Everyone loves a freebie, and it really never hurts to ask, but I’ve never had anyone email me before to ask me for a Free Watch – until now. Mr. Magdy Ahmed from Cairo Egypt would like a free watch as a free gift with free shipping. And he wanted it so bad that he emailed me twice.
If anyone wants to send him a free watch, I can give you the full address. I’ve Xed out part of it to protect his privacy. Surely a man as bold as him deserves something for free?
“Dear sir ,
I hope o send me a watch any model as a free gift for me including free shipping
Thanks
Mohamed Magdy Ahmed
Address
XX Ammar Bin Yasser street, Cairo, Egypt”
Since the Economy has not recovered, I will continue to review some more affordable watches!
WWII style Pilot watches are a popular style of watches these days, with IWC coming in at the top of the price range, with a dozen or more other Swiss and German brands coming in anywhere under them. Some of the major Pilot watch producers include Steinhart/Debaufre, Archiemede, Ollech & Wajs, Damasko, Tourby, and Laco. What many may or may not know is that Laco was one of the five brands selected by the German military to produce watches for them during WWII along with Wempe, A Lange Stowa, and IWC. So if you want an authentic, yet affordable WWII style Pilot watch, Laco is definately your best bet.
Now, this is an automatic pilot and 42mm in diameter, which makes it different from the originals which were 47mm, and manual winding. They were large so that they could be worn around the outside of a flight jacket and still be easily seen. You can get the 47mm version from Laco, but the one I have here is 42mm, and has an ETA 2824-2 Movement, etched with the Laco logo on the rotor.
Its a very nice watch, with a mineral crystal (it can be ordered with Sapphire), and sits very well on my somewhat small wrists. The lugs have a interesting shape as they stick straight out from the case, rather than curving down. The Lume on the watch is okay, but not fantastic.
There you can see the air-cooled perforated strap, but it is only perforated on the back and sides. It remains solid on the top, which is a nice feature. It makes the watch very comfortable to wear, and even comes with the same strap in black in case you want to swap.
And finally, a wrist shot. More and more I am finding I like the 42mm size, and though I do enjoy the 47mm pilot, I find the 42mm more suitable for me, and really in the end looks better, regardless of wrist presence.
If you like the Pilot watches, do yourself a favor and check out Laco. They are one of the original suppliers for WWII pilot watches, and they continue to make a great product for a great price today. This 42mm Pilot sells for about $450 new.
In my conitnuing search for good Budget watches, I got my first Glycine watch and it’s a very cool watch. I had seen a friends Glycine Airman D24, with the three separate hour hands and decided it was time for me to get a Glycine and see what the fuss is all about. While the Airman is not quite as fancy nor as desirable as the D24, it does have a similar feel with its large flat face and easily readable dial.
The Glycine Combat 4 is available in four or five different dial lume colors, all with a black dial. This one in particular has the yellow/green numbers and is my favourite. The other options include White, Blue, Red and I believe Orange though I’m not sure. The information online available for Glycine watches in general is very limited. Maybe it’s time for a glycinesource.com?? haha.. maybe not.
The Combat 4 has a nicely decorated Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement, and of course the entire watch is Swiss Made. It does not have a specification as to whether or not the crystal is Mineral or Sapphire, and the information available online is limited, but I am assuming that it is Mineral, as Glycine does use a lot of mineral crystals.
It is a bit strange seeing a watch that retails north of $800 with a Mineral Crystal (I am assuming), but it is a very nice watch. The dial is a very large one, with a case diameter of 43mm. This watch wears large for it’s size. The bracelet is also a very nice one. It feels really loose when you move it around, but it sits and molds to your wrist very nicely. When I strap this watch on, I want to look at it.. the dial just jumps out at me.
There it is on my 6 3/4″ wrists, and it really fills it out. The lume on this watch is one of the best I’ve seen. It starts glowing immediately and holds it longer than most watches I have. This guy is water resistant to 50M, and does not have a screwdown crown. A very simple watch, but it has that simple, but not too simple style to it with a touch of Pilot watch and a touch of sport watch. It looks simple, but it stands out, and looks great.
Video review of the Sinn EZM3 watch. Germany manufacturer of fine timepeices puts out a fantastic watch, and the EZM3 is a good example. One of several Sinn’s I have owned, and has some cool features like the moisture dot and left crown to give it something different. Good 41mm size, and lots of weight to it.
Finally, after years of waiting, us Breitling aficionados can finally enjoy the launch of the Breitling in-house movement, the B01. The Breitling B01 – An Exceptional Motor, uses a column wheel, a vertical trigger mechanism and has a power reserve of over 70 hours.
A couple other features of note on the movement are an auto-centering feature for the reset hammers – a much needed feature. Also are an exclusive indexing regulator system that allows you to adjust the the timing of the movement. Very cool features!
From the Breitling Website:
Breitling crowns its 125 years of passion for chronographs with the launch of its own high-performance movement. Breitling is marking an important date in its history by unveiling Caliber B01, its first chronograph “motor” designed and built entirely in-house. It is a logical evolution for a brand that has played a major role in developing the wrist chronograph, and is counted among the leading makers of this complication. It is a perfectly consistent choice for one of the last independent Swiss watchmakers, which is thereby ensuring its freedom to maneuver and loyalty to its own criteria for excellence.
