RLT 62 ? affordable true 24h quartz watch from England

RLT 62 - affordable true 24h quartz watch from England

Specifications

Name: RLT 62 True 24 Hour Watch
Model Reference: RLT62
Movement: Ronda 515.24H quartz, Swiss parts, 1 jewel, battery type 371
Time display: 24 hour, minute, seconds
Date: no
Case: Swiss all steel sand blasted with screw on back
Size: 38 mm diameter with crown
Height: 10 mm
Face: black
Text on dial: RLT Watch Co. England
Hands and markers: luminous hour and minute hands
Water-resistance: water resistant
Crown: standard
Crystal: flat mineral crystal
Lug: 18 mm
Bracelet: leather strap with buckle

Preamble

I'm buying brand new watches very rarely. My standard policy is - buy pre-owned, buy from eBay, buy only on auctions. This gives you a) lower price, b) much more fun because of the hunting experience. Only in rare occasions I'm buying from shops, usually when I'm really fascinated with some watch or when I see some NOS leftover with good old price.

With RLT it was a different story. I knew that this small independent English watchmaker exists and one day I searched through their A Concise Guide to RLT Watch Co. to find out, what 24h models they had and have. RLT has produced several 24h watches, some of them even very interesting. Further search made me clear, that used RLT watches are very hard to find. There is nothing in eBay. I'm registered user at their The Watch Forum and even in the hidden sales forum there you can wait for years until some used RLT 24h watch arrives. So the only way to find out, how good RLT 24h watches are, was to buy directly from producer.

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This is the "official" picture taken from RLT Watches site.

Purchasing

Current RLT catalog contains one 24h entry - RLT 62. I wasn't very impressed with the small pictures of this watch you see on the web. From the other side - price £75.00 was attractive. I ordered it online on January 20. In the webshop is written: "current delivery time is 2-3 weeks." Good, I was waiting. Next sign of life from RLT I got by email on February 11 - "your order is shipped". 3 weeks, that's OK.

Some days later RLT 62 came in a tin box. The package was sufficiently protecting.

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Comments

First - what you get is much more what you see on the picture. I like this watch. For sure I will wear it. That is not self-evident to me. My watch collection is large. I have several 24h watches in my collection just because they are weird, collectable, interesting or (yes) cheap, without any plans to wear them.

RLT 62 is very easy to read, which is important factor often missed with 24h watches. This watch looks in the real life much better than on the pictures. The size is right for me. The style is - I would say - universal. Many 24h watches are looking like special tools, wearable maybe with some army camouflage, but not in the office. (BTW, the rarest species is 24h dress watch.) You can wear RLT 62 everywhere. For me it's a good watch to wear it in the office (I'm an IT consultant) or at leisure time.

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The overall impression of this watch is that it is solid and reliable. I have a plenty of 24h quartz watches who looks so fragile, that you are afraid to take them in hand. I don't know how long is RLT 62 produced and in which capacity.

One comment on RLT website says: "I've owned this watch for about 8 years and have had minimal problems. At some point the second hand started to drag on the watch face and made the watch lose time, but this was fixed locally by a watch maker. Now some of the black watch facing is peeling away from the metal ... but the watch is 8 years old. I've been very satisfied and would recommend the watch."

I'm not sure, but maybe he is talking on some older, but similar RLT 24h model (RLT9?). I don't think that this model, RLT 62, is offered more than 3-4 years.

What can be better?

The water resistance is minimal; this watch is not for bathing or swimming. Only the hands are lumed, no luminous markers on dial. For me both features are not critical.

The only paper I got with the watch was invoice. I don't need any user manual, but it would be nice to know, are any warranty conditions applicable to the watch.

Summary

I'm satisfied. As you know, the formula is:

customer satisfaction = customer perceptions - customer expectations.

Here my expectations were quiet low, but perceptions much higher and the overall result is very satisfactory. Recommended.

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