Baltic watches, model by model

The Baltic to buy at €385 if 38 mm is your size and hesalite does not trouble you. Miyota 8315 automatic, 47 mm lug to lug, 13 mm thick with the dome included, 50 m, four dials (Silver, Blue Gilt, Black and Gold PVD Black) at one price, on Italian calf leather with bracelet options. The alternative for the same €385 is the HMS 003 below, the same watch 1.5 mm narrower and 1 mm shorter, and the choice between them is wrist width and nothing else. What €385 does not buy is sapphire: the crystal is high-domed hesalite, which scratches and polishes out, and the price reflects it.

The HMS to buy on a wrist under 6.5 inches, at the same €385 as its larger sibling. 36.5 mm across, 46 mm lug to lug, 10 mm of case under a 3 mm hesalite dome for 13 mm in total, Miyota 8315, 50 m, in Salmon, Silver Blue or Blue Gilt. Compare the 10 mm figure with sapphire-crystal rivals, not the 13 mm, since 3 mm of the height is crystal. For the same money the HMS 002 gives 1.5 mm more dial. The trade is the one the whole HMS line carries, hesalite where the rest of the range has sapphire, and it is the reason a Baltic automatic costs €385.

The thin automatic at €545, and the cheapest way into a micro-rotor in the range: the Hangzhou CAL5000a is how a self-winding watch under a domed crystal comes in at 9.9 mm. 36 mm across, 44 mm lug to lug, 30 m, high-domed hesalite; the MR Roulette variants list at the same price, on Italian calf leather with a straight beads-of-rice bracelet option. The alternative is the Prismic, the same 36 mm by 44 mm case, 0.7 mm thinner, under sapphire and on a Swiss hand-wound, at €445 more. What €545 gives up is sapphire and any water resistance worth the name at 30 m, and the product page still calls the watch the MR01.

The field watch to buy at €550, and the thinnest of the eight Miyota 9039 models at 10.8 mm. 37 mm across, 46 mm lug to lug, 150 m, double-domed sapphire, fixed polished steel bezel, Super-LumiNova BGW9, on FKM rubber with bracelet options; the summer colourways list at the same price. The alternative for €80 more is the Aquascaphe MK2 37 mm, the same diameter, 1 mm shorter, 2.1 mm thicker and with a bezel that turns. 150 m covers swimming. What the Tourer does not give you is a rotating bezel, and if you want one Baltic charges the €80.

The original Aquascaphe, and from €600 the cheapest route to a sapphire bezel insert in the range. 39 mm, 47 mm lug to lug, 13 mm thick with the dome and 11 mm without it per the brand, Miyota 9039, 200 m, double-domed sapphire, unidirectional 120-click bezel, Super-LumiNova C1, on FKM rubber Sport; the Blue Gilt is the same price, and beads-of-rice or flat-link bracelets are what lift the 'From' figure. The alternative for €30 more is the MK2 39.5 mm, 0.5 mm larger, 0.1 mm thinner, with BGW9 lume and a date option. Keep the €30 only if the date and the lume grade mean nothing to you.

Buy it for the bronze or not at all: at €600 the €50 over the steel Tourer buys the case metal and nothing else on the sheet. 37 mm, 46 mm lug to lug, 10.8 mm thick, Miyota 9039, 150 m, double-domed sapphire, fixed bronze bezel, in Green, Brown or Blue, on FKM rubber with a bronze buckle. The case is CuAl8 bronze and the lume is Super-LumiNova C3 X1 rather than the steel version's BGW9. For the same €600 the Aquascaphe Classic gives 200 m and a rotating sapphire bezel in steel. The trade is a case that patinates, and 50 m of rating against the Classic.

The Baltic diver for a wrist the 39.5 mm would overhang: at 45 mm lug to lug it is 2 mm shorter than any other diver the brand makes. 37 mm across, 12.9 mm thick, 200 m, Miyota 9039 no-date or 9015 with date, double-domed sapphire, sapphire bezel insert, Super-LumiNova BGW9, from €630 in the same four dials as the larger MK2 (Blue, Grey, Green, Warm Silver), on FKM rubber Classic with bracelet options. The alternative for €80 less is the Hermétique Tourer, 1 mm longer, 2.1 mm thinner, on a fixed bezel. The trade against the 39.5 mm is dial area and nothing else; the price and the movement are the same.

The Baltic to buy if you buy one, from €630, and the case the rest of the sports range is built on. 39.5 mm, 47 mm lug to lug, 12.9 mm thick, 200 m, Miyota 9039 no-date or 9015 with date, double-domed sapphire, unidirectional 120-click sapphire bezel, Super-LumiNova BGW9, in Blue, Grey, Green or Warm Silver. FKM rubber Classic is standard; beads-of-rice or flat-link is the paid option. The alternative for €30 less is the Classic, which gives up the date option and BGW9. The GMT MK-II is this case with a Miyota 9075 inside at €220 more. The trade is the bracelet, which is not in the box.

