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ITHYUS Abyssi

Manufacturer: ITHYUS Watches | Price: $635 USD (£480 GBP, €575 EUR approx)

I was scrolling through Instagram a couple of weeks ago, and all of a sudden I had to slam the brakes on, as I seen a picture of this ITHYUS Abyssi. I was like oooooooo, what the f**k is that!!? I immediately tried to investigate and find out more! Absolutely nothing else was shown on Instagram, not even the company itself. Damn it I thought, so I quickly sat in front of my PC as I had to find out more… A few minutes later, I was studying the spec of the Abyssi. It can’t be that good I thought, I need to review this thing, so I sent an email to ITHYUS and just over a week later, it turned up. So… any good?

Specifications

  • Dimensions: Case Diameter – 41.1mm, Thickness – 12.9mm, Lug to Lug – 46.8mm, Lug Width – 22mm
  • Movement: Regulated Sellita SW200-1, Automatic, 28,800vph (4Hz), Hackable, Self Winding, 38hr Power Reserve
  • Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Chamfered Edges
  • Bracelet: 316L Stainless Steel, Solid End Links, Pin & Collar, Signed Dual-Button Deployment Clasp  
  • Crystal: Flat Sapphire, Multiple Underside AR Coatings
  • Bezel: 120 Click Unidirectional, Bead-Blasted Titanium Insert, Fully Lumed
  • Water Resistance: 300m / 30ATM / 990ft (In-House Pressure Tested)
  • Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® C3-X1
  • Crown: 6.5mm, Screw Down, Signed     Caseback: Screw Down
  • Warranty: 1 Year     Where to Buy: ITHYUS Watches
  • Options: Dial Colour – Gloss Black, Gloss Blue, Matte Blue

"Founded in 2017, ITHYUS is a new and emerging microbrand based in the USA. The owner of ITHYUS, and his identical twin brother were born and raised in Washington State. Both earned their Biomedical Engineering degrees from the University of Washington; and enjoy exploring the outdoors, cars, motorcycles and other recreational activities including hiking and scuba diving. Wrist watches and an appreciation for engineering in general have always been passions of theirs since early adulthood. ITHYUS designs are produced and implemented entirely in CAD from initial concept to finish, beginning with them personally digitally-drafting out the timepieces to scale for direct implementation. This ensures no details are lost in translation from the design to implementation (eg: from sketch to digital). Every fraction of a millimeter matters to ITHYUS".
ITHYUS Logo
Philip
Owner, ITHYUS Watches

Case & Crown

The case of the Abyssi has a diameter of 41.1mm. The lug to lug is 46.8mm and the overall thickness, including the sapphire crystal, I measured in at a very nice 12.9mm, which is rather slim for a 300m dive watch. The entire case, caseback, bezel, crown and bracelet are all 316L stainless steel. The finish of the watch is mostly brushed with a rather gorgeous chamfered polished edge that runs along the side of the case, over the crown guards and down to the ends of the lugs. I have to say, I like this a lot, as it looks fantastic and gives the watch a very premium look & feel.

The Abyssi has a water resistance rating of 300m, thanks to the screw down caseback & crown. This rating isn’t something that ITHYUS just slapped on the dial either, as each and every watch is pressure tested in-house. The proportions of the watch, in my opinion, are spot on for my 7″ wrist. The Abyssi wears extremely well on wrist and it’s very comfortable, with it just melting onto the wrist. I’ve caught myself checking when wearing the Abyssi to see if I was still wearing a watch.

The signed crown is also fantastic, looks great with it’s deep stamped logo, and there is absolutely zero wobble when the crown is pulled out to any position. You also feel a very nice pop as you unscrew the crown and you can see and feel the amount of work that has gone into the crown, making it feel very premium when in use. The caseback is quite a simple affair and nothing to write home about, but it does have their logo etched into it with various specs around the edge.

Bracelet

The bracelet that comes fitted to the Abyssi is nothing less than exceptional! It’s fitted to the watch head perfectly and the tolerances are on point. I’ve only seen this kind of quality and fit & finish on just a very small handful of watches that cost double or more the price of this Abyssi. The bracelet itself is 22mm at the lugs, that tapers down to 20mm and back to 22mm at the clasp. There are solid links throughout and there’s absolutely no rough or sharp edges to be found anywhere as the bracelet is as smooth as a baby’s bum! Unfortunately, there are no screw pins used with this bracelet, as the Abyssi uses the much frowned upon pin and collar system to keep things secure. More on this below…

When I first learned that the Abyssi had the pin & collar system, I thought, oh bollocks, typical!! However, I needn’t have worried, as the collars themselves are the full width of the mid-links. To be honest, it took me less than 5 minutes to size up the Abyssi for my 7″ wrist and there was none of the that usual shouting and swearing like I’d normally do with a pin & collar set-up. All-in-all, it’s a superb bracelet. Some people might not like the clasp, but I do, it’s very nice and comfortable whilst on wrist, although maybe one more micro-adjustment hole would have been nice. To be fair though, the two holes that are there do give you around a half link size of adjustment which was all I needed to get the perfect fit.

Movement

The chosen movement for the Abyssi is the Swiss made Sellita SW200-1. A fantastic calibre that is a 28,800vph, 4Hz, smooth sweep, 26 jewel movement with self winding and of course hacking. The movement is regulated in six positions, all performed in-house by ITHYUS. Checking the accuracy after running the Abyssi for just over a week, mainly on my wrist and occassionally in my watch winder, I was more than happy with the results, with the Abyssi showing an average of just +1.5 seconds per day! Perfect, great job ITHYUS!

Dial & Bezel

The Abyssi has a 120 click unidirectional bezel with a fully lumed bead blasted titanium insert. It is of outstanding quality with everything lining up absolutely perfectly. The bezel action is top notch with zero backplay. The text on the dial is printed, showing the words ABYSSI & AUTOMATIC with the depth rating of 300m just underneath. The ITHYUS logo is also very neatly printed, done at just under the 12 o’clock position.