In my opinion, the Diverscope watches were meant to be a sort of modern alternative to Panerai. At least that is what JeanRichard was likely hoping. They never quite got the marketing traction they wanted with the Diverscope, and they also later came out with the less expensive Aquascope watch collection as well. You might recall the JeanRichard Aquascope Hokusai (that I still quite like) which I reviewed on aBlogtoWatch here. As far as I know, the Diverscope LPR is the only Diverscope model to have an additional complication aside from the date and time, which is another reason I covet it so much. The other “complicated” Diverscope watch was the “2 Time Zones” models – that was also unique in its interpretation of a travel watch.
If you wear the 43mm wide Diverscope watch on the wrist, you’ll notice the round dial and cushion-shaped case which is the most immediate nod to Panerai. Though if you didn’t look carefully you might not actually see the Panerai inspiration. JeanRichard was clearly careful not to appear as though they were copying Panerai and for that reason, I like that the Diverscope is meant to have similar appeal, but is not really in any way a copycat watch given its entirely original case and dial design.
Another Paneri-inspired design cue is the large hands and hour markers. Again, these are not copies but merely meant to appeal to watch lovers in the same way that Panerai’s large digits and easy to read hour markers appeal to them. The most direct nod to Panerai is likely the design of the Arabic numerals – which others such as Bell & Ross have played with as well over the years. The hands are unique to JeanRichard and I’ve always loved the strong looking arrow hour hand. Lots of luminant is placed on the hands, but on this dial, there isn’t luminant anywhere else. I think this was a style decision and it doesn’t bother me. Though dive watch aficionados might cry foul because “real dive watches” have luminant everywhere. I have clearly enough diving watches in my collection to not at all care about this and am totally OK with JeanRichard’s design choice here. I do believe that other Diverscope watches made use of more luminant on the dial.
Other than silver and white tones, the dial has some red color accents such as for the text and date numerals, as well as on the rotating internal bezel. The internal bezel slopes down a bit, offering an attractive sense of depth to the dial. The case is water resistant to 300m and produced in steel with a domed sapphire crystal. Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard always used excellent sapphire crystal suppliers for their sports watches, and the low level of glare is apparent when compared to other similar crystals. Good work JeanRichard, I wished more modern watches with domed sapphire crystals can take your lead.
JeanRichard called the Diverscope case 43mm wide but with the crowns, it is about 50mm wide. The case is also about 13mm thick and 54mm from lug to lug. That makes it a large watch, but you can see that it doesn’t look overly massive on my smaller wrists. Case finishing is very good, and I even seem to recall that given the fact the Diverscope LPR has a higher price tag associated with it, JeanRichard gave this version of the Diverscope even better finishing than many of the other models in the collection. Attached to the case is a custom rubber strap that comes on a folding steel deployant. All really nice quality that you’d expect for a luxury dive watch.
It is unclear how many Diverscope LPR watches were actually produced by JeanRichard. As you can see from the serial number on the back of this watch, it is only the 25th one ever made. I am guessing that less than a few thousand (perhaps less) of the Diverscope LPR models were ever produced. Why? Price most likely. Retail price for the Diverscope LPR watches when they were released in 2011 was $10,400. That’s quite a high amount given the competition as well as the relative lack of marketing and legitimacy JeanRichard had in the high-end dive watch landscape. With that said, this was a fantastic product and a lovely collectible in my opinion. It isn’t for everyone, but for me, it’s one of the gems of the last decade and perhaps JeanRichard will come out of hibernation in the future. jeanrichard.com
