Watch Reviews by MCV

Model # DJ00001B

Brand/Model: Orient Star GMT ‘Star Seeker’
Movement: Japanese automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet
Complications: date display, independently adjustable third GMT hand, power reserve indicator
Price: MSRP: $1,100 USD; street price as low as $550 USD with discount coupon

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

When this Orient Star GMT first hit the Japanese market a year or two ago, it was fairly well received except for a couple design flaws that seemed to temper its sales success. The first generation of this watch featured a round cyclops over the date window and solid, thinner hands. Apparently, enough people voiced their concerns over these design elements and Orient then released the second generation of this model for worldwide consumption.

The newer model eliminated the cyclops and added slightly wider semi-skeleton hands to replace the originals. Most people feel these two changes were a big improvement to the original. I feel the loss of the cyclops was a good move, although I prefer the solid hands of the first generation.

Regardless of how you feel about the changes to the ‘Star Seeker’ (Orient USA’s name for this model), one thing Orient did not change was the fine in-house newly developed Caliber 40P51 automatic movement, with 22 jewels running at 21,600 bph and, drum roll please... handwinding and hacking capability! Finally! An Orient Star automatic that you can handwind instead of shake to get going. And hacking is always a welcome improvement.

Considering all the features this watch brings to the table, if you can get it at the 30-to-50 percent discount being offered regularly from Orient USA, you will have a watch with a high-value quotient. An automatic that hacks, manual winds with an independently adjustable GMT hand, power reserve meter and a sapphire crystal for around $600 USD? Not bad! But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

The Star Seeker is available in white and black dials. There are also some pictures floating around that appear to show a model of this watch with a black PVD bezel, but it’s unclear whether it’s just the lighting in the photo or actually a black bezel. Regardless, the all stainless version looks just fine.

The Star Seeker starts with an all stainless steel case measuring 41.4mm without the two crowns or the rather bulky crown guard. If the crown guard is factored in, the case measures 44.1mm. The case is polished and brushed and has an elegant carved style to the sides of the lugs, ala Omega. The case back screws down and is a display type, showing the mildly decorated movement and a nifty-looking signed and stylized rotor. Case thickness is 14.2mm, lug width is 21mm.

On the right side of the case, between the two crowns is a sort of crown protector that is screwed into the side of the case with two screws and fills the gap between the two crowns. This tends to make the watch look rather ungainly on one side. The jury is still out on this design element.

The lower crown at the 4 position screws down and is used to rotate the inner 24-hour bezel. The upper crown at the 2 position is used to wind and set the watch, set the quickset date and adjust the GMT hand in click-set one-hour increments. The upper crown does not screw down. Neither crown is signed, which disappointed me. I love signed crowns and think this Orient Star could benefit from having two signed crowns. A small quibble, but a quibble nonetheless.

The Star Seeker is factory rated at 100 meters of water resistance. A quickset date window is located at the 3 position and is outlined with a silver beveled frame. The date window is black on white.

The dial is quite detailed and fairly busy, some may find it a bit disjointed in relation to the location of the power reserve meter. I think a power reserve meter is a very useful complication to have. The meter on the Star Seeker is located in the upper left side of the dial, between the 10 and 12 positions. The meter has a silver lumed pointer and reads up to 40 hours in 10-hour increments. The scale is applied to the dial and has a nice three-dimensionality about it, with the meter subdial being inset into the dial.

Silver rectangular markers are located at each five minute mark, with the even numbers of the 24-hour GMT scale located at the end of each marker in the inner track of the dial. The rest of the 24-hour scale (odd hours) is represented by hash marks. Small lume dots are located on the other side of the markers between the inner rotating 24-hour bezel.

The dial itself is a deep, glossy black with fairly minimal printing consisting of the Orient Star name and logo, along with the words ‘automatic’ and ‘gmt’, the latter being in red.

The hour and minute hands are semi-skeleton in design and were probably chosen to aid in seeing the power reserve meter as the hands make their way around the dial. The hands are silver with inset lume. The seconds hand is a plain, silver tapered stick. I wish the seconds hand had more style, but I’m sure Orient didn’t want it to compete with the GMT hand. The GMT hand is thicker, red and sports a lumed arrow-style tip. Lume quality is in keeping with all of Orient’s latest efforts, read: very good to excellent.

The dial is capped off by the inner rotating 24-hour bezel that serves as the chapter ring, which also gives this watch three-timezone tracking capability. This bezel can be rotated in either direction and is not detented, so it can be positioned anywhere around the dial and locked into position with the lower crown.

A flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating tops the dial and protrudes slightly above the stainless steel bezel of the watch. The crystal does not have any anti-reflective tint to it, partly because the coating can’t be very thick because it doesn’t snuff out all the reflections. No distortion was noted with the crystal and fit and finish into the case was fine. Overall fit and finish on the Star Seeker is pretty much first rate.

The Caliber 40P51 movement winds fine and by watching the power reserve meter, you’ll know when the watch has been fully wound. Hack setting works fine. I can’t tell you how much of a joy it is to have an Orient that can be manually wound.

The Star Seeker ran for a strong 47 hours during my testing, besting its 40-hour power reserve meter. The meter is accurate and can be counted on to let you know the status of the wind with just a quick glance. My Star Seeker runs about +20 seconds/24 hours, acceptable performance, but I was hoping for a somewhat better showing from this new movement, since it’s bound to form the base of many new watches from Orient and Orient Star. But the watch is still new and my example may settle down a bit after further wearing.

The bracelet on the Star Seeker is a solid link design with tastefully styled polished and brushed links. The end links are solid. The clasp is signed and has a pushbutton release. The deployant is a proper machined type. The bracelet measures 21mm at the lugs and tapers to 17.9mm at the clasp. There are three micro-adjustment holes on the clasp to help achieve a good fit. Bracelet adjustment was easy, with standard split pins securing the links. The overall presentation of the bracelet and clasp are nice, but for some reason, it still feels a bit cheap to me. Maybe I’m just getting too picky.

In summary, the Orient Star ‘Star Seeker’ GMT is a superb piece of Japanese horological accomplishment. If you’re looking for a competent, stylish, reliable GMT watch with a host of quality features at what could be considered a bargain for the feature set, the Star Seeker shouldn’t disappoint.

Pros: in-house automatic movement that hacks and manually winds, power reserve function, independently adjustable GMT hand, sapphire crystal, nice fit and finish

Cons: some design elements still a bit ‘off’, modest water resistance rating, quality features on bracelet, but it still feels a bit cheap

Verdict: strong feature set for the price in a unique and reliable GMT timekeeper. Overall, the Star Seeker is a winner!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # H35 716 545

Brand/Model: Hamilton Pan-Europ Automatic Chronograph
Movement: Swiss automatic chronograph
Material: stainless steel case, leather strap
Complications: date display, chronograph timing in one-second increments up to 30 minutes
Price: MSRP: $1,971 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Plenty has already been written and said about the re-issue of the Hamilton Pan-Europ automatic chronograph, and if you will indulge me, I will add my eight dollars and 43 cents worth. This watch is a re-issue of Hamilton’s iconic Pan-Europ automatic chronograph from 1971, which has been heralded as the world’s first automatic mechanical chronograph. I won’t go into the debate as to whether this is really true or not, but suffice to say that the original Pan-Europ is an important part of horological history and a pretty nifty looking watch to boot!

The re-issue captures many of the details of the 1971 original while updating the piece in keeping with the current trends in men’s watches, ie: big. Hamilton decided to celebrate its being a part of the Swatch Group since 1971 (40 years) by re-issuing the Pan-Europ in a limited edition of 1,971 pieces, all of which have been spoken for.

First off, I feel that Hamilton watches generally represent a great value, with outstanding build quality and nice details for prices that are lower than other brands. The new Pan-Europ continues this tradition.

The original Pan-Europ was a lefty crown with right-hand chronograph pushers because the movement was the famed Caliber 12 movement used by Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton. The re-issue has a standard right side crown and pushers, but is faithful to the colors used in the original, primarily blue, white and red. The mysterious number ‘703’ has been left off the dial of the new watch. No one quite knows what this number referred to in the original, but it appeared on the dial and has been confounding watch enthusiasts ever since.

The new Pan-Europ starts with a large 45.2mm stainless steel case in a classic cushion/tonneau shape that is polished and brushed. There’s no mistaking this watch for the original, the new one is big! The polished case back is secured by four screws and sports a large ‘1971’ along with individual serial numbers for the limited edition. The crown screws down and is signed. Case diameter with crown is 49.6mm. Thickness is 14.5mm, with 22mm lugs. Overall fit and finish is quite good. The crown is nice and large and screws down. The pushers have mild fluting on them, although they do not screw down.

What appeals so much about the Pan-Europ is its vivid blue dial, which can look darker blue in certain light or the perfect shade of medium blue in other light. The blue rotating bezel is also a stunner. The dial is offset by the white-rimmed subdials for the chronograph, which are slightly raised above the dial and jut out to the edge of the tachymeter chapter ring. The subdials themselves are silver with red pointers.

The subdial on the left is the watch seconds hand, the subdial on the right is the chronograph’s 30-minute totalizer. The chronograph seconds hand is all red and is kept simple. The main watch hands are silver stick-style with inset lume.

The hands appear to be rather thin in relation to the overall size of the watch, so this can be somewhat jarring at times. It’s not a major design fault, but their thinness doesn’t jive with the rest of the watch. Silver applied markers with inset lume are set halfway into the chapter ring for a unique look. Lume quality is fine, there’s just not a lot of lumed surfaces on the new Pan-Europ.

Another cool touch is the retro ‘70s style font used for the printing on the dial. The words ‘Hamilton’, ‘automatic’, ‘Pan-Europ’ and ‘Caliber H31’ appear on the dial and are properly sized so as not to be obtrusive or distracting.

A quickset date window is at the 6 position with a black on white date wheel. A note about the quickset date. Instead of operating through the crown like most do, this quickset is changed via a small flush pusher at the 10 position on the upper left side of the case. My theory is that the modified Valjoux 7753 precluded a standard crown operated quickset, but I don’t know for sure. You can use any small pointed object to set the date with the pusher, I prefer something made of plastic to avoid the possibility of scratching the case.

A very slightly domed sapphire crystal covers the dial. A blue unidirectional 120-click bezel surrounds the dial and has clear, easy to read numbers on it. The grooves cut into the side of the bezel are fairly widely spaced and not real deep and coupled with the polished sides, make the bezel a bit hard to turn at times. But the bezel looks magnificent. The watch is factory rated at 100 meters of water resistance.

Inside the new Pan-Europ is the Hamilton Caliber H31, which is a modified Valjoux 7753. Hamilton installs a larger barrel for a claimed 60-hour power reserve. During testing in my atelier, I achieved a good 58-hour power reserve, but not the claimed 60 hours. Timekeeping has been excellent, running +1/24 hours. Chronograph start, stop and reset are as expected, that is, crisp, positive and accurate. The crown is nice and big and makes handwinding the Pan-Europ a pleasure.

The strap on the new Pan-Europ looks stunning and compliments the retro-aspect of this watch perfectly. The strap is a thick, medium brown rally-style leather with a croc pattern embossed on it. The strap is not as soft or supple as some Hamilton straps I have seen and although it is handmade, it feels pretty stiff and a bit low-grade. It has a semi-gloss finish with white contrast stitching and measures 22mm at the lugs, tapering to about 20.3mm at the clasp.

Speaking of the clasp, it is a first-class piece all the way; a pushbutton signed clasp with a beautiful polished and machined deployant that fits over the other end of the strap for a smoother feel and cleaner look while wearing, since the strap touches your skin and not the deployant. Another benefit of this clasp design is the lack of any keepers; they are not needed because the end of the strap rides inside your wrist, not on the outside.

When the new Pan-Europ was released a few months ago, people eagerly waited to get their hands on it. All 1971 pieces sold out quickly, but a month or two later, the inevitable flippers appeared and continue to do so sporadically, so finding one will take some effort, but shouldn’t prove too hard. I think the size of the new piece puts off some enthusiasts; it is a large watch and can be ungainly from time to time.

Overall, Hamilton has created a fitting homage to its original Pan-Europ from 1971, suitably upgraded and updated for 21st century duty. Large and in-charge with the Hamilton attributes that make this brand so appealing, the new Pan-Europ would be a worthy addition to any watch collection.

Pros: stunning blue dial and bezel, overall fine build quality, two-register chrono good looks, a fitting tribute to the original, beautiful deployant clasp

Cons: large size too big for some, thick, stiff leather strap, slight plastic look to parts of the dial, quickset date pushbutton a bit odd

Verdict: buy it for looks, buy it for heritage, but make sure you wear it, because the new Hamilton Pan-Europ is too nice a watch to keep hidden away

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # H3.202351.09

Brand/Model: H3 Tactical Field Ops
Movement: Swiss quartz
Material: black ion-plate stainless steel case, ‘digital camo’ print leather strap
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $360 USD; Street Price: $159 to $270 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

I really don’t know very much about the H3 brand of watches other than that they contain Swiss movements and are made with tritium tube technology from MB Microtec of Switzerland. The company claims to be the supplier of watches to the Swiss Army. Tritium tubes continuously glow without needing any light to activate them and have a claimed useful life of 20 years or so. Sometimes tritium tubes are referred to as a ‘permanent self-activated illumination system.’

This is the fifth tritium tube watch I have owned. If you’re not familiar with this technology, it is handy to have in some circumstances (like being in a movie theater), but I tend to look at them as still being kind of gimmicky. The glow is not nearly as bright as super luminova or similar applied glow-in-the-dark coatings. The tritium tube glow is softer, which can be both a positive or negative, depending on the situation.

One nice thing about tritium tubes are the colors they are now available in, mainly green, orange and blue (plus others), which can all be used on watches and can add some interesting contrasts to a watch dial. Another bit of information to know about tritium tube watches, since the tubes themselves are thicker when compared to standard watch hands with super luminova, the dials have to be set deeper into the case, especially if all three hands (or more) are equipped with a tritium tube. A deeper dial is something not all people will appreciate. It could also potentially make the watch case thicker, again, depending on how many tritium tubes are used in a particular watch’s construction. There are also new flat tritium tubes being used by some watch companies which should make the dials less deep.

This H3 Tactical starts with a brushed stainless steel case that is black ion plated for a smooth, cool look. The ion plate is evenly applied and so far has held up to abuse.

The case measures 42mm without the screwdown crown, 45.7mm crown inclusive. The case back is standard brushed stainless steel (not ion plated) and screws down. Case thickness is 13.1mm, lug width is a nice standard 20mm, which makes it easier to find suitable replacement straps, which you may want to do to replace the rather garish ‘digital camo’ print overly thick leather strap that comes standard with this H3 model.

What drew me to this particular watch was its unique yellow-toned dial that is sort of yellow, but sort of tan, beige or khaki at times, too. It was hard to photograph and the true yellowish tone of the dial didn’t really come through in the photos.

The dial has printed black arabics from 01 to 12, with a smaller 13-24 hour military time inner track. There are 12 horizontally installed tritium tubes on the outside of each arabic, the one at 12 is orange, the rest around the dial are green.

The hands are black with wide arrow pointer ends, the hour and minute hands both have one green tritium tube installed along with standard luminous material applied to the arrow ends. The seconds hand is orange with an open arrow tip. There are orange vertical hash marks between each five minute arabic, but due to the size of the horizontally installed tritium tubes, there are only two hash marks between each arabic and none at the bottom of the dial from the 05 to 07 markers, due to printing at the bottom edge of the dial. It would be a bit hard to use this watch for various counting purposes due to this design.

The quickset date is located at 3 and has a white on black datewheel. A flat sapphire crystal covers the dial and is surrounded by a black 120-click unidirectional bezel with a simple silver numbered insert with timing marks around the entire circumference of the bezel. The bezel is fairly easy to turn, but has a large amount of slop or backlash on it when turned against its unidirectional rotation. This means the bezel has to be tweaked to line it up at the top of the dial. The simple insert also looks cheap and out of character on a watch with a retail of $360 USD. Demerits here from me.

