Margaret Rodriguez
OK. Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way first. Its low water resistance rating means it's best to cover it if you're going out in a heavy rain, and you'll have to be careful while washing your hands. Fair enough. And, yes, it's a quartz watch, and even says so right on the dial. Points for honesty there. And, really, that's what most people want unless they are watch collectors, since most people want quartz accuracy and convenience. I will admit I'm a bit of a watch collector too, but not "that" way. I just love watches, especially when they are inexpensive and good looking, and by those criteria this watch absolutely blew me away. Please hear me out.For less than the price of a Caramel Macchiato at your local coffee joint, you can wear a watch with a zinc case (instead of plastic), a mineral crystal (instead of acrylic), a rubber strap (instead of nylon), and a dial with real interest, design, and details in the execution. So, the case is not stainless (more later). Remember the price. The crystal is not sapphire. Remember the price. The movement is not mechanical. Remember the price.Look at the dial. It has a raised racetrack for the printed minute markers and what look like applied hour indices and applied Arabic numerals in high polish silver tone. The date window is framed as well, and surrounds three dates so you can always read the date regardless of the positions of the hour and minute hands, something which very few watches actually do but is a genuinely premium feature since the hour and minute hand can block up to two of the three date window positions. The dial is textured as well, with a stippled look that plays with the light in an interesting and attractive way and turns what might otherwise be a plain watch into a classy, upscale looking watch. The silver syringe handset has applied lume (admittedly, the lume doesn't last very long once it gets dark, but it still has lume!) The entire design has a restrained and intentional upscale execution that is normally reserved for much, much more expensive watches, and I love it!The listing calls this a stainless steel watch, but I think only the case back is stainless steel. At this price point, I can't imagine that it could be a stainless steel case, so I'm guessing other than the case back it's zinc. I haven't tried to scratch it to see for sure (don't want to intentionally ruin the watch). The case is fully polished, and has a polished chamfered fixed bezel with hour markers on the bezel as well which adds interest to the design. The crown is large and knurled, and the case has crown protectors built in. The provided strap is a decent, comfortable and compliant black rubber strap which has slots for quick release spring bars, but the watch is not assembled with quick release spring bars. In fact, the spring bars used do not even have flanges on them, so you can't use a spring bar tool to remove them. In order to change the watch strap you have to use a side-cutter to cut the spring bars off. I replaced the rubber strap with a leather strap (that has quick release spring bars) to compliment the classy design of the dial.It is a large watch, measuring 45mm in diameter. Lug to lug measures 50 mm, and it has 22 mm lug spacing. So, it wears like a big watch. I have a 7.75" wrist, so it works just fine for me, but consider that if you have a smaller wrist. You can see how big it looks on a large wrist in the pictures. The first picture shows the watch on the rubber strap the comes with it. The next two pictures show the watch with a replacement strap that I like better and put on, but the watch does not come with this strap.I still can't believe what a great looking watch this is for the price. I actually really enjoy wearing it, looking at it, and showing it off, and it's literally the cheapest watch I own. To me, that's a real win, which is why I'm giving it 5-stars. No, it doesn't compete with Swiss brands for quality or finishing or movement pedigree, but it makes no pretenses about doing so. Why do you have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get a watch you like to look at and wear? I'm happy to say, you don't.
