Watch Reviews

Nomos Glashutte is a watch brand based in Germany that has made a name for themselves by creating stylized watches that range from casual to dress to even highly complicated. They are known for utilizing their own in-house movements with beautiful finishing visible through sapphire case backs.

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German made watches have a lot of history in the large horological landscape. With brands like Sinn, Damasko, Glashutte Originale, and even A Lange Sohn. Nomos, however, is a relatively new kid on the block.

Founded in 1990 they started out specializing in making hand wound watches that drew a lot of elements from the Bauhausian school of design (see our review on the Junghans Max Bill). In 2005 Nomos debuted an in-house movement that they have continued to develop and expand on. They now have over ten in-house designed movement calibers as well as their own escapement design that is slowly being integrated into their watches.

I was originally drawn to Nomos while I was searching for something that would compliment the rest of my collection but not overlap any area specifically. I wanted something that would easily dress up or down, and would potentially be a good conversation piece if the occasion arose.

Specifications

• Case: 40mm
• Lug to Lug: 51mm
• Case Thickness: 10mm
• Weight on Bracelet: 2.4oz on strap
• Movement: Nomos Epsilon Automat

Fit

One of the things that drew me to the Nomos Club originally was the case thickness. A 10mm thick automatic watch? Sign me up. Nomos also offers the club in a couple different case sizes, with 40mm being the second largest.

The challenge in choosing a case size really comes down to the lug to lug measurement. My 40mm has a 51mm lug to lug measurement, those are some long lugs. On my 7.25” wrist it barely fits, any larger and it would overhang my wrist. If you have a sub-7” wrist I highly encourage you to look at the 38 or 36mm versions of the club.

Movement

The movement in a Nomos is really something to behold. Well decorated, well regulated, and a unique in-house caliber. In this way it really becomes a watch person’s watch as well as a exercise in near-haute-horology. Nomos offers display backs on most of their watch models, the in-house nature of what they do basically requires it. In these watches it IS about the movements.

Practically speaking, the watch keeps excellent time. I haven’t noticed any amount of deviation. My time-graphing app is telling me +/- 8s/day, but take that with a grain of salt.

Case and Crown

The cases Nomos use serve to highlight the work they put into their dials and movements. For a simplistic design that in many ways adhere to a very Bauhausian design language it would make sense for the simple steel case to not distract from the basic legibility. The entire case is polished steel with a bezel-less design that leads up to the crystal. The polish does lend itself to a refined “classy-ness” in the overall appearance of the watch. I am guessing that the Club would look considerably more casual if it was brushed.

Again, the crown is simple. It’s on the largish side, delicately serrated for grip, and signed on the end with “NOMOS.”

To boil the case and crown down, I think it’s safe to say that with both of these elements Nomos really wanted to draw attention away from them, and rather focus on the dial, or if it’s off the wrist, they wanted the movement to stand out through the display back. They have made considerable investment to ensure that they have something unique to offer in these areas, and instead of watering that down with an overly “designed” case they kept it simple.

Two additional details that are worth commenting on:
Firstly, the case-back is a sapphire display back show a beautiful Nomos Epsilon movement that is decorated and signed. This really showcases what is, in my opinion, the biggest attraction to the Nomos brand. Secondly, is the water resistance. Nomos rates the clubs at 10 ATM, it should be more than adequate for swimming, hand washing, being drunkenly pushed in a pool, etc… It does not have a screw down crown, but this isn’t something you’d take on a canoe trip anyway. I just like having the peace of mind knowing that if one of my stupid friends throw me in a lake, I’ll only be buying a new phone.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

Working top down on this category is pretty easy. The crystal is a flat sapphire crystal that sits just above the simple polished bezel. They both do exactly what they are supposed to, perfectly, and nothing else. Just like with the case, I’d say that the bezel and crystal serve to get you to the dial.

The dial is a slightly off white color, with painted numerals every other hour, and a plain indice between. The dial is signed just below the noon indice a there is sub-seconds dial at 6 o’clock. The dial is accented by small orange details, first and most apparent in the hands, but then also around the outer minute ring which counts up from “05” in small orange script. I think this is a pretty nice use of color, and “grounds” the orange hands. The hands themselves are painted with some sort of black lacquer giving them a really cool glossy appearance, the contrast between the black and orange also pop the hands off the dial making it very legible.

It’s important to point out that this dial is non-luminous. It does not glow in the dark at all, Nomos DOES make a version that has lume, but most of their watches are non-luminous. This, to me, really emphasizes the style of watch that Nomos makes. These are not tool watches.

