When I was looking for some information on this time piece there wasn’t much. So I think my “6 months on the wrist” review can be of some use for someone thinking about purchasing this watch.
First, I’ll do some specs overview then will share my thoughts and experience.
[HR][/HR]Movement: Kinetic Seiko 5M85 with a 24 hours GMT hand and world time inner bezel
Case diameter: 43.5mm (46mm with crown)
Lug to lug: 50mm
Lug width: 20mm
Water resistance: 10bar / 100 meters
Crystal: slightly domed Hardlex
Crown: regular (not screw down) without crown guards
Bracelet: solid stainless steel links (though end links are hollow but being correctly sized the bracelet doesn’t rattle at all), 20mm tapered to 18mm by the clasp.
Clasp: 2 push buttons deployment clasp with 2 positions micro adjustment
Complications: 24hr GMT, Date, Power Reserve
Case back: see through (Hardlex)
Power reserve indication: pusher at 2 o'clock making the second hand go from 1 to 6 (a day to six months)
[HR][/HR]
I do 100-150 flights per year so buying a travel watch with a second time zone was inevitable. After trying several pieces with sub-dials I decided to go with a GMT hand because at certain hours sub-dials get overlapped by main hands while the GMT hand does not.
This watch has a very handy feature: an independent main hour hand. When a GMT hand is set to home time (or GMT, or whatever) you can adjust the main hour hand by moving it forward or backward in one hour steps without stopping the movement and affecting the minute and GMT hands. So flying to a time zone +2 hours away you just take out the crown and move the main hour hand 2 hours ahead. That’s it. Done.
The inner bezel (controlled by a crown at 4 o’clock) is marked with 24 cities so you can actually see time in 3 time zones at a time.
Surprisingly for a 43.5mm oversized time piece it doesn’t look bulky or too big at all even though my wrist is a bit too small for 43.5mm (my sweet spot is 41mm). The watch still looks elegant and even kind of dressy (for a travel watch) especially with a leather strap. It still easily slides under sleeves of shirts and jackets.
The watch is very well made. It took some moderate beating like door knobs, countless airports, airplanes, swimming pools and seas and still is as good as new.
The dial is beautiful and looks much more expensive than it actually is. Polished marks, applied Seiko logo, slightly domed crystal, 24 hours day/night chapter ring and inner bezel with full city names (not IATA codes) make it look nowhere near boring. Yet it doesn’t look overly busy (for a travel watch).
Polished dauphine hands add dressiness and I’d say class.
My only complaint about this watch (if any) would probably be a lack of lume. All those polished marks and hands act like a mirror and sometimes legibility suffers a bit, but that’s the price of the overall dressiness look.
Legibility wise I would also probably prefer the date wheel to be white with black numbers rather than black with white but anyway it looks great the way it is.
As for the accuracy in my case it’s an amazingly accurate watch. I could probably even use it as a reference watch. I didn’t write down any numbers but during the first two or three months on the wrist haven’t adjusted the watch a single time, so it keeps perfect time.
So overall impression is great. It’s nice looking, comfortably sitting, not boring, gets the job done and have been a great companion in all my trips.
A great value under 300$. For me it is a definite keeper because it's features, looks and the way I feel about it.
Here are some pictures. I apologize for poor quality of my smartphone camera.
First, I’ll do some specs overview then will share my thoughts and experience.
[HR][/HR]Movement: Kinetic Seiko 5M85 with a 24 hours GMT hand and world time inner bezel
Case diameter: 43.5mm (46mm with crown)
Lug to lug: 50mm
Lug width: 20mm
Water resistance: 10bar / 100 meters
Crystal: slightly domed Hardlex
Crown: regular (not screw down) without crown guards
Bracelet: solid stainless steel links (though end links are hollow but being correctly sized the bracelet doesn’t rattle at all), 20mm tapered to 18mm by the clasp.
Clasp: 2 push buttons deployment clasp with 2 positions micro adjustment
Complications: 24hr GMT, Date, Power Reserve
Case back: see through (Hardlex)
Power reserve indication: pusher at 2 o'clock making the second hand go from 1 to 6 (a day to six months)
[HR][/HR]
I do 100-150 flights per year so buying a travel watch with a second time zone was inevitable. After trying several pieces with sub-dials I decided to go with a GMT hand because at certain hours sub-dials get overlapped by main hands while the GMT hand does not.
This watch has a very handy feature: an independent main hour hand. When a GMT hand is set to home time (or GMT, or whatever) you can adjust the main hour hand by moving it forward or backward in one hour steps without stopping the movement and affecting the minute and GMT hands. So flying to a time zone +2 hours away you just take out the crown and move the main hour hand 2 hours ahead. That’s it. Done.
The inner bezel (controlled by a crown at 4 o’clock) is marked with 24 cities so you can actually see time in 3 time zones at a time.
Surprisingly for a 43.5mm oversized time piece it doesn’t look bulky or too big at all even though my wrist is a bit too small for 43.5mm (my sweet spot is 41mm). The watch still looks elegant and even kind of dressy (for a travel watch) especially with a leather strap. It still easily slides under sleeves of shirts and jackets.
The watch is very well made. It took some moderate beating like door knobs, countless airports, airplanes, swimming pools and seas and still is as good as new.
The dial is beautiful and looks much more expensive than it actually is. Polished marks, applied Seiko logo, slightly domed crystal, 24 hours day/night chapter ring and inner bezel with full city names (not IATA codes) make it look nowhere near boring. Yet it doesn’t look overly busy (for a travel watch).
Polished dauphine hands add dressiness and I’d say class.
My only complaint about this watch (if any) would probably be a lack of lume. All those polished marks and hands act like a mirror and sometimes legibility suffers a bit, but that’s the price of the overall dressiness look.
Legibility wise I would also probably prefer the date wheel to be white with black numbers rather than black with white but anyway it looks great the way it is.
As for the accuracy in my case it’s an amazingly accurate watch. I could probably even use it as a reference watch. I didn’t write down any numbers but during the first two or three months on the wrist haven’t adjusted the watch a single time, so it keeps perfect time.
So overall impression is great. It’s nice looking, comfortably sitting, not boring, gets the job done and have been a great companion in all my trips.
A great value under 300$. For me it is a definite keeper because it's features, looks and the way I feel about it.
Here are some pictures. I apologize for poor quality of my smartphone camera.
