Squale 1521 Black Polished Sapphire Bezel

It all began when a jet-set member from an entrepreneurial family, Charles von Büren, started assembling his own watches in 1946. In the fifties, scuba diving quickly became popular, both as a leisure activity as well as professionally. Charles got into the hobby, diving close to his home in lake Neuchatel. In 1959 he decided to focus on creating dive watch cases under a new name: Squale, Italian for “shark”.

Back in those days, it was much more common for watchmakers to specialize and combine parts from different manufacturers. Von Büren found an eager clientele for his cases in a.o. Blancpain, Heuer and Doxa. Oftentimes, the client-brand would place its logo at the twelve ‘o clock position. Squale, as the case maker, would place its own logo at the six ‘o clock position. This is why in current Squale watches, there are two logos on the dial. The main logo at twelve, in which you can spot Von Büren’s initials, and the curved shark at six.

Besides making cases for others, Squale also sold their own complete watches, which became particularly popular among divers in the late sixties. They were involved in several free diving record attempts and often given away as prices at such events. Furthermore, the watches were adopted by several special forces, among which the Italian navy and the French “Berets verts”
When Von Büren retired, the business was handed over to the Maggi family, who still operate it today.

The 1521 was designed by Charles von Büren himself. It became one of the typifying dive watches of the seventies. The design is based on the form-follows-function principle, with its protective 4 ‘o clock recessed position of the crown, and bright orange minute hand for easy reading. The case is a 42mm execution of the design that made Squale iconic, being used by Blancpain in their Fifty-Fathoms range as well. The 1521 is available in a range of finishes and dial colors. Cases are available in polished, bead-blasted and black PVD. This special variant features applied indexes as seen on the Squalematic line and a sapphire bezel inlay.

Specifications:
Diameter: 42mm
Water-resistant: 50ATM / 500 meters
Movement: Swiss made ETA 2824-2 with 38h power reserve
Crystal: Flat two-sided anti-reflective sapphire
Bezel: Unidirectional 120 clicks with sapphire inlay