Strap and Bracelet

Most Nomos’ come on leather straps, but not just any leather strap, they come on OEM Shell Cordovan leather straps. Shell is a really impressive kind of horse leather that will last for a long, long time. It maintains a nice shine, and doesn’t crease or “pull-up.” These straps are great, but they are long. I have a larger then average wrist size, and I wear this on the last hole. Generally speaking, I wear a larger strap, so this is pretty unusual and worth knowing on the front end.

Nomos Club Review – Final Thoughts

Man, how do I sum up the Nomos Club? What I was looking for when I bought mine, was something that would fit the slot of my “fourth watch,” without overlapping anything else. I already had a diver, chrono, and a vintage piece… I wanted something that could be a little dressier, but also had the potential to be casual. Something you’d wear to a jazz night at a winery. Nomos’ watches fit this exceedingly well.

The nice thing that Nomos has also done to make the Club a more versatile piece is by giving it some water resistance. If what you want is a fancy piece, with some legit horological chops, but also has some uniqueness, I don’t think you can go wrong with a Nomos Club.

I recommend purchasing Nomos Watches at Amazon or JomaShop.com. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Also, if you like the watch reviews, here is a link to all our watch reviews.

In 2007 Steve Jobs got on the stage at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters and changed the world with the release of the first iPhone. There are several reasons why the iPhone was revolutionary, but one of the biggest innovations that it brought to the mobile phone landscape was user interface. I believe that Breitling did the same when they released the Aerospace line back in 1985. The Aerospace is by no means a “new,” release, but when I first experienced the watch it changed the way I thought I could interact with a time piece…

Buy the Breitling Aerospace EVO at JomaShop.com

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Breitling introduced the Aerospace line in 1985. It was marketed at pilots and world travelers who needed multi-functionality in a piece. It was set apart by it’s dual LCD displays, titanium case, and large arabic numerals on the dial. They’ve been polishing the design pretty steadily since then. My example is the newest EVO model. I bought this watch new in 2016. Before we get too far into that let’s go over some general specs:

• Case Width: 43.03mm
• Case Thickness: 10.93mm
• Lug to Lug: 51.59mm
• Lug Width: 21.94mm (for 22mm straps)
• Weight: 3.5oz on the Titanium bracelet
• Movement: Breitling 79 Thermocompensated SuperQuartz Movement

Fit

Let me skip to the TLDR portion of this review. This watch weighs 3.5oz on the bracelet and is just under 11mm thick. I can’t imagine what would make this watch wear better… I’ve been beating the drum of, “thin cases = comfy watches,” and the Aerospace really takes the cake here. 11mm of case thickness is one of the thinnest watches I’ve ever owned and worn and man, is it comfortable.

Weight is also a pretty serious factor when it comes to a watch’s comfort. As I’m sure a lot of you know Titanium is way lighter than steel, and that becomes apparent as soon as you pick it up. This 43mm watch weighs 3.5oz on the bracelet whereas my 45mm Planet Ocean head only weighs 4.5oz. It makes a difference.

Movement

There’s a line in the 2012 documentary The Art of Rap, when after interviewing Eminem, Ice Cube narrates, “Who would have ever thought one of the greatest rappers of all time would be a white cat (in reference to Eminem).” I have to say that’s exactly what I think about this watch. Who would have thought that after owning Rolexes, Panerais, Omegas, and countless others that my favorite watch would be a quartz from Breitling.

A lot of serious nerds get an enormous amount of heart-burn about quartz or “non-mechanical,” movements. I, however, want to submit that the amount of complexity and resulting immense functionality packaged in a high-end quartz bears some consideration by even the most uppity-horophiles.

The movement Breitling developed to be used in the Aerospace EVO is a thermocompensated Quartz regulated movement called the Breitling 79. It’s a modified variation on the ETA Thermoline family of movements and it packs some serious clout.

The Breitling 79’s complications are as follows:

• Chronograph
• GMT (or second time zone)
• Alarm
• Timer
• Minute Repeater
• Date/Day (wrapped into a perpetual calendar)
• Night Vision Compatible Backlight

And all of these functions in addition to, you know, chronometer certified time keeping are controlled and set by manipulating the singular crown. Being that this is a COSC certified quartz movement you should/can expect +/- 0.07/s variation per day. Not that accuracy has ever been a struggle for quartz watches but it is worth noting the quality and attention to detail even with just the time keeping.

Case and Crown

The case on the aerospace is almost yawn-ably simplistic apart from the fact that it’s made from Titanium. It’s brushed, and slightly darker than what it would be if it was steel. And it is ridiculously light, I mean like, whoa. Just for kicks, I took the watch off the bracelet to weigh the head only and it weighed in at 1.7oz (that’s insane).