The dial has minimal printing on it, with just the H3 Tactical logo and ‘100m/330 feet’ printed on the lower center. Which brings up a curious point. The dial says this watch is water resistant to 100 meters, while the case back says the watch is water resistant to 20 atm (200 meters). A big discrepancy and important to someone who would want to actually use this watch for swimming or diving. So which is it? I have no idea, but for a company that makes a pricey, sports-oriented watch and supplies the Swiss Army, this discrepancy is unacceptable and calls into question the QC aspects of its manufacture.

The movement is Swiss quartz. I have not cracked the back to see if it’s an ETA, Ronda, ISA or something else. The watch keeps acceptable quartz time, running about +10 seconds a month. The movement sets fine and the quickset date works fine. The second hand does an approximate job of hitting the two hash marks between each arabic on the dial.

The strap is a 20mm genuine leather ‘digital camo’ print strap with greenish stitching on the top side, while the inside of the strap is plain light tan leather with off-white stitching. The strap is almost a continuous width of 20mm from lug to buckle, tapering to just 19.4mm at the buckle. The buckle is black ion plate stainless steel and is signed ‘H3 Tactical.’ There are two keepers on the strap, one fixed and one floating.

There are two problems with the strap. First, you really have to like camo print to appreciate the strap. If you don’t, you will think the strap is garish and looks kind of stupid on the watch. Also, and this is a bigger problem, the strap is overly thick. This fact, coupled with the rather cheap leather used to make the strap, makes it feel rubbery and very hard to use and insert the tang of the buckle through the rectangular holes in the strap. The strap is also an XL size, so there’s too much strap that overhangs the other side and again, since it’s so thick, it makes the watch ungainly on the wrist.

Since I use this watch as a knock-around watch for yard or garage work, I have retained the stock strap, but I don’t think I’d be caught dead in public wearing this watch with what I consider to be a hideous looking strap. That’s my opinion; if you like camo and drive a camo-patterned car, have a hut with camo on it or have a camo-decorated dinner service, great, you’ll love this strap.

The H3 Tactical is just an average watch with no real attributes that make is stand out in my opinion. There are better constructed tritium tube watches on the market for the same price as this watch (ie: Luminox). If you get this watch for around $150 USD, you’ve done okay, but pay any more for it and it’s really not worth it. H3 does have some better looking watches in their line up without camo straps, but their prices are too high in comparison to what else it out there.

Pros: black ion-plate case, sapphire crystal, tritium tube illumination, unique dial color

Cons: sloppy, cheap looking and feeling bezel, hideous camo strap, what’s the real water resistance rating?

Verdict: great for working in the yard, but this watch won’t make it into my standard rotation

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # MD097-RB-01BK

Brand/Model: Momo Design Automatic Pilot Series
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: satin finish stainless steel with black ion-plate stainless steel bezel; rubber strap
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $1,995 USD; Street Price: $500 to $900 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Momo Design is similar to the Porsche Design studio. Two well-known and well-regarded companies that design various items on contract for retail sale around the world. Momo is perhaps best known for accessory steering wheels for cars, but has branched out into alloy wheels for cars, tuning accessories, racing equipment and the like.

Regarding watches, the Momo Design studio has quite a range of both quartz and automatic timepieces that exemplify the Momo Design credo; that would be modern, clean designs that are stylish, functional and unique.

I have been interested in acquiring a Momo Design watch for quite some time and when this Pilot Series automatic came along at the right price, I took the proverbial plunge and emerged with this piece in my hot little hands. I don’t know who assembles these watches for Momo Design, the movement is Swiss, but the watch is marked ‘Made in Italy.’ Fit and finish is top-notch.

This Momo Design automatic appealed to me because of its square shape and super clean, modern appearance. The case measures 40mm square around the bezel without the slim, signed screwdown crown (43.4mm across crown inclusive) and 44mm in height from the inside of the lugs (51mm lug tip to lug tip). Thickness is 13.5mm.

The case is beautifully crafted in satin finish stainless steel that looks similar to titanium, with its light grey tone. The square bezel is black ion-plated stainless steel, as is the crown. The caseback is held in place by four fine screws and is a display type, showing off the workings of the Swiss ETA automatic movement with Momo-signed rotor. The watch sports a modest water resistance rating of just 50 meters, so swimming is not advised with this piece.

The dial is a great flat black color and is highly legible due to minimal printing and great contrast. The word ‘automatico’ is a great and cool touch.

The dial has a square raised chapter ring that has the markers and arabics on it, spaced at five minute increments, with arabics at 12, 3, 6 and 9. On the side of the chapter ring, there are small arabics marking each five minute increment (05, 10, etc.) On the dial itself, there are screened minute marks, with larger marks at each five minute mark. This layout may sound busy, but trust me, it is not and makes this watch a pleasure to look at.

The hands are silver with red tips, with two-pieces of inset lume in each hand. The seconds hand is red. The quickset date window at the 3 position features a fairly small frameless window with a black on white date wheel.

The hour and minute hands, along with the arabics and markers on the top side of the chapter ring and the markers on the dial are all luminous. Lume quality is superb and looks super cool.

The dial is protected by a slightly curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on it. The crystal does have some of the anti-reflective purple tint to it and is a fingerprint magnet. This is unfortunate because the satin finish case hides fingerprints. The crystal is beveled slightly on the edge and is fit into the case evenly. Due to the curvature of the crystal and the anti-reflective coating, it is hard to get a clean dial photograph of this watch.

Inside this Momo Design automatic is the ubiquitous Swiss ETA 2824-2 25-jewel automatic movement that hacks and manually winds. Performance has been very good, achieving 41-3/4 hours power reserve and a superb +1 second/24 hours timekeeping stat. The watch winds, sets and runs perfectly. The crown is rather thin, but has plenty of fluting on it for an easy grip. It screws down smoothly and is signed with the Momo logo.

While I’m not a fan of rubber straps, the rubber strap on this Momo Design Pilot Series is in keeping with the overall svelte design of the watch. The strap is thin, flexible and smooth, with mild grooves on the topside and is tastefully signed on both sides. The strap fits in perfectly flush at the lugs for an integrated look and feel.

The clasp is satin finish stainless steel and is a butterfly design with a machined deployant. The free end of the strap is held in place by the stainless keeper on the clasp and by the single floating keeper on the strap. The stainless keeper is signed.

This clasp does not have a pushbutton release on it and this is usually a bone of contention with me. But since there is a free end of the strap to grab onto and pull gently, the clasp is easy to open, so I give this one a pass. The strap is 22mm at the lugs and tapers to 19.8mm at the clasp.

A note about the strap…I tried to fit a leather strap on this watch and due to the placement of the springbar holes (fairly far towards the case on the inside of the lugs) and the rounded inside corners of the lugs where they meet the case, I was unable to do so. I’m sure you could find a leather strap somewhere that would fit, but in most cases, you will probably not be able to replace the leather strap with something else. I have learned to live with the rubber and being the only watch in my collection with a rubber strap, I actually enjoy this one.

Presentation is nice, with a large black cardboard outer box with removable signed lid and a reasonably impressive inner box made of matte black plastic with chromed plastic hinges, signed on the top with a plastic embossed ‘Momo Design’ inset. It all feels a bit too plasticky, but is still a presentable design.

The Momo Design Pilot Series automatic comes in several different variations using the same case shape (chronograph, skeleton dial, etc.) This watch presents itself well, features top-quality fit and finish and has a timeless, clean design that will never go out of style. If Euro-chic is your thing or you just like a clean, easy-to-read well-made watch that has a look all its own, this Momo Design automatic is definitely worth a look.

Pros: clean, sleek design, great quality, square shape has style, Swiss automatic engine

Cons: no pushbutton release on clasp, due to case design, hard to fit aftermarket straps, modest water resistance rating

Verdict: a cool, clean and comfortable watch with Italian panache and Swiss practicality. You won’t see this one every day and it will still look great 20 years from now. Bellissimo!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # SNZJ55

Brand/Model: Seiko 5 Sports
Movement: Japanese automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet (photos for this review show the watch on an aftermarket leather strap)
Complications: day/date display
Price: MSRP: $300 USD; Street Price: $155 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Seiko has a huge line of their infamous Seiko ‘5’ models as well as an extensive range of more deluxe Seiko 5 ‘Sports’ watches. The Seiko 5 Sports pieces tend to be larger, have more complex case designs and other tweaks that fit with their higher prices. But that being said, most of the Sports models are still quite affordable and represent a good overall value.

This brown-dialed Seiko 5 Sports kind of appeared out of nowhere. Several months ago, I was browsing Seikos online and noticed this particular piece and since I didn’t currently have a brown dial in the collection, I was intrigued. The orange accents and overall look of this watch sat well with me and that’s why it’s now in the collection.

This watch comes standard on a stainless steel bracelet, with the pushbutton, double locking clasp that seems to be omnipresent across most Seiko models. The bracelet appears to be a solid link design, but upon closer examination, it is and it isn’t. It’s one of those Seiko designs that actually is a folded link bracelet, but the links are one solid piece that gets folded over under great pressure and then polished on the edges, so all that is seen is a faint line where the fold is. This works pretty well in most instances, but why they just don’t use real unfolded solid links is beyond me.

Anyways, I felt a tan leather strap would look perfect on this watch and that’s what I got, an aftermarket honey-brown perforated leather strap that compliments the watch to perfection. All the photos in this review show the watch on the aftermarket strap that I installed.

This Seiko 5 Sports starts with a nicely finished all stainless steel case that is fully polished on the sides, with the tops of the lugs being brushed, along with a brushed fixed bezel with knurled edge. The case measures 41.8mm without any of the crowns, 47mm with either of the two crowns included. Both crowns are knurled and signed with the iconic Seiko ‘5’ logo and neither crown screws down.

The caseback is a screw down display type that is polished stainless steel, with printing on both the stainless steel outer edge and on the mineral crystal display back. Case thickness is a rather thin 12mm; lug width is 22mm.

The watch is factory rated for 100 meters of water resistance.

The dial on this Seiko 5 Sports is a very pleasing shade of brown, sort of copper-like in some light, but more like tarnished copper. It looks classy. The inner rotating bezel is controlled by the crown at the 9 position. The inner bezel itself is a darker brown color, with orange numbers and markers for the first 15 minutes, with white numbers and markers for the remainder of the hour. An orange inverted triangle marks the bezel’s 12 o’clock position.

A note about the inner rotating bezel. The crown that controls the bezel has no resistance to it whatsoever, it spins almost entirely on its own. This causes the bezel to creep around the dial as you wear the watch, which can be very annoying, at least to me.

This design flaw has been mentioned by other owners of this model. Other than living with this flaw, I have wound some strings of elastic around the crown stem between the bottom of the crown and the case side. The elastic is springy enough not to compress too much and has definitely added some friction to the crown, which is what is needed to prevent the creep of the bezel. It also springs back enough so it hides itself completely under the crown, so you can’t see the elastic while wearing the watch. Kudos to my watch friend Paul for suggesting this nifty fix.

Some owners have resorted to using dental floss, but with a resulting ugly tied end hanging out of the crown, which is totally unacceptable to me. The elastic seems to be the fix of choice. But here’s an even better idea. Why doesn’t Seiko either make the crown screw down, so it locks the bezel into position or design the mechanism so it has enough internal friction on its own to prevent the bezel creep? Or relocate the bezel crown so it doesn’t sit flat on your arm, where it easily contacts your arm and causes the creep. I know it all has to do with cost, but this is a serious enough design flaw in my opinion to keep some people from purchasing this watch. Seiko, are you listening?

Also, the location of the bezel crown at the 9 position on the case makes the case appear pretty large and somewhat unwieldy on the wrist, given that there is also the main watch crown on the other side of the case at the 4 position. With the crown guards on both of these crowns adding additional visual bulk to the case, the look is at times unbalanced and ungainly. Why not put the bezel crown on the right side at the 2 position, that would make more sense to me and also help eliminate the bezel creep previously discussed.

Now, back to the dial. There are small white printed arabics on the dial at each five minute mark, with white hash marks between the numbers. A larger applied marker is found at the 6, 9 and 12 positions, with inset lume. The Seiko name appears at the top of the dial, with an applied ‘5’ logo and the wording ‘Sports’ directly below it. At the six position, the wording ‘automatic’, ’23 jewels’ and ‘100M’ appear on the dial. The dial is capped with a flat Seiko ‘hardlex’ mineral crystal.

The hour hand is white and infilled with Seiko’s Lumibrite luminous material. The minute hand is orange and filled with Lumibrite. The seconds hand is black with an infilled orange arrow tip. This color scheme gives a bit of diver watch panache to this piece, even though this watch is not diver material. Lume quality is very good, as is to be expected with Lumibrite.

The crown at the 4 position is used to set the time and adjust the quickset day and date display at the 3 position. The day/date window is framed with a silver bezel, with the wheels being white on black for a cooler look. The day wheel is bilingual, in both English and Spanish. Alignment of the wheels within the window aperture is fairly spot on, as this can be a point of contention with Seiko 5s from time to time. Overall fit and finish on this model is very good.

Inside this Seiko 5 Sports is the tried and true 7S36B automatic movement with 23 jewels and no handwinding or hacking capability. While Seiko has brought out a hacking and handwind movement in some of their lesser priced models, it would be nice if they jumped on the bandwagon with Orient and Citizen (Miyota), both of which are including hack/handwind movements in a variety of pieces these days, more so than Seiko.

The 7S36 is nothing special to look at, but it should run for years. Timekeeping has been fine, but since it doesn’t hack, I have not attempted to measure its daily variance. Suffice it to say that it performs like a Seiko 5 should.

I’ve already discussed the bracelet on this model. I am very pleased with the aftermarket strap I installed on this Seiko 5 Sports and it really makes this watch a pleasure to wear. It’s a great weekend casual watch and is also something that should get some attention in a crowd with its unique brown dial and orange accents. Overall, despite the bezel creep issue, this Seiko 5 Sports is a winner.

Pros: nifty brown dial with orange accents, nicely finished especially for the price point, reliable automatic movement

Cons: no friction on bezel crown causes bezel to creep while watch is worn, no hacking or handwind capability, semi-solid bracelet is a head-scratcher

Verdict: a unique look for a decent watch in the Seiko 5 Sports range, low entry price, looks better with an aftermarket strap

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # H77615833

Brand/Model: Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case, dark brown leather strap
Complications: date display, independently adjustable 24-hour GMT disc
Price: MSRP: $975 USD; Street Price: $600 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

This is one Hamilton model that I have always wanted, because it has great, clean looks and superior functionality all at a true value price. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again, Hamilton is one of several Swiss brands that represents what I believe to be an incredible value. Their quality, their features and their movements represent what many other Swiss brands deliver, but with one exception: price. Succinctly said, Hamiltons are tremendous bargains in the world of Swiss watches.

The Khaki line is one of the most popular and extensive of Hamilton’s offerings. Military-inspired, the Khaki line features both quartz and mechanical movements (manual wind and automatic) with standard, GMT and chronograph models on stainless bracelets, rubber or leather straps and in a variety of dial colors, configurations and styles. There’s truly something for everyone in the Khaki lineup.

I have a penchant for GMT watches and for GMT world timers as well. Even though it is hard for me to read the cities on most world time watches without the aid of my readers, I find this style of watch hard to resist at times. This Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT world time brings a lot to the table and it all starts with a nicely finished brushed stainless steel case that measures 42.4mm in diameter without any of its three signed and screwdown crowns. Include any of the crowns and the size is 45.4mm. Thickness is 12.1mm and lug size is the increasingly common 21mm. Fit and finish on this watch, especially for its price point, is exceptional.

The caseback is polished stainless steel with a mineral crystal display back showing off the automatic movement sporting a suitably signed rotor. This Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT is factory rated at 200 meters of water resistance.

