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rootbeer7
·A 3 month review of a great watch.
If you don’t fancy reading my ramblings go straight to the last paragraph!!
The basics; 38mm, long lugs, black dial with black concentric circle subdials and steel numerals and hands, mushroom pushers and large crown (I love a large crown) and 63, yes 63 jewels!
The case is typical late 90s GP, beautifully crafted, heavy and with those lovely long curved lugs that help grip your wrist. The modest 38mm wear larger particularly with the slim bezel and boxy crystal. You can feel it on the wrist but in a good way.
The dial is just stunning. The glossy black dial with contrasting matte subdials, applied steel numbers and steel hands punch way above their weight and give it a PP/ALS/early FM
vibe, a perfect hybrid sports/dress watch. Reading the time is easy in most light, chronograph and date less so, but that says more about my eyesight than the watch.
The exhibition back shows the beautifully finished movement and with time you could probably count the 63 jewels!! There are various opinions on the movement, but it would appear that this specific model as opposed to others of a similar period has an in-house movement with a Dubois Depraz chronograph module, as opposed to a base eta movement.
I recently changed the strap to a red leather to pick up the red accents on the subdials and this gives it a more casual appearance. This in itself identified a small not insurmountable problem. The lug width is 21mm (slightly limiting strap choice) but the lugholes are set deep into the lugs and I had to replace the quick-release springbars with OEM curved ones to ensure the strap fitted. Once done, the fit is perfect with very little gap between the lugs and case.
I’ve been wearing it at the weekend where the quick-set date is a great help and timekeeping appears to be spot on. The chrono needs a firm push to start, stop and reset which I like and the hands gently sweep, rather than click at the change of each minute/hour. The winding is buttery smooth.
Overall a really lovely, beautifully balanced watch that I enjoy wearing. Incredible value on the secondary market if you can find one. I tend to keep my watches for a few months up to a couple of years, but this one I can see being around a lot longer.
If you don’t fancy reading my ramblings go straight to the last paragraph!!
The basics; 38mm, long lugs, black dial with black concentric circle subdials and steel numerals and hands, mushroom pushers and large crown (I love a large crown) and 63, yes 63 jewels!
The case is typical late 90s GP, beautifully crafted, heavy and with those lovely long curved lugs that help grip your wrist. The modest 38mm wear larger particularly with the slim bezel and boxy crystal. You can feel it on the wrist but in a good way.
The dial is just stunning. The glossy black dial with contrasting matte subdials, applied steel numbers and steel hands punch way above their weight and give it a PP/ALS/early FM
The exhibition back shows the beautifully finished movement and with time you could probably count the 63 jewels!! There are various opinions on the movement, but it would appear that this specific model as opposed to others of a similar period has an in-house movement with a Dubois Depraz chronograph module, as opposed to a base eta movement.
I recently changed the strap to a red leather to pick up the red accents on the subdials and this gives it a more casual appearance. This in itself identified a small not insurmountable problem. The lug width is 21mm (slightly limiting strap choice) but the lugholes are set deep into the lugs and I had to replace the quick-release springbars with OEM curved ones to ensure the strap fitted. Once done, the fit is perfect with very little gap between the lugs and case.
I’ve been wearing it at the weekend where the quick-set date is a great help and timekeeping appears to be spot on. The chrono needs a firm push to start, stop and reset which I like and the hands gently sweep, rather than click at the change of each minute/hour. The winding is buttery smooth.
Overall a really lovely, beautifully balanced watch that I enjoy wearing. Incredible value on the secondary market if you can find one. I tend to keep my watches for a few months up to a couple of years, but this one I can see being around a lot longer.