The crown, in my opinion, is slightly too small considering how much you interact with it. Apart from size it is the one way you interact with all the different complications on the watch, and it serves well in that role. You can choose between fast turning it to switch modes or jump whole hours, or slow turning it which will activate the back light. You can pull the crown out to set the time, or press it to activate the alarm or minute repeater. All in all it’s a cool UI option, but would benefit from being slightly larger to make it a little easier to use.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

So working top down on this watch the crystal is a beautifully ARed flat sapphire crystal. This particular element of the Aerospace is simplistic but effective. I can’t imagine that I would want a domed crystal on this watch.

The bezel is a uni-directional steel diving bezel with numerals at every 5 minutes. There is a massive, sapphire protected, lume pip at the 0 position. I find the rotating bezel a little peculiar. On this particular watch you have two ways to time events with the chronograph and timer, so the inclusion of the diving bezel simply adds a third method. Not really a negative I suppose, just something that I thought was interesting. It looks good on the watch, and I guess that makes it worth it.

The Dial on the Aerospace EVO is what attracted me to this version over it’s earlier iterations. The dial itself is black with applied/polished details at the quarter hour and logo. There are two windows for the digital displays, as I stated earlier the displays do have a backlight that can be activated by slowly rotating the dial. The lume on this watch is off the charts. The numbers apart from the quarter hour applied markers, are lumed. All in all it offers a lot more refinement than what was offered in the earlier versions. It’s apparent that Breitling wanted to fold these superquartz models into their luxury lines, and wearing this watch you can feel that difference.

Strap/Bracelet

The bracelet that came with my example of the Aerospace is titanium and the links are screwed together construction. Again, the titanium is super light. The entire package is less than 4oz. The links are made of 3 separate pieces so when you size the bracelet you actually have to build the links. I’ve seen this sort of link construction in Damasko bracelets. It’s effective and reasonably easy to size yourself, but it is a little fidgety to get it right.

On wrist the bracelet is comfortable, and the clasp leaves a little to be desired. The late 90’s version of the Aerospace had springy clasps that would expand slightly as your wrists swells or shrinks with temperature. I think the EVO would benefit from a modern interpretation on that clasp. This clasp is a simple folder over Ti construction, that’s really pretty ho-hum.

Additionally, I bought a Breitling rubber strap to go with the watch. I had one of these on an older Aerospace and really loved how it wore. That feeling is echoed on the newer Aerospace. Between the bracelet and the rubber strap you have plenty of excellent OEM strap options to wear the Breitling on. I have found that it rides very nicely on a Cincy Black “Stealth Bond.”

Breitling Aerospace EVO Review – Final Thoughts

I’m not really sure that a conclusion is necessary with this particular time piece. For years I was a pretty staunch mechanical only watch collector. I’ve generally kept the occasional g-shock around as a “beater,” but never really considered how one could fit into my collection. The Aerospace changed that.

This is truly an excellent watch that would handily serve as a one-watch. However, it would fill a great slot in a varied collection as well. With the large variety of functionality and it’s focus on precision this is really something that would do anything (and everything) that you’d need it to. I really cannot recommend it more.

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I recommend purchasing the Breitling Aerospace EVO at Amazon or JomaShop.com. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

There are timepieces that you take on adventures, and then there are timepieces that make whatever you’re doing feel like an adventure. Marathon Watches are the latter in that statement.

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When I first started getting into watches I was presented with an opportunity to pickup a Marathon TSAR, which is essentially the quartz version of the Marathon GSAR, which is the watch I’ll be reviewing today. I mention the TSAR because that watch left an impression on me, to the point where 3 or so years later I picked up the GSAR.

Marathon watches are made primarily for military contract, they began making watches for allied forces in 1941 and have maintained a reputation for that ever since.

Marathon watches aren’t jokes. Modern marathons have NSN numbers and are issued to military units. They are also manufactured on contract, the units available for civilian purchase are overruns from those contract batches. I bought mine from a gentleman on an USAF base, and mine does say that it is US Government contract (I have no idea if it was actually issued to him or not). So with all that said, these are truly purpose built watches, that are built to a high standard, we’ll go more into that later. But first some specs:

• Case Width: 42mm
• Case Thickness: 13.68mm
• Lug to Lug: 48mm
• Weight: 4.1oz on rubber, 6oz on bracelet
• Lug Width: 20mm
• Movement: ETA 2824-A2

Fit

The Marathon GSAR comes with a 42mm case, but it’s on the taller side. On my 7.25” wrist it wears like an Seiko SKX with a little more girth. The bezel overhangs the case a little bit so in terms of actual case size fit, it wears smaller than it looks. I’ve found that on both the rubber strap and the bracelet it’s very comfortable and relatively unobtrusive in your day-to-day, with the exception of the crown. The crown itself is oversized for quick adjustments but it can also dig into your hand at times.