Underneath the front sapphire crystal (which is ever so slightly domed) is a very dark brown dial that looks black in 98% of all situations you would wear this watch in. As a matter of fact, it was only during the photo session for this watch that when I had it in strong sunlight did I realize the dial is a very dark shade of brown. Super nice!

The hands are standard issue Hamilton Khaki, which is to say fairly plain, but extremely useful. Silver with inset lume. I have never been a big fan of these Hamilton hands as they seem awfully plain, but on this watch, they work very well. The hands have fine pointer tips. The seconds hand is simple silver tone with a lume-filled arrow tip.

The arabics that surround the dial, the lume dots above the arabics, the markings and arabics on the inner rotating bezel, the hands, the pointer for the 2^nd timezone and the inverted triangle at the top of the bezel all glow very well and rewarded me with an excellent lume shot!

A quickset date is located at the 3 position with a standard black on white date wheel. The date opening is framed with a white square. Alignment of the wheel within the window is acceptable.

The inner rotating bezel is operated by the large screwdown crown at the 4 position. Being screwdown, it prevents the bezel from being accidentally moved or having it creep around the dial on its own (see my previous Seiko 5 Sports review for a watch with ‘bezel creep.’) The bezel can be rotated in either direction using the crown.

There is an opening between the ‘40’ and ‘50’ marks on the bezel for display of the selected city used for tracking the time in that location. When the bezel is rotated, of course this window rotates as well, so you really can’t track the time in the chosen location and use the rotating bezel at the same time, but this is not a major inconvenience. Most world timers forgo a timing bezel, I for one am glad Hamilton chose to include this convenient feature on this watch.

The crown at the 2 position adjusts the main time and also quicksets the date and rotates the second time zone disc that is located just to the right of the ‘9’ arabic on the dial. The crown at the left side of the case at the 9 position adjusts the cities disc that resides underneath the rotating bezel.

All three crowns are the same size (7.2mm), are polished and signed with the Hamilton ‘H’ and are nicely knurled for ease of operation. They all screwdown and have crown guards, for water resistance and prevention of accidental movement. Kudos to Hamilton for going the extra mile with these crowns.

I was somewhat concerned that a 42+mm case with three large crowns affixed to the sides would make this piece ungainly on the wrist, not to mention uncomfortable. I am happy to report that this is not the case. The crowns don’t intrude on comfort or looks and just go along with the extreme functionality this watch offers.

The cities bezel can be rotated in either direction using its crown and some of the cities on this watch are not the usual world locations found on most world time watches. This is a nod to the history of this watch and its ‘Navy’ designation. The cities listed on this watch are: Honolulu, Juneau, Los Angeles (abbreviated), Easter Island (abbreviated), Acapulco, New York, Cayenne, Rio de Janeiro (abbreviated), Azores, Reykjavic, London, Monaco, Capetown, St. Petersburg (abbreviated), Dubai, Karachi, Colombo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Noumea, Auckland and Midway. Quite a unique and varied list of 24 cities.

This Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT is also the only GMT watch I own that features a second timezone disc instead of the usual third hand used for the GMT function. The disc is a variation on the theme and functions well, the window for the timezone disc is located to the right of the ‘9’ arabic and has a wide-angle window showing almost five hours of the disc, with an arrow and the designator ‘T2’ printed on the dial that points to the set GMT time. The disc sets in one-hour increments via the crown at the 2 position, when moving the crown clockwise.

Inside this Hamilton GMT beats the well-regarded ETA 2893-1 21-jewel automatic movement that both handwinds and hacks. This movement winds almost silently and has achieved superior performance during my testing regime. It has run consistently at +4 seconds or so over 24/hours, with a fine power reserve of 50-1/4 hours. Second hand sweep is smooth and the accuracy of the second timezone disc is spot on.

Hamilton certainly doesn’t scrimp when it comes to their leather straps. This Khaki Navy GMT has a beautiful dark brown leather croc pattern strap with white contrast stitching. The strap measures 21mm at the lugs and tapers ever so slightly to 20mm at the stainless steel ‘H’ buckle. The strap is handmade, is signed and has moderate padding. There are two rows of holes to accommodate the ‘H’ buckle and its double tangs. Two keepers are featured, one fixed and one floating. I usually see this Hamilton Khaki GMT on a stainless steel bracelet, which works fine, but I really think it rocks on the leather strap; it jives very well with the overall look and feel of the watch.

Presentation is typical Hamilton, a fairly large black cardboard box with removable lid and a thick owner’s manual/warranty guide. Nothing fancy, but in keeping with this watch and its no-nonsense functionality.

Overall, this Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT World Time Automatic (say that three times fast!) is a practical, good-looking and very well constructed watch that should exceed the expectations of its owner, especially at its relatively low price point.

Pros: great fit and finish, reliable and well-regarded Swiss GMT movement, screwdown crowns all the way around, superb functionality, sapphire crystal

Cons: three crowns on the case may be a bit much for some, somewhat odd cities selection on world time disc, window on inner bezel limits functionality at times

Verdict: a winner in pretty much all categories, this Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT provides functionality, reliability and no-nonsense good looks all at a remarkable price. A salute to the Khaki Navy, indeed!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # CFD0C001B/EL02001B

Brand/Model: Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver
Movement: Japanese automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet, included rubber dive strap
Complications: date display, power reserve meter
Price: MSRP: $2,150 USD; Street Price: $1,505 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

In the world of watches, nothing can ignite debate like asking the question, which dive watch is better, a Seiko Marine Master or an Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver? It’s like the eternal question, which castaway would you rather go out with, Ginger or MaryAnn? Or at the grocery store, paper or plastic? The list could go on and on.

I’ll squelch the debate about the dive watches right away, so we can concentrate on the review at hand. The Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver beats the Seiko Marine Master hands down. This is not meant to be a comparison review, as I don’t own or haven’t owned a Marine Master, but I have handled and inspected a couple at various watch meets, so my opinions are grounded in reality.

The Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver debuted about five years ago and was marketed as both an Orient and Orient Star, depending on which region of the world you lived in. The watches were identical, except for the name. The Pro Saturation came in yellow, orange and black dials, with I believe a two-tone black dialed model as well, if my memory serves me correctly.

The current lineup (at least in the U.S.) is a black dial and orange dial, with both branded as an Orient. The prices have gone up considerably as of late, but with Orient USA’s standard 30-percent discount, this watch can be had for $1,505 USD brand new, and often can be purchased used in the $800 USD range. The cheapest I’ve seen a Marine Master would be $1,200 to $1,500 USD used and new, the price is the same or more than the Orient’s MSRP, up to nearly $2,600 USD. So just on price, the Orient wins the race.

During the past year or so, Orient has upgraded the Pro Saturation Diver with three useful and wanted features. The bezel is now a 120-click variety, but most importantly, the movement can now be handwound and hacked thanks to the new Caliber 40N5A movement. Hurrah!

What makes the Pro Saturation Diver unique is that it is designed for mixed-gas diving but does not have a helium escape valve, because the case has been designed to prevent any build up of helium without the need for an external valve according to Orient.

The Pro Saturation Diver starts with a stainless steel case with beautifully polished sides and brushed lug tops. The case is substantial, measuring 45.4mm without the large signed screwdown crown. With the crown, the case diameter is 50.4mm, with the crown itself coming in at 6.8mm with suitably sized crown guards protecting it. The Orient ‘O’ logo is etched on the end of the crown, with the crown having full flutes, although they are not especially deep. Due to the size of the crown, it is easy to screw/unscrew and use to set the watch. The screwdown action could be a bit smoother, with about three turns to lock.

Case thickness is hefty, at 16.9mm. Lug width is 22mm. The lugs are also drilled, which makes strap changes easier. The caseback is polished and heavily embossed with the Orient logo, which looks very cool. This watch has definite wrist presence and is not for the faint of heart!

The watch is factory rated for 300 meters of water resistance.

The flat sapphire crystal is anti-reflective coated and is almost 5mm thick per Orient’s web site. The crystal has a slight beveled edge and fits flush with the bezel. The bezel is a beauty, as previously stated, it’s a 120-click unidirectional style, with a super slick anodized aluminum insert with nicely painted inset numbers and markers. The bezel resembles a ceramic style and has a super smooth viscous fluid-type action with no backlash. Superb! A lume pip is inset on the bezel at 12, but the inset painted bezel arabics and markers are not luminous.

The Pro Saturation Diver has mild detailing on the dial. The black color is a deep, pure black, but not glossy, I would call it semi-matte. The large lumed markers are applied and the silver toned hands have ample amounts of lume on them. Needless to say, the quality of the lume is excellent and shows how far Orient has come in this regard.

The quickset date window is located at the 9 position, directly across from the standard 3 position you normally see a date display at. The date wheel is black on white and could align better within the fairly small date window. It would be better to have a white on black date wheel (would look much cooler against the black dial), a larger window and proper date wheel alignment, especially at this price point.

The power reserve meter takes up the upper right quadrant on the dial and is slightly recessed, with a simple silver pointer showing how much power reserve the watch has, calibrated in hours. The meter goes from 0 to 40 hours and is accurate. I’ve always liked power reserve meters on watches and this is one complication that Orient seems to specialize in, as many of their models have this feature.

Above the 6 marker is the Orient logo, the words ‘Orient’, ‘automatic’ and ‘300M’ (in red). Tasteful and not overdone.

The new 40N5A movement hacks and manually winds and turned in a fine 46.75 hour power reserve in my testing. Orient specs on this movement are 22 jewels, with the movement beating at 21,600 vph. Accuracy has been +15/24 hours, which is acceptable, but I wish it was tighter. Orient specs are +25/-15 seconds per day, so it is definitely performing within the stated range.

Orient also claims to install a heavier rotor in these models, to assure winding when under water. Second hand sweep isn’t the smoothest, but I’ve seen worse.

Many owners of the original Pro Saturation Divers without the hack/handwind movement reported chronometer spec time keeping.

Marine Master fans will say loudly that the Seiko 8L35 (26 jewels/+15/-10 seconds per day stated spec) automatic movement in the Marine Master is better and I will concede that it is a finer caliber, but not so much so to command a $500 to $1,000 USD price premium.

The Pro Saturation Diver comes with a very nice stainless steel solid link bracelet with solid end links and a ‘glide-lock’ adjustable deployant clasp. The bracelet has three links across and is brushed and polished. The clasp is signed, with a pushbutton release and a double lock safety clasp. The glide lock portion is heavy stamped stainless steel. A push-pin mechanism next to the flip lock on the clasp activates the glide lock and allows the clasp to extend for fitment around a diving suit. Fully extended, the glide lock allows almost 31mm of extra length to the bracelet.

I sized the bracelet (with those damned Seiko style collars that are located on the ends of the pins instead of in the middle of the pins like most watches that use a pin and collar system) and found the glide lock clasp to be too long for my thinner wrist. The clasp, while curved, measures about 47mm straight across compared to a more standard clasp measurement of 42-43mm. This extra length caused the clasp to jut out too far from the bottom of my wrist and made the watch too floppy while wearing it.

Since I’m not a fan of rubber straps, I didn’t install the included rubber dive strap (nice quality, signed Orient). I purchased an aftemarket Morellato black leather strap that has been treated to have the feel of a rubber strap on the outside. This aftermarket strap has met my needs and is the strap that is shown in the photos.

I wish the stainless bracelet would have worked for me, but please, Orient, get rid of those collars and pins and either use screws, standard split pins or a pin with the collar in the center link. I’m sure the bracelet would work well with those of a thicker wrist and the quality of the bracelet is fine, and better than the wider linked bracelet on the Marine Master.

Presentation is in keeping with a diver/tool watch, large inner and outer black boxes with the watch, included rubber strap and strap change tool (quite nicely done in aluminum) all inside.

In my opinion, the Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver is a true tool watch and a superb piece of work. It beats the Seiko Marine Master handily, because it has a sapphire crystal vs. a Hardlex mineral crystal, costs substantially less, has a power reserve function and a much nicer bezel.

The watches are equal in terms of water resistance, bracelet/clasp features and quality, fit and finish and lume brightness.

The only place where the Seiko outshines the Orient is the movement, but the movements in both watches hack and handwind and are very comparable in specs, so this is somewhat debatable.

At the end of the day, the Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver is hard to beat. It’s a watch for the ages. An outstanding piece!

Pros: great all-around feature set, new hack/handwind movement increases functionality, superb looking bezel, unique case design

Cons: pin/collar system on bracelet has got to go, bracelet glide lock mechanism too bulky for some, date window too small, date wheel alignment should be better

Verdict: the Orient 300M Pro Saturation Diver is better than the Seiko Marine Master and at a considerable cost savings. If you want a beefy, cool, quality Japanese dive watch that won’t break the bank but will do everything you ask of it, this is the watch for you.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # 203

Brand/Model: Sinn 203 Arktis
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet (also available with leather strap)
Complications: day/date display, chronograph timing in one second increments up to 12 hours
Price: MSRP: $2,730 USD on bracelet; $2,520 USD on leather strap

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Unique is certainly one way to describe the Sinn 203 Arktis automatic chronograph. This watch possesses several unique features not available on any other brand timepiece to my knowledge. Assembled in Germany with a Swiss engine, this Sinn combines Germanic attention to detail and an engineering prowess not normally associated with a mechanical timepiece.

Sinn prides itself on making watches for military and commercial applications or for use in extremes of temperature or humidity. There are many different technologies that Sinn employs in the manufacture of their watches and most are not just marketing fluff. How many watches do you know that are filled with the inert gas Argon and have a dehumidifying capsule built in? It’s an almost James Bond approach to building a watch and that’s pretty cool.

I was attracted to this Sinn 203 Arktis not so much for its technological achievements, but for its unique look, which certainly stands apart in a crowd. The blue dial is absolutely stunning and shows off a shade of blue unlike that of any other blue-dialed watch I have seen. The dial is electroplated and is UV resistant, so fading should not be a problem.

The 203 Arktis (‘Arktis’ translates to ‘Arctic’ in English) is named because this watch utilizes a special blend of lubricating oils that maintain their viscosity in extremely low temperature, allowing the watch to keep running long after a standard mechanical watch would have stopped due to its lubricating oils thickening up. Sinn recommends using this watch is alpine or high-altitude settings. Where I live, the elevation is about 600 feet above sea level, so I’m good.

The Arktis is rated to operate down to -45 degrees Celsius (-49 degrees Fahrenheit) and up to a sweltering +80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit). It also is filled with inert Argon gas to help prevent build-up of excess humidity (no fogging of the crystal) and even has a copper sulfate capsule installed in the lower left lug that absorbs excess humidity and will turn blue once it’s reached its absorption limit.

Combine these nifty features with a 300 meter water resistance rating, screw down crown and screw down chrono pushers and a high-quality stainless steel case manufactured by SUG of Germany and you have one mighty rugged and interesting watch.

The Arktis starts with a fully polished stainless steel case made by SUG in Germany. Diameter is 40.8mm without pushers or crown, 45.2mm including the signed screw down crown. A nearly perfect size for most users. Thickness is 16.2mm, lug spacing is 20mm. The case back screws down and is brushed, with all wording in German (and emblazoned with a -45 C mark to remind you of its extreme temperature resistance).

The bezel is a standard 60-click unidirectional type with an alternating smooth and knurled edge. The numbers on the bezel are engraved and infilled with black paint, along with hash marks for the first 15 minutes. A lume infilled triangle marker is at the 12 position. The bezel clicks rather loudly with a sort of snap-action to it. There is some backlash/play in the bezel but not enough to be annoying.

The dial is, as stated above, a beautiful shade of blue. The name ‘Arktis’ certainly does this color proud, I would venture to call it ‘ice blue.’ I also like the hands on this watch. The hour and minute hands are white (actually a very faint lume green, but they look almost white in most light conditions). The center chronograph seconds hand and all subdial hands are pure white. White arabics surround the dial, with lume squares running every five minutes around the perimeter of the dial (double squares at 12), with white minute markers between the arabics.

