Founded by pilot, scuba diver, and race-car driver Abingdon Mullin in 2006, Abingdon Co. is in the business of creating aviation, dive, motoring, and other tool watches for women. In short, she wanted watches to keep up with her adventurous lifestyle — as did her aviation colleagues — so she set out to have them made. Seventeen years later, Abingdon watch wearers are referred to as The Crew, a community that includes, among others, accomplished women professionals in aviation, military, sports, and other fields often dominated by men. One of the brand’s current hero products is the Marina 2.0 watch, a revamped version of its popular dive watch built using feedback provided by Crew members. I went hands-on with the Abingdon Co. Marina 2.0 watch, a diving watch with a world timer, to discover what this women’s tool watch has to offer.
While Abingdon Co. offers the Marina watch in various colors (Belize Black, Yacht White, Bahama Blue, Reef Red, Yellow Snapper, and Pacific Purple), I opted to review the Caribbean Green model, a luscious minty shade that reminds me of tropical-themed decor. Both the aluminum bezel insert and the mother-of-pearl dial are rendered in that vibrant green tone, which complements the matte dark gray shade of the case metal well. The metal used to construct the Marina 2.0 watch is sandblasted titanium, which according to Abingdon Co., was selected as a result of customer feedback asking for a less reflective material than the original stainless steel version.
The case measures 40mm in diameter, 12.5mm thick, and 49mm lug-to-lug, and despite those beefy dimensions, the watch is not heavy on the wrist thanks to the lightness of titanium. It doesn’t feel flimsy, either; it’s solid quality and comfortable. The same goes for the full titanium v-link-shaped bracelet, which includes 16 removable links and a diver wetsuit expander clasp to accommodate up to a 10-inch wrist circumference. Using the EZ-Release spring bar system to detach the bracelet from the case is a breeze and the thoughtful addition of 12 and 6 on the undersides of the bracelet came in handy when I assembled the components back together. The notched bezel offers a good gripping surface, and of course, this being a diver watch, it turns in one direction only.
In addition to the external dive time bezel, the Marina 2.0 watch also includes a world time rotating internal bezel, which is where the crown at 2 o’clock comes into play. Simply turn the pulled-out 2 o’clock crown to align your current city with the appropriate hour on the adjacent 24-hour ring and you’ll get an overview of all the time zones represented by the two dozen printed cities — a practical feature if you’re always traveling or keeping up with friends and family in far-flung places. I may not be a pilot, traveling scuba diver, or globetrotting adventurer, but I do have people in Manila, Geneva, London, Dubai, and Toronto that I chat with regularly, so a world timer function is even helpful for someone like me whose work “commute” only requires walking a few steps to the next room.
I am fortunate to live close to some of California’s nicest beaches, and the Abingdon Marina 2.0 is the watch I would bring to swim in the always-cold Pacific Ocean waters. The watch is water resistant to 200 meters, and the shape and spaces of the v-shaped links make it easy to rinse off any sand that will inevitably get everywhere. I typically opt for smaller and more muted designs for my day-to-day watch, but the beach is the perfect setting for a bigger, bolder, and brighter watch like the Marina 2.0. I often leave my watch and jewelry at home if I’m heading for a wet and sandy day on the coast, but if I owned this watch, it would definitely come with me. Towel? Check. Hat? Check. Watch? Check.
The 10 shield-shaped hour markers and sword-shaped hands are coated with Super-LumiNova and there’s a date window at 4 o’clock and a non-lumed “12” at, well, you guessed it, 12 o’clock. The date is quickset, which I always appreciate, and while there’s quite a bit going on the dial, it’s still easy to read. Protecting the dial is sapphire crystal. The Abingdon Co. Marina 2.0 watch is automatic, powered by a Miyota 8215 Japanese movement with about 40 hours of power reserve, which is well protected under the screw-down caseback.
The Marina 2.0 watch combines diving watch specs with a world timer for a capable and appealing purpose-built land-to-sea watch. “Purpose-built” rings especially true here, whether it applies to the purpose of the specs of this particular timepiece, purposefully designing a diver to suit women’s wrists and tastes, or Abingdon Co.’s stated purpose to build tool watches for women in specific fields. It all boils down to serving an underserved market in the watch landscape — and that’s a purpose worth championing. Fun fact, the new Abingdon Co. logo (which replaces the older aviation-themed one) is inspired by the Valkyries, the powerful female mythical beings from Norse mythology. Pretty cool.
Even if, like me, you don’t have a job or pursuit that could benefit from a tough or technical timepiece, wearing a watch that could stand up to the task offers its own kind of fun. The boys like to play Bond with their Subs and Seamasters; we can channel Agent Bristow with an Abingdon Co. watch. The Abingdon Co. Marina 2.0 watch retails for $975 USD and is available to buy online or at select authorized retailers. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