Movement

Marathon chose the ETA 2824-A2, a robust and well known Swiss-Made movement with a 42hr power reserve. ETA movements are a well known variable in the watch world, the A2 iteration is slightly thinner and has a longer power reserve than the regular ETA 2824-2. The data on the performance of this movement by Marathon is a bit mixed, but my experience has been really good. Spot on time keeping observationally, with my WatchTuner app showing +/- 1-2s/day. I’ll take that.

Case and Crown

The case on the GSAR is utilitarian, brushed steel facets with an oversized bezel and crown. The bezel overhangs the case by a good millimeter on each side. That is largely what contributes to the watches wearing smaller than it is. The crown is a 5.5mm knurled crown, the knurling is a very cool touch. The crown is also gently cradled by two very angular crown guards that do a decent job of protecting the it from any serious knocks. The lugs are simple, but they have the greatest feature of them all… They’re drilled. Some dudes get a lot of heart burn about the holes in the case, but man does it keep you from scratching your lugs with a springbar tool.

Dial, Bezel, & Crystal

Let’s work top down on this one, starting with the bezel.

The Marathon Bezel (regardless of SAR model) is a 5.17mm thick with a black aluminum insert in it. The bezel is a traditional diving bezel with minute markers all the way around. There is a traditionally lumped pip at the 0 mark, my example lines up perfectly with 120 clicks around the circumference of the dial.

The crystal is a highly functional albeit unremarkable flat, AR coated sapphire crystal. This is a watch you would NOT want a dome on, it’s already a tall (approx 1.5 Oreos thick) case and a domed crystal would just attract knocks. The AR on it is done very well, making it look as if you can reach in and touch the hands if you want to.

The dial, is complex, but highly functional as you’d expect from a watch meant for military service. First things first, the dial has green tritium tubes on all the hands as well as for the hour indicators. The noon marker is in amber tritium. Tritium tubes are small glass tubes filled with tritium gas that give off a benign radiation and thus glow. I’ve owned a few other watches with tritium dials, in particular Deep Blue watches. Deep Blue uses T100 tritium tubes, whereas Marathon uses T25 tubes. The basic purpose behind this is making sure that the dial is always visible, but not so bright that it may give away a position or provide a distraction. The T25 tubes are visible at night, but not overpoweringly so. The T100 tubes, you could read by.

Moving past the lume, we have a black painted dial, with arabic numbers all the way around. Inside the large 12-hr numerals there are the related 24-hr PM numerals. This makes the watch easy to read in either 12 or 24hr time as long as you can keep track of AM/PM. Between the 4 and 5 o’clock hour is a date window, the date is on a white date wheel that pops against the black dial. Lastly the hands are “syringe-style,” that lend themselves to precision both when reading and setting it.

All in all the dial is function forward that once you get the gist of reading it, it has the ability to communicate a large amount of information at once, and be visible at realistically any time of the day.

Strap and Bracelet

My GSAR came with both the steel bracelet and the vulcanized rubber strap. I’m going to address each separately, but the TLDR version is that both are excellent depending on what context you want to wear them in.

Bracelet

The steel bracelet that Marathon makes and offers with the SAR series of watches is a great example of why bracelets don’t need to be ridiculously expensive to be quality. The links are screw together construction, it takes two small screwdrivers to size it, but it’s a better system than split pin or pin and collar. I’ve found in day-to-day use that the bracelet in comfortable and dresses up what would otherwise be a pretty rugged looking watch. The end links are separate pieces that are attached by the spring-bar, but everything is solid metal.

Vulcanized Rubber Strap

The best part about the Marathon rubber strap is that it smells like vanilla, and not a passing slight scent, but a vanilla frosting on a cupcake smell. When I’m driving with my Marathon on I can smell the strap if the AC is blowing across the watch, it’s crazy. Apart from that the rubber strap is very high quality, it’s roughly 4.5mm thick, and tapers from 20mm to 18 at the buckle. The edges are beveled, and the buckle is signed. A very cool and rugged way to wear this particular piece.

Marathon GSAR Review – Final Thoughts

If what you want is a no-nonsense mechanical time piece that uses a proven Swiss movement, tritium, and an overall toolistic approach. The GSAR (or really any Marathon watch) is perfect for you. There is a lot to like about the GSAR, and very little to fault about it. It is a bigger watch, but the way that Marathon kept the case trim and allowed the bezel to absorb that size keeps it wearing nicely. The time keeping on mine is excellent, and the tritium lume is a really cool feature. I really cant recommend the Marathon GSAR enough.

