The price of the new 1980 Royal Navy Diver Re-issue is £1,999 (approximately $2,635 at time of publishing). Comparing this to the price of an identically sized and spec’d standard automatic CWC diver at £899 (approximately $1,185) gives one pause. Is the considerable price premium worth it? Pricing is a tricky point to debate, especially for what is essentially a discretionary “luxury” product (ironic, I know, given that it relates to a former military instrument). So the best way to discuss it perhaps is to compare it to other watches of similar ilk, such as Doxa’s now sold-out “Black Lung” tribute ($2,490) at one end or Seiko’s sensational SRP77x throwbacks ($475) at the other end of the price spectrum. CWC doesn’t have the size or production volume might that Seiko has, and the 1980 Re-issue, to a large extent, had to be recreated, from new crown guard details to dial, to intricate bezel, in small numbers. Sure, production costs are not all that determine price. This is a 600-piece limited edition re-issue of one of the most rare, obscure issued military watches of all time. CWC hopes this will appeal to those of us who will never be able to find, or buy, the original real thing. In the end, time will tell, as it always does, if the price is appropriate.