Aquastar
Brand History
Aquastar was founded in Geneva in 1962 on the initiative of Frédéric Robert, a central figure in the brand's history: between 1957 and 1977 he filed eleven patents related to diving instruments, four of them in his own name, including — in 1964 — the patent for the no-decompression bezel and — in 1965 — the one for the dual-gasket crown that would make possible, a few years later, a watch water-resistant to 500 metres.
From the outset the brand focused on technical instruments for professional and military diving rather than general-purpose watches: in the 1970s and early 1980s the French Marine Nationale equipped its combat divers with the third generation of the Benthos, the house's most celebrated model (see the dedicated section below). From 1984 to 2020 production shifted almost entirely to the digital Regatta 2000 line, designed for competitive sailing, while the historic Geneva atelier remained active until its closure in 2020.
Since 2020 Aquastar has resumed mechanical production, with operations moved to Biel, where all of the brand's watches are now assembled and tested — a return to the house's mechanical origins after nearly forty years devoted mainly to electronics for sailing.