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I recommend purchasing the Marathon GSAR at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Last Updated: August 7, 2019
I’ve stated over and over about how much I love Tudor, and that I think they are a great entrance point into the higher end watch world. Tudor is owned and operated by Rolex, and benefit from that investment into watchmaking.

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Traditionally Tudor utilized Rolex cases but put in generic (ETA) movements to bring the cost down. There are even vintage Tudor Submariners, using the Rolex Submariner case, with an ETA (or comparable) movement inside. Tudor’s use of outsourced movement was true up until the release of the Tudor North Flag. The North Flag introduced a movement that was COSC certified, had a greater power reserved, and held the prestigious titled “in-house” to satiate the watch community.

One thing that I think is worth noting in this review is that I have owned this particular watch twice. I bought a used Black Bay ETA back in December of 2016 and wore it for a couple months, including on one Caribbean trip where I took it diving. When I got home, I sold it, for reasons that escape me at this moment. My preference for this watch never really left me though, and I was looking for opportunities to get it back. I bought a Tudor Ranger (previously reviewed here) and that was great, but didn’t quite fill the niche I wanted. So on a fateful trip to my Tudor AD I found that they were clearing out some of their ETA Black Bays at a deeply discounted price. So yes, watch world, I re-bought the watch I used to own. I was able to get a bezel color I preferred, and my name on the warranty card. All that to say that I am pulling from a spectrum of experiences to write this review, both the first version I had on bracelet, and this one that I bought on leather.

The Black Bay was released by Tudor in 2012, as part of the “Heritage Line,” alongside the Heritage Chrono and Advisor Alarm. In a lot of ways the Black Bay became the flagship line for Tudor, they’ve created many different variations now including three different case sizes. They have brought on widely targeted brand ambassadors, most notably Lady Gaga. Some people say that they feel that Tudor is leaning too heavily on the Black Bay line while neglecting some other pieces in their catalog. I can see and understand that logic, however the versatility and popularity of the Black Bay makes it hard for me to fault Tudor too much, anyway I digress…

Before we go any further lets dive into some specs:

• Case: 41.1mm
• Lug to Lug: 50.3mm
• Case Thickness: 13.3mm
• Weight on Bracelet: 5.9oz
• Movement: ETA 2824

Fit

Rolex, by majority opinion, has the watch game down. Their bracelets are some of the nicest I’ve owned, and their cases are simple, but made to be worn. The nice thing about buying into the Tudor line is that you’re getting the benefit of that heritage and R&D that Rolex has, at a more affordable price point.

The Black Bay wears like a Submariner, except perhaps simpler, if that makes sense. Sure, there are going to be some (minor) differences particularly in the bracelet, but the Black Bay wears comfortably and trim to the wrist. The ETA case has a flat caseback, whereas the in-house versions have a rounded (bubble) caseback. I don’t personally have the in-house version but I’ve heard some people say that it didn’t bother them, and others say that it did, I’ll leave it to you to make your own assessment there.

Movement

So the modern black bay comes in two flavors. ETA, as pictured, and the in-house version. While there are subtle differences to the dial and case between the two versions of the watch, the real differences are mechanical. On one hand the ETA version has a dial that’s closer to vintage Tudor pieces, is more easily serviced, and is no longer being produced. The in-house version is Chronometer certified, has a longer power reserve, and satisfies those that must have in-house. Here’s what I’ll say, when it comes time for a service any competent watch maker will be able to get a 2824 up and running to spec whereas with the Tudor in-house you’ll need to send it back to Tudor. That may or may not be an issue for you.

In terms of time-keeping, the ETA version keeps excellent time within COSC specifications, so I don’t see much of a debate in that regard.

Case and Crown

The black bay takes a lot of inspiration from it’s bigger Rolex brother’s when it comes to case design. In many ways Rolex has built their reputation on making simplistic diver designs, and Tudor is following along nicely. The case itself is simple, largely polished, with subtle bevels on the edges.The tops of the lugs are brushed offering a nice contrast. The crown and crown tube set the Black Bays off from other dive watches. The crown itself is 8mms, jimped, with the Tudor rose printed on the end. The crown stands off the case on a crown tube that is anodized to match the bezel. It’s a striking feature visually.

The watch itself is rated to 200m, this seems shallow when you compare it to other dive watches that have a depth rating of 300 or more. What I can tell you about this is, I took my Black Bay diving in the Caribbean and it functioned perfectly fine, granted we no where near approached the max depth of this watch (who would?) but it maintained a high level of visibility, not to mention it’s implied water proof-ness throughout.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

So following our traditional top down approach let’s start with the crystal on the Black Bay. It’s a nicely raised sapphire crystal that terminates in a slight dome with great anti-reflection coatings making the dial easily read. I think the raised crystal here really lends itself to the vintage appeal to this classically inspired watch.

