Swiss watchmaker Franck Muller is known for their in-house production of grand complications and largely luxury-oriented collections. However, Franck Mueller has recently announced a completely new watch which departs from their core design language – the new Franck Muller Master Diving watch, a 46.33mm wide, stainless steel, automatic diver’s chronograph with some vintage styling.

Clearly not intended to be subtle, the new Master Diving Collection boasts a wrist-crushing 46.33mm wide by 55.4mm long by 13.8mm thick case finished off with a large, signed, screw-down crown and black-finished, oval shaped chronograph pushers. A lumed ceramic bezel insert helps out with durability and makes for easy elapsed time tracking. While clearly large, the Master Diving case looks to be shaped to wrap around the wearer’s wrist and is well integrated into a black rubber strap, which secures by way of a signed tang buckle.

Available in no less than five dial colors (black, blue, white, orange, and red) the Master Diving dial sports traditional Arabic hour markers and lumed, polished sword hands. Chronograph sub-dials are located at three and six o’clock while the running seconds display is at nine o’clock. Dial text is straightforward with Franck Muller’s logo at twelve and “Master Diving/100m=330ft” tucked in at six. The lack of a date window speaks to Franck Muller’s apparent intentions in designing a real purpose-oriented diver’s watch. A chapter ring, printed with second measurements and lumed in the hour marker positions, surrounds the dial and is itself surrounded by a ring of tiny letter “Ms” for Muller, in case you forgot.

While detailed information regarding the Master Diving movement has yet to be released, the FM.7750 title does imply a hopefully modified Valjoux 7750, which is generally considered a durable and dependable Swiss-made automatic chronograph with 42 hours of power reserve and 25 jewels. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this movement. But in a watch from a brand known for haute horology, it does seem a bit odd, especially when you consider the substantial price tag attached.

In all, the Franck Muller Diving Chronograph looks like a reasonably capable sports watch for the enthusiast who just really wanted Franck Muller to make a diver’s-style watch. Features like a lumed ceramic bezel insert and screw-down crown add to the diver argument while a somewhat minimal 100m depth rating means most serious divers will look elsewhere. We will update you on pricing for the Franck Muller Master Diving Collection as soon as we get an update from the brand. franckmuller.com