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The 2024 Aquastar Benthos 500 Founder’s Edition brings back the feature that made the original, introduced around 1970, distinctive: a central hand that measures elapsed minutes for up to 60 minutes. Its single-pusher automatic chronograph is more than a vintage-style detail—it uses a purpose-built Aquastar-exclusive movement. The reissue is not a specification-for-specification copy, however: its water-resistance rating is 200 meters, compared with the original’s reported 500 meters.
What is the Aquastar Benthos 500?
The Benthos 500 is a dive watch whose defining complication is a central-minute chronograph. Instead of placing elapsed time on a small subdial, it uses a large central hand to show elapsed minutes against the dial’s minute track. That layout is the key distinction between the chronograph Benthos 500 and the time-only Benthos H1.
Aquastar’s Founder’s Edition, launched in 2024, revives the Benthos 500 design and its central chronograph. It is a modern reissue, not a replica: the movement, case arrangement and water-resistance rating differ from the original.
How does the central chronograph work?
One pusher controls a 60-minute timer
The automatic Aquastar-exclusive caliber 1MPS, developed with La Joux-Perret, powers a monopusher chronograph. Press the pusher once to start timing, again to stop it, and again to reset it. The orange arrow-tipped hand makes the elapsed-minute reading prominent; it is not a seconds hand. A separate central seconds hand serves ordinary timekeeping.
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#1 Best Overall
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The pusher sits at 2 o’clock and the crown at 4 o’clock on the Founder’s Edition. Launch coverage describes the original’s layout as the reverse, making the modern control arrangement another departure from the vintage watch. Hodinkee reported that the chronograph pusher can be operated while submerged.
Why a central minute hand?
A central hand is easy to read against the main dial at a glance, without interpreting a small register. The 60-minute range can track a full hour; the separate unidirectional dive bezel offers another elapsed-time scale. Historically, the combination served practical dive timing, including monitoring intermediate intervals such as decompression stops.
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How does the Founder’s Edition compare with the original?
| Feature | Original Benthos 500 | 2024 Founder’s Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Chronograph | Central 60-minute monopusher chronograph, per launch coverage. | Central 60-minute monopusher chronograph; automatic caliber 1MPS, developed with La Joux-Perret. |
| Water resistance | 500 m, as reported in 2024 launch coverage. | 200 m, as reported in 2024 launch coverage. |
| Controls | Launch coverage describes the original pusher and crown arrangement as reversed from the reissue. | Pusher at 2 o’clock; crown at 4 o’clock. |
| Movement | Not stated in the cited 2024 launch coverage. | Automatic Aquastar-exclusive caliber 1MPS; 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour); reported 60-hour power reserve. |
The reduction in water resistance is substantial, even though 200 meters remains a dive-watch rating. Monochrome reported that reaching 500 meters would have required an additional 3–4 mm of case thickness; that is its explanation, not an independently verified engineering finding.
What are the modern Benthos 500’s specifications?
| Specification | Founder’s Edition, as reported in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Case diameter | 42 mm |
| Lug-to-lug | 47 mm |
| Thickness | 15.4 mm, reported by Fratello and Monochrome; Hodinkee reports 15.8 mm. |
| Water resistance | 200 m |
| Movement | Automatic Aquastar-exclusive 1MPS, developed with La Joux-Perret; 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour); reported 60-hour power reserve. |
| Chronograph | Central 60-minute, monopusher |
| Bezel | Unidirectional, 120-click ceramic |
| Strap width | 22 mm; launch specifications list a black ISOfrane rubber strap with a steel pin buckle. |
The published thickness figures differ, so there is no single consistent measurement in the launch coverage. Fratello describes a 316L stainless-steel case, semi-gloss black dial, applied markers with ecru Super-LumiNova, flat triple-coated anti-reflective sapphire crystal, screw-in steel caseback and black ceramic bezel. The orange chronograph hand has a luminous arrow tip.
Rank #3
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What was the Founder’s Edition launch offer?
Fratello, Hodinkee and Monochrome reported in 2024 that the numbered Founder’s Edition was limited to 300 pieces. Launch coverage listed a US$2,790 preorder price and US$3,790 after the preorder period, with delivery expected from May 2024. Those are historical launch terms, not a current price or confirmation that the watch is still available. Current stock, retail pricing and whether the edition has sold out are not established by those reports.
Quick Recap
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- 5-in-1 Connectivity: Equipped with a 4K HDMI port, a 5 Gbps USB-C data port, two 5 Gbps USB-A ports, and a USB C 100W PD-IN port. Note: The USB C 100W PD-IN port supports only charging and does not support data transfer devices such as headphones or speakers.
- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
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