The bezel is a simple diving bezel, 120-clicks around the circumference, single minute ticks during the first 15mins then just 10 minute intervals from there out. It’s a very sturdy bezel with no slop in the action, the indicators snap directly to each minute marker. It’s a very satisfying action to play with honestly.

And lastly the dial. Tudor knows how to make watch dials. The red bezeled version has a gilt dial with gold accents and vintaged lume. The blue bezel seen here has silver accents and white lume. The polish on the hands and applied indices really makes this watch catch the light, and it’s easy to get stuck staring at it. The hands themselves are worth commenting on, Tudor uses a modernized snowflake hand on the Black Bay. This causes the hour hand up really jump off the dial at a glance making reading the time very easy. They can be polarizing, but I really like the hands. And the lume used on the Black Bay is excellent.

Strap/Bracelet

Black Bays are available on a variety of strap options. Tudor really benefits from having Rolex’s experience with bracelets. The steel oyster style bracelet that comes on the Black Bay is excellent with screw together links, and a really nicely executed fold over clasp. They are extremely solid and compliment the case very well. As I stated earlier I’ve owned this watch twice. One of them on the bracelet and one of them on the leather strap. As of the writing of this article I actually have gone out and sourced the bracelet on the secondary market. They are that good. The OEM leather can be hit or miss on watches, but I find that to be less of a big deal due to the fact that it’s pretty easy to source your own leather strap later on if you want. That being stated, the dark blue leather compliments the blue bezel really nicely, and the deployant clasp is excellent.

Something else that I am pretty excited about, the heritage versions of Tudor watches ship with a Tudor OEM Nato. These are my favorite NATO straps in existence. There are sewn in pockets for the spring bars, and the length of the two keepers is adjustable. The weave of the material is very tight and the straps have a feel that is unlike any other nylon strap that I have. Tudor utilizes the same company to make these straps as the Vatican uses to make their textiles. So, that’s pretty cool.

Tudor Black Bay Review – Final Thoughts

A watch so nice that I bought it twice. It’s difficult for me to summarize how I feel about this watch in particular. It was a watch that I owned, sold, and regretted. That’s unusual for me, I typically have very little remorse when I buy and sell things, but I couldn’t let the Black Bay go.

Tudor gets a lot of friction about how much the focus on the Black Bay line to the detriment of other models they make, but that doesn’t really matter to me. They’re great watches and they offer enough variety to fit anyone’s aesthetic. In short, if you’re into a very classic vintage styled diver, this might be the one for you.

Tudor Heritage Black Bay Automatic Mens Watch 79230B-BKSS

$4,050.00

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I recommend purchasing the Tudor Black Bay at Amazon or JomaShop. Thanks!

Seiko is easily one of my favorite watch companies in business currently. They are one of the few manufacturers that holds the illustrious distinction of being entirely in-house. Everything from growing their own quartz crystals to making their own o-rings. That’s a distinction that is worth noting.

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One of my newer Seiko watches is the Limited Edition SRPB009, or as some call it “The Blue Lagoon Samurai.” Seiko’s original Samurai came out in 2004 only to be discontinued a couple years later. It was originally made in Titanium and then later in some stainless steel models, but they always fit in a weird spot in the Seiko diver lineup and thus the reason Seiko didn’t carry them longer. This was all until earlier this year, when they announced they were reviving the Samurai, this time in steel and a couple different color ways. Before we get into that let’s go over some specs:

• Case Width: 43.87mm (without the crown)
• Lug to Lug: 48.3mm
• Case Height: 13.5mm
• Lug Width: 22mm
• Weight: 6.5oz on bracelet

Fit

The Samurai is a big watch. It wears big, feels big, and looks big. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing however. I have a 7.25” wrist and it fits me really nicely, I think this is largely due (as always) to the case height. The case itself is wide, with a wide bracelet lug, but it doesn’t stick up from your wrist like other large watches do when you wear them. The lugs descend from the case in such a way to “hug” your wrist, honestly the first word that pops into my head when I look at it, is “pancaking,” it allows the whole watch (especially when worn on the bracelet) to wrap around your wrist instead of sit on top. It’s a little abstract to try and explain but it amounts to the watch wearing very well in spite of it’s actual case size.

Case and Crown

I think the case of the Samurai is the biggest thing that sets it apart from other Prospex diver offerings. The lugs are very angular, almost pyramid-y descending down abruptly from case. All the surfaces of the watch are brushed apart from some minor polished details on the non-crown side. The crown is also another feature on the Samurai that sets it apart from other Seikos, it’s large, knurled, and sits at 3 o’clock. Most prospex divers have their crowns at 4, and only have serrations on the crowns instead of the actual knurling.

