Amfibia Vostok Amphibia Reef 2415.01/080495

The updated Amfibia Vostok Amphibia Reef was released in Autumn 2017 and completed a set of new releases which also included the new Amfibia Vostok Amphibia Red Sea which I reviewed a few months ago, Black Sea, Scuba and Turbina. Of the five watches I would say the Reef and the Black Sea are the two most “classic” divers watches compared to the square-ish Scuba (which I so far have managed to resist purchasing, I don’t know for how long, I can’t make my mind up between the white dial or the orange / black dial) and the cushion-shape Red Sea.

There were four models of the 2017 Amfibia Vostok Amphibia Reef, two with a GMT movement and two with “standard” 12 hour movement (none have date windows). They are,

• 2426.01/086492 – GMT style movement, black 24 hour bezel, black dial, black PVD finished case and bracelet
• 2426.01/080493 – GMT style movement, dark blue 24 hour bezel, dark blue dial, stainless steel case and bracelet
• 2415.01/080494 – “standard” 12 hour movement, black 12 hour bezel, full lume dial, stainless steel case and bracelet
• 2415.01/080495  – “standard” 12 hour movement, black 12 hour bezel, black dial, stainless steel case and black leather rally style strap – the model reviewed here

Amfibia Vostok Amphibia Reef 2415.01/080495

First off, I know everyone always says one should buy a watch with a fitted metal bracelet over a leather strap (as one can always replace the fitted bracelet at a later date) but I don’t really like full lume dials and I didn’t really fancy another GMT watch – I already have a GMT Komandirskie and Amphibia – which is why I chose the 080495 model. I don’t normally weigh watches, but I had weighed the Red Sea 040690 (because it seemed really heavy) at 227g, so I thought I would weigh the Reef 080495 which came in at 101g.

The Amphibia Reef 080495 has a diameter of 42 mm, approximately 48 mm with crown, lug to lug it is around 48 mm and it has a depth of 14.5 mm. The lug width is 20 mm and the visible dial is 32 mm across. The case is polished stainless steel, with smallish crown guards and the stainless steel bezel is uni-directional with 60 clicks. It has a nicely grippy toothed edge and is easy to turn. The bevelled bezel insert is aluminum. The bezel is black in colour with silver numerals and markings. The sloped bezel lines up nicely with the gentle convex curve of the scratch resistant mineral glass crystal. The bezel insert is reminiscent of quite a few different Seiko bezel inserts but most reminds me of something like the submariner bezel insert of Seiko SNZF17 “Sea urchin” (there is a good review and pictures of the Seiko Sea Urchin at A Blog To Watch). The bezel has minute divisions for the first quarter, numerals at 20, 30, 40 and 50 and an inverted silver triangle at 12 o’clock with a good sized pip of superluminova.

The dial is matt black and features a large number 12 at 12 o’clock and bar markers at 3, 6 and 9. The other hour markers are large circles. All of these are slightly raised from the dial and have good superluminova lume. The dial features the words Amfibia Automatic below the 12 o’clock mark, Reef 200m above 6 o’clock and “Made in Russia” at the bottom of the dial. There is no date window. The dial is surrounded by a silver chapter ring which has black numerals at 5 second intervals and black second markers in between. The chapter ring also is decorated with subtle parallel grooves. The dial layout and design can be best described as submariner style and is reminiscent of a perhaps a Rolex Submariner or, one of my personal favourites, the classic Seiko SKX007 divers watch. I hadn’t really considered these similarities before I started writing this review.

The hour and minute hands are silver coloured, fully lumed and of the “sword” type. The “lollipop” seconds hand is orange in colour, matching the “Reef” on the dial, and has a good bit of circle of lume about two thirds up. The seconds hand superficially looks like a standard Vostok Amphibia seconds hand but it is longer and the short part of the seconds hand (the non-pointy end, if you like) is a more rectangular shape. Both the hour and seconds hands pleasingly both reach right to the edge of the chapter ring. The caseback is the same as the one described in my Red Sea review. The screw down crown is a little different, it is signed with the Vostok Amfibia logo and is approximately 6 mm in diameter. As mentioned above this model comes with a good quality, black leather rally style strap with white stitching and features an Amfibia branded buckle. The Amfibia Vostok Amphibia Reef 2415.01/080495 features Vostok’s 2415.01 movement. This is an automatic (self-winding), 31 jewel movement which has a power reserve of 31 hours. This movement also features in one of the Black Sea models as well as some Komandirskies and Amphibias.

I think I am right in saying that the first Amfibia Reef watches were released in 2007 and I have not seen one in the flesh but the basics seems the same (case, bezel, bezel insert, basic etc.). The major changes seem to be the larger hour markers and numerals on the dial, new hands shapes and the addition of a chapter ring.  The older models also had a date window. There are some great pictures of the old Amfibia Reef here. All of these are changes for the better in my opinion, I think it improves the aesthetics of the design. The watch is pretty chunky and sits a little high on the wrist, but overall I like the size (my wrist is 7.5 inches). The submariner style dial is very clear and the chapter ring nicely finishes off the look. I have always been a sucker for a rally style strap but actually I think I will be swapping it out for black silicon divers strap at some point. Other than that I think this is a great watch.

The 2017 Amfibia Reef is presented in an Amfibia branded orange and black card presentation box and at time of purchased (from Meranom) it was $184.00.