Michael Gonzalez
I was talking with my grandmother recently about watches and about how they aren't worn very much anymore now that everyone carries smartphones, but she made a good point about how watches aren't always just for function, they can also be for style. And that got me thinking... when my wife and I have to get dress up all fancy for some formal event, she puts on a nice necklace or two and a nice set of earrings and maybe a bracelet, and there I am with not a single accessory. So I started looking at getting a nice, formal-looking watch. For functionality I would only ever go for digital since I'm not super-quick at reading analog clocks or watches, but for a formal style I though analog had to be the way to go. I wanted it to be thin and simple, not something bulky or shiny, and definitely not one of those elastic/metal bands like my dad wears as they always pulled my hair. But I also couldn't go Velcro like on the watch I used to wear because that's not formal enough. So with all that in mind I came across this one, and I think it works well as an accessory for a formal dress-up occasion.The black band is metal mesh and yet not elastic at all so it doesn't pull my hair. You have to use the included tool in order to adjust the length, which was kind of a pain, but seeing as how that only needs to be done once it can be forgiven. The watch face has a dark gray background with a black metallic border and hands that match. Depending on the light, the background sometimes looks light gray, and I think I might have preferred a black background.The watch is battery powered, which would be a necessity if I were to wear it every day, but for only occasional use manual wind-up would have been fine. That knob on the side pulls out slightly and is then used to adjust the time, and then pulls out a little more to adjust the day. There is no method for setting the month or year so I guess you have to fix the date every time a new month begins where the previous month didn't have 31 days?Since I'm not going to be wearing this every day, I was happy to find that it comes in a nice-looking storage box. The outer slipcover is like a black, thick paper/thin cardboard, but the box itself feels almost leather, like a fake leather. Inside the watch strap slides into an elastic band to keep it in place, then there's a dark gray foam piece that sets on top. The top of the box has a pouch where the documentation is kept along with the tool for adjust the band's size. Although the box is nice, I do think I would have preferred it to be a smaller to make it easier to pack and travel with.For my purposes, this watch is pretty much exactly what I was looking for.
