Watch Reviews

History, provenance, and heritage are all very important factors to watch collectors. We care deeply about where our timepieces came from, what they have historically done, and what elements of those two things are carried on today in their modern offerings.

Stowa is a German watch making company that has been in operation since 1927. They released their first pilot’s watch, or Flieger watch, back in 1939 and have, in one way or another, maintained that offering ever since. Stowa draws heavily from the Bauhaus school of design, particularly in their Antea model, but all of their watches in one way or another draw from the Bauhaus movement in their simplicity.

There are a lot of brands that manufacture “flieger” style watches both expensive and cheap. From the IWC and A. Lange & Söhne to Laco and Wempe. There is a reason that the Flieger is basically synonymous with the German Watchmaking industry. “Flieger,” watches were originally designed in 1935 by the Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium for the German Luftwaffe to be used by their bomber navigators to coordinate attacks. These watches were distinctive in their simplicity as well as their purpose orientation. They were set apart by a large triangle at the 12 o’clock hour that would quickly show the correct orientation of the watch, and their large luminous arabic numerals that could be easily and quickly read.

The original Flieger style watches were very, very large at around 55mm in case size, in this regard they functioned much more like a piece of avionic instrumentation than they did a piece of horological hardware. The method by which these watches were used was also particularly important to their application. They had a “hacking,” movement, meaning that when the crown was pulled out, the second hand stopped. This allowed the users to synchronize their watches all at the same time. The crowns were also large “onion,” style crowns that could be operated with ease by a gloved hand.

From this foundation the Flieger watches evolved and were modernized over time into pieces that we can and do wear today. Stowa has done a great job of taking a design they worked on nearly 80 years ago and keeping relevant but also useable by modern wearers.

But first, some specs:

• Case Width: 40mm
• Case Thickness: 9.16mm
• Lug Width: 20mm
• Lug to Lug: 48.6mm (factory spec) 46.7 (measured)
• Weight: 4.2oz on the leather strap.

Fit

Stowa did something brilliant with the 40mm manual winding Flieger model, they made it super wearable. It’s case measures in at under 10mm thick, which compared to almost anything I’ve written about thus far is ridiculously thin. The thickness paired with a less than 5oz weight while on the strap makes this watch almost disappear while you wear it. My only real comfort-gripe would be that the oversized crown can cause some “back of hand stabbing issues,” but that’s to be expected in a Flieger style watch, oversized crowns were the norm.

Movement

Stowa basically builds their watches a la carte, so you can order a 40mm Flieger, with or without logo, date, numerals, etc. You also have the options to pick an automatic ETA movement or a hand wound movement. The particular watch I have has the Sellita SW-215 hand wound movement. Stowa also offers a larger Unitas movement in a slightly larger case that is also manual winding.

All of these movements are proven, reliable, and movements I’d happily have in a watch. My example is running at -1.2-2s/day, I’ll take that. One of the coolest things that Stowa does on their watches is putting display backs on nearly all them. In my example there is a beautifully decorated Sellita, you can watch the balance move back and forth, even see the gears move as you wind the watch. Display backs add a lot to a watch in my opinion. I love being able to see how it works.

Case/Crown

The case is a simple brushed steel case, it’s minimal in every way but the proportions lend themselves well to being worn. It’s a nearly 49mm lug to lug width, so the case doesn’t feel small on the wrist, but it remains comfortable largely due to the flat case back. The crown as stated above is an oversized “onion,” style crown. This makes it very easy to get a hold of when you need to wind the watch.

Dial, Crystal, & Bezel

The dial of the Stowa is extremely simple, it’s painted numerals at the hour markers with large minute markers all the way around the dial. At noon there is a triangle capped by two dots, this is meant to allow you to quickly recognize which way is up when you’re first glancing at the watch. Flieger watches are all about quick time acquisitions and you can tell by how the dial is laid out and what elements are emphasized. Another thing Stowa has done is lumed everything on the face of the watch, at night all the hours markers, minute markers, and hands glow brightly with C3 Superluminova Paint.

