The dial uses a gray color for the hour markers that is somewhere between white and the gunmetal of the case. In each hour marker is a tritium gas tube, except at 3 o’clock. That position has the date. Nite also went with an orange minute hand, which you see sometimes on dive watches. I am not a huge fan of this, but I don’t mind it here even though sometimes I’d like to see the watch with two black colored hands. The dial is overall simple, and actually does have a sense of refinement to it. Having said that, there is also something modern about it. I don’t know whether it is the many angles or logo that looks like it is for a flashlight maker, but this watch is without a doubt a product of the iPhone generation.
With a rotating diver’s bezel, 300 meters of water resistance and a legible dial, this is a pretty solid diver. Having said that, there are a lot of solid dive watches out there. Tritium does help the value proposition of the Aqua a lot. While tritium perhaps isn’t the best luminant to use underwater, for surface wear, it is great. The accumulated features of the Nite Aqua together make for a very easy to choose daily watch or beater for when you need something decent to… well beat around. Not that I abused the watch, but I found myself wearing it when I wanted to be very casual, but not wear a plastic G-Shock, and yet still need something sporty and functional.
Nite doesn’t currently offer any mechanical movements. That doesn’t bother me, as I happen to like quartz beater watches. Inside the Aqua is a Swiss Ronda caliber 715Li quartz movement with the time and date. It also happens to have a 10 year battery life that won’t earn the Aqua any enemies. With the Aqua, and their other products Nite has done a good job of assembling an appealing roster of beaters that should serve you well. Oh, and according to the website, Nite says that their watches have a system that allows you to swap out the bezels with ease. Though as far as I can tell no other bezel options exist for the Aqua so I wasn’t able to test this feature of the watch.
Attached to the watch is a metal bracelet that is original enough for you to take pause and notice. The links are gracefully angular and offer a modern look that plays well with the light. It has a triple locking deployment as well, though no diver’s extension. One issue that Nite perhaps has is the price. You do get a lot of watch for the money, but as a quartz watch it sits in that gray area between being an ultimate luxury for some buyers, while something other watch buyer’s wouldn’t think twice about getting. Actually, the price for the versions on the strap are almost $100 less expensive than this AQ1 model on the bracelet. That does seem like a large difference for what isn’t a haute horology bracelet. I’d say just sell the watch at the higher price and include the two polymer straps for free with a changing tool. Price for the Nite Aqua AQ1 watch (available online with free shipping) is $559.95, which goes down to $469.95 on a strap. nitewatches.com
Necessary Data
>Brand: Nite
>Model: Aqua AQ1
>Price: $559.95 as tested
>Size: 42mm
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Yes
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Average guy looking for a decent sport watch for daily wear… who fancies himself as “design-oriented.”
>Worst characteristic of watch: May be too thick for some, a bit ambitiously priced.
>Best characteristic of watch: Genuinely feels greater than the sum of its parts offering a reliable dive watch experience with desirable components in a package that is just unique enough.
