options in the Favre Leuba Deep Raider Power Reserve range: black, blue, green, white and ice blue. The first three of those are monocolour designs with matching dials, subdials and bezel colours. Meanwhile the white edition is a panda style piece with a white base, black subdials and a black bezel. The ice blue version has a matching dial and subdials but a darker shade of blue for the bezel. Personally, I like the standard black and blue editions as they are the most traditional dive watch colours, but if you have no intention of ever going near the water then the panda is a cool and slightly unusual option for a tool watch of this style.
Powering the collection is the FL P01 automatic calibre, based on the Sellita SW279-1. It has a 41-hour power reserve and operates at a 4 Hz frequency. That’s actually a little lower spec compared to the time and date model’s 68-hour power reserve, but it’s also a more complex display with additional features, so it’s a reasonably fair trade-off. The movement is protected by a closed steel caseback decorated with Favre Leuba’s chemically engraved logo against a wave backdrop.
For pricing, the Favre Leuba Deep Raider Power Reserve is £2,500. That’s a very competitive price bracket, going head-to-head with the likes of the Oris Aquis. I think where the Favre Leuba has a slight edge is that it feels quite smart, making it better suited to the office or board room.
Price and Specs:
More details at Favre Leuba.
Would really like one of these watches but are too dear to buy in one single payment