tom austin
Who doesn’t love a comeback story? Well, Electra is the perfect way to kick off 2025. In the late 1960s and 1970s, changes in the watch market caused by the so-called quartz crisis led to the sad demise of many brands, despite their relative commercial success at the time. By the 1980s, two-thirds of all Swiss watch brands were out of business. Electra was one of them. Interestingly, Electra itself was not a specific watchmaker, but a brand founded in 1966 by the famous French manufacturer Lip. Electra combined numerous Swiss and French watch manufacturers under one brand and by 1969 had sold over 300,000 watches. But by 1971, the Franco-Swiss brand was gone.
Fast forward to 2024, and a group of French watch enthusiasts decided to bring back the Electra, taking inspiration from watches of the past. The first watch in this revival is the Daredevil Diver. This is a collection of vibrant diver’s watches that pay homage to the various “skin diver” models that Electra produced throughout its short existence.
case
A key motive behind this relaunch of Electra was to stay true to the original design while ensuring the watch also adapted to modern trends. I’m glad they didn’t choose to go the “bigger is better” route with this one and chose to strengthen the original Skin Diver’s 37.5mm case by 0.5mm. Now at 38mm, the lug-to-lug width has also been reduced slightly to 47mm, making it an overall better fit for modern audiences. Importantly, the thickness has been reduced to 10.95mm without the sapphire crystal. While this may deviate from strict periodic accuracy, it does make the Daredevil Diver even more wearable. These proportions are definitely appropriate for a vintage-inspired piece and actually make them very comfortable to wear.
The case is functional with a screw-down crown and caseback, as well as thick lugs with polished bevels and durable brushed surfaces. It has the feel of a lofty tool watch, but has the specs to match, with water resistance of 666 feet (or just over 200 meters). This is also thanks to the double-domed sapphire crystal, which is secured by a bidirectional rotating bezel. As with vintage watches, there is no ratchet system, ensuring a well-adjusted smooth rotation, neither too loose nor too loose. difficult. Interestingly, the Electra Dare De Ville Diver is actually assembled at the Pequinier factory in France, making it more than just a microbrand that assembles its watches in the Far East.
dial
The Daredevil Diver collection will be launched as a quintet of five different variations, each with unique dials and furnishings. Firstly, the Deep Blue, Yellow Old Gold and Emerald Green features a fumé dial with polished silver indexes and hands. Each of these dials features a color-coded syringe-style seconds hand next to the pencil hour and arrow minute hands. However, the Dashing Red and Formal Black models feature a plainer dial, with the latter featuring a classic matte dial for those who love the vintage look the most. These two dials, with their gold-plated dial furniture, yellowed luminous plots, and indexes on the bezel, are very reminiscent of the original Electra from the 1960s. Despite not being an official GMT watch, you can also use the bezel to track different time zones, which is a nice feature.
The models we got to touch were the Deep Blue and Dashing Red models. All of Daredevil Diver’s colors are pleasing to the eye, but these two really resonated with us. The dashing red orange-yellow bezel markings really warm up an already pretty hot little watch, and the deep blue sunburst is an ideal tone for a diver’s watch.
The dial is clean and uncluttered, and the hour markers are true to vintage style. It’s nice to see they haven’t tried to take things in too much of a modern direction here, despite the slightly modern Electra logo at 12 o’clock. The Arabic numerals on the inside of the hour markers are attractive and very easy to read, and of course the numerals can be read through the luminescence even in the dark. This is something you rarely see in a diver’s watch. Luminous light is also extended to the markers on the rotating bezel.
strap
There are two strap options offered by Electra for the Daredevil Diver. One is the FKM rubber strap, which is color-coordinated to match your dial choice, giving a modern twist to a classic look. The rubber strap has a stainless steel pin buckle, double keeper and quick release spring bar. The second option is an Italian leather strap in the same style, offering a more relaxed and classic feel with a 60’s/70’s vibe. (Note: At the time of publication, Electra has not released any images or details regarding the leather strap. We have only reviewed the Dare Devil Diver with a rubber strap.)
movement
For the Daredevil Diver, Electra chose the Soprod P024, a Swiss-made automatic mechanical movement. It is loosely based on the ETA 2824, a close relative of the ETA 2472 found in the original Electra Skin Diver. True to the original watch, it has a 38-hour power reserve, 25 jewels, and vibrates at 28,800 vph. It’s a modest but perfectly adequate movement for a watch in this price range, durable and very easy to use, making it a very decent and accurate watch in the long run.
Electra Daredevil Diver Pricing and Availability
The Electra Dare-Devil Diver is now available directly from Electra. Price: €599
Brand Electra Watches Model Daredevil Diver Case Dimensions 38mm (D) x 10.95mm (T) x 47mm (LTL) Case Material Stainless Steel Water Resistance 666 feet (203 meters) Crystal Sapphire Dial Matte Black, Red, Blue, Green or Yellow Strap FKM Rubber or Italian leather, with steel pin buckle Movement Soprod P024, automatic power reserve 38 hours Features Hours, minutes, seconds, bidirectional timing bezel Availability Currently available Price €599
Produced in partnership with Electra. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own based on our editorial policy.
