If your parents ever dragged you to the local Sears department store for back-to-school supplies in the 1970s, somewhere among the endless racks of discounted tie-dye shirts and bell-bottom jeans, you may have seen this handsome Sears Tradition Skin Diver sitting in a display case. “Tradition” was Sears Roebuck’s private label for their line of store brand watches. But despite the “budget” reputation of their store brands, these were no low-end affairs; Some Tradition models were manufactured by Swiss greats such as Heuer and Hamilton. But while their more famous (and vastly more expensive) cousins are widely sought out on the vintage markets today, the humble Traditions fly well under the radar — a secret only to be enjoyed by those in the know.

But how did it come to be that an American mass-market department store got these venerable Swiss manufacturers on board to make them private label watches? Nowadays, Sears may be little more than a historic footnote in a long list of failed American shopping chains, but in the 1960s and 70s, Sears Roebuck & Company was sitting atop an enormous retail empire — it was literally “where America shops”. As such, if you were a Swiss watch manufacturer looking to expand sales overseas, this was going to be one of your best opportunities to reach into American pocket books.

This particular Sears Tradition Skin Diver model is very much a typical Swiss skin diver of its era. Powering this watch is a Sears Roebuck Co. signed A. Schild 1902/03 movement; Also used in some Blancpain Fifty Fathoms references, it was a ubiquitous workhorse calibre of its day. The thick straight lugs of the unpolished 38mm Aquastar-style case gently curve downward to hug the contour of the wrist. Atop the matte slate-grey dial sits a combination of polished applied indices and custard tritium wedges at 6, 9, and 12. A neatly framed date window sits at 3 — and thankfully, the color of the date wheel is perfectly matched with the dial. (Why do so many watches neglect this simple detail?) The faceted baton hour and minute hands are beautifully finished in gloss black, just wide enough to accommodate a generous strip of lume. The paddle seconds hand with syringe tip has got to be one of my favorite vintage design cues on this watch — very reminiscent of the legendary 62Mas. Last but definitely not least, what vintage skin diver would be complete without a bakelite friction bezel?

Although still largely unknown, this Sears Tradition Skin Diver has gained somewhat of a cult-following among die-hard vintage skin diver enthusiasts. Fortunately, prices have not yet risen to exorbitant levels and good examples are not particularly hard to find. This attainability combined with its great vintage appeal make the Tradition one of the best values to be had from the golden era of skin divers — not to mention a bygone era of American retail.