You will also be getting some pretty awesome lume. Regardless of which of the NTH Subs you go with, you will be picking up the excellent build quality that Vail has come to be known for. In other words, while both are tool watches, I might be tempted to say that the Santa Cruz is more style-oriented, while the Amphion with the lack of a date display and it’s crisp white-on-black color scheme hews the closest to the tool watch ethos. While the Santa Cruz definitely has more of a styled touch to it (with the color scheme), here, on the Amphion, you are headed for more of an everyday, no-nonsense sort of styling. Getting back to the Amphion, this is the classic “red triangle” style, no-date look. I would be remiss if I did not call out the similarities to the Raven Vintage, another watch of this style that I have been a big fan of. As it turns out, all of those Seiko mods that go this route are pointed back to that mil-spec design, so we’re still in good company here. At first glance, you might think that this is copying a Seiko mod. Ignoring colors for the moment, the big difference here is sword-style handset. Right off the bat, you can see that there are a lot of similarities to the Santa Cruz – same case and bracelet, same indices and crown, and a very similar bezel insert. The other NTH Sub we took a at look at is known as the Amphion. Fortunately, the “aged” lume did not impact glow performance either (more on that in a bit). In short, I found a lot to like about the dial on the Santa Cruz, though I could have perhaps done without the model name showing up on the dial (the rest of the text was A-OK in my book). For me, this calls to mind a higher-quality dress shirt that initially appears smooth, and only on closer inspection do you pick up the color-on-color pattern. No, instead, there is a cross-hatch weave on the dial. The dial of the NTH Sub Santa Cruz is not some boring, flat insert either. I would not go so far as to call it tropic, as it is set off (in our review loaner) against a crisp white dial. Then, on top of those hunks of metal, you have some lume that has a color to give it an aged look. Rather than going with some sort of simple printing, or even layers of paint, these are very raised applied indices. Actually, those indices are a perfect place to start to showcase how Vail upped the game with these watches. This is the most recognizable design of the two, with the Mercedes handset, and of course those index shapes. The first of the two NTH Subs that I had hitting my wrist was the Santa Cruz. And, of course, Vail being Vail, he had to tweak the designs a bit, all while bringing the high-quality materials to the table at his affordable price points. In other words, these are a mix of different styles, bringing things together in different ways. Instead, these draw from the original military specs that brought us watches like the Rolex Submariner, and the Omega models that preceded the crowned brand in the military contracts. What you might not be as aware of is that these are not simply taking inspiration from the Rolex watches of the past. Now, anyone taking a look at the NTH Sub lineup is instantly going to see the obvious cues to watches of the past. As part of the rebranding, the Janis Trading NTH Subs are a completely new line that will hit the streets soon, and we recently got to spend some quality time with a pair from the new lineup, which we first brought you word of back in the spring. Now, that is a name that should be familiar to most of you (and if it isn’t, check out our interview with brand creator Chris Vail). NTH? Janis Trading? Who, or what, is that? If you were not aware, Janis Trading is actually a brand you are probably already familiar with – they were formerly known as as Lew & Huey.
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