Here is the last of the Formex’s that I’ve had the privy of inspecting. The Formex 4Speed TS 375 Chrono. Velly nice. I recently picked up a Breitling Chronomat Evolution, so that will be up soon too! Keep reading 🙂
So this is one loud, yellow and titanium watch. With the traditional Formex ‘hunky chunky’ bracelet… cuz out here, we’re all about the hunky chunky big watches.. Formex, Breitling, Bell & Ross, you name it.
Quartz chrono again, and with that odd non-quick set date that seems to be all the rage right now. Why? I don’t know. I believe this one may be changeable by moving the hour hand back and forth past midnight to advance date quickly. But being a quartz watch, changing the date large increments isn’t that common a task.
Nice matte, yellow dial. Sharp lettering, none of that cheap fuzzy lettering you get under a loupe with cheap watches.. but its Swiss Made, so its expected! The yellow is not to my taste.. a bit strong. I like the yellow dial on the Breitling Avenger M1 a bit more than this.. paler and less austentatious. The yellow Omega Speedmaster schumacher edition isn’t really a fave of mine either. Not too many yellow watches are.
Check out the fantastically large and thick Titanium bracelet on this Formex TS 375. Far thicker than the one on the GT 325 series, and the AS Series as well. Though I’ve been told the AS Series can have hunky chunky clasps added.
Same back as the others.. but this model is all matte, no polished bits. Nice suspension as always and looks larger than life on your wrist. GUARANTEED to get noticed! Enjoy!
I picked up a Versace Madison automatic a week or so ago, and have been wearing it for a couple of days over the last little bit. This is a very nice watch that deserves a mention in my blog. It won’t be getting too much wrist time for the next little bit as I’ve picked up a Chronomat Evolution and just got it in yesterday! But enough about the Breitling 😉
The Versace has a stainless steel case, stainless bracelet and everything. The bracelet uses screws, not push pins, so it is a nice touch. Multi-link style reminds me of IWC Fleiger and Movado Horwitt bracelets, among others. The dial is very nice, with a matte white finish, and the sapphire crystal is domed and AR coated on the inside.
Nice steel hands and small seconds complication, with date window at 3 o’clock. The word “Automatic” appears on the dial in a somewhat chunky type. Not sure the exact diameter of the watch, but I would put it around 38-39mm. Not small, but not big either. A good size for a dress watch.
The way the bracelet connects to the watch is unique, and gives it a extra “style factor” making the watch seem more of a design-based watch than a movement based product. It does indeed look very good on the wrist, even with the smaller face that I am not used to. The
wide bracelet helps.
The clasp is a friction lock double butterfly clasp, similar to the Breitling Rouleaux bracelets. Holds pretty good, and has the versace typeface deeply engraved on it. Very nice!
Caseback is also engraved with the model number and serial number as well as Versace logo. Four micro-screws hold the caseback on, and beneath it hold the swiss made movement… can you guess which it is?
ETA 2895-1. Not bad. Movement looks stock, and likely has no modifications to it at all. Still a nice movement, 30 jewels, Swiss made ETA, based on the 2892. It kept within about 10 seconds/day… good enough for me. For what this watch is, a designer timepeice made for the fashion concious, not the WIS, this is a fantastic watch. Looks great with edgey clothing styles and that metro-sexual look.
The second Formex watch on the choppin’ block, exposed for all to see! This is the Formex 4Speed TS350 Quartz Chronograph. Unlike a standard Chronograph however, this watch has a “speed tester” type of mechanism. It is basically a chronograph with a different readout and only a seconds counter.
The small dial at 6 o’clock is for the seconds indication, and the center mount seconds hand is for the chronograph. One complaint I’ve heard is that at “idle” the CHronograph hand obscures the date window. Very annoying, and a design flaw. But the watch has a beautiful blue carbon fiber dial, and nice crisp lettering. The watch bracelet is HUNKY CHUNKY! Solid Titanium, and the watch case is a combination Ti and Steel like most Formex watches.
Overall, This is a nice huge watch at 47mm, and sticks out lots with it’s hunky chunkiness. Great for a guy who wants a BLAM BLAM watch without the classiness of say a Breitling. Sportier in it’s look, and much more colorful!
Cool video animation of the inside of a JLC Reverso watch… neat stuff! Check out the other videos on the Blog’s Youtube page… we have all sorts of neat videos up!
Check out the two new Breitlings introduced at Baselworld, The Super Ocean Heritage and the Flying B No.3. The SuperOcean Heritage is much more Omega Seamaster looking than current Rider-tabbed Breitlings… not really my taste, but i really like the Flying B… but prefer the jump hour version myself.
