Not trying to write a review of the watch. Just some impressions and feelings I had about an inexpensive watch.
I've been into watches for a few years now. I have a simple dress watch(an Orient Bambino) that I really love and appreciate for what it is. I've always disliked roman numerals, feeling that they were the epitome of cheap on cheap watches, and pretentious on expensive watches(and had no place at all mid-tier). Last week, I woke up and decided out of absolutely no where - I wanted a watch with roman numerals. I knew I didn't want to spend a kings ransom(or even half of that) on something I had hated for years. I figured China was a solid place to start looking. I checked through the offerings from Winner - and while most of them looked okay, I decided that a $20 automatic watch was just asking for trouble.
So I stumbled across the Naviforce watches. I had seen the name around before. Checked ebay, and even found an American seller, shipping from Massachusetts. It wasn't the color I wanted. I would've preferred white dial with a SS case but, the option wasn't available. For $23 shipped - I didn't have a lot of room to complain about colors.
This wasn't my first trip into inexpensive watches from China. I knew what to expect and what I was getting myself into. Once I opened up the envelope(Yes, envelope. The watch was shipped in a velvet bag. Wrapped in the typical plastic with an instruction booklet included.) I was... impressed. Sure the watch was light. Light like your typical low-cost quartz watch. I didn't expect any heft. I knew ahead of time that the watch was going to be big as well, but I still wasn't expecting it to be so big. Luckily I don't plan on wearing it in any dressy situations. Best "official" specs I can find are:
47mm wide/14mm thick. It's a big watch for sure. 22mm lug width and a L2L that covers my entire wrist surface(and to put that into perspective - I'm the human equivalent of Naviforce watches.)
So, once I get over the size of this thing - I started to inspect the leather(?) strap, the case and dial. I was pretty impressed with Naviforce overall. The buckle on the strap was marked with their logo as well as a clean looking placement on the dial. What really sold me on their attention to detail was the seconds hand. The balance of the second hand was actually he Naviforce "N" logo. Cool stuff. The six o'clock date placement had me feeling all sorts of ways.
The texture and layers of the dial were great to see. I expected a flat color dial with either printed or poorly glued indices. Instead, what arrived was this. It's beautiful in how theres so much dimension to the dial. The hands would be disappointing. Lume is allegedly there, but I've yet to experience any glow.
I kept trying to figure out what the strap on the watch is. I checked the backside and it clearly wasn't leather. But it's soft, and after working up the nerve to test it out. I brought it up slowly to my nose and took a giant whiff. It smelled(and still does.) like an inflatable pool raft. It's some type of composite material, but it doesn't disappoint either. While it's soft it still manages to be supple and full.
For $23 bucks - I think I got a fun watch to keep around. I'll wear it in good faith, and I'm already looking through the other offerings from Naviforce to see what else they've got going.
