Alsta Nautoscaph Superautomatic 'JAWS'

A man on a boat looks out to sea, scanning for the danger lurking beneath the waves. He spots the foreboding shape of a triangular dorsal fin cutting through the waves towards a group of swimmers. He holds a Walkie up to his mouth. The watch on his wrist glints in the sun.

The man is Oceanographer Matt Hooper (portrayed by the inimitable Richard Dreyfuss) and the film is of course JAWS, the seminal 1975 nautical horror classic that made a whole generation afraid of the water. But for some watch collectors, the drama centered not on the shark, but on what watch Richard Dreyfuss wore in the film.

Decades passed before someone figured it out.

In 2010, two brothers hit on the watch’s identify after years of poring over screen grabs and Google searches… and then uncovered an even greater mystery.

The watch, it turned out, was an Alsta Nautoscaph. But as was the case with many mechanical watch brands after the Quartz Crisis, there was little for the brothers to go on once they made their discovery. Alsta no longer existed, and what information could be found about the brand was scarce.

Thanks to the diligence of watch sleuths, the holes in the story have been filled in over the years. Alsta was a brand owned by the Alstater Watch Company of New York. Alstater primarily imported and cased Swiss-made watches, and then private-labeled them for sale under a number of different brand names, with Alsta being the one that’s most familiar to collectors today. The brand was reborn in 2014, it would seem, purely to reissue the nostalgic 'JAWS style' diving watches that were so hotly sought after for decades in the collector community - and they've done a great job with the modern homages.

Of course, the original was an excellent jumping off point...

The Nautoscaph line originally came in many variations, with the cushion-case version that Dreyfuss wore in JAWS of course being the fan-favorite. The black and silver 60-minute bezel and glossy black dial, featuring prominent coffin-shaped luminous indices with Arabic quadrants and an oversized handset gives the watch a distinctive look of its own while maintaining that 70s classic diver silhouette that we’ve come to know and love.

This particular example is in stunning condition throughout - and even includes a vintage Speidel 'MACH I' expanding bracelet to fully match the look of Hooper's diver in the original Spielberg summer blockbuster!

If you’ve seen a certain 1975 movie about a man-eating shark, then you know Alsta. The brand was one of several co-owned by Alstater Watch Company of New York, which imported and cased Swiss-made watches and then sold them under various labels. The Quartz Crisis proved to be the brand’s undoing, after which it lay dormant for four decades.
In 2014, the Alsta name was revived, inspired by Richard Dreyfuss’s Nautoscaph watch worn by his character Matt Hooper in Jaws. However, the modern brand didn’t simply copy vintage designs, but iterated upon them: The brand’s first new watch, dubbed the Nautoscaph II, took the original Jaws timepiece and offered it in a skin diver case, rather than the cushion case of the famed Nautoscaph Superautomatic.
In 2018, the brand debuted the Nautoscaph III and the Surf n Ski, further iterating upon the Nautoscaph theme. Finally, in 2019, Alsta released its modern Nautoscaph Superautomatic, a faithful recreation of the original Jaws watch. The Nautoscaph line continues to evolve, inspired by vintage designs but embracing new technologies and aesthetics.

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Analog:Shift stands behind the authenticity of our products in perpetuity.

Condition

Since our pieces are vintage or pre-owned, please expect wear & patina from usage and age. Please read each item description and examine all product images.

Warranty

We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a one-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

International Buyers

Please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

All of our watches include complementary insured shipping within the 50 states.

Most of our products are on hand and will ship directly from our headquarters in New York City. In some cases, watches will be shipped directly from one of our authorized partners.

We generally ship our products via FedEx, fully insured, within 5 business days of purchase. An adult signature is required for receipt of all packages for insurance purposes. Expedited shipping is available at an additional cost. We are also happy to hand deliver your purchase in Manhattan or you may pick it up at our showroom.

Returns must be sent overnight or by priority international delivery, fully insured and paid for by the customer. A restocking fee may apply. Watches must be returned in the same condition as initially shipped.

We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.