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Ok here's my long, boring review of the Pitzmann 3

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7K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  And Al  
#1 ·
After owning dozens of watches, this is my first review and 1 watch I tried to keep on the wrist for a month. (I had a 2 day break but kept the watch wound up & running while off wrist.) I’m not sure if I should just bullet point stuff or write an essay but here we go…

This is my second automatic chrono, my first being a vintage Seiko 6139 Bruce Lee. It seems I’ve been shopping for a Panda automatic chrono for years. While I am not a cheapskate, I do work with a budget and will never ever be able to buy a mechanical Paul Newman Daytona 6239. That said, the Hamilton Intra-Matic bi-compax has been my fav in my hunt but I never pulled the trigger. Then the Tissot PRX auto chrono came out. I like the PRX. This new model was interesting but having to use a tool to push a recessed button at 10 o’clock really turned me off. So I kept looking and waited. I was late to the party for the Venezianico Bucintoro, an attractive Panda tri-compax, but they sold out before I knew they even existed. Obviously there is the Seiko Speedtimer Prospex butt it just seems too busy to me. Then in March 2024, I started seeing reviews of a new Panda auto chrono on Youtube - The Pitzmann 3. And wow, it looked awesome! Dare I say a modern Daytona? It still wasn’t an automatic buy. I looked into more reviews of the Pitzmann brand on Youtube and the forums. Turns out they are a South Korean microbrand with a totally non-Korean company name. Besides brand heritage and communication, Pitzmann has received mostly positive reviews. (Even one review from Andrew Morgan c/o Watchfinder.)

After they sold out of their first run of Ice Blue Pitzmann 3’s, I had to buy into the hype. I bought mine on April 7th on sale for $1400 USD. It shipped from South Korea, arrived super early and I missed delivery on April 12th. I had to wait a whole weekend and went to go pickup the watch myself on April 15th. Packaging was nothing special although the outer box reminded me of Zodiac for how it opens up & the drawer beneath that holds manual, warranty card and bracelet screwdriver.

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Likes
The watch is very shiny and pretty. I’m not saying that bc it’s brand new. And I’m not saying that just bc it has the Panda colorway. It’s bc it has little design cues that I think elevate it above others:
  • White stuff: The white enamel dial that will stay shiny & pristine under a double-sided AR coated flat sapphire. A chapter ring that almost looks white enamel itself with tiny pops of red.
  • Silver stuff: A recessed polished silver ring that encompasses the dial. Multi-faceted polished indices w/ lume that lines up with the silver ring; even the small indices at 3 and 9 are multifaceted (and lumed). More silver rings around the sub registers. I even like the half-skeleton hour and minute hand.
  • Date Window: One thing I dislike about a lot of chronos is the square date window squeezed in between 4 and 5 especially when the date is angled and not upright. (I think Seiko gets this right on the Prospex with a circular punch out window with an upright date which is also featured on my slim Turtle). While Pitzmann is not the first to put a date window at 6, they do frame it in shiny silver and the date is nice red text on white. I appreciate the detail and symmetry.
  • Flared Lugs: Pitzmann has a signature style they say is inspired by Korean architecture. Flared roofs became flared lugs. It is sometimes hard to see with the eye, but its there and you can definitely feel it. Sometimes while admiring the watch, I run my finger along the lugs so I can feel how it flares outwards. (Lmao I welcomed a bunch of watch enthusiasts to try on & finger this part of my watch at a meet up over the weekend.)
Movement: I set my Pitzmann 3 to my phone and put it on my wrist. I don’t wind it up everyday but often do. When I took it off for 2 days, I wound it up daily to keep it running since it’s Seiko NE88 movement has a 40 hour power reserve. After a month, it was running 2 minutes behind. My example overperformed, losing about 4 seconds per day but I would still prefer it to run faster. I must also say, I haven’t been a big fan of small seconds hand or at least I’m neutral on it. However the sweep on the small seconds register is very smooth. I’m not sure whether it’s the tiny size of the seconds hand that masks the beats or whether it’s the movement itself, but it is winning me over. The starter-stopper is snappy and confident. It doesn’t feel squishy. The reset pusher is less snappy and doesn’t have the same click but still pretty good. I have experience with plenty of Tag Huer automatic chronos and they’re not far off. I’ve also handled the Intra-Matic I had been eyeing, the PRX and Speedtimer. The pushers are all comparable.