Minimal dial printing is another nice touch, with just the Sinn name, Arktis name and the symbol for Argon gas (‘AR’ in red) printed on the dial.

The subdial layout is standard Valjoux 7750, with the subdial at 12 being the 30-minute chrono totalizer, the subdial at 6 being the 12-hour chrono totalizer and the subdial at 9 being the watch seconds hand. The large center seconds hand is the chronograph seconds hand.

A quickset day/date window is at the 3 position, with a divider between the day and date, with a subtle white rectangle surrounding both windows. The day/date wheels are the proper white on black and look good, alignment within the windows is acceptable. A domed sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective coating caps the dial.

The screw down crown screws in a satisfying four full turns, with the lockdowns on the chronograph pushers require over five turns to unlock. When fully unlocked in the counter clockwise position (pusher lockdowns turn away from the case) the chronograph can be used. Screw the lockdowns towards the case to lock the pushers.

The crown on the Arktis also pulls out quite a bit from the case and you need a pretty good yank on it to get it to the time setting position. Not a complaint, but just be careful when pulling the crown out to set the watch.

Lume quality is good, with the hour and minute hands, the subdial seconds hand and the square markers illuminated along with the triangle on the bezel.

The 203 Arktis uses the tried and true Swiss-made Valjoux 7750 25-jewel automatic chronograph movement running at 28,800 beats per hour. During testing in my lab, it has run at +10 seconds over 24 hours with a superb 54 hour power reserve. Start and stop action and reset on the chronograph is fine, as to be expected from such a venerable watch movement.

The Arktis is available on both a stainless steel bracelet or a blue calf leather croc. look strap with white contrast stitching. The watch has been photographed on the leather strap; I have the bracelet, but it’s sitting in the watch box under wraps.

The strap measures 20mm at the lugs, tapering to about 18mm at the stainless steel buckle. The strap is of high quality and is fairly well padded, but still flexible. There are two keepers, one fixed and one floating. The strap looks great with this watch, the blue color coordinating nicely with the dial.

The stainless steel bracelet is also a gem, with solid links, solid end links and a double locking clasp with machined deployant and machined dive extension. The design of the bracelet is unique to Sinn and is somewhat of a trademark of theirs, you know it’s a Sinn if you see this bracelet.

The bracelet links are secured with screws, but with hex heads on both ends. Sinn supplies the required Allen wrenches so bracelet adjustment is easy, but with screws on both ends, it can get a bit tricky to balance everything. A steady hand and all is well.

The bracelet measures 20mm at the lugs and tapers to about 17.7mm at the clasp. The clasp itself is signed and brushed, with the fold-over safety lock being polished. There are no half-links on the bracelet, but there are three micro-adjustment holes on the clasp.

At some point I may install the bracelet on my Arktis, but for now, I’m happy with the strap.

Presentation is very nice, with a full color two-piece outer cardboard box and a leatherette padded inner box with Sinn signed screwdriver/pin tool, the bracelet adjustment wrenches, a simple printed instruction sheet (in German) and a CD ROM with instructions in English.

In summary, the Sinn 203 Arktis is a tool watch of a different sort. It’s truly engineered to perform in abstract conditions while also looking very sporty. It’s not monstrously huge or garish is any way, and that’s what makes it so cool. You can wear this watch with a suit at your next board meeting, with swim trunks on a surfboard or while scaling the Himalayas with your Sherpa. The Arktis is a beauty and the blue dial can’t be beat.

Pros: superb blue dial, reliable Swiss innards, unique and functional engineering features, great overall look and size

Cons: servicing has to be done at Sinn due to Argon gas filled case, dehumidifying capsule and special oils, so cost can get a bit pricey, a brushed case would look better than the high polish

Verdict: a tool watch for the ages, this is one watch that has functionality and good looks in droves and is also a piece that you won’t see the other guy wearing. Sinn, congrats on an amazing watch!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # SUB 1200T Professional

Brand/Model: Doxa SUB 1200T Professional
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $1,890 USD (special factory-direct Doxa pricing)

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

When it comes to dive watches, few brands have the recognition that Doxa has. It started in 1967 with their iconic SUB dive watch, followed two years later by the SUB 300T Conquistador, which was the first dive watch sold to the public equipped with a helium release valve.

In 2010, Doxa released the SUB 1200T Professional to pay homage to the original 1967 and 1969 models as part of their vintage SUB series. Nothing says iconic dive watch like an orange-dialed Doxa SUB and that’s why I had to have one. Limited to just 1200 pieces, the SUB 1200T Professional is also joined in the Doxa lineup with the Sharkhunter (black dial/orange minute hand), Searambler (silver dial, orange minute hand) and the NUMA (blue dial, white hands), all 1200 meter models that share the same bezel, case and bracelet plus Swiss automatic movement.

Of course, many non-WIS people are aware of Doxa because of author Clive Cussler and his fictional hero Dirk Pitt^® donning an orange Doxa SUB in the many books that chronicle his adventures.

Doxa refers to the SUB 1200T’s 42mm case size and a ‘more traditional sized’ Doxa sub. Works for me, as I find the size to be just about perfect for a dive watch. The SUB 1200T starts with a polished and brushed stainless steel case in the classic cushion style, which is a great look. The sides are polished, the case top is brushed. The case measures 42.3mm without the knurled and signed screw down crown; 44.1mm with the crown. Thickness is 14.3mm, lug width is 20mm. It sure is nice to have a dive watch with more normal proportions that still is rated for an extremely deep depth as opposed to the super large, clown-like dimensions of some dive watches on the market today.

The caseback is polished and screws down and is stamped with the Doxa fish logo and has miscellaneous information, such as the water resistance rating, serial number, model name, etc. The left side of the case at the 9 position features the automatic helium release valve (HRV), which is very unobtrusive and fits flush with the case side.

The SUB 1200T is factory rated for 1200 meters (3937 feet) of water resistance.

One of the most identifiable features of any Doxa dive watch is its patented no-decompression dive table bezel, which is engraved with the United States Navy non-decompression table on the outer part of the bezel, with standard 60-minute markings on the inner part of the bezel. The non-decompression markings are in orange, the timing markings are in black. A round inset lume pip is at the 60 mark on the inner timing ring.

The bezel itself is a 120-click unidirectional type with sharp, deep knurls that make it easy to grip and turn. The bezel clicks authoritatively through its rotation with no backlash. The bezel also stands proud of the case top which gives the watch a unique and strong appearance.

The screwdown crown mimics the knurled edge of the bezel, which makes the crown easy to use and to screw in and out for time setting, along with coordinating with the bezel for an integrated look and feel. The crown screws down about 2.5 turns to lock.

The 27mm wide dial is vivid orange (after all, this is THE original orange-dialed diver) and imparts a can’t-miss look to this watch. It stands out, but it is not garish in any way. It’s more subtle than a Seiko orange monster and exudes an all-business attitude when sitting on your wrist.

Luminous markers at the five minute marks are bordered by black bars, with small black hash marks indicating the minutes between the larger five-minute markers. Thin black lines extend inward onto the dial from the markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9, somewhat sectioning off the dial into quarter hour increments.

The hands are black with inset lume and the hour hand is considerably smaller than the minute hand, a nod to true diving capability, as minutes spent underwater are the vital component of timing. Doxa refers to the small hour hand as a ‘dwarf’ hour hand. All the lume is Superluminova and needless to say, it’s outstanding, as it should be. The second hand is black with a lume box-end tip.

A quickset date is located at the three position, with a black on white date wheel. The date window is large enough to be read easily and wheel alignment within the window is good.

Overall, the dial is very legible and that’s the point of a dive watch, you need to see the time easily when you’re underwater. The wording ‘DOXA’ and ‘automatic’ are printed in the upper left quadrant on the dial, with ‘SUB 1200T’ and ‘Professional’ printed in the lower right quadrant.

The dial is topped with a slightly domed 3mm thick sapphire crystal that fits flush with the bezel at its edge. Anti-reflective coating is applied to the crystal to reduce glare.

Keeping to its 1967 roots, the SUB 1200T is equipped with a solid link stainless steel bracelet with solid end links and a machined deployant. The clasp is signed and stamped with the Doxa fish logo and features a double locking safety tab. A rather cheapish stamped steel diver extension is also part of the clasp. This dive extension should be a machined part, not stamped. There are four micro-adjustment holes on the clasp.

Doxa says this bracelet is of a sturdier design than previous versions and overall, it feels good, but they kind of cheated with the ‘beads of rice’ design. A true vintage beads of rice bracelet has the ‘rice’ as separate link pieces in the bracelet, not made into one solid link as the bracelet on the SUB 1200T. I can see advantages to the solid design, it’s not rattle-prone and would be more secure, so I can live with it, but don’t expect a true beads of rice bracelet here. The outer links are polished on the edges, with the top surface of the bracelet being brushed. The bracelet measures 20mm along its entire length. Adjustment is by screws and Doxa supplies a screwdriver to make link removal and sizing easy.

One thing that really impressed me about the SUB 1200T is its overall heft. But it’s a heft of a different sort. Many dive watches feel heavy, and yes, the SUB 1200T feels heavy, but it also feels solid, tank-like. It’s a reassuring feeling having it on your wrist. Doxa states the weight of this watch at 162 grams (about 5.7 ounces). Nice!

Inside the SUB 1200T is the ubiquitous ETA 2824-2 25-jewel Swiss Made automatic movement that hacks and manually winds. During my testing, it ran at +14 seconds/24 hours and turned in an expected power reserve of 41-3/4 hours. Doxa states the movement is decorated by them, but since the caseback is not a display type and I don’t want to compromise the water resistance of my SUB 1200T by cracking the back open, I will take them at their word. Simply put, it’s got a workhorse of a movement in it and should perform for many years without complaint.

Presentation is Doxa special with a heavy anodized aluminum scuba bottle case, which includes the watch, documentation and the aforementioned Bergeon screw driver. It’s a fun and ‘world famous’ presentation (at least according to Doxa).

The word ‘legend’ is probably overused these days, but when it comes to the Doxa SUB 1200T Professional, it’s a word that fits and is not in any way contrived or trite. Solid, great looking and a serious dive tool watch, the SUB 1200T is a legend and is definitely worth a long look and consideration if you want one for work, play or just because it’s the coolest orange-dial watch there is.

Pros: iconic dive watch heritage and looks, unique hand set and bezel, dial the perfect shade of orange, solid build quality, great lume

Cons: beads of rice bracelet could be executed better, dive extension should be machined

Verdict: even if the most diving you do is washing your hands in the sink, this is one dive watch you should have in your collection. A classic, bar none.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # 1593 41 40 0215

Brand/Model: Eterna KonTiki GMT/World Timer
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet
Complications: date display, independently adjustable GMT hand
Price: MSRP: $4,395; street price around $1,700 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Eterna is probably best known for its iconic KonTiki line of watches, named as such to celebrate Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s famous 1947 Pacific expedition on balsa wood rafts. Eterna has been making the KonTiki line for years, the best known model being the KonTiki 1958. The subject of this review is Eterna’s KonTiki GMT/World Timer, which combines many desirable elements into one watch that bears the KonTiki name and I believe, a bit of the heritage as well.

Late in 2011, Eterna was sold to a Chinese company, so the remaining stocks of Eterna watches are to be considered the last of the ‘true’ Eternas, that is, Swiss Made timepieces by a company that has been in the watchmaking business since 1856.

Although I really have no practical use for a World Time or GMT watch, for some reason, I enjoy watches that feature a third timezone complication. When this Eterna KonTiki GMT was introduced several years ago, it caught my eye and I have been fortunate enough to procure one for my collection.

Robustly constructed of solid stainless steel with superb fit and finish, the Eterna KonTiki GMT starts with a brushed and polished case measuring 41.5mm without the signed, screwdown crown; 44.6mm crown inclusive. The crown is appropriately sized, not too big but not too small and is signed with a black insert showing the five dot Eterna logo.

Case thickness is 13.6mm, lug width is 22mm. Although this watch measures almost 42mm in size, it does not wear that big, due to the world cities inner bezel, the outer timing bezel and the shortness of the hands all combining to make the dial smaller.

The caseback is brushed and screws down and is embossed with the super cool KonTiki logo, depicting Heyerdahl’s raft at sea, encircled by a thin polished ring. It looks very nice.

The watch is factory rated for 200 meters of water resistance, which is fitting for a watch named after a rafting expedition.

The dial of the KonTiki GMT is black, with a thin silver circle running along the inside of the applied luminous triangular or dagger-style markers. Applied luminous arabics sit at each quarter hour, with the daggers filling the space between the quarter hours at each five minute mark. There are no minute markers on the dial, which I find slightly disconcerting, for no other reason than it makes it hard to set the time exactly; you have to wait until it’s five or ten after, etc.

The hands are silver with inset lume and are rather short to me. They don’t even reach to the outer edge of the 24-hour GMT chapter ring, but this is intentional, I’m sure, to make it easier to read the time in other locations and to no overpower the GMT hand.

The GMT hand is a skeleton style with a two-color pointed tip, half blue and half white, with the white part being a brighter luminous than the blue part. A rather curious and odd feature if you ask me, but it matches the 24-hour chapter ring that is blue from 18 hours (6 p.m.) through 6 a.m. The rest of the 24-hour chapter ring is white. I think this is done to resemble a day/night sort of delineation.

The 24-hour chapter ring is also luminous, with the upper half (the blue part) being not as bright as the lower half. Overall lume quality on the KonTiki GMT is average, although the lume is a cool blue color.

The watch seconds hand is a thin silver stick with a lume tip a few millimeters down from the end.

The remainder of the dial on the KonTiki GMT is composed of the world cities bezel, which rotates around the outer edge of the dial. There are 24 cities/locations listed, with Oslo in yellow, Polynesia in red and Lima in green, highlighting the cities and locations of Heyerdahl’s expedition. I think the colors add a bit of pizzazz to the dial without looking garish.

The outer timing bezel is unidirectional and turns stiffly without any clicks. It can be used for standard timing duties, with the first 15 minutes marked by black hash marks and a small lume dot at the 12.

The timing bezel also is used to rotate the inner cities bezel. Whenever the timing bezel is rotated, the cities bezel moves along with it. This design is a bit cumbersome, but practical, because I always appreciate a timing bezel on a watch (and this is a feature that is not found on too many GMT watches) and it eliminated the need for a second crown to rotate the cities bezel.

Eterna must also use some sort of slick gasket system between the bezel/crystal and case to allow for the outer bezel to rotate the inner bezel and to maintain 200 meters of water resistance.

The dial also has a quickset date window at 4:30 with a proper white on black date wheel that blends well with the rest of the dial. The KonTiki GMT features a slightly domed sapphire crystal that fits perfectly flush with the edge of the bezel.

Overall the dial is a bit busy, but is segmented enough to allow for standard timekeeping, GMT/24-hour indication and world timekeeping to be accomplished fairly easily.

The KonTiki GMT features an automatic Swiss Made ETA COSC-grade movement, which is nicely decorated and has an external dust cover/anti magnetic shield that sits between the caseback and movement. The GMT hand is independently adjustable by rotating the crown clockwise in its first click position. The GMT hand clicks into position in one-hour increments. Running well within COSC standards, my KonTiki GMT has performed at +2/24 hours and turns in a strong 49-3/4 hour power reserve.

If you’re wondering why I know so much about what the movement looks like in this watch even though it does not have a display back, I will tell you. When I received this watch (purchased brand new on the grey market) I set and wound the watch for initial testing in my workshop. Shortly after I set it, I looked at it and realized the watch was not running! I picked it up and heard an awful crunching sound. I gently jostled the watch and it began to run again, so I set it down and let it run out its power reserve.