The Classic in CuAl8 bronze, and as with the Tourer the premium (€45 here) buys the case metal alone. 39 mm, 47 mm lug to lug, 13 mm thick, Miyota 9039, 200 m, double-domed sapphire, unidirectional 120-click bronze bezel with a sapphire insert, Super-LumiNova C1, €645 in Brown, Blue Gilt or Black, on FKM rubber Sport with a bronze buckle. The dimensions and movement match the €600 steel Classic exactly. The alternative for €15 less is the MK2 39.5 mm in steel, with BGW9 lume and the date option. The trade is a case that patinates against one that does not, and C1 lume against BGW9.

The Aquascaphe for anyone who wants 200 m under 12 mm: at 11.9 mm it is the thinnest of the divers, 1.1 mm under the Classic and 1 mm under the MK2, because the bezel sits under the crystal rather than on the case. 39 mm, 47 mm lug to lug, Miyota 9039, single-domed sapphire, Super-LumiNova BGW9, from €670 in Blue, Black or Black PVD, with an internal bidirectional 60-minute bezel turned by a second crown at 2. The alternative for €40 less is the MK2 39.5 mm with an external unidirectional bezel. The trade is that an internal bezel turns both ways and needs the second crown to move; it times a parking meter better than a dive.

The only Baltic rated past 200 m, and at €730 the one to buy if the rating matters more than the diameter. 41 mm across, 47 mm lug to lug, 13.3 mm thick, 300 m, Miyota 9039, unidirectional 120-click brushed ceramic bezel, Super-LumiNova BGW9, in Blue or Black on FKM rubber Sport; the brand states 55 g for the case and no grade. It is the widest case in the range by 1.5 mm, yet at 47 mm lug to lug it is no longer than the 39 mm steel divers. The alternative for €100 less is the MK2 39.5 mm at 200 m in steel. The trade is 100 m against 1.5 mm of case.

The GMT to buy at €850 if a jumping local hour is the point. The Miyota 9075 is a true GMT: the local hour moves in one-hour steps while the 24-hour hand holds home time, and the bidirectional 48-click 24-hour sapphire bezel gives a third zone. 39.5 mm, 47 mm lug to lug, 13.8 mm thick, 200 m, Super-LumiNova BGW9, marked new on the site, in Blue, Red, Grey or Green, on the beads-of-rice bracelet with rubber Sport or flat-link as options. The alternative from the same maker is the MK2 39.5 mm it is built on, at €220 less. The trade is 0.5 mm of thickness over any other Aquascaphe, and €220 for the calibre and the bezel.

The thinnest Baltic at 9.2 mm and, from €990, the first with a Swiss movement. 36 mm across, 44 mm lug to lug, ETA/Peseux 7001 hand-wound, 30 m, double-domed sapphire, a case of 316L steel and grade 5 titanium polished above and circular-brushed below, on Italian calf leather or a steel mesh bracelet, in Salmon, Purple or Green (Grey Blue was out of stock at check). No lume is listed. The alternative for €445 less is the MR Classic, the same 36 mm by 44 mm footprint, 0.7 mm thicker, under hesalite, on a micro-rotor automatic. The trade for going Swiss is winding it yourself, and 30 m means keeping it dry.

The worldtimer, and at €1,300 the cheapest route to a Soprod C125 in this data set: Serica runs the same calibre in its 8315 at $2,450 (€2,090) with COSC certification, which Baltic does not state. 37 mm across, 45 mm lug to lug, 11.3 mm thick, 100 m, double-domed sapphire, unidirectional 120-click brushed ceramic bezel, Super-LumiNova BGW9, on Italian calf leather, 200 numbered pieces per dial. The alternative from Baltic is the GMT MK-II at €450 less, 2.5 mm larger, 2.5 mm thicker and rated to twice the depth. The trade for the €450 is a Swiss calibre and a stone dial against water resistance and a bezel that times a dive.

The stone-dial Prismic is a different watch rather than a dial option: the movement changes to a La Joux-Perret D100 hand-wound and the price to €1,450 for the Pietersite, €1,300 for the other stone dials. The case is the base Prismic's, 36 mm, 44 mm lug to lug, 9.2 mm thick, steel and grade 5 titanium, 30 m, double-domed sapphire, on a brushed steel mesh bracelet. The alternative at close to the money is Farer's Solander, the same D100 at $1,295 (£1,150) in a 38 mm case 1.25 mm thinner. The trade against the €990 Prismic is €460 for the stone and the calibre; the size and the rating do not move.

The only Baltic chronograph since the Bicompax retired, and the most expensive at €1,585 on the flat-link bracelet, with beads-of-rice or leather as options and the non-Classic Scalegraph at €1,635. Sellita SW510-M hand-wound chronograph, 39.5 mm, 47 mm lug to lug, 13.5 mm thick, 50 m, double-domed sapphire, fixed aluminium tachymeter bezel, Super-LumiNova BGW9, on the same footprint as the Aquascaphe MK2. The alternative on the same calibre is Farer's Libre at $2,095 (£1,875), rated to 100 m and limited to 100 units. The trade at Baltic is 50 m: this is a chronograph for the desk, and the Farer's extra rating is part of what the extra money buys.