The crystal is a slightly domed, anti-reflection coated, sapphire crystal. Paired with the thin and steep steel bezel it makes the dial look huge. This helps the watch to look and wear like a larger piece. Stowa does their AR coatings very well, the crystal looks as if there is nothing but air between you and the dial. All of this works to emphasize the legibility of the Flieger style watches.

Strap

Playing into their a la carte nature Stowa offers the Flieger on a variety of straps, from riveted leather strap to a steel Milanese mesh bracelet. My example is on the simple leather strap, it’s very soft and supple, and wears extremely comfortably. The Flieger is a watch that will wear well on a variety of strap styles, I could see it being worn on anything from a NATO to a vintage styled Tropic Rubber strap.

Stowa Flieger Review – Final Thoughts

Stowa is an interesting company that offers a wide array of quality time pieces that you can choose from. They make their interpretation of a diver, dress watch, marine chronometer, and many others…

The Flieger in particular is something Stowa is well known for. They’ve been making this this style of pilot watch with minor changes for almost 80 years. The nice thing about a Flieger is that it can double as a casual and dress watch, mostly by just changing your strap option. It would be a worthwhile addition to any watch fan’s collection.

The Stowa Flieger is available directly from Stowa. However, Amazon has a wide range of Flieger style watches. 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.

In the 1970’s Seiko changed the watch world forever. It’s open to debate whether or not that change was a positive or a negative one, but it was changed nonetheless. It was in 1970 that Seiko unveiled the Astron, the world’s first Quartz electronic watch at Basel World. Switzerland drew back in fear. What followed was known as the “quartz crisis,” and many strictly mechanical brands didn’t survive the coming years. This is, in my opinion, Seiko’s most notable achievement in the Horological landscape. It is not, however, the only thing that sets them apart from other watch manufacturers.

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For many years Seiko has made mechanical watches that were comparable to their peers in Europe. Some of these pieces have long lines of heritage and aggressively devoted fans. The vintage Seiko collector market is alive and well online.

Seiko makes a lot of strictly “tool watch” divers, like the new Turtle Reissue, the Sumo, the SKX173/SKX007, and the Tuna lines. All of these watches fall under the banner of Seiko’s Prospex, literally meaning “Pro-Specs”, or watches that can and will perform under heavy and serious use.

At the top of the heap on the Prospex line is the Seiko Marinemaster 300, or the SBDX017. The MM300 fits a weird place in a watch collector’s collection. Seiko, is typically viewed as a “budget,” brand (in spite of their super high end offerings). The MM300 sits right between entry level high end watches like some Orises and Hamiltons and true Swiss luxury watches (ex. Omegas, IWCs, Rolexes.) Let’s look a little at what goes into something like that, but first some specs:

Case: 44mm
Lug to Lug: 48.4mm
Case Thickness: 15.45mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Weight w/Bracelet: 7.1oz (201 grams)

Fit

The Marinemaster, excluding everything else, is a big watch. It wears big and looks big. Big isn’t always bad, however. On the bracelet the MM sits low and well on the wrist. When you read other reviews about this watch this is a matter of some contention. This watch wears differently on different people. On my wrist the bracelet sits well, so the watch wears well. However, if your wrist is too narrow or to large it can make the bracelet fit poorly.

On me it’s comfortable and largely unobtrusive. The crown at 4 o’clock goes a long way to make this piece easier to wear for long periods of time. At work I spend a decent amount of time standing at counters or waist height tables, and I rest my hands palm down on them while talking to people. Normally, with a watch that has a 3 o’clock crown, it can start to press into the back of my hand and feel uncomfortable. The recessed 4 o’clock crown helps with this issue.

Movement

The MM300 uses a 8L35 Automatic movement. This is an undecorated/unregulated version of the Grand Seiko 9S55 movement. It’s the pinnacle of a sports watch mechanical movement, at least that Seiko uses. It’s built for reliability and robustness. My personal example is keeping +3.4s/day. Now a certified chronometer specs require a watch to keep an average daily rate of -4/+6 seconds per day. So… my SBDX017 is keeping “Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres” (COSC) Standard. In order for a watch to be officially certified as a chronometer the movement has to be sent to the observatory in Switzerland. Obviously, Seiko does not do that and that translates into a more affordable watch for you.

