MEET THE BETTY RALLY DIVER

It’s no secret that wearing a chunky mens-sized watch is part of my personal style. A chunky bracelet is mandatory.

The watches that are marketed to women are not for me. I am not a secretary. It isn’t 1967. After all the years of racing triathlon + endurance sports, the sports watches I’ve worn make those “women’” watches seem like a pea sized after thought.

Toeing a start line is bold. Dressing in your own style is bold. Wearing a big watch is bold. It also just goes with my vibe. I’m not sad about it and that is coming from someone with a tiny 5.5 inch wrist!

My gateway drug into big watches happened at the 1998 Ironman World Championship in Kona. My reward for finishing strong was buying myself the Ironman Timex 8Lap Men’s Digital watch. It wasn’t tiny. It was 42mm. I was obsessed with it.

After catching the surf bug with my son Gavyn in the late 2000s I moved on to the Nixon Base Tide and got us matching watches. Of course I had to have it in Pink. He went for the Teal. For this piece of wrist candy I had to settle for a 38mm number, but the case was rectangular which gave it more wrist presence.

Next up was the Timex Expedition Grid Shock Men’s that I started to wear around 2012. This one was a giant rectangle that looked like a wrist calculator and measured in at 50mm. It was SO SICK in a white/black/grey camo pattern. I always got stopped and asked about it. I still have it and got a second one in green camo.

After the Betty Squad found it’s feet in 2014, team sponsorships ushered in an era of sports watches. Garmin was first but was quickly displaced by Wahoo in 2020 with their ELEMNT RIVAL. Not only did it sync perfectly to my bike computer. The oversized 46.5 mm case fit my style bill. I wear white in the summer, black in the winter. The Wahoo is still my choice when I train / workout.

This past year I discovered the Breitling Endurance Pro 44. This reminds me of the retro plastic Tag Heuer watches of the 90s. I love the blue as an addition to my collection and wear this as a casual every day. You can be sure I'll be adding the Breitling Endurance Pro Ironman® Finisher very soon.

While I love the contrast of the big multi-sport watch with a couture dress, it was time to grow up and become a big girl and leave the plastic fantastic behind when I was off the bike, off the skis, and the running shoes were put up.

I was looking for something chunky, metal, sporty and bold to wear with my latest BDlab Sportswear drop or dressing to impress. I have a pretty solid collection of watches ranging from Seiko x Rowing Blazers, to Breitling, to Rolex, to IWC, but there are times when I don’t want wear something expensive.

Cue The Watch Nerd, a.k.a. my husband Matt. He started getting into repairing vintage watches a few years ago, collects his own assortment of wrist candy from military-inspired watches, 60’s vintage divers, and 70’s chronographs, as well as the typical “big brands.” His style of watch is more diminutive which leads to smack down fights about case sizes and watch bracelets. One thing we thought would be cool would be to launch a limited-edition Betty Watch.

In my eyes it had to be metal, oversized, have a nod to racing heritage and not break the bank for those who don’t wish to spend five figures plus on a luxury watch.

One of my favorite watches in my collection is a vintage Seiko 6119-7173. When Seiko reissued and updated that watch last year, we knew it was time to make The Betty Rally Diver. 

Taking inspiration from Seconde Seconde, Matt learned how to make, drill, stake, manufacture, detail, and finish seconds hands. After countless failed attempts, multiple size runs for the seconds hands, 6 different shades of pink, and about 5 months of effort hand-making the seconds hands, The Betty Rally Diver is now ready. 

I couldn’t be more proud + stoked to introduce The Betty Rally Diver. This Betty Designs upgrade is hand assembled with care in Park City, UT.  Each watch has a unique case back numbered 1-10. No two are exactly alike! Your one-of-a-kind watch will be hand-packed and shipped by me personally. A true Betty Designs collectors timepiece. I hope you like it as much as I do. This watch is part of my daily EDC.

Insider Tips from the Watch Nerd: I don’t have much to add but can we revisit our fights about watch bracelets. We really do fight about watch bracelets.

Kristin loves them big, chunky, heavy, and untapering which is the character of the bracelet that accompanies your Betty Rally Diver.

I love them narrow, light, and tapering. This is why we fight. 

The good news is that you don’t need to pick sides.  If you are like Kristin, wear it big and bold. If you are like me, you can swap it out for something smaller, tapering, or even change up the style completely which is what we did in the image below.

One of the reasons we chose this watch is because there are so many affordable and accessible bracelet and strap options to choose from. Any “SRPD 5KX” bracelet with 22mm end links will fit. I also encourage you to explore rubber straps. Don’t scoff at rubber.  Watches that cost $200K or more come with rubber straps these days. I am a fan of Uncle Straps but there are many many others.  If you need some recommendations, please contact us and we can help.