The Breitling Watch Blog

Video review of the basic Tissot T-Touch in Stainless Steel on the bracelet. Good beater watch, and they look pretty good. Only problem is that everyone and their dog probably has one of these. Good size and it can take a beating so its a good watch. Swiss made by Tissot to very acceptable standards.

Another Dive Watch Company has launched a few months ago by the name of Red Sea Watches. Their watches are attractive dive watches machined from 316L Stainless Steel and feature Miyota Automatic Movements. The style of their watches reminds me of Marathon a bit, and the price range is similar as well albeit with a Japanese instead of Swiss movement.

Both watches they are currently accepting pre-orders for are $565 in stainless steel and $595 in PVD steel. 44mm Cases are also standard for both the Holystone and Six Poinder models. On the upside, each watch includes Bracelet, Rubber and Nato straps.

Nice looking pieces, but maybe a bit pricey IMO. Only the market will tell, however!

Dievas (pronounced “D-Ah-Vas”) is a Singapore based watch company that produces Military inspired timepieces which are mostly mechanical automatics. Some of the models such as the Vortex are made in Germany and I’ve been told uses the same cases that Kobold uses in their watches. They probably came to fame because of their Panerai Homage watches, especially the California dial ones.

The one I’m looking at today is the Dievas [Z]eta watch, which uses a Japanese movement, unlike most of their models which use Swiss movements. The Zeta is a cheaper model, but gives outstanding value, given the multitude of features. I ended up disliking the Camo-green dial, so ended up selling this one.

The large military-style dial measures a healthy 44mm in diameter, 52mm lug to lug, and is approximately 14.5mm thick. The dial has a criss-cross texture to it. Notice the Tritium tubes mounted on the dial, which are all manufactured by MB Microtec in Switzerland. These are the same tubs you will see on Ball Watches.

The chunky 22mm bracelet is solid stainless steel and has no taper, making it a bit uncomfortable but not unreasonably so. It has the standard flip-lock stamped clasp, and works well. The movement is the Japanese-made Miyota 8215, which has about 42hr power reserve and 21 jewels. Rather unremarkable, but at this pricepoint, the watch is very nicely made. The only downsize is the lack of hacking.

Here’s the head-on wrist shot. It fits my 6 3/4″ wrist quite well, I think. I find that 44mm watches work really well for my wrist size, and this Dievas [Z]eta is no exception. The watch lugs curve, and while it is a well made and sturdy watch, the case finish is much less refined than most Swiss and German made pieces.

Signed crown, with a deep machined “Dievas” printed on it. Screw down as well, with holes in the lugs for releasing the pins. Nothing to complain about here. Water Resistance is an impressive 300m.

And finally, the angle wrist shot. Elaborating more on the features, the watch also has the requisite Sapphire Crystal, abeit without AR coating. The bezel, believe it or not, is Ceramic too! Quite the bulletproof array of features if you ask me. Overall an outstanding value, but I would stick to the more conservative dial colors as the Green/Yellow started to bug me after a while.

Brand New Video review of the Ocean 7 LM-6c Automatic Chronograph. Impressive 44mm case diameter in a heavy solid stainless steel case and robust automatic Valjoux 7750 Chronograph movement. Unidirectional diver’s bezel and solid stainless bracelet as well as a leather Ocean 7 strap is included.

Who says Doxa’s are unique? Well, Irreantum Watch, a new watch company based in Maine, USA, has put out their first watch: The Magellan. The watch is due to hit the streets summer of 2010, and is available for pre-order at $150. The full price of the watch is $545.

The 316L Stainless Steel case features a massive 45mm diameter and 13.6mm thickness. The crystal is sapphire and the movement is an ETA 2824-2, presumably unmodified. Throw in a C3 SuperLuminova and 500m Water Resistance and you have quite the package at $545 retail.

