Over the past few years, the young independent Italian brand Venezianico has built a cult following for its impressive finishing, moderate pricing, and firm devotion to a lush, distinctly Venetian visual language. This last point has ranged from a penchant for traditional Venetian aventurine glass to ornately carved dials depicting the city’s Renaissance masterpieces, but one of its most striking visual tributes to date pays homage to what might well be the city’s most beloved landmark: the Basilica San Marco (or St. Mark’s Cathedral, for non-Italian speakers). The new Venezianico Nereide Aureo adds a 24K gold dial treatment to the brand’s robust modern diver platform, creating a unique blend of practical functionality and impressive spectacle that few watches can match at this price point.

At 42mm wide and 49mm lug-to-lug, the Venezianico Nereide Aureo’s stainless steel case is on the larger side of current trends but wears well on more moderate-sized wrists thanks to its balanced case profile and pronounced wraparound effect. The overall shape here isn’t exactly groundbreaking, with a typical modern diver-style mix of tapering, athletic chamfered lugs, and pronounced square-tipped crown guards. It may not be the most adventurous diver case, but the finishing is well-executed throughout, with impressively sharp transitions between light linear brushed planes and brightly polished chamfers. Where the Nereide Aureo’s case really grabs attention, however, is with its unidirectional dive bezel. The insert here is mirror-polished tungsten, which gives the watch a striking, ultra-reflective look. It’s difficult to convey just how reflective this bezel is on the wrist (which makes photographing our media sample a real challenge). Short of the perfectly distortion-free Zaratsu polishing used by brands charging nearly ten times Venezianico’s asking price, this is more or less the most brightly reflective, mesmerizingly crisp bezel one is likely to see in the metal. Furthermore, thanks to the ultra-hard tungsten insert material, this near-flawless mirror shine is unlikely to be marred by the superficial scratches watches tend to pick up over the years. There is a slight drawback to this, however – although the polished tungsten may be durable and scratch-resistant, it attracts fingerprints and smudges like a magnet. After turning the bezel or handling the watch, more fastidious wearers will likely need to break out a cleaning cloth. For the caseback, Venezianico offers a razor-sharp, finely detailed engraving of the interior of the Basilica San Marco, complete with depictions of the opulent mosaics that line its gold leaf-covered walls. As one might expect from a diver as well, the Nereide Aureo boasts a dependable 200-meter water resistance.

At first glance, the main dial surface of the Venezianico Nereide Aureo appears to be hammered gold leaf, but the reality is far more complex and work-intensive. The main visible layer of the dial is, in fact, pure 24K gold, a rarity even in the upper echelons of watchmaking, but rather than the thin, gossamer-delicate work of gold leaf, the brand has devised a proprietary procedure. To emulate the hammered texture of the leaf applied to the walls of Basilica San Marco, Venezianico begins by running each brass dial blank through a tumbling process, creating a series of tiny dents and imperfections. From here, the dial blanks are galvanically plated with 24k gold, then finished with several layers of clear varnish as a protectant. The end result is genuinely captivating on the wrist, with a rich luster and a fascinatingly detailed texture that outshines virtually any competitor in its price range. Outside of this glorious golden dial surface, the Nereide Aureo’s dial is sharp and straightforward, with faceted ladder hands accented by beveled, brightly polished indices applied to a raised, radially brushed outer chapter ring. The only real downside here is the mismatched white date display at 3 o’clock, but finishing a date wheel to match the hammered gold look of the dial would likely be no small undertaking.

Inside the Venezianico Nereide Aureo beats the familiar Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement. The SW200-1 is one of the most popular choices for independent brands these days, offering easy servicing, simple construction, and middle-of-the-road performance including a 41-hour power reserve at a 28,800 bph beat rate.

Rather than the H-link bracelet found on previous iterations of the Nereide, Venezianico uses the Nereide Aureo to launch a new bracelet design for the brand: the “Sansovino.” This five-link stainless steel bracelet uses a superficially similar layout to the sometimes controversial bracelet design of the Omega Seamaster Professional, complete with two rows of polished mid-links and a generally rounded link profile. Past the basic layout, though, the “Sansovino” is very much its own beast, with a swoopy, curving outer link profile, simplified second and fourth links, female end links, and a more streamlined, straightforward overall execution. A brushed and polished two-button clasp with an applied Venezianico cross emblem completes the design here. On the wrist, the weight of this bracelet is noticeable but not unwieldy, and the softly curving link profiles make this both comfortable and handsome during long-term wear.

Venezianico’s recent rise in enthusiast circles seems deeply tied to its devoutly Venetian brand aesthetic, and some of the young brand’s most interesting work comes at the intersection of this love for the look of Venice and the need to produce functional, practical timepieces. The Venezianico Nereide Aureo is a (literally) shining example of how interesting this intersection can be – this solidly built mid-range dive watch becomes a striking conversation piece, chiefly through the power of its dial and bezel. The Venezianico Nereide Aureo is available for preorder now through the brand’s e-commerce platform. MSRP for the Venezianico Nereide Aureo stands at $1,295 USD as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.