Vostok Amphibia Classic 170548 “Amphibianerai”

In my previous blog post I reviewed the Vostok Amphibia Classic 170549 that forms part of a core range (so far) of six Amphibia 170 models which were first released towards the end of 2019. This watch, model 170549, is perhaps the smartest and dressiest of the range. Is there such a thing as a dress diver I wonder?

Anyone who knows a little bit about watches will immediately recognise the similarities that the dial design shares with the rather more famous, and expensive, Panerai dive models. The sandwich dial and numerals of the 170548 certainly owe more than a slight debt to the design of vintage Panerai Marina Militare models. In fact I have already seen this model referred to as the “Amphibianerai”, a term coined by someone in the Reddit’s r/Watches sub-Reddit. I can understand why. Edit 06/06/20 I notice that others have already been calling this the “PAMphibia” which trips off the tongue a bit more easily than “Amphibianerai” – either way, both are a nice play on words!

As I have discussed before the 170 case is a brushed 150 case. The 170 / 150 are, in essence, the 090 case shape but with the 090’s covered lugs milled out to make a more traditional, cushion-shaped rather than tonneau-shaped watch case with a 22 mm lug width. In my opinion the 170 wears a little bit “larger” on the wrist than the 710 “ministry” case and a bit smaller than the 090. I won’t go into to much detail about the case, I have already reviewed the 150 case shape a few times (here and here).

The 170548 is fitted with Vostok’s familiar 31 jewel, 2415.01 automatic movement. The watch features a stainless steel crown with Boctok “B” logo and a “standard” Amphibia case back, fairly standard issue. There is also the the normal domed, plexiglass crystal and the watch is rated water resistant to 200 metres.

The case is smartly brushed in a faint radial pattern which contrasts well with the polished clean, stainless steel bezel. I only have a couple of Amphibias with clean bezels as I have never really been much of a fan but, in this case, I think it really works well. Swapping out the clean bezel for something busier or with a coloured bezel would most likely ruin the clean lines of the watch. That doesn’t mean that I will not have a play around with some other bezels at some point!

The dial of the 170548 is matt black, or it might be a very dark grey, it is hard to tell depending on the light. The sandwich dial consists of two layers. A bottom layer, which carries the lume, and a top layer with the numeral indices and hour markers cut out so that the lumed bottom layer can shine through. Sandwich dials have been most famously used by Panerai, who chose it quite early on in their history, but there are plenty of other brands who have dabbled with sandwich dials. Indeed, Vostok have recently used it in their limited edition 1967 models. There is an interesting article about sandwich dials here.

The dial has 4 large numerals at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock marker points. These are again reminiscent of the Italian design, but I suppose there are only so many ways that that the 12, 3, 6 and 9 can be cut out from the top dial. However the design is also reminiscent of early Vostok Komandirskie designs, a bit like the ones that the Vostok Komandirskie 1965 Special Edition pays homage to. The numerals are large and very clear to read. The other markers are clean, straight bars. for the remaining hour indices. There are no seconds markers which only serves to emphasise the simplicity and clean looks of the dial. A stainless steel chapter ring around the outside of the dial completes the look. The dial also has, in white lettering, ‘Boctok’ above the centre of the dial, 31 Камень (31 jewels, or more literally stones) and ‘АВТОПОДЗАВОД’ (automatic movement) in Cyrillic beneath the centre of the dial, 200m and ‘СДЕЛАНО В РОССИИ’ (Made in Russia) at the bottom of the dial.

The hour and minute hands are stainless steel blunt, wide baton type hands with a small point at the tip. They are filled with a bright lume (white with a slightly greenish hint) that matches the lume of the sandwich dial. The seconds hand is the standard Amphibia style shape: a needle with a circular maker towards the tip. Normally the circular marker is lume-filled, in this case is it a open circle and the hand is not lumed at all. The lume appears to be of pretty good quality (see lume shot, below).

The watch came with a faux crocodile black leather strap with the Vostok “B” type logo on the clasp. The quality is okay, but it is a little small for my seven and a half inch wrist. I can really only fasten the strap at the second hole in and then the end of the strap doesn’t fit under the keeper, so I will need to swap it out for something longer. I don’t know what yet, probably something in black or brown leather. Maybe a military style nato.

In summary, a smart(ish) looking divers watch with a nice clean dial and bezel. Smart enough to wear under a cuff or with a jacket perhaps. I like the style of the sandwich dial but actually the dome of the crystal makes it hard to see the sandwich dial effect from some angles. I would love to see some other sandwich dials from Vostok, perhaps some new colours, something not blue or black, preferably with a sunburst finish (I know, I don’t want much!).

This Vostok Amphibia Classic 170548 was purchased from Komandisrkie.com in early March 2020. The cost was approximately £94 / $118 at time of purchase. The watch arrived in the UK in the first week May which, all things considered (Covid-19), was just about bearable (hey, I’m a patient kind of guy!).