At this point, I had surmised the rotor has loosened up and was flopping around inside the caseback. I don’t crack the back on brand new watches, but not wanting to return it either, I brought the watch to my trusted watchmaker. He opened up the back, removed the movement shield and promptly discovered that one of the screws and clamps on the movement holder securing the movement to the case had come undone. He fished out the errant screw and clamp, resecured them and gave the other screws a once over. Everything has been fine since then.

So this is the only slight I will give Eterna regarding the quality and workmanship on this particular example of the KonTiki GMT. The watch otherwise has been fine, the fit and finish is very good, so I chalk up this one loose movement screw and clamp as ‘just one of those things’ and have moved on.

The bracelet is superb on the Kontiki GMT, with solid, thick links (3.6mm), solid end links and a very attractive signed pushbutton clasp with machined deployant and diver extension. The clasp is the exact same design (and presumably the same maker) as the clasp on the Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Diver, a watch that retails for twice what the KonTiki GMT does.

The bracelet is fully brushed and measures 22mm at the watch head and tapers to 20mm at the clasp. Adjustment is by thick screw pins, the kind that require a screwdriver to be held on each end in order to tighten or loosen. A bit awkward, but quality nonetheless. There are no microadjustments on the clasp, but half links are provided on the bracelet on both sides, so a pretty good fit can be expected.

Presentation with the KonTiki GMT is top-notch. A two piece cardboard outer box reveals a large, beautifully lacquered wooden box with the KonTiki logo medallion on top. The box opens to reveal the watch, extra signed rubber strap and a plastic accessory compass, plus the instruction manuals and warranty paperwork. Extremely classy and befitting a storied watch such as the KonTiki.

Overall, the Eterna KonTiki GMT/World Timer is a unique, functional and solid watch that gives the user a quality timepiece with a bit of history behind it. It’s an all-around good looking solid performer at a very competitive price.

Pros: superb all-around construction, COSC automatic movement, great bracelet and clasp, GMT/World Time functionality

Cons: lume could be stronger, hour and minute hands a bit short in relation to the dial, no minute markers on the dial, QC glitch with loose movement holder screw and clamp

Verdict: an outstanding value in a Swiss-Made GMT/World Timer with great features, great quality and a storied name by a storied Swiss house. Snatch one up before they are forever sold out!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # 3887.18/66

Brand/Model: Glycine Airman Base 22 Purist
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet (watch shown here on aftermarket crocodile strap)
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $1,995; street price around $1,200 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

I tend to write about a lot of watches that I consider to be ‘iconic.’ Maybe because objects that I consider to be classics appeal to me. The Glycine Airman is no exception to both the iconic and classic camps. Glycine introduced the Airman in 1953 and this model (and variations thereof) has been in continuous production ever since. There’s plenty more history on the Airman at Glycine’s web site. I just wanted to give the briefest of overviews before getting to the meat of this review.

Although most people (like me) have no practical use for a 24-hour watch (a watch whose hands make only one revolution around the dial in a 24-hour period), I do think this style of watch is unique and I wanted to have an example for my collection, so what other choice than an Airman?

Glycine makes quite a range of Airman models these days, but I opted for the most classic and the simplest design, the Airman Base 22 Purist. This model is a three hand (hour, minute, seconds) layout in a 24-hour format, with a rotating and lockable 24-hour bezel to track a second time zone. A date display completes the features list.

Glycine watches are not the easiest to find in the U.S., but you can find a good selection on ebay or from European sellers.

The Base 22 Purist starts with a finely finished polished and brushed stainless steel case which measures 41.1mm without either of the two crowns; 45mm with the main winding and setting crown included. The main setting crown is rather small, but it is signed and has enough knurls on it to give you a good grip when setting or winding the watch. Even though the Base 22 Purist is an automatic, I still like to fully wind my automatics prior to wearing them, so a good, functional crown is a must for me.

The larger crown at the four o’clock position is the locking crown for the 24-hour rotating bezel. It’s an elegantly simple design, with a toothed locking tab that mates to the toothed edge of the bezel. It meshes perfectly and just looks cool in its locked position. This locking crown also has a nifty cross hatch pattern engraved into it, which is another nice touch.

The bezel itself is brushed finish stainless steel with all the even numbers indicated by a black arabic engraved into the bezel; the odd numbers are indicated by a black engraved pointer.

Case thickness is a rather slim 11.2mm, lugs are 22mm. The lugs are drilled to make strap or bracelet swaps easy. The caseback is a polished screwdown display type which shows off the ETA automatic movement with cool Airman engraved decorated rotor, which includes an airplane as part of the decoration.

A flat sapphire crystal caps the dial on the Base 22 Purist. The Base 22 Purist is water resistant to 200 meters.

This watch comes on a solid link stainless steel bracelet with hollow end links and a signed double locking clasp with a cheap stamped steel deployant. The bracelet is just okay, I felt it was rather cheap and rattle-prone, so I installed a 22mm dark blue genuine crocodile strap with white contrast stitching. This is the strap shown in the pictures for this review.

The dial on my Base 22 Purist is a darker blue to somewhat darker blue fade, with the darkest hue at the top, fading into the slightly lighter blue (but still dark) around the middle of the dial. White printed arabics numbered 1 through 24 encircle the outer part of the dial, with the ‘24’ and ‘12’ printed in red. A luminous triangle is above the red 24 and 12, with alternating luminous bar and circle markers running around the inside of the arabics. Small arabics are printed just inside the luminous markers every five minutes. The hour hand is arrow shaped with a fine pointed end tip in red, the minute hand is a stick style with a fine pointed end tip and the seconds hand is a stick style with ball end. All of these hands are luminous. Lume quality is rather good.

To make it easier to tell what time it is once the watch is into the afternoon or second half of the day (13 to 24 hours), the hour hand has a tail that extends partway into the opposite side of the dial, pointing to the corresponding time in 12-hour format. For example, at 16:30 hours, the tail on the hour hand points between the ‘4’ and ‘5’ hour marks on the opposite side of the dial, letting the operator know that it’s 4:30 pm in 12-hour time. Neat!

A quickset date window resides at the three position, the date wheel being black on white. The window is large enough to clearly see the date and the alignment of the wheel inside the window is good.

Even with a dial that some may consider quite busy, with all the small arabics and markers, legibility of this watch is rather good and the overall look is fantastic.

Powering the Base 22 Purist is a tried and true Swiss Made ETA 2893-2 automatic movement. With 21 jewels and beating at 28,800 vph, this workhorse engine should provide many years of consistent timekeeping. The movement can be manually wound and also hacks to ensure accurate worldwide time synchronization. Accuracy out of the box has been excellent, running at a consistent +5 seconds per day, with a long 48 hour power reserve.

As stated above, the standard stainless steel bracelet was rather disappointing to me, others may find its solid links and conventional end links and clasp to be satisfactory. I just think a watch with this level of iconic status should be presented on a better quality bracelet, at least one with solid end links and a machined deployant.

Presentation is via a heavy black cardboard outer box with removable lid and a nice black inner box. Glycine doesn’t include much in the way of documentation, but they do include instructions on how to best set the watch and 24-hour bezel for proper worldwide timekeeping. A signed black polishing cloth is also part of the package, which is a thoughtful touch.

Overall, the Glycine Airman Base 22 Purist is, in the words of Glycine, ‘legendary.’ It’s a unique and highly useful watch with a true 24-hour display. Good fit and finish, attractive looks and a cache that many other watches could only wish for, this watch does the job it’s been designed for and does so with class and style. Bravo!

Pros: iconic watch model, true 24-hour functionality, good fit and finish, dark blue fade dial looks cool

Cons: standard stainless steel bracelet could be better quality for price point, main crown could be a bit larger

Verdict: even if you’re not a pilot, this is the 24-hour watch to have; just drop the name ‘Airman’ at your next business meeting and see how people react. The Glycine Airman Base 22 Purist is just that, pure in every sense of the word.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # SBDS001

Brand/Model: Seiko Flight Master
Movement: Japanese automatic
Material: titanium case and bracelet
Complications: date display, power reserve meter, chronograph timing in one second increments up to 12 hours
Price: MSRP: about $4,500 USD; street price around $3,500 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Watch aficionados always enjoy something different, and many times that means acquiring a watch that is not sold in the market they live in. In the U.S., it could be getting a Tudor, or some other Swiss brand that is not officially sold in the states. Many times, getting a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) watch fits the bill.

Japanese watch companies like Seiko and Citizen make an entire range of very cool watches that are not officially sold outside of Japan proper, so getting a JDM watch can be a source of pride for many a WIS. In my case, I wanted a Seiko Flight Master automatic chronograph ever since I first saw pictures of one many years ago and the stars finally aligned to enable me to purchase one. Even though it’s not a Spring Drive or a Grand Seiko, I feel it’s one of Seiko’s finest pieces.

The Flight Master packs a lot of features into a relatively compact watch. Loaded with a 12-hour chronograph, 48-hour power reserve meter and date display, along with a timing bezel with compass function, about the only thing the Flight Master lacks is a GMT hand. But I’m not complaining.

The Flight Master sports a nicely polished and brushed all titanium case (I love the look of polished Ti) that measures 42.4mm without the longish signed screwdown crown. With the crown included, diameter is 48.3mm.

Case thickness is 14.9mm, lug width is 20mm. The caseback screws down and is a display type, showing the intricacies of the 40-jewel column wheel chronograph movement. The movement really isn’t decorated, but the finish level is acceptable and the rotor is signed.

Since the Flight Master is crafted of titanium alloy, the entire watch is fairly lightweight, but not too light. It’s a nice balance of svelte and presence combined. It does tend to sit a bit high on the wrist, but not in an annoying way and being titanium, it is not top heavy.

The Flight Master is factory rated for 100 meters (10 bar) of water resistance.

The 120-click omnidirectional rotating bezel sports Breitling-esque rider tabs at the 12 and 6 positions, with six small screws on the side of the bezel at each 10 minute mark, again, very Breitling-like in design. The bezel itself is finished in black ion plate and is fully marked in white with either hash marks or arabics. A small compass track with degree markings is located on the inside of the bezel between the timing marks and the crystal. These markings are very small and pretty hard to see, if you need reading glasses, better bring them!

A small lume pip is located in the center of the rider tab at 12. Bezel action is a bit disappointing, rather loud and gritty feeling, not nearly as smooth and crisp as I would expect at this price point.

As a design element, Seiko has two black ion plated tabs that fold down over the sides of the case, between the crown and chrono pushers and on the opposite side of the case, on either side of the 9 position. This design gives the effect of the bezel sort of snapping over the top of the case, with each of the four tabs being secured by a small screw. An interesting if questionable detail.

The dial on the Flight Master is all business and a great example of clarity and legibility, given all the functions of this watch. The hour and minute hands are silver with inset lume, as are the applied markers at each five minute mark (there are no markers at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions). The dial itself is a perfect matte black.

The subdial at 9 is the seconds hand for the watch. The subdial at 12 is the chronograph minute totalizer and the subdial at 6 is the 12-hour chrono totalizer. Both these subdials have yellow hands, to match the chronograph’s center second hand, which is in yellow as well and makes it easy at a glance to read chronograph timing. Nicely done!

A quickset date window is located at 4:30, with a proper white on black date wheel that aligns perfectly in the window. The 48-hour power reserve meter resides between the 2 and 3 position and is very easy to read as it sweeps through a roughly 60 degree arc.

Lume quality is excellent, as Seiko’s Lumibrite is always expected to be. Small tasteful lettering directly below the power reserve meter, with just the wording ‘Seiko,’ ‘Flight Master,’ and ‘Automatic’ appearing on the dial.

The Flight Master has a mildly domed sapphire crystal that is slightly recessed from the top of the bezel. The crystal has a very effective anti-reflective coating on it, it’s one of those watches that looks at times to be missing its crystal. This helps in making the dial very easy to read in most all lighting conditions.

The main time and date setting crown, as previously mentioned, is fairly long, so it’s easy to grip and is signed with an engraved ‘S’. The chronograph pushers have a positive, smooth feel to them and one unique aspect is they lock in opposite of most screwdown pushers. When the pushers are screwed in against the case, the chrono can be activated. To lock the pushers, you have to unscrew them away from the case. This is opposite of how my other watches with screwdown pushers operate. Nothing wrong about it, but an interesting feature to note.

Inside the Flight Master is Seiko’s Japan-made 40-jewel automatic column wheel chronograph movement. It winds and sets well and all the chrono functions start, stop and reset as they should. I was a bit disappointed in the daily accuracy of this movement at first, as it was running at +16/24 hours, although as time has passed, it has been getting better, currently at about +8/24 hours. I would have expected more accuracy from the factory at this price point, but it could probably be regulated even tighter than it is now if need be. Although the power reserve meter only goes to 48 hours, the Flight Master has returned a superb 53-1/2 hour power reserve, so no complaints there.

The bracelet on the Flight Master is solid link titanium that is polished and brushed. End links are solid and the clasp is pretty much standard-issue Seiko, that is signed, with a pushbutton release and fold over safety clasp, although the deployant is a proper machined type. There is no diver extension and five micro adjustment holes on the clasp.

The bracelet measures 20mm at the lugs and tapers to 18.7mm at the clasp. Sizing was straightforward and with the number of microadjustment holes provided, a good fit is all but assured.

Presentation for the Flight Master is typical Seiko Prospex series, a rather unexciting box emblazoned with the brand lettering in yellow. I think a watch this special deserves a nicer box.

Overall, the Flight Master resonates with me because it is unique, hard-to-find and accomplishes so much in a well designed package that represents the capabilities of Seiko and their upper end series. Ask most people on the street and they would scoff at spending several thousand dollars on a Seiko, but when you see the Flight Master in person and look at its craftsmanship, you know you have something special to justify the price.

Pros: lighter weight titanium design, super looking dial, excellent functionality, great in-house Seiko movement, added bonus of power reserve meter on a chronograph

Cons: fairly shallow water resistance rating, bezel action should be smoother, clasp could be higher grade to better match price point, uninspired packaging

Verdict: a superb all-around chronograph with great quality and features, some could probably get by as having this be their only watch, an awesome high-end Seiko

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # MD095-DIVMB-01BK

Brand/Model: Momo Design Pilot GMT Automatic Limited Edition
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: titanium case and bracelet
Complications: date display, independently adjustable GMT hand
Price: MSRP: about $3,495 USD; street price as low as $800 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

This is the third Momo Design watch I have purchased and I still own two of them. I have found them to be well constructed, great looking designs with reliable Swiss engines and when purchased at a discount, to represent strong value.

This Momo Pilot GMT is about the largest size watch I can safely wear for my approximately 6-3/4 inch wrist without looking like a clown or street performer trying to get attention. Even though this watch has a rotating bezel, it is an internal rotating bezel, so the watch does wear as large as it is, with a rather large expanse of sapphire crystal covering the dial.

Luckily, the thickness of the watch and the thinness of the bracelet links help to minimize its bulk, which is also dimished because the entire watch is crafted of lightweight titanium. A black PVD fixed bezel adds a bit of contrast to the case.

The Momo Pilot GMT starts with a beautifully finished totally satinized titanium case that measures 46mm without the signed screwdown crown. With the crown, the case is 50.2mm across. Substantial to say the least. Thickness is a rather trim 12.4mm, lugs are 24mm.

From lug tip to lug tip vertically, this watch comes in at 57mm and while the lugs are not overly long, they don’t curve down too much, so keep this 57mm dimension in mind if you are considering this watch and have a smaller wrist like I do.

The display caseback is also satinized titanium and screws down, showing the ETA Swiss automatic movement. The display back’s crystal is countersunk a bit from the rest of the caseback, perhaps for more comfort while wearing the watch.

The movement is largely unfinished except for a few blued screws and the striped and Momo-signed rotor. A more highly finished movement would be nice, given the absurdly high retail price of this watch, but since they can be had at a discount, the movement is fine as-is.

The Momo Pilot GMT is rated for 10 atm of water resistance.