All of this being said, the 8L35 movement is unregulated. This means that after the movement was manufactured it was then cased, vs. adjusted manually before being put in a watch case. Long story short, MM300’s can have a spectrum of accuracies and it really depends on which example you get. Mine is excellent, but if you read online you’ll read stories of +15/-10s a day, which is what this movement is advertised to keep. Just something to keep in mind.

Case/Crown

The case of the Marinemaster 300 is really where it begins to take on some character of it’s own. This watch is cased in a Monoblock case. This means the entire contents of the watch are loaded via the front and sealed by the crystal. There’s no removable case back. That is something that is fairly unusual when it comes to watchmaking these days. Most watches have removable case backs. The intention behind Seiko’s design here is to remove one point of ingress for water.

Apart from the Monoblock case you are treated to Seiko’s excellent finishing; beautiful bevels and transitions, crisp lines and delicate touches. The steel case is coated with Seiko’s “Diashield,” coating. Diashield is essentially a scratch/wear resistant coating that goes a long way to repel normal wear marks that your watch might acquire throughout the day. I have found Diashield to be extremely effective, and frankly, a godsend in keeping a “tool” watch looking good. If you bang your watch hard enough you will still get a scratch or a ding, but Diashield will prevent the normal day-to-day knicks pretty well. The MM300’s case is one of the highlights of this watch. It oozes quality and reliability–exactly what you’d expect from a high end diver like this.

The Marinemaster’s crown is a simple signed crown placed at 4 o’clock. The winding action is smooooooth. I find it’s smoother than some of my Swiss pieces. It is a screwdown crown, as you’d expect from a diver’s watch. The most notable trait of the SBDX017’s crown is the placement. At 4 o’clock, as I mentioned earlier, it won’t dig into the back of your hand over time.

Dial, Crystal, & Bezel

The Marinemaster’s dial is a case study in legibility. The hour indices are applied and lumed. The 6 and 9 o’clock have rectangular markers, whereas the intermediate hours are round. The noon, is an angled double rectangle. All of these markers have large “dollops” of lume set in them and the same is true for the hands. Seiko’s lume is that of legends, glowing brightly even in broad daylight. This is one area I can promise you, that will not let you down about this watch. The borders of the hands and indices are polished steel which offers a nice dimension when you’re looking at the dial at an angle. The dial itself is matte black, with painted white text. It’s a wordy dial, but I guess that depends on your perspective. Personally, I think that the text lends itself to the MM300’s “tooly” appeal, whereas other’s would prefer a simple aesthetic. So that’s up to you.

The SBDX017 takes a lot of flack for their choice to continue using a hardlex crystal on a watch that sells for over $1500. I’ve had mixed experiences with it myself. I managed to scratch the Hardlex on my Seiko Sumo, but I suspect that was more my fault than the materials. That being said, there are sapphire aftermarket options available. I like how the hardlex looks in the light, and since the “Sumo incident” I haven’t had any marks or issues on the crystal of any of my other Seikos.

Bezels, ahh bezels… After all what is a good dive watch, without a good dive bezel? The Seiko’s is perfect. Large, extremely legible, and easily used. What you want from a diving bezel, in daily use, is something that is easily (not too easily) turned and set so that you can see elapsed time. When I am wearing a diving watch, I use the bezel for everything from keeping track of breaks to timing coffee french presses. The SBDX017 does this well.

Bracelet/Clasp

One thing Seiko does not do very well, in my opinion, are bracelets. You can get OEM bracelets for most Seiko divers. This includes everything from the SKX line to the SRP line and above. The lower end bracelets feel and are cheap. With that said, the SBDX017 bracelet is polarizing. IF it fits you, it fits you really well. The catch however is that the links of the SBDX bracelet are long and don’t articulate in the middle like some brands do. What this essentially means is that depending on how the watch drapes on your wrist the links may stick out abruptly. It fits my wrist very well, and that really makes or breaks this watch. Alternatively, a friend of mine has the exact same MM300 and a link juts out where the bracelet drapes over a wrist bone. So, it really depends on how the watch fits your specific case.

