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Argonaut 1000 TQ diving instrument by CX Swiss Military WatchCX Swiss Military Watch has recently revealed its new Argonaut 1000 TQ diving watch.Powered by the Ronda cal. 5030.D quartz chronograph movement and featuring a helium escapement valve, the watch has a guaranteed water resistance of up to 1000 meters and its titanium bracelet has an integrated extension to use the watch with a diving suit.While making the watch more affordable, the use of the Ronda’s quartz movement also makes it less distinctive. Like a great number of other watches that feature the same quartz caliber, the new Argonaut 1000 TQ sports the inevitable tri-compass dial layout with a central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock, 12-hour totalizer at 6 o’clock and a small-seconds sub-dial at 3 o’clock. As usual, the standard date window is located at 4 o’clock.Well, this one is definitely not a fashion watch but a diving instrument, which makes its standardized dial more of a merit rather than a disadvantage. You can read elapsed time interval at a single glance without loosing precious seconds trying to figure out what is where.And if that is not enough, consider this: the movement sells on the gray market at about $60, which makes it more expensive than mass-produced automatic chronograph movements made by ETA. So, it is not some cheap piece of Asian plastic.The watch sports a titanium case 46mm in diameter with rubber details that tips the scales at only 188g. Extra water resistance is ensured by screw-down pushpieces and crown.To make sure that the Argonaut 1000 TQ will sell at the recommended price of €1398, the guys from CX Swiss Military Watch limited the series to only 200 units. So, if you want one, you’ll have to hurry up.

Swiss watch exports have grown by almost 17% in Janaury this year in comparison with January 2010 according to a report this Tuesday by an industry group. The figures were not as strong as the last two months but this is due to the seasonal and Christmas sales from the end of 2010. Demand for Swiss watches fell in Italy but grew in Germany, but demand was at its strongest in Middle East countries such as Dubia and Qatar and also in the Far East in China and Hong Kong. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch industry the total exports were 1.1 Billion CHF (Swiss Francs), which equates to 1.16 billion USD in January this year which is 16.9% higher than the previous year. This comes at the same time as figures released for Swiss exports also showed marked improvement on last year with exports growing 9.4% in real terms, proving that Switzerland is one of the few countries to escape the current economic recession relatively unharmed. Exports grew by almost 35% to China, there was a 10.2% increase in exports to Germany and U.S. exports also grew by 6.7%. Increased demand for Swiss products across Asia also helped to increase growth.