George Perez
This SURVAN WatchDesigner Men's Automatic World Time Mechanical Skeleton Watch Black Genuine Leather Strap arrived a short while ago and I unpacked it.It is packed in a genuine wooden box with thick foam inserts and comes with a burlap bag in which to store it. The whole thing was packaged in a cardboard box.But, with all that packing, at least one piece of the clasp had come off. I was able to put it back on (to the best of my ability); there are no instructions nor are there any pictures showing just how the clasp should look.But I believe that I have it fitted together correctly unless more was lost (not packed).But I believe that this clasp, in its effort to be "fancy" and even if it did work properly, is designed very poorly.As a consequence, I CANNOT get the band to hook into it. Both my wife an I tried everything we could think of, all to no avail. (Maybe the manufacturer or someone else will tell me exactly how to set and use this clasp.)So, obviously, at this time, I cannot wear this watch.Even if I could, however, I wouldn't. You would not believe the size (thickness and diameter) and weight of this thing. It is monstrous! Who would need to lift weights after wearing this watch for a while (assuming that YOU can get the clasp to work!)?I cannot imagine for whom this watch was designed. Perhaps a 7-foot-11-inch man who weighs 350 lbs.? Perhaps a pet elephant? It certainly was not designed for me (or any other average-sized man).Another MAJOR flaw is the winding knob. It is smooth, not knurled. Now I know that an automatic watch "never" needs to be manually wound but that assumes that you will wear the watch every day. But if you do not (and there may even be some other circumstances), you probably will have to wind the watch at some point and a smooth knob makes this process very difficult and uncomfortable.In all my years of owning mechanical wristwatches (both auto-winders and regular winders) I have NEVER owned (or even seen) a wristwatch which did not have a knurled winding knob.This lack is, in my opinion, a complete deal-breaker.The watch itself appears to be constructed with a great deal of integrity and it is very nice-looking and easy to read but its overall design is terrible, again in my opinion. Why is it so big and heavy? (Yes I know that its specifications are listed - though I hadn't seen them before I ordered it - but you have to see this thing in person to believe it!) And what's the matter with an ordinary leather band and a regular clasp? This "fancy" one with its "adjustable" clasp, which I cannot get to work, is ridiculous and useless.I suppose that I could replace the band with another one but, frankly, due to the size and weight of the watch, and the poor design of the winding knob, I am not going to bother.As I received it from Amazon Vine, I did not pay for it - and I recommend that you do not "pay for it" either. There are plenty of other nicely-designed mechanical mens' watches available here on Amazon (and I have purchased several). I feel that this one represents a very poor value and is certainly dissatisfying to me.Down this thing goes into our crawl space to stay there until it eventually disintegrates!I will keep the wooden box and the burlap bag though; I'm sure that I can find some use for them. They're the nicest things about this whole package!Thank you for reading this.Lawrence H. Bulk