Where this watch really shines is in the dial department. Given its large overall dimensions, the dial is relatively uncluttered and easy to read, combining good looks with functionality. The dial is black, with an internal rotating timing bezel on the outer side of the dial, performing the function of a chapter ring. The bezel is controlled by the black, unsigned and non-screwdown crown located at the 10 position on the case.

I was concerned about the dreaded ‘bezel creep’ that sometimes occurs with watches than have an internal rotating bezel and a non-locking crown that controls the bezel. I had this problem with my Seiko 5 Sports, where there was no resistance on the bezel crown, so the bezel would creep slightly around the dial as the watch was worn.

I am happy to report that bezel creep is not a problem with the Momo Pilot GMT due to two factors, the location of the bezel crown and the internal resistance of the crown. Having the bezel crown at 10 largely keeps it off the wrist, so arm movement cannot rotate the crown. There is also sufficient resistance built into the crown, so the crown does not rotate freely. There’s just enough resistance to keep the bezel from creeping. The crown is easy to operate and moves the bezel in either direction with no detents.

Just inside the timing bezel is the 24-hour GMT chapter ring. This ring is fixed, so this watch can track only one extra timezone. The hands are satin silver with red tips and inset lume, the seconds hand is red and the GMT hand is silver with a red arrow tip with inset lume. This design makes time reading and GMT functions easy to see and use.

The hour and minute hands and the GMT hand tip are luminous, along with the arabics on the timing bezel and the five minute markers on the dial. Lume quality is good on the hands and average on the markers.

The dial has a fair amount of printing on it, but the font size is small, so it doesn’t intrude that much on the legibility of the dial. Under the 12 position, ‘Momo Design’ and ‘Made in Italy’ are printed. Above the six, ‘Swiss Automatic,’ ‘GMT’ and ‘Limited Edition,’ along with the limited edtion number are printed. I don’t know how many watches comprise this ‘Limited Edition’ but it is probably less than 1000.

A quickset date is located at the 3 position, with a simple black on white date wheel. Alignment within the window could be a tad better, but really is nothing to fret about. The timesetting crown is black PVD and sets the time, date and moves the GMT hand in one-hour increments.

The dial is capped by a very slight domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. The crystal exhibits no distortion, something to consider with a watch dial this large.

The Momo Pilot GMT is powered by the venerable and highly-regarded Swiss-Made ETA 2893-2 automatic movement, with 21-jewels and handwind and hacking capability. Sporting a ball-bearing rotor and beating at 28,800 vph, this movement is a reliable and consistent time keeper. During testing in my atelier, the Momo Pilot GMT has run at +2/24 hours and at least a 42 hour power reserve.

One quality control note, when I received this watch, I inspected it, ran the hands through a 24 hour cycle, wound it fully and set it to atomic time as I do all my new watch acquisitions. About five minutes later, I looked at the watch only to see the seconds hand had fallen off! I had the hand reset by one of my watchmakers and all has been fine since. Not a serious problem, but again, at the MSRP of this watch, unacceptable. For the price I paid, I could live with this QC glitch. The other two Momos I have owned have been fine in the QC department.

The bracelet on the Momo Pilot GMT is all titanium, with the same satinized finish as the rest of the watch. The bracelet has solid end links and a pushbutton butterfly clasp with machined deployant, with one link on the clasp signed ‘Momo Design.’ The bracelet links, as previously mentioned, as rather thin, so they don’t add extra bulk to this watch. The bracelet is 24mm at the lugs and tapers about 20.8mm at the clasp.

No half links are included, but the links themselves, in addition to being thin, are rather short, so it’s a bit easier to achieve an acceptable fit despite the lack of microadjustments on the clasp. Standard split link pins secure the bracelet links and adjustment was quick and uneventful.

Presentation was the same as my other two Momo Design purchases, a black cardboard outer box and black plastic inner box. It looks rather impressive, but the inner box is sort of cheap in its construction, so don’t get too excited.

Overall, the Momo Design Pilot GMT is a clean looking, modern design, that while being quite large, looks great on the wrist and is easy to use. The titanium construction makes it light and gives it an understated look of both elegance and functionality.

Pros: reliable Swiss movement with true GMT capability, beautiful satinized titanium case and bracelet, clean, easy to read dial

Cons: watch is too large for some, butterfly clasp with no microadjustments may make a good fit difficult, slight QC problem out of the box, crazy MSRP

Verdict: buy this one at a discount and enjoy Italian design and Swiss accuracy rolled into one

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # WAJ2111.BA0870

Brand/Model: Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $2,850 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

It seems many people these days consider Tag Heuer to be a ‘fashion’ brand, due in part to their advertising with various celebrity-type and athlete-based endorsements. But, don’t worry, if you’re a true WIS, Tag still has plenty of serious watches, some with fascinating movement technology that continues to push the envelope of what can be done with a mechanical watch movement.

What I appreciate about Tag Heuer is that the brand has a true Swiss heritage and continues to produce great dive/tool watches, iconic models like the Monaco and the aforementioned bleeding edge movements to showcase their technical expertise. And to be honest, before I became a certified full-blown WIS, I always thought Tags were overrated. Not until I bought one did I come to appreciate their build quality, accuracy out of the box and overall design aesthetic. I currently own three Tags, which is the most of any one brand in my collection.

The Aquaracer line is large and varied and I was drawn to the 500 meter models because of their unique looks and no-nonsense features. Fashion watches these are not! The Aquaracer 500 reviewed here starts with a fully brushed stainless steel case with angled sides that give the watch a bit more presence and heft. Case diameter is 43.5mm, but it really doesn’t wear that large. With the crown, the measurement is 48.2mm. Lugs are 21mm, case thickness is 13.3mm.

The main screwdown crown is beautifully executed, with large, wide knurls for an easy grip and a black inset Tag logo. Crown guards extend from the case to protect the crown. On the opposite side of the case at the 10 position is the automatic helium escape valve (HEV), which has a knurled collar around it. Unlike some HEVS (Rolex SeaDweller and Doxa Sub) that are flush fit with the case and unobtrusive, Tag (like Omega) chooses to have their HEV protrude from the case side. To each his own.

The caseback on the Aquaracer 500 is a screwdown display type with a sapphire crystal showing off the suitably decorated Caliber 5 automatic movement. Some think a display back on a true dive watch is superfluous, but I don’t mind seeing the movement, especially when the time has been taken to decorate it like Tag has on the Aquaracer 500. And of course, the watch is rated at 500 meters of water resistance, so this is a serious dive watch.

Tag has made the 120-click unidirectional bezel easy to turn while diving due to the rectangular pieces that extend slightly on the bezel every 10 minutes (Tag refers to them as ‘studs’), starting at the ‘five’ mark. The bezel does indeed turn easily, but doesn’t have a super high quality sound or feel to it and also has a very slight backlash. Not anything to deter one from purchasing this watch, but not the precision you might expect at this price point, either.

The black inset on the bezel is matte paint and not a rubber piece; it looks good and gets the job done. At the five minute marks on the bezel sit stylized stainless steel screw heads, while stainless arabics are found at each 10 minute mark. A small lume pip sits in the triangle on the bezel at 12.

The dial is what really attracted me to this watch. I love the silver/grey shade and the vertical ribbing that adds dimension and appeal to this watch without looking novel or gimmicky. The markers are hand applied and luminous, as are the black outline hands. The seconds hand is black with an orange luminous tip. Lume quality is excellent, as it should be for a serious dive watch.

A magnified quickset date resides at the 9 position, 180 degrees opposite the standard 3 position where most dates are placed. This unique placement works fine and the external cyclops does a fine job of magnifying the black on white date wheel. Both the cyclops and date wheel are properly centered.

Minimal lettering on the dial includes an applied Tag Heuer logo below the 12, along with the model name ‘Aquaracer.’ Above the six is ‘Caliber 5’ and ‘Automatic.’ Next to the date window at the 9 position, a silver escutcheon sits between the date window and the hand pinions with ‘500M’ printed in black. This is a bit stylized, but doesn’t detract from the overall functionality of this watch.

To reiterate, I think the dial execution on the Aquaracer 500 is first rate and a joy to look at. The design of the markers and hands makes this watch very legible, and as I get older, I appreciate legibility more and more.

A flat sapphire crystal covers the dial and is very slightly raised above the bezel. No distortion has been noted with the crystal.

Inside the Aquaracer 500 beats Tag’s Caliber 5 automatic movement. As far as I know, this is a decorated and modified base ETA automatic, with 25 jewels running at 28,800 vph. One thing I really enjoy about the three Tag Heuers I own is their accuracy right out of the box. Even though none of the Tags I own are COSC rated, they all keep chronometer time well within COSC standards. Impressive! And the Aquaracer has been no exception, running almost at zero deviation over 24 hours on the bench and during wearing at about +2/24 hours. Power reserve is the expected 42-1/4 hours (Tag specs power reserve at 38 hours).

Tag has decorated the Caliber 5 with Cotes de Geneve stripes on the signed rotor and various plates and bridges on the movement decorated with perlage. Overall, a nice presentation and a bit unexpected in a serious tool watch.

The bracelet is typical Tag quality, meaning very good. It sports brushed solid stainless steel links, with the center links being slightly raised above the outer links, one of Tag’s signature styles. Solid end links, a pushbutton signed clasp and a signed machined deployant complete the features.

Demerits for the rather cheap stamped steel diver extension. There are three microadjustment holes on the clasp and link adjustment is accomplished via a pin and collar system which did not present any problems. The bracelet measures 21mm at the lugs and tapers to about 18mm at the clasp.

Presentation is standard Tag with a black heavy cardboard outer box and black padded hard inner box with separate leatherette instruction and warranty holder.

Overall, the Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 combines a serious diver watch with just enough style to make it a great daily wearer. It looks neither too purposeful or too fashionista, which is a good thing. A great choice for the pool or the daily scrum.

Pros: solid build quality, true 500 meter dive capability, awesome ribbed dial, accurate Swiss movement, great lume

Cons: needs a machined dive extension, bezel could have slightly more precision, date at 9 may throw some people off

Verdict: a perfect watch for work and play, it can take what you dish out while looking the part of a Tag, stylish and functional at the same time. Superbly executed!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # YA126211

Brand/Model: Gucci Timeless Series GMT Automatic
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case and bracelet
Complications: date display, independently adjustable 24-hour GMT hand
Price: MSRP: $1,595 USD; Street price around $950 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

When it comes to designer brands, I usually look the other way. I don’t subscribe to purchasing a designer whatever just to look cool or be part of the ‘in’ crowd. I’ve often felt that many designer items are vastly overpriced and are not necessarily any better quality than a similar item that costs far less. So why am I about to write a review on a Gucci watch? The answer is simple, I bought a Gucci watch and have been extremely impressed by it.

Gucci is at the top of designer brand names and has a level of brand recognition that most companies could only dream of. They have quite an extensive array of watches, from quartz fashion types to more serious Swiss automatics, including divers and chronographs. For more than a few months (showing unusual restraint on a watch purchase for yours truly) I had my eye on this Gucci GMT. I liked the design and looks, but just wasn’t sure if it would pan out in person, so to speak.

When it went on sale at what I considered to be a ‘pull the trigger’ price, I did just that and can honestly say, I am very glad I did. This watch looks much better in person than in pictures, as there is a level of detail on this watch that has to be seen in person to appreciate.

I was initially concerned that it would be too large and just look dorky on my wrist, but the way the watch is designed, while still being on the big size, it is very comfortable, doesn’t wear clownishly large and looks fantastic.

Gucci does not actually manufacture their own watches, but rather has their higher-end Swiss models made by Bedat. That’s good!

The Timeless GMT starts with a fully brushed stainless steel case that measures 44.5mm without the signed (with the Gucci ‘G’) and thankfully non-screwdown crown. Lately, it seems too many watch companies are putting screwdown crowns on watches that don’t need them. If a watch has a modest water resistance rating, what’s the point? So kudos to Gucci for being sensible here.

With the crown, the Timeless GMT is 47.8mm. An integrated crown guard protects the crown and is chamfered off enough not to look bulky but still manages to add a degree of protection. Lug tip-to-lug tip measurement is 52mm, so while the diameter is generous, the overall height is manageable. Think of it like the girl with wider hips but the rest of her being well proportioned. Lots to like there!

Case thickness is 11.2mm, lugs are the odd 23mm. This watch is available with either a stainless steel bracelet or black leather strap. I opted for the bracelet, which for some reason, was priced less, so it was a no-brainer.

The brushed finish on the case and bracelet is perfect for this watch, it makes it so much more casual and sleek looking. Overall fit and finish is very good and the weight and balance of the piece will not disappoint.

I was initially disappointed to see that the caseback was not a screwdown type, but rather the dreaded snap back. I despise snap-on casebacks because they are hard to remove and replace, but since I hardly have any quartz watches left in my collection and I don’t service my own automatics, the point has become rather moot.

Still, the caseback on this watch is rather plain and unadorned, with the outer edge being the only polished area on the entire watch. I was wishing they put more effort into stylizing the caseback rather than just putting the Gucci name on it, along with some miscellaneous wording and numbers. But, there is sometimes something nice about a simpler caseback, so this one falls in-between. Not the entirely sterile caseback of a Rolex nor the exquisite design of an Omega Seamaster. I’ll just call it nothing special.

The dial on the Timeless GMT is really where this watch shines and where it exudes tons of class and style. The center of the dial (which forms the 24-hour GMT ring and where the solid red arrow-shaped GMT hand resides) is black and semi-perforated. A ring of small white arabics from 1 to 24 encircle this part of the dial. I love the fact that this watch has a smaller GMT hand instead of a long, thin GMT hand as is usually found on GMT watches. To me, the smaller hand seems easier to read and doesn’t get lost on the dial between the markers.

The hands are dauphine style, silver with inset lume, with the seconds hand being a simple silver stick, rather thin. The seconds hand could be a bit nicer, but it keeps in context with the class of the watch, so no major complaints here.

The upper half of the dial is black, with the lower half a sort of shiny grey-brown. This is Gucci’s take on the AM/PM delineation that some GMT watches offer. It looks stunning! Luminous applied markers are found at each five minute mark, with smaller markers at the 12 and 6 positions. A painted red arrow resides above the 12 marker and is very subtle in its appearance.

The dial does look like it could be a bit too busy, but due to the larger diameter of this watch, it really isn’t crowded. Below the 12 marker is the wording ‘Gucci’ and ‘Automatic’ and above the 6 marker is ‘Greenwich Mean Time’, a classier take on the usual ‘GMT’ of other watches. I like it! Under examination with an 8X loupe, I could detect no defects or dirt on the dial, just a nice clean build.

A quickset date window is at the three position, framed with a thin silver rim. The date wheel is white on black and with the framing, is quite easy to read. Date wheel alignment within the window is fine.

Lume quality on the Timeless GMT is quite good, given this is not a dive watch. The watch is factory rated at a modest 5 atm of water resistance.

Capping the dial is a flat sapphire crystal with absolutely no distortion. A black anodized omni-directional cities bezel finishes off the dial area. The bezel has 23 cities listed on it and clicks into position at each city location. The cities are just printed on the bezel in a silverish color and hopefully will not rub off due to wear, but overall, the bezel is a quality piece of engineering and looks superb on this watch. The black color of the bezel adds just the right amount of sportiness to this piece.

Inside the Timeless GMT beats a Swiss Made automatic movement, presumable an ETA 2893. Since the caseback is not a display type, the documentation does not mention what the engine is and I’m not about to crack the back to check, this is my best guess. The GMT hand is independently adjustable in one-hour increments. The watch handwinds and hacks and keeps great time, running about +8/24 hours with a long 48-3/4 hour power reserve.

The stainless steel bracelet features solid multi-piece links (nine pieces) with solid end links and a continuous style design signed on one link where the butterfly style clasp joins together. The bracelet is fully brushed, to coordinate with the finish on the watch case.