Through 125 years and five generations, Breitling has tied its name closely to the development of aviation, sports, technology, sciences and industry – all of these being areas that require reliable and accurate measuring instruments. With the B01, the company is more than ever confirming its calling to accomplish challenging feats, and beginning a new chapter in a history already replete with great moments in the air, on land and beneath the seas.
It seems like everyone and their dog has a Swiss Unitas 6497/6498 based movement watch now. They tend to be popular with Vintage Military style watches like Panerai, Glycine, and even Swiss Army. I’ve taken a small sample of Swiss Unitas 6497/4598 watches that I’ve owned and comparing the pricing and value of each one, they are quite different, and the cost jump is a big one. I just finished typing this article, but my browser crashed, and stupid wordpress did not save any of it, so I am retyping thie whole thing. Unfortunately since I am a bit frustrated and impatient it might not be up to the quality as the original one.
So anyway, These are 5 Swiss Unitas watches that I’ve owned, and I’ll be giving a small description of them.
Ollech & Wajs XXL Unitas – $300
The Ollech & Wajs represents the entry level into the Swiss Unitas 6497 world, with a very basic movement and case. Case does use 316L Stainless steel, but crystals are both Mineral to save on costs. Though the savings is a minimal one, it does help keep the price down. Movement is not tweaked in anyway, and I even doubt it has been rebuilt from the factory. Probably just drop-in movement straight from the package.. this example actually has some scuffing on the bridges.
Wilson Watch Works Navigator – $460
As you may have seen the Wilson Watch Works review that I posted not long ago, this is a very good watch for the money. Complete assembled with Care in the USA, with German and Swiss parts only. The Lume is fantastic, and the case is top notch. The movement has been reassembled by Chris and is guaranteed for a year. His work is reliable and the accuracy is very good.
Victorinox Swiss Army Mach IV – $650
I’ve been very impressed with all the Swiss Army watches that I’ve handled and owned lately, and they are all Swiss made, with sapphire crystals on the front. The one has a basic Unitas movement, but is signed with the Victorinox logo, which is a nice touch. Dual crowns allow the rotating of the inner bezel as well, giving this one a slightly more complicated case. The price might be a bit enthusiastic, as they are available online new usually in the $350-400US range.
Sinn 6100 – $2470
The Sinn represents a large jump in price from the above models, and was initially a $1750 watch until the price increase shot it up nearly $1000. This one has an in-house modified movement to create a regulator layout named the Caliber SZ04. This one even comes with a loupe to check it out as it has a very beautiful guiloche dial. Sapphire Crystals front and back and accuracy to wihtin COSC specs are just some of the features it boasts.
Panerai 114 – $4800
Very near the top of the range of Unitas 6497 based watches is the Panerai PAM114 and the other manual wind models from the historic line. This is quite a modified movement from Panerai with completely decorated and redesigned bridges that are unique to Panerai, though some Chinese copycat companies have taken to copying their bridges. This movement is called the PAM OP X.
Summary
There are many other watches that use the Unitas based movement and these are just a few of the ones I have owned recently. Some other companies you might want to check out are Meistersinger, Maurice LaCroix, Kobold, U-Boat, Invicta, and many others. There is such a wide range of models available that it is difficult to name them all.
Just keep in mind that this movement has seen a lot of activity and can be easily modified to have some very interesting complications. Maurice LaCroix in particular has done some interesting things with it. Hope you enjoyed the article.
When we think of affordable Swiss Made automatic chronographs, one name that keeps coming up over and over again is Hamilton. With what seems like dozens of Valjoux 7750 Chronographs to choose from, they have one for everyone’s budget. The Hamilton X-Wind is one of the higher end Chronos that they carry, and of course uses the workhorse ETA Valjoux 7750 movement with a exhibition caseback to view the inner workings of the watch.
Ever since I saw the X-Wind I wanted to buy one, and when I tried one on in the Caribbean I really wanted it. I finally got a chance to get one at a decent price and here it is up for review. Big beefy 44mm peice.
The watch has two crowns in addition to a bi-directional rotating bezel that allows you to calculate complicated cross winds and things that pilots might need to calculate. Beautiful black dial with silver subdials and guiloche patterning on the subs.
As you can see, the watch has a left crown and pushers, with the day-date complications on the left side as well. This takes a bit of getting used to initally, but its not that hard to do.
Exhibition caseback has a uniquely shaped crystal, and a degree chart of some sort also for calculating complex pilot things that us layfolk will never need, but its cool to have! This X-Wind is on a bracelet, which I like, but felt that the rivet strap looked better on my wrist. Possibly due to the watch looking larger. I believe the rear crystal may be Mineral as the marking only states Sapphire Crystal in the singular. Either way, Hamilton’s watches are still a great bang for buck.
Nice machined press-lock clasp. The links are pinned, not screwed, but the clasp is a nice one. I’ve always liked the way the Hamilton clasps are made, and it just finished off an already very nice watch.
I’ve posted the Breitling Aerospace Avantage video review, sorry its not in high-res, but it’ll have to do. The Aerospace is a pretty cool ultra-light multifunction watch that is great for travel or anything where you don’t want a big honking Super Avenger style watch sitting on your wrist. SuperQuartz accuracy and 42mm diameter make it a very good choice if you are going this route. Enjoy the video!
