Marnaut Seascape 200, a new, Accessible Compressor Diver now on Kickstarter

Marnaut launched its first dive watch back in 2018 with a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Dark Surge 300m. We reviewed this piece earlier in the year and walked away impressed with its unique, sea urchin-inspired dial and 300-metre depth rating. Based in Croatia, founder Mario Jutronic explored the Adriatic Sea growing up and his watches now echo those adventurous years. The conventional diving aesthetic of the first model has been upgraded to a Super Compressor style for the new Marnaut Seascape 200, but the young brand’s established design language remains unchanged. Let’s take a closer look.

The brushed 316L stainless steel case dimensions are now with a 40mm diameter (instead of 42mm on the Dark Surge 300) and 13mm height (excluding the crystal). It’s 48mm lug-to-lug. The most obvious change is the double-crown architecture, positioned at 2 and 4 o’clock, and an internal rotating bezel. This setup is commonly associated with Super Compressor dive watches. Although the Seascape 200 looks the part, it functions as a conventional dive watch with a screw-down caseback and double O-ring crowns. 

Super Compressors react to water pressure and push on the O-rings as they descend, forming a tighter seal for a deeper dive. 200 metres was a common depth rating for original Super Compressors from decades ago, which the new Marnaut Seascape 200 has, although it’s reduced from the first model’s 300-metre rating. The top crown rotates the internal bezel and the signed bottom crown sets the time. A domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating protects the dial. 

Returning to the sea urchin theme, the black dial of the Marnaut Seascape 200 has the same 34 metal dots mimicking the shell pattern of the spherical echinoderms Mario would see on his dives. All the dots are filled with Super-LumiNova C3, along with the sword-style hour and minute hands and arrowhead tip of the seconds hand. The inverted triangular marker on the internal bezel also has Super-LumiNova along with the five-minute markers and Arabic numerals at 15, 30 and 45 on the bezel. There isn’t a more prominent scale covering the first 15 minutes, but individual minute markers surround the entire ring. 

Powering the watch is the same Japanese Miyota 9015 automatic that the original Dark Surge 300 employed. It has 24 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) with a 42-hour power reserve. This reliable workhorse features hacking seconds, a Parashock shock protection system and can be hand-wound. It’s a less expensive alternative to Swiss counterparts, but is easily serviced and accurate to within -10 to +30 seconds per day (comparable to a Standard grade ETA). The movement also has a date complication, but it’s hidden beneath the dial in this case. 

The Marnaut Seascape 200 comes with two 20mm straps – one rubber and the other Italian leather with a crocodile pattern. There are three colour options in the series, including an all-black IP plated case with black dial and internal bezel, brushed steel case with black dial and internal bezel, and brushed steel case with black dial and white internal bezel. 

Kickstarter prices start at USD 199, CHF 180 or GBP 155 for early birds with a final retail price of USD 399. All watches come with a two-year warranty and deliveries are expected in June 2020. For more information and to place an order, visit Marnaut’s Kickstarter page.