{"id":360033,"date":"2026-07-31T11:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/jeanrichard-aquastar-60-a-schild-cal-1701-the-watch-spot\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T11:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:11:16","slug":"jeanrichard-aquastar-60-a-schild-cal-1701-the-watch-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=360033","title":{"rendered":"JeanRichard Aquastar 60 (A. Schild Cal. 1701)\u2026 \u2013 The Watch Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I\u2019ve written previously about the enigmatic JeanRichard Aquastart<\/a> on the blog. This time it\u2019s the more common JeanRichard Aquastar 60 diver, this one arriving in pretty poor shape.<\/p>\n

(Click pictures to enlarge)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Anyone with more than a passing interest in Aquastar watches will undoubtedly recognise this model, as it\u2019s nearly identical to the Aquastar 60<\/a> that I\u2019ve written about previously on the blog. It\u2019s actually the predecessor to the Aquastar model, as the 60 was first produced with both JeanRichard and Aquastar branding.<\/p>\n

The JeanRichard 60 is thought to have been produced between 1958 and 1962, the one in this post being one of the later models. The earliest model had a different movement, the A. Schild cal. 1581 and a different case construction.<\/p>\n

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The early case has fewer bezel markings and a different caseback. Rather than the regular Aquastar \u2018star\u2019 caseback, the earliest model has a two piece \u2018compression\u2019 caseback with a solid back and a separate threaded ring. In the picture below, you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking that the gasket is missing, but in some early watches, the gasket is a thin layer of grey acrylic rather than rubber, and that\u2019s what you can see here if you look closely.<\/p>\n

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Later in production, as the company was transitioning to Aquastar only branding, the case changed, resulting in a bezel with more markings and the familiar one-piece caseback with the \u2018star\u2019 that you see on many of Aquastar\u2019s vintage models.<\/p>\n

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With the caseback change, the water resistance rating also increased from 10 to 20 ATM (200m), though the watch in this post still has a 10 ATM rating on the dial, suggesting it was made during the transitional period. The movement was also changed to the A. Schild cal. 1701 seen here and in the majority of the Aquastar only models.<\/p>\n

Whilst on the subject of the early model, it\u2019s perhaps pertinent to veer off on a brief tangent to mention the watch worn by Captain Don Walsh, arguably one of the most significant dive watches in history.<\/p>\n

Bought at a local dive shop, Don Walsh wore an early JeanRichard 60 aboard the bathyscaphe \u2018Trieste\u2019, during the Challenger Deep mission in 1960. Part of the first crewed mission to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench (the deepest part of the Earth\u2019s seabed), Don successfully piloted the Trieste to a depth of around 10,916m (35,814 ft). More details are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Decades later, in 2023, Don Walsh decided to put his trusty JeanRichard 60 up for auction and here is a short video of Don himself talking about the watch.<\/p>\n