While I’m sure many Doxa fans are screaming “Copycat!”, the Magellan isn’t really a copy of Doxa’s watches but more a copy of the style of watches from the 60′s that Doxa has continued to produce to this day. Magellan’s watches are offered at a much lower pricepoint, and probably uses cases constructed more affordably. The dials are quite nice, and they are available in a few different colors, all of which you can check out on their website: http://www.irreantumwatch.com/, and more on their blog: http://ordinaryhappilyeverafter.blogspot.com/2010/01/irreantum-magellan.html

This Pirelli watch is kind of an ugly watch – in the sense that it has a similar look to many cheaper watches out there, but at the same time, the craftmanship is much better than those types of watches and it is Swiss Made as well, with an ETA 2824-2 movement. The rubber strap is very nicely crafted and looks okay on the wrist. At the time I shot the review I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep it, but I ended up deciding that I would and have since cut the strap to fit. Its a great rubber auto that is lightweight and easy to strap on. The watch has a cool matte dial and a decent 40mm width, so its not too small when worn.

Here’s the Laco Flieger Watch Video review that I posted to Youtube, as a follow up to my previous written review of the Laco watch here, around a year ago. Its taken me a long time to get some of these video reviews up, but I will – I promise! Enjoy the video.

I’ve never owned an homage Panerai before, only real Panerai’s and I have handled a fake that a friend of mine purchased. This is the first Homage I’ve owned, and I bought it used on Timezone. The watch has had a few owners already, and when it came to me, the brushed finish looked a bit re-done, at least compared with any of the factory finished watches I’ve purchased in the past. Overall, however, the watch is very nice with excellent lume and an awesome crystal.

As you can see, the dial is a black sandwich-style, with Swiss Super Luminova. This baby glows BRIGHT and long, just like my real Pannies. While this watch is meant to be similar to the original PAM127 “Fiddy”, its not meant to be an exact replica. The device protecting the crown does not have the “REG TM” marking on it, and also the protector lever points upwards on this Homage, as opposed to downwards on the original. The handes are all gold, just as they are on the original. The case, while well made and finished in 316L stainless steel, does not have quite the same level of precision that my real Panerai cases have. The surfaces around the lugs are not perfect, which is typical of lower-quality finished watches.

As you can see, the dial is marked “Marina Militare” as many of the Homages are. Under a loupe, the writing a crisp and precise. The replica that I examined did not have the same level of quality in the printing. The dial on this watch is marked Swiss, but I’m not sure if its because the dial is Swiss made or what. JOA is an Engineer based in the US and he makes the watches himself, so I don’t know how that works.

The edges on the device protecting the crown are not as sharp as the real ones, with a bit more rounded edges, either as a result of too much re-touching or lower quality final finish. The super-domed sapphire crystal looks amazing, giving the distorted edge look around the dial, making the numbers have that vintage look to them. When winding the watch, there is very little friction and and the winding crown bounces back quickly, this leads me to believe there is no o-ring or gaskets in the crown itself.

Movement in the JOA is an ETA/Unitas 6497, essentially the same movement that is used in the PAM127. This movement, however, is a base calibre without the frills such as bevelled gears, swan’s neck fine adjustment and polished screws. The Panerai movement also has their custom decorated bridges and plates. Here you get a basic swiss-made 17 jewel movement.

Overall, its a wonderful watch. Likely not very waterproof, since there are no gaskets in the crown, but not a big deal for me. I think its a great Homage watch, and doesn’t carry the stigma associated with fakes. While I don’t think that an Homage is a fake, it is still a copy, and this watch still feels like a copy of a genuine item. I only buy real watches, and while this is not a replica, it still doesn’t feel like the real deal. This watch costs 1/20th of what a PAM127 would cost, so its much more affordable, and the quality of the watch is more than what would be expected at the pricepoint. However, its still has that feeling of being a copied watch. That will be a personal point for purchasers, and won’t apply to every buyer.

Otherwise, I think its a great watch for the money, and gives you a lot of the fun of owning a PAM without buying a fake. Many of the Homage dealers out there also sell fakes, but Johel (JOA) does not sell fakes, which makes the watch a little better on the Karma scale.