The deployant is machined and signed, but unfortunately does not have a pushbutton release, so you have to just tug on the bracelet to get it opened. It is not real tight, so you don’t have to pull too hard, but a watch at this price point and overall level of design needs a pushbutton on the clasp to do things right. Demerits here from me.

Also, due to the continuous style design of the bracelet, there are no microadjustments and no half-links, so getting a perfect fit may be tricky. The links themselves are not too big, so this aids in getting a better fit, but this is one reason I tend to not like continuous style bracelets. Luckily, for me, I was able to achieve a decent fit with this watch. Link removal is by standard split pins.

The bracelet measures 23mm at the lugs and tapers to 17.9mm at the clasp.

Presentation was fairly straightforward, a nice, but rather simple box that has a single cardboard piece that fits over the inner box.

Overall, the Gucci Timeless GMT is a classy, somewhat dressy, somewhat sporty very functional watch that exhibits great build quality, a unique and wonderful looking dial and the cache of the Gucci name. Bellissimo!

Pros: reliable Swiss automatic movement, great looking dial and bezel, brushed finish is perfect for this piece

Cons: a bit large for some, bracelet needs a pushbutton release, snap-on caseback looks cheap

Verdict: stylish, dependable and well-made, the Gucci Timeless GMT is the perfect addition to your collection if you’re looking for a GMT watch that is a bit different but with tons of personality.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # CO13.407.44.081.00

Brand/Model: Certina DS Action Titanium Automatic Diver
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: titanium case and bracelet
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: about $925 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Certina is a watch brand of the Swatch Group and is not widely known here in the states nor are they officially sold in the United States, so this bit of exclusivity is kind of nifty. The brand dates to 1888 and its founding by brothers Adolf and Alfred Kurth who started in the manufacture of movements and supplies for watches, not making complete timepieces until several years later.

The company’s first brand name appeared in 1906 as ‘Grana.’ It wasn’t until 1938 that the current name of Certina was used. Certina is Latin for ‘assured’ or ‘certain.’ Not bad qualities to have in a watch.

The moniker ‘DS’ was introduced in 1959 as ‘double security’, as in a movement suspended inside a reinforced case, a form of shock resistance. Their DS designs raised shock resistance to being able to withstand a 6 meter drop and 20 atms of water resistance. This design innovation basically marked the beginning of the company’s sports and dive models, with a series of endorsements and action-related adventures featuring various Certina watches throughout the sixties and seventies.

What drew me to this Certina DS Action diver? Its overall fairly unique look, exclusivity (at least in the U.S.) and lightweight titanium (Ti) construction. And the price wasn’t bad for all that this Swiss watch offers. The DS Action diver is also available in stainless steel, as well as automatic chronograph versions with both rubber and stainless steel bracelets.

The DS Action Ti starts with an all titanium case measuring 41.5mm without the large, widely knurled and signed screwdown crown (with two o-ring gaskets in the crown and one o-ring gasket on the stem for extra security against water intrusion). With the crown, it measures 47mm. The case is fully brushed in the familiar satin grey titanium color.

The Ti caseback is screwed down, polished and showcases the Certina turtle logo. According to DS standards, the caseback is reinforced and has a ‘specific’ gasket sealing it to the case. Lug spacing is 21mm and case thickness is a fairly thin 12.3mm. The watch sits comfortably on the wrist and does not wear large.

Overall fit and finish on the DS Action is quite good and while not the kind of watch that I immediately fell in love with, after owning it for awhile and wearing it, I have come to really enjoy what it represents (value, quality, functionality). Please note! I purchased this watch second-hand and the clasp has some bad polish marks on it where someone tried to remove some scuffs and didn’t do a very good job, as they show up in the photos.

The DS Action diver is factory rated at 200 meters of water resistance and is built to meet ISO standards for dive watches, being ISO 6425 compliant (which not all dive watches do). You can be assured that this watch will take to the water without any problems.

The dial and handset on the DS Action Ti is really where this watch shines. The dial is a silvery grey with a subtle sunburst effect. A very sharp color. The hands are silver with white inset lume, with an arrow style hour hand. The seconds hand is half white, half red, with a lume ball about two-thirds of the way up the hand, in the middle of the red section.

Round applied luminous markers are at the five minute marks, with rectangular applied luminous markers at the 15, 30 and 45 positions. An inverted triangular luminous marker is at the 12 position. Lume is the currently popular blue color and is of good quality.

The quickset date is at the 4:30 position. The date wheel is standard black on white and alignment within the smallish window is fine.

About the only dislike of the dial is the amount of printing on it, with three rows of wording on the upper half of the dial and four rows on the lower half. It’s really too much lettering cluttering up the dial; half the amount would be much better. A flat sapphire crystal with a non-reflective coating protects the dial.

The bezel is another winner on this watch. It’s a standard 60-click unidirectional design but with widely spaced knurls, giving it a gear-like look. The bezel rotates easily (almost a bit too easily), with positive clicks and nary any backlash.

The insert is completely smooth and is finished in the same grey color of the dial. Full markings (small dots for the minutes, arabics at each ten minute mark and marker bars at each five minute mark) are underneath the bezel insert. The first 20 minutes of the bezel is luminous, being green lume instead of blue lume like on the dial. An interesting treatment. The lume quality on the bezel is not as good as on the dial.

Inside the DS Action diver beats a Swiss Made ETA 2824-2 automatic, a workhorse of a mechanical watch movement if there ever was one. Timekeeping has been measured in my atelier at +12 seconds/24 hours, with a power reserve of 41-3/4 hours, all within expectations for this movement. Of course, the movement hacks and manually winds.

The bracelet is solid titanium, with standard oyster style solid links, solid end links and a signed double locking clasp. The clasp is just okay, it could be a bit heavier to keep up with the purposeful design of the watch; as is, it feels a bit cheap. The deployant is machined titanium, with a stamped titanium dive extension.

The bracelet measures 21mm at the lugs and tapers to 18.9mm at the clasp. A simple, no-nonsense bracelet that gets the job done with a minimum of fuss.

Presentation is a decent looking white box with red lettering, appropriate for a watch of this price point. There are two compartments inside the box, one for the watch and the other for the instructions and warranty cards.

Overall, the Certina DS Action titanium diver is a no-nonsense watch that is built to take a great deal of abuse and still come out functioning fine. It’s a tool watch for sure, but has a bit more panache than some tool watches, which is a good thing. Not overly bulky in any one dimension, this watch gets the job done while looking great doing so.

Pros: great grey dial and bezel, very legible hands, nicely proportioned crown, lightweight titanium construction, bezel lume execution is slick, true Swiss heritage

Cons: too much printing on the dial, date window a bit too small, stamped part of clasp could be thicker/of better quality

Verdict: not a household name in the states, the Certina DS Action diver is a superb dive watch up to the task of actual diving as well as daily ‘desk’ diving. It looks great, is well made and represents a good value for all that it possesses. Well done!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # 2000

Brand/Model: Anonimo Firenze Millemetri 10 Anni Ox-B (Drass)
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case with special coating, leather strap
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $3,450 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Well, this review might get a bit complicated, but I will try and keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. The reason I say this is that the history and current status of the company Firenze Orologi Srl is a bit convoluted and hard to follow.

Basically, the brand Anonimo Firenze is manufactured in Florence and is distributed by Firenze Orologi Srl. Anonimo was founded in 1997 by Federico Massacesi (from Salvatore Ferragamo) and due to the confluence of several factors, the company included a relationship to Officine Panerai and the Ambuchi family, a casemaker in Firenze since 1939.

As I understand it, when Anonimo was founded, Panerai had just left Italy to make its products in Switzerland and Anonimo was started to continue the Firenze (Florence) tradition of watchmaking. I take no responsibility for any misstatements here about the company, but that’s as I understand it.

You could sort of look at an Anonimo as the closest thing to a Panerai without being a Panerai; definitely something more than an homage watch. One nice thing, you can certainly pick up an Anonimo for a lot less pennies than a Panny while being quite a bit more exclusive, as Anonimo doesn’t mass produce their watches.

Anonimo is based in Florence, Italy and boasts an extremely wide range of watch models, with high quality cases CNC crafted from a solid block of either 316L stainless steel or marine grade bronze. As recently as 2009, the company has undergone a process of ‘renewal’ that will enable it to continue its tradition of hand-crafted well made watches.

There were some rumblings earlier this year about the future survival of the company, but an exact story is hard to come across and I don't want to present any misinformation. As far as I can tell, the company is still producing its unique watches and does have quite a strong following of enthusiastic customers.

The Millemetri was the company’s first watch model and has been in continuous production since 1997 in a vast array of colors and combinations. The 10th anniversary model reviewed here crossed my radar earlier this year and since I have been interested in the brand for quite some time, I took the bait and purchased one of the 10 Anni models (of which there were only 98 made). Although this watch was produced in the 2008 timeframe, there are still LNIB examples around (like the one I picked up).

The 10 Anni features Anonimo’s exclusive Ox-B or Drass treatment on the case (Drass stands for Double Refined Anonimo Steel Surface). Drass was also developed for Italian dive equipment maker Drass to match the colors of their dive equipment. Drass is the pretty much the third generation of Anonimo’s finish called Ox-Pro and Ox-B, so if you see Ox-Pro/Ox-B, it’s basically the same thing as Drass, but the finish will not be as consistent, although the finish on my watch is very consistent.

There is some confusion here, as my watch says on the caseback that it’s Ox-B, yet on their web site, Anonimo lists the 10 Anni models as having a Drass finish. I guess this arises from the perils of being a small company making limited numbers of watches each year.

Anonimo is the only company you’ll find the unique Ox-B or Drass case treatment on. It can best be described as a sort of greyish PVD, and is somewhat transparent and very durable. It’s really pretty cool and should hold up to a lot of abuse.

The 10 Anni case is solid 316L stainless steel measuring 42mm across the bezel without either of the two crowns. Measured from the case sides, the dimension is 44.4mm and with the winding crown included, the watch measures 47.5mm. Despite these seemingly big dimensions, the watch does not wear large.

The Ox-B/Drass coating is evenly applied and is smooth to the touch. One odd note, despite the company’s web site stating all the hand crafting and quality that goes into their cases, this particular example of the 10 Anni was purchased NIB (New In Box) and presumably came from the factory with a scratch on the case, right through the coating down to the base stainless steel, located right between the bezel and crystal between the 11 and 12 position, measuring about 9mm in length. It can be seen in the photos if you look closely. This QC problem is extremely disappointing to me. It seems the case was somehow scratched either before or during crystal fitment. I’m sure this particular flaw was a one-off anomaly, but I feel I had to mention it. See, I told you this review was going to be difficult.

The caseback is brushed stainless steel, screws down and has various laser-etched printing on it. A fancier, embossed caseback would be nicer at this price point, as the laser etching is not very deep and really doesn’t look like something you’d expect to see on a watch at this price point.

Lug width is 22mm, with the lugs being fairly beefy but short, with screwed bars holding the strap in place. Case thickness is 14.5mm. And in case you’re wondering, when compared to my Panerai 310 (40mm chrono), the case shape is almost identical to the Anonimo, so the Panny connection is indeed strong here.

The main watch crown (time and date setting) is located at the four position and is signed and screws down and is done in polished stainless steel, as is the helium escape valve. The manually operated helium escape valve (HEV) is located at the two position. This crown is smaller and is unsigned. It really doesn’t get in the way. Being a serious dive watch, the Millemetri (‘1000 meters’ in Italian) is rated at of course, 100 atm of water resistance.

The dial is both a joy and a bit of a letdown. The ivory/cream color is superb. I’ve always liked this shade in a watch dial and the 10 Anni shines here. It lets me down just because everything on the dial is printed, there are no applied markers, logos, date window frames or the like. While it looks fairly clean, it also looks kind of cheap.

There are large arabics at each quarter hour (12, 3, 6, 9) with inverted triangles at each five minute mark. Both of these features are luminous. Black hash marks are inserted between the triangles. The date window is located at the 2:30 position, with a quickset black on white date wheel. Wheel alignment within the window is fine, but the window is unframed and pretty small, so seeing the date clearly can be a challenge at times.

The hour and minute hands are black ladder style with Super Luminova illumination, with a black seconds hand with a luminous ball near the end. Lume quality is of course, good. The dial is clean and ‘open’ with not too much printing (the Anonimo stylized ‘A’, with ‘Millemetri’ and ‘Automatic’ underneath the logo on the upper half of the dial and the 10 Anni logo and ‘100 ATM’ in the lower half. The dial is covered with a very slightly domed sapphire crystal. I would give the overall presentation of the dial a B minus; it just needs a bit more oomph to really shine.

One other note. The gasket that sits between the crystal and the bezel is white plastic and is clearly visible at all angles. Using a gasket like this may be due to the high water resistance rating of the watch, but like the printed dial, it imparts a level of cheapness that this watch should not have.

The engine inside the 10 Anni is the rapidly becoming ubiquitous Selitta SW200-1 (ETA 2824-2 clone). This is a fine movement, running for 45 hours power reserve during my testing and about +7 seconds per day out of the box. The movement hacks and manual winds and has a smooth sweep seconds hand action. Specs are 26 jewels and adjustment in four positions. Although the caseback is not a display type, Anonimo installs a proprietary rotor and does some decorations to the base movement.

The signed strap is quite nice on the 10 Anni, a thick black leather ‘Opera Kodiak’ treated strap (water resistant) with light grey contrast stitching. The strap measures 22mm at the lugs and tapers to about 19.8mm at the fairly large brushed stainless steel buckle. The signed buckle is similar to the familiar Panny ‘pre-V’ buckle, but is not as large (thankfully) and is more rounded in its design. The strap has two keepers (one fixed, one floating) and despite its thickness, is fairly comfortable on the wrist and is starting to break-in after a couple of wearings.

Presentation is impressive, with monster-sized inner and outer boxes, with the inner box sporting a faux padded leather top with stitching and a padded inside.

Overall, I venture to say the Anonimo 10 Anni is not a watch for everyone. If you really want a Panerai and can afford one, get the real thing. If you want something that’s several steps above the glut of Panny homages out there, with a true Italian heritage and solid construction with a Swiss heart, the Anonimo is a good choice, albeit pricey if not purchased at the right price. I am glad I have added this watch to my collection and it seems that I like it more each time I wear it.

Pros: cool Ox-B/Drass coating on case, great shade of cream on the dial, legible hands, nice strap, Swiss engine, true deep dive capability

Cons: dial looks cheap with all printing and no applied markers, QC glitch with scratch on case, crystal gasket looks cheap, pricey

Verdict: not a household name, Anonimo has made an impression on the watch world during its short time as an independent watch company, with unique designs, quality materials and a passion for wanting to make watches that stand apart from the crowd. Buy a Millemetri for what it represents and you should be happy.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # H60 455 1/H60 455 533

Brand/Model: Hamilton Khaki Field/Pioneer ‘Team Earth’ Automatic
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case, leather strap
Complications: date display
Price: MSRP: $895 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Hamilton watches seem to make quite a few appearances here at my blog and for good reason, they represent strong value and excellent build quality for their price point, which is usually quite affordable. This Hamilton Khaki ‘Field’ or ‘Pioneer’ series automatic is no exception. This watch offers outstanding vintage looks, great quality and good performance with a reliable Swiss automatic movement.

If you’re familiar with Hamilton’s Khaki line, you know that there have been and continue to be a myriad of different models in this popular series. I won’t even attempt to describe how many different iterations of the Khaki line there are, but suffice it to say that there’s something for everybody.

This Khaki model comes in a beige/cream colored dial and the dark brown dial featured in this review and in two sizes, 42mm and a ginormous 45mm model. Don’t be fooled, the dial is dark brown, not black like most descriptions of this watch state. And it’s not a root beer shade, it’s a deep, chocolate brown that could pass for black in certain lighting.