The clasp on this bracelet is interesting with it’s ratcheting diving extension. You activate this by pulling up on the fold over piece and then it slides out. This can happen often by accident, and I almost always do it when I am putting the watch on. The benefit to a clasp like this is if your wrist swells a bit during a warm day you can pop it out one click to keep it comfortable. Seiko’s solution is purely functional and does not look good when expanded. There are other brands like Rolex or Omega that do this much better and maintain the aesthetic of their bracelet while expanded.

Seiko Marinemaster 300 SBDX017 – Final Thoughts

A few months ago I was leeching wifi off of a hotel bar on the island of Bequia. Bequia is the second largest island in the Grenadines, a reasonably quiet place, but still one that focuses on tourism. Along the waterfront walk of Port Elizabeth there are a few dive shops that have been there forever. While I was waiting for my photos to upload and my next umbrellaed beverage to arrive, I noticed an older guy unloading air tanks from a dive boat and hauling them into one of the nearby dive shops. On his wrist was an old Seiko dive watch.

This is the legend isn’t it? In my mind I started telling a story of this dude arriving on the island when he was younger with a knapsack, regulator, and a dive watch; and he lived the island life. In my story, he settled into island life, opened a dive shop, and had adventures. That’s the dream isn’t it? Buying a tool watch, and then just…doing life with it, using it as intended.

The SBDX017 is the perfect piece for that. It’s robust, it’s durable, and it can take you anywhere. It also takes a big wrist to wear. Some people might have a little heartburn spending the money on a Seiko, but they are truly great. There are other diver’s from Seiko that you could go with, a Turtle or perhaps a Sumo, but the MM300 is top of the heap.

Seiko Men's SBDX017 Prospex Analog Display Japanese Automatic Silver Watch

• Automatic Movement with 50-hour power reserve
• Dual Curved Hardlex with inside anti-reflective coating
• Japanese-automatic Movement
• Case Diameter: 44.3mm
• Diver’s 300m (984ft) watch: in general, suitable for mixed-gas diving

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I recommend purchasing the Seiko Marinemaster 300 SBDX017 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.

Over the past few months I have become increasingly interested in vintage watches. My collection has evolved from primarily modern watches, to primarily vintage watches with just a modern watch or two sprinkled in for good balance. And its hard to talk about vintage watches without mentioning Oris.

Buy the Oris Divers Sixty Five at Jomashop

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Oris is an independent Swiss brand that has been privately owned and operated since the company was founded by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian in 1904. The certainly have history, having been in business for over 110 years.

The fact that Oris has remained an independent watch brand for all this time is great for the end user because it allows the company to provide top quality products with a great pedigree at a competitive price. The watch industry has experienced a lot of consolidation over the years. Swatch Group and Richemont now make up over a third of the global market. Independent makers like Oris help ensure a diverse and competitive marketplace.

Oris has also been bitten by the vintage watch bug, and the company has recently released a series of watches that melds the classic styling of their vintage pieces with new manufacturing methods and materials. The Divers Sixty Five (or the “Oris 65”) is one of the watches from this new collection, and is a reissue of a classic diver that Oris originally introduced in 1965. They primarily changed the size, increasing the case from 36/38mm to 40/42mm. Oris also upgraded the movements to automatic movements vs. their classic hand-wound movements. It’s this blend of modern and vintage that drew me to the Divers Sixty Five.

General Specifications

Before we get too far into this, let’s go over some specs:

• Case: 42mm w/crown
• Lug to Lug: 50mm
• Case Thickness: 14.9
• Lug Width: 21mm
• Weight on Bracelet: 4.7oz

Fit

My watch is the 42mm version of the Oris 65. I’ve found that my particular wrist is most comfortable with 42-44mm watches, and I also prefer the simpler dial on the 42mm version to the arabic numerals on the 40mm.

One of the things I’ve learned about myself is that with some rare exceptions I like thinner cases. Case height will be the main reason you damage your watch as it sticks up off your wrist. The 65 is just under 15mm high, and it rides tight and close to your skin. A watch needs to feel like it’s a built on extension of your wrist, not a large tumor strapped there as an afterthought.