Movement

The SRPB009 runs on the Seiko 4R35 movement, which essentially is the same movement that the new turtle reissues are using with the exception that that day complications is redacted. Ideally I would have liked the Sumo movement (6R15) with it’s longer power reserve and slightly more proven track record, but honestly mine is running around +5s a day, that’s pretty hard to complain about in a ~$500 watch.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

Okay, the bezel on this watch is complete fire. It’s dark blue with a light blue accent from noon to the 15min counter. The edges are knurled offering great grip at the noon and six o’clock position allowing you to turn it easily. You are sort of limited to only gripping it in those two positions, there isn’t clearance around the sides of the watch to actually turn the bezel.

The dial is a sunburst blue with applied markers for the hours. There are small yellow accents on the quarter hours chapter ring, these match up with the yellow tip of the seconds hand. The hands are lumed with the same proprietary LumiBrite compound that Seiko uses. It’s incredible… if you left this watch on your nightstand it could keep you awake at night.

Lastly the date window sits at 3 o’clock, the date wheel is white with black text on it. Conceptually I’d think this would clash with the overall aesthetic of the watch, but it blends in nicely.

Overall I think it’s important to take a second and comment on how the the dial and bezel of the Blue Lagoon are the elements that make it THE Blue Lagoon. There are several other color combinations available in the new Samurai, including a Pepsi and all black, so if for some (weird) reason the blue doesn’t match your curtains you could opt for a different version.

Okay, and the crystal… I feel like this is where Seikos catch a lot of heat. They used a flat hardlex crystal. I have scratched Hardlex in the passed (dunno how), but this one sits down below the bezel and is relatively protected. You’d really have to try to damage it.

Bracelet

Seiko isn’t known for their quality bracelets. The Samurai bracelet however is pretty decent. It has some cool polished accents on the center links without having the entire center link polished. There’s a nice diving extension to the clasp if you require it. The biggest criticism I think I could give it, is just that overall it’s sorta, “jangly,” there is a definite rattle to it when you wear it, but apart from that I don’t mind it. The end-links are really cool on this particular one, they fit tight to the case, and really accent the angular features of the Samurai itself.

Seiko Samurai Review – Final Thoughts

I’ve owned a bunch of Prospex Seikos. I’ve had two MM300’s, couple Tunas, Sumo, Turtles, etc. The Samurai is a really cool piece in contrast to Seiko’s other offerings. I think the casework, and dial choices are just different enough to set them apart from the rest of the Prospex line without making them seem detached entirely.

The Blue Lagoon specifically is a striking piece on the wrist, with great lume, a proven and dependable movement, at a price point that should fit most people’s budget if they’re looking for a nice “sub-$1k” watch.

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$420.00

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I recommend purchasing the Seiko Samurai at Amazon.

I think it’s safe to say that my reviews rarely court controversy. I’ve never had a “Kershaw Cryo” moment a la Everyday Commentary. For the most part, I pick what I review, and I’ve yet to give a product less than a lukewarm reception. Feedback from readers often reinforces my perspective, and in turn gave me the notion that I knew what most people find attractive. The Citizen Nighthawk dispelled that illusion. From the very start, it received…well, let’s call it a “mixed reception.” The pushback was strong enough that I sought a bit of outside validation from the notorious Andrew Gene. It wasn’t quite as positive as I’d hoped:

To me, if you need the instrumentation then it’s great. Otherwise it’s a wank. All instrument watches worn by people who don’t need them are a wank. Embrace the wank if you like it. Get one. That’s what I think.

Still, it was an oddly comforting sentiment. It may be a wank of watch, but it’s no better or worse than any other wank in my life. Hell, I hear those are good for the prostate. That said, on to the review.

Fit

This watch has two weaknesses, and the first of which is how it rides on the wrist. The dimensions for the Nighthawk aren’t at fault, mind: at 41mm wide by 12.5mm thick, it’s smaller than my Seiko Turtle, which is the largest watch I own. Despite being smaller, it doesn’t actually wear as well. It’s not even the angular case that causes discomfort. No, my sole complaint when wearing the Nighthawk is the crown. It’s just longer than it needs to be. Every time your wrist bends backwards the crown will immediately dig into your wrist. While never enough of an issue to dissuade me from wearing the Nighthawk, it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice going to the gym.

