Alsta was known in the 1960s and 1970s for its distinctive skin divers. Prior to the arrival of the Superautomatic Alsta was mainly focusing on the release of smaller, thinner waterproof sports watches - called skin divers- which were ready to go straight into any adventure on land, air or sea.

Skin divers are slimmer versions of dive watches with depth ratings typically between 100 and 200 metres as opposed to the 300m-plus found in professional grade divers. They were sufficiently slender and elegant to be worn also under a shirt cuff.

Always an early mover when new ideas or trends were catching attention, Alsta caught the mood of the time by releasing its first waterproof sports watch in the mid-1960s - the Nautoscaph.

The origins of the Nautoscaph were inspired by those days when the possibilities for human endeavour seemed endless. Apollo astronauts were flying in space and there was talk of going to the moon. James Bond was travelling the world to keep us safe and Jacques Cousteau was showing previously unimagined creatures in the depths of the oceans. These adventurers always had a life-dependent need for accurate time-keeping and therefore wristwatches were part of the essential equipment and were accessible by the general public, unlike space rockets and dive ships.

More adventurous leisure sports such as snorkelling and diving became accessible to a wider audience. This wider audience, of course, wanted to imagine participating in the full adventure including owning the equipment, which included waterproof dive watches. Even better were rugged and waterproof watches that were sufficiently thin and elegant to also be worn to dinner. This was what Alsta achieved with its Nautoscaph line.

The Nautoscaph was the ideal choice for Alsta to burst back onto the scene in 2017 with its Nautoscaph II, which was inspired by the original Nautoscaph of the 1960s. The new line followed the same design language as the original Nautoscaph and was updated with modern materials and a slightly increased case size for contemporary tastes. It was presented on a Milanese-style mesh bracelet.
The original Nautoscaphs were steel with mostly black dials, although some rare ones were made with blue ones. The new Nautoscaph II is finished in high-quality stainless steel or in elegant high-grade bronze and offers a variety of dial colours. The steel models sport steel bracelets whereas the bronze models come with hand-made Italian leather straps.

In 2018 Alsta released the limited edition Nautoscaph III, which was similar to the Nautoscaph II except it had a black PVD-coated case. It was still dive rated to the Alsta standard of 999ft/300m and it was presented on a black leather strap with a PVD-coated buckle.