This brown dialed Field/Pioneer model is a special ‘Team Earth’ edition that Hamilton put out with actor Harrison Ford, who is the Vice Chair of Conservation International. CI’s mission as stated on their web site is “Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the well-being of humanity.”

The Khaki Field/Pioneer starts with a fully brushed 42mm stainless steel case with a classic fluted fixed bezel (the bezel could also be referred to as ‘coin edge’ or ‘reeded’). The case measures 46.7mm including the crown. The large onion style crown is signed and is very easy to grasp and use. The caseback is polished and is secured by six small screws. The caseback features a ‘Team Earth’ signature along with Harrison Ford’s autograph. Case thickness is 11.9mm, while the lugs are the increasingly popular yet still odd 21mm.

The Field/Pioneer’s chocolate brown dial is offset by vintage style hands and simple arabic markers. The inset lume on the hands and the lumed arabics are a greyish or ‘dirty’ looking color, which mimics aged lume. It’s not yellowed looking or orange, but a shade that perfectly re-creates a true vintage feel in a modern watch. Superb! Lume quality is also quite good.

The seconds hand is a thin matte silver with no lume. A simple 60-second timing track encircles the outer edge of the dial. The fine pointed end of the minute hand makes this timing track quite useful.

The quickset date window at the three position is a bit small and can be hard to see clearly at times. The date wheel is standard black on white and alignment within the window is good. Minimal printing on the dial consists of the name ‘Hamilton’ under the 12 position and the words ‘Khaki’, ‘Automatic’ and ‘Antimagnetic’ above the six position. A slightly domed sapphire crystal caps the dial.

The Khaki Field/Pioneer is factory rated for 100 meters of water resistance.

The Swiss made ETA 2824-2 automatic movement is the standard in work-a-day automatic movements and since Hamilton is part of the Swatch Group, there’s no problem in Hamilton sourcing this well admired movement for this watch. With 25-jewels plus hacking and hand winding capability, you should be able to expect a lifetime of yeoman service from this movement. During testing in my atelier, the Khaki Field/Pioneer ran at +8 seconds/24 hours and turned in the expected 42 hour power reserve. Nothing to complain about here.

Another thing I like about Hamiltons is the quality of their leather straps. Many are handmade in Germany and at times surpass the quality of straps on watches costing two or three times as much. The strap on the Khaki Field/Pioneer is no exception. While unnecessarily fussy in its design (Hamilton wanted the strap to resemble a vintage aviator or pilot strap I believe) the deep dark brown hue, the graining of the leather and the soft, tactile feel of the strap is first rate. And there’s enough of extra strapping and buckles on this thing to make two separate straps if you really wanted.

Comfort of the strap on the wrist is not as bulky as the design would indicate, but there’s still too much over-and under-wrapping of the strap, clicking of snaps and trying to figure out if you’ve got the strap on correctly to make it fun. I would have appreciated a simpler and cleaner strap execution, but Hamilton wanted to keep the vintage feel of this watch through and through.

The strap has white contrast stitching and measures 21mm at the lugs, with two stainless steel screwed rivets on each side of the lugs, tapering to 19.7mm at the satin finish buckle.

Presentation is in keeping with the conservation-minded Team Earth concept, which is a simple recyclable cardboard box. Nothing fancy, but it fits.

Overall, the Hamilton Khaki Field/Pioneer ‘Team Earth’ automatic is a nifty watch that is simple in its design and execution, offers a great vintage look and remains in reach of most WISes. Well done!

Pros: just about the perfect vintage look, nothing feels contrived or forced on this watch, venerable Swiss engine, nice quality, especially for the price; high quality strap

Cons: overly complicated and fussy strap design, date window a bit too small

Verdict: every watch collection should have a modern piece that resembles a vintage piece and this Hamilton Khaki Field/Pioneer is my ‘pick to click’ in this department. A well thought-out design that keeps Hamilton on the leading edge of the value/quality/price equation

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # 950/2623997045

Brand/Model: Sector 950 Automatic Chronograph
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: titanium case and bracelet
Complications: date display, chronograph timing in one-second increments up to 12 hours
Price: MSRP: $995 USD (1999 price)

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

This review is a bit different because the watch being reviewed is no longer available from the manufacturer, but several examples of this watch have shown up recently on the Internet in NOS (new old stock) condition, so if you look hard enough, you may be able to find one. I’ve always respected Sector as a watch company, as I think they make some very nice pieces. Their model lines seem to divide into two price points, lower-end quartz models and more expensive quartz and automatic pieces. I’ve owned a number of Sectors from both price classes over the years and have always found them to be good quality watches with unique designs.

This Sector 950 automatic chronograph dates from the late 90s (about 1999 as far as I can tell). Being only 40mm in diameter makes it seem somewhat small in comparison to the multitude of 42mm+ watches on the market today, but it’s refreshing to wear a smaller watch for a change, especially one that is a full function chronograph.

The 950 starts with a satin finish titanium (Ti) case in the familiar grey color that titanium is most often associated with. The case measures 40mm without the crown or pushers; 44.5mm with the crown. The crown screws down and seems somewhat fragile when unscrewed, it kind of reminds me of a wobbly Vostok crown, but so far no problems have been encountered with it. The pushers look like they should screw down, with faux screwdowns ringed in red, but they don’t.

The caseback is satin finished titanium and screws down, and is emblazoned with the Sector ‘No Limits’ logo. Lug width is 20mm and thickness is 15.5mm, which is to be expected due to the Valjoux 7750 movement.

The Sector 950 is factory rated at 300 meters of water resistance. Since the pushers don’t screw down, I would have my doubts as to this rating, but let’s take them at their word.

The dial on the 950 is compact and a bit busy, but it works. The dial is a great shade of metallic grey, which is one reason I wanted this watch. I love grey dials. Luminous arabics surround the dial, with satin silver hands featuring inset lume. Lume quality, especially for an NOS watch, is very good.

The quickset date window is located at the three position and has a black on white date wheel. The window has a printed silver frame which helps make it easier to read the date. There’s also a chapter ring with minute marks in red that you can barely see on the outer edge of the dial.

The subdial at the nine position is the watch seconds hand, the subdial at the six is the chronograph hour totalizer (12 hour) and the subdial at 12 is the chrono’s minute totalizer (30 minute). Each hand on the subdials is tipped in red for easier reading. The chrono seconds hand is nice and big and has a long and large luminous tip. It’s one of the largest 7750 seconds hands I’ve seen and it makes it easier to read the seconds while the chrono is in use.

There’s a bit too much lettering (small lettering at that) that partially encircles the subdials at 12 and six. Do we really have to be told that the 950 sports a sapphire crystal? Apparently, this was a big deal in 1999. The Sector name is located at the three position, along with a polished silver Sector logo.

The crystal is flat and is of course, sapphire, as stated on the dial. A 60-click unidirectional bezel with red and black markings and a lume pip at 12 complete the dial’s presentation. The bezel has knurled sections which look pretty cool and do help in rotating the bezel. The bezel rotates easily and doesn’t have any noticeable backlash.

As previously stated, the 950 runs with a Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph movement. The movement hacks and manually winds and for a watch that has never been serviced and is over 12 years old, it has tested well on the bench. It runs about -12/24 hours and has a fine 46.5 hour power reserve. It’s a bit hard to wind the watch because the crown is rather small, but the movement winds fine and the chrono functions all start, stop and reset crisply. You really can’t go wrong with a 7750-based watch.

The bracelet on the 950 is fairly chunky for its diminutive 40mm case size. Satin finish solid titanium links with knurled center links match the knurling on the bezel. End links are solid. The clasp is double locking and signed, with the foldover safety clasp being polished and displaying the Sector logo. The deployant is machined and is stainless steel, not Ti like the rest of the watch. Why this was done, I have no idea. As is, the watch is light on the wrist.

There’s also a stamped Ti diver extension and four microadjustment holes on the clasp. The bracelet measures 19.5mm at the lugs and tapers to 18mm at the clasp. Adjustment is via standard split pins.

The Sector 950 represents the kind of watch that Sector was making in the late 90s and one that still works today as a functional, good looking piece crafted in titanium. This watch is worth seeking out as a NOS find.

Pros: lightweight titanium construction, solid 7750 automatic chronograph movement, more traditional 40mm case size, nice large chrono seconds hand

Cons: crown seems fragile, small crown makes winding difficult, case rather thick compared to other dimensions

Verdict: the Sector 950, while a watch from another time (and century!), still works in today’s smartphone world. Worth seeking out if you enjoy the NOS watch hunt.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Model # 241527

Brand/Model: Victorinox ‘Swiss Army’ Alpnach Automatic Chronograph
Movement: Swiss automatic chronograph
Material: PVD coated stainless steel case, nylon fabric/leather lined strap
Complications: day/date display, chronograph timing up to 12 hours in one-second increments
Price: MSRP $2,295 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Big. Bold. Black. Heavy. Unique. These are just some of the adjectives that can be used to describe the Victorinox Swiss Army (‘VSA’ as an abbreviation) Alpnach automatic chronograph. This is the newest design in the Alpnach series, which has been around for a few years now. The watch takes its name from a Swiss village that is set alongside Lake Lucerne, located at the foot of Mount Pilatus.

There are several variations of this newest Alpnach, with differences in the dial, case and/or accent colors. I’ve always liked a bit of green accenting on a watch, so that’s why I chose this variation. The grey dialed versions look good, too (and come with orange accents). VSA says this Alpnach is the ‘best timepiece for showing its passion to aviation.’ Okay, whatever you say. Personally, I really don’t get too much of an aviation feel with this watch.

A word to the wise (and to the smaller-wristed amongst us, like myself); this Alpnach is a big boy, rather top-heavy when on the wrist and a watch that not everyone can successfully pull off. The fabric strap is a curiosity on this piece; if it sported a stainless steel bracelet, the top-heaviness of the watch would be somewhat lessened and perhaps a bit more comfortable to wear, albeit more heavy. But it’s only offered on the fabric strap, so unless an aftermarket bracelet is added, the watch will continue to be somewhat lopsided. I’m sure on a larger wrist, it won’t be so top heavy, but you’ve been warned.

Victorinox has really stepped up their game in the past couple of years, producing some really great, high quality watches that can be found at decent discounts if you look hard enough. This Alpnach starts with a large 44mm diameter case (not counting the crown or pushers) that is constructed of solid stainless steel then coated with black PVD. The consistency of the PVD coating is first rate, smooth, evenly applied and perfectly black. The case measurement with crown is 49.3mm.

The crown does not screw down and is grooved on the sides instead of being fluted and has a rubber insert on the end with the VSA logo. For some reason (at least on my watch) the crown is very hard to pull out, despite its rather large size. I don’t know if all Alpnachs have a crown that is hard to pull out, but it is a bear to do and can lead to bent fingernails and a lot of swearing.

The pushers are rather unique on this watch. The upper pusher (starts and stops the chrono) is a conventional round pusher. The lower pusher (chrono reset) is rectangular and is curved to better fit your finger. This pusher is also clearly labelled in white with the word ‘reset’ on it. No confusion over what this pusher does!

The caseback is secured by six small screws and features a partial or ‘peek-a-boo’ mineral crystal display window that is designed to show the signed rotor as it rotates around to wind the watch. The caseback is signed with the Swiss Airforce logo. Overall, the case and caseback present a solid, well-made look and feel to this watch. Case thickness is 15.5mm and lug width is 24mm. One nice thing, due to the overall large size of the case, the equally large 24mm lugs do not stand out as such. You will look at this watch and think the lugs are smaller.

The watch is factory rated for 100 meters of water resistance.

The dial is one place where this watch excels. The dial is a matte black with subtle green accents for the chrono functions and on the chapter ring. The hands are black with inset white lume. The chronograph hands are solid white with no lume and the chrono seconds hand is a split (skeleton) white design with a green tip. Lume quality is good, but really nothing better. Minimal dial printing is another nice touch, with just the VSA logo, ‘Victorinox’, ‘Swiss Army’ and the words ‘Chronograph’ and ‘Automatic’ printed in a rather small point size on the dial.

A quickset day and date is at the three position. The day and date wheels are white on black and harmonize perfectly with the matte black of the dial. Wheel alignment within the day/date windows is good and the quickset mechanism works fine, although a bit lacking in tactile feel, ie: as you spin through the day or date, there’s not much resistance to let you know you’ve changed the setting. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of nonetheless. A small divider separates the day and date windows respectively.

The subdial at the nine position is the watch’s seconds hand and is a ‘propeller’ design, with four hands equally spaced, with three of the hands painted black and one hand painted white. This is really nothing more than a design element, but it does look pretty cool. A simple chapter ring encircles the dial with green accents at each quarter hour.

The subdial at 12 is the 30-minute totalizer for the chrono, while the subdial at 6 is the chrono’s 12-hour totalizer. This is the standard and familiar Valjoux 7750 configuration. Both chronograph subdials are clearly marked in a combination of white hash marks and white arabics and have raised rings at their outer edges with white triangle markers that draw your eye towards the green circles immediately surrounding the subdials. It sounds busy, but it’s not and it works quite well.

Overall, the dial is very legible and easy to read, although the hour and minute hands are a bit thin, they could be a millimeter or so wider.

The bezel is a unidirectional 120-click variety with an inset lume triangle at the 12 position and is set up as a countdown bezel, with the numbers running the opposite of a standard timing bezel, that is, clockwise on the bezel starts counting down from 60 instead of counting up. Again, there’s no real reason for this, just another design element.

The bezel itself is black PVD with inset white paint for the markers and arabics and also sports heavily knurled grip bars at each five minute mark, which makes is very easy to turn this bezel. There’s also a fix tachymeter ring just inside the bezel, between the crystal and bezel. The inset markings and arabics on the tachymeter are all black.

The Alpnach has a triple coated anti-reflective flat sapphire crystal that effectively banishes reflections. This certainly made taking pictures of this watch much easier. The crystal has a slight anti-reflective (bluish) tint to it.

Inside the Alpnach beats the well regarded and reliable Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph movement. The movement sets well, hacks and manually winds and apart from the sensitive day/date setting and hard to pull out crown previously mentioned, is a workhorse of an engine. The chronograph functions start, stop and reset crisply. In testing, my Alpnach ran at +7 seconds/24 hours with a very fine 55 hour power reserve. You really can’t complain about a 7750-based chronograph.

The strap on the Alpnach is somewhat of a letdown to me. VSA refers to this strap as ‘hi tech’ but I don’t see it. It is black nylon, relatively thick, with black leather accents on the top and a smooth tan leather lining. The pushbutton clasp is black PVD with the VSA logo, while the deployant is machined and is standard stainless steel color. There are two keepers, one fixed and one floating.

Instead of the fabric strap, I would prefer a standard high-quality leather strap (especially on a watch that sports an MSRP of more than $2K like this one does) or a nice quality stainless steel bracelet. The fabric strap just looks kind of cheap and is not the most comfortable, partly due to the butterfly style clasp, which never works too well for me on any strap. Strap width is 24mm at the lugs and tapers to about 20.5mm at the clasp.

Presentation is standard VSA, a rather simple inner and outer box of average to slightly larger size. Nothing fancy, nothing cheap, pretty much middle of the road. I have said this before, for their price point, I feel Victorinox should improve their boxes. Now I know that many people say ‘you don’t wear the box, you wear the watch’ which is true, but if you charge $2K+ for a watch, the quality of the box should match the price point.

Overall, the Victorinox Alpnach chrono is a large, heavy, cool watch that has great functionality and unique looks without being over the top in any way (well, maybe just a little). Put a high quality leather strap on this puppy and you’ll really steal the show.

Pros: quality construction, well-regarded Swiss engine, subtle and bold looks at the same time, unique reset pusher design

Cons: lume could be better, a bit top heavy on smaller wrists, fabric strap has to go, crown hard to pull out

Verdict: large and in charge, the VSA Alpnach represents a good value when purchased at the right price (think half of MSRP) and will do the job while going the distance.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

Excelsior!

-Marc

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