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Movement

Much like Benchmade and the axis lock, Citizen and the Eco-Drive are inseparable. Citizen was one of the early pioneers of solar watches, and their R&D department has pushed that particular envelope for decades. The result is a solar-powered quartz watch that reaches full charge in a matter of hours and (when fully charged) lasts 180 days. I’ll admit that it doesn’t have the same panache as a mechanical movement, but to harp on that point would be snobbish to say the least. Practically speaking, it’s an improvement. You trade the sweeping seconds hand for a power reserve and degree of accuracy unheard of in mechanical watches. My Nighthawk runs a mere 15 seconds slow after two months, though it should be noted that I didn’t set the time when I purchased it. It’s entirely possible that it was set incorrectly from the start.

Case and Crown

The Nighthawk’s case is quite distinctive. Its industrial, angular lines are evocative of aviation hardware, and the interplay between the wide crystal and the angled dial brings jet turbines to mind. The 3-piece case has held up quite well to everyday wear. My only complaint is that the caseback on models for the U.S. market are etched with the Citizen logo, whereas models for the European and Japanese markets have engraved casebacks.

As previously mentioned, the crown is a tad overlong, especially as it sits at 3 o’clock. This is a quartz watch, so you shouldn’t be interacting with the crown as frequently, but it’s functional all the same. The knurling is grippy but not aggressive, and the long crown certainly gives you a great deal of purchase. There is a second crown at 8 o’clock which rotates the slide bezel.

Dial, Crystal, and Bezel

Remember those weaknesses I mentioned? Well, if you haven’t already guessed, the dial is the second. The actual indices are clear enough, with raised columns for every hour but 12 and 6, which are marked with large, raised arabic numerals. A date function is located at 3 o’clock in a stepped window. None of those cause any problems. The real issues arise when you look at the extra functions on the Nighthawk: a GMT dial and a slide rule bezel.

Normally a GMT complication takes the shape of an additional hour hand, which is used to track a separate time zone. Citizen took a different approach. On the inside of the dial, there are two arcs, one marked 1-12 in white, the other 13-24 in red. There’s a double sided hand with a red end and a white end (and yes, both are little airplanes: – some kitsch is allowed). You read whichever color matches the hand currently over the numbers. To actually use this function, pull the crown out and rotate it away from you. This advances the primary hour hand without stopping the watch or affecting the secondary hour hands.

While the GMT complication didn’t help the Nighthawk’s legibility issues, the slide rule bezel of the Nighthawk actively exacerbates them. Slide rules are best thought of as analog calculators, and they’re not an uncommon feature on pilot watches. Computers have made them largely obsolete, but then, that’s true of watches in general, so maybe it’s best not to dwell on that topic. I’ll admit that I’ve yet to sit down and learn how to use it, but then again I’m not in flight school either. Here’s a tutorial on using one if you’re so inclined.

The Nighthawk comes equipped with a mineral crystal face. It isn’t as glamorous as sapphire crystal, but at this price point that kind of material isn’t really an option. The news isn’t all bad: while sapphire crystal boasts superior scratch resistance, it’s also more prone to shattering than mineral crystal.

Bracelet and Clasp

Because of the polarizing dial, I wasn’t entirely surprised to find that most folks are drawn to the bracelet. Mesh bracelets aren’t necessarily rare, but I see them more frequently on slimmer, dressier watches. It’s comfortable, flexible, and stands out a bit compared to a standard jubilee or oyster bracelet. Sadly, the lugs hug the case so closely that NATO straps (or similar variations) may not fit, so if you dislike the bracelet, you may be limited to two-piece replacement straps.

The Nighthawk’s bracelet (at least this iteration’s) comes equipped with a butterfly clasp. Unlike foldover clasps (which require a bit of fiddling), butterfly clasps are actuated by simultaneously pushing both pushers on the underside of the bracelet. I’ve been impressed so far. It’s simple, secure, and convenient. Still, some might prefer a more traditional clasp. If that’s the case, I suggest the BJ7000-52E.

Citizen Nighthawk Review – Final Thoughts

If you can’t tell, the Citizen Nighthawk is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the execution is fantastic: I’d go so far as to say it’s nearly flawless. On the other, some of the design choices leave a lot to be desired, most notably the overlong crown. I can’t heavily criticize the slide rule and GMT functions, as both seem valuable to pilots and heavy travelers, but be aware that they clutter up the dial.

Frankly, I realize that this review – like the Nighthawk itself – is a bit of a wank. Those of you who already liked the Nighthawk won’t be turned off by anything I have to say. Likewise, the vocal detractors of the Nighthawk won’t have a sudden change in taste after reading this review. Personally, I’m glad I picked one up: I won’t be getting rid of it anytime soon, barring unforeseen circumstances.

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I recommend purchasing the Citizen Nighthawk at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.