Movement

This particular watch is running on an “Oris 733” movement, in essence this is a Sellita SW200, which again is just really an ETA 2824 clone. Oris added a jewel and made it their own, taking it from 25 to 26 jewels. In terms of accuracy it’s a phenomenal movement, my example is keeping well within COSC (roughly +0.3s/day) as measured using the iPhone App Hairspring.

Hairspring is a timing app that “listens” to the movement of the watch and can deliver a readout of the accuracy of that particular watch. It’s my best method to determine the actual accuracy of a piece. Now, I’m sure as this movement wears in that will change, but out of the box that is excellent accuracy to get out of a non-chronometer certified watch.

Case and Crown

The 65 Diver uses a steel case that is very utilitarian in nature. You won’t find any crazy polished bevels or twisted lugs on this particular piece. That being said, it’s this simplicity that makes this watch shine. The lack of overdone finishes makes it a lot easier to wrap your head around making it a daily wearer, this watch will take the day-to-day bumps and dings with grace. The case back is a feature worth noting as well, it’s signed and marked with the watch particulars, but also has a classic Oris logo stamped into it. It’s a nicely understated screw-down case back.

The crown is oversized and unguarded, that makes it easy to unscrew it and wind it up if you’re rated the Oris off your wrist for a few days. The screw down crown is one of the factors that lends to the Oris meeting the 6425 ISO certification as a dive watch, but we’ll talk more on that later.

Dial, Crystal, and Bezel

The reissued Oris 65 Divers have gilt blue dials. Gilt meaning the font and indices are accented in gold, not white or silver, and this contrasts excellently with the deep rich blue of the dial itself. The indices are applied, with the 12, 6, and 9 hours markers are larger and angular with the largest marker sitting at noon. All the lame on the watch is a beige faux patinated lume. The borders of the indices are a polished with a faint golden hue. The date window is at 3 o’clock, and is angular extending outward.

The crystal is a immense domed sapphire crystal, and it’s largely because of this dial alone that this watch looks so incredibly retro. It reminds me in many ways of my old Omega Speedmaster with its hesalite crystal. The large domed acrylic crystals are vintage watch trademarks, but to get a modern watch with a sapphire version is really a dream here.

The crystal has an application of an AR coating on the inside but still manages to reflect a good deal of the world around it, this fact really lends itself to the Oris 65 looking very “jewel-like,” in person. Technically that reflective nature isn’t something you’d want in a tool-watch, but then again this isn’t a very tool-y tool watch. It will preform in those contexts, but for reasons we’ll get into in a bit there are likely some better choices for a true tool watch.

The lume, well guys… it’s faux-vintage. Typically, in my opinion, that isn’t great. There are some exceptions where I think slightly off white lume works, like on some of Tudor’s watches, but it also works on the 65. Oris is guilty of bad-faux-vintage-lume on some of their other watches (ref the Aquas Carlos Coste LE) but they did okay here.

More importantly, the lume is quite bright, which I suppose is the more important factor here. It’ll hold a visible brightness that is proportionate to your eyes adjusting to darkness. In this regard the lume is very, very well done.

And finally, the diving bezel. It’s pretty straightforward here… We have a 120-click unidirectional bezel. It’s an aluminum insert that has the markers left bare and polished for a really cool shiny contrast. It’s got coined/serrated edges that provide a really stable grip when you’re using the bezel, the clicks are strong and really center the indicators with the minute marks on the dial. Not much else to say on that matter, this bezel is easy to like.

Strap/Bracelet

Oris offers the 65 on a variety of strap options, as well as a oystery-ish style steel bracelet. The ones I’d choose would be either the NATO with deployment, or the steel. In this category Oris commits a cardinal sin of watch manufacturers and they made this watch with 21mm lugs, WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THIS?! It is very difficult to find quality straps in this size, so you’re basically locked into either the OEM options, or have something custom made.

Moving past this though, the bracelet tapers from 21mm to a svelte 18mm. A tapering steel bracelet is a really easy way to class a watch up in my opinion, Rolex does it and it really works. The watch would benefit from having the