Size: The Pitzmann 3 is sized just right for me. The case is 40mm, 41mm w/ bezel. (More on the bezel later.) So it is smaller than the PRX Chrono, Speedtimer Prospex and Bucintoro. It’s 47.5mm lug to lug is also smaller than the footprint of the competitors I have specs for (49mm Bucintoro, 49.5 Speedtimer). Thinner too at 13.25mm (although the Bucintoro advertises 11.7 without their double-dome sapphire crystal). My watch weighs 156 grams sized to fit my 6.7 inch wrist. I don’t have the weight for the Bucintoro or Intra-matic, but it is lighter than the PRX (184 grams) and Speedtimer (183 grams). Even if it might be heavier than a Bucintoro or Intra-Matic (I don’t know their weight), the Pitzmann 3 has a good weight and I’m a strong boy.

Dislikes
  • Needs More Red Stuff: I love the red (enamel I think) ring around the start-stop pusher. I wish there were more red on the seconds chrono hand and it would have been neat if the small seconds hand was also red.
  • Logo and Texts: The 3 water droplet logo (is that what they are?) is meh and sits atop 4 lines of text on the pretty enameled dial. There’s the brand name (Pitzmann), city of origin (Seoul), Automatic and chronograph. It’s too busy for an otherwise nice clean dial.
  • Bezel: The bezel is larger than the case. It is 41mm, so it overhangs 0.5mm on all sides. I haven’t shattered or scratched up a ceramic bezel insert on my divers but i have a little fear in the back on my mind that might happen on this chrono bc of the larger bezel. Please tell me it won’t happen. Fingers crossed. Also I wished it had a better design for the dots and tick marks for the tachymeter.
  • Bracelet: I think the bracelet is fine except for the lack of micros. I like the polishing on the chamfers between the links. However I have to neg the bracelet bc it is a carry over from the Pitzmann 2. Reiewers and owners of the previous watch were asking for a better clasp and micros but that feedback was ignored. No improvements were made I suspect for cost savings.
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Meh
  • Lume: There’s tiny bits of lume on the indices and more lume on the non-skeleton parts of the hour and minute hands. It’s fine, it’s cute. I don’t expect anything more from a racing chrono.
  • Water Resistance: Comparable chronos have 100 meters of WR while the Pitzmann 3 has 50 meters. However those competitors are also thicker. It’s a fine trade off as I don’t expect to be submerged in deep water with this watch and it does fine in the Seattle rain.

Wrap Up
Obviously any chrono that is black and white w/ a tri-compax layout will draw comparisons to the 800 pound Panda that is the Rolex Daytona (or lesser extent, a Zenith Chronomaster). It is a challenge to come up w/ something unique when the design is iconic. However it is not a direct copy and in my humble opinion a modern homage that stands out. I’ve enjoy wearing this watch a lot and I’m happy that my search for a Panda automatic chronograph watch is over. Cheers and thanks for reading!

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#4 ·
Great to get your detailed take on your experiences with it. Considering your likes and dislikes, it sort of confirms that despite my liking for this design (dare I say better than the inspiration for me) I should probably not go here. The complexities of the Chronograph functionality will open up entirely different categories of possible concerns. From the side line, I personally like that the red is kept subtle and predominantly helps guide the eye to key functions on the watch. While I normally would balk at four lines of text, I understand how it came about here and don't dislike the execution. Possibly the logo should have been applied. I do agree that this would have been better with 10atm (like the competition, just for argument's sake, but not at the sacrifice of thickness) and I appreciate that on this nonetheless heavier (than the Pitzmann II) style watch the need of an excellent fit is even more important. Having said that, on my Pitzmann II the half links took great care of that, and I personally dislike the bulk of a clasp. Initially I was in team blue, but I've started to appreciate the greyish black on white with red accents. If going for a chronograph, I think it is arguably the more useful version and that has appeal.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the review.

Chronos are Chronos are Chronos. But some look different.
The two obvious similar brand watches, and this one look, well, precise and expensive.

I keep looking at this watch and finding myself embracing/ignoring the brand name due to the stellar looks of this piece.
Good movement, good price.
Good grief, do I really need another chronograph?

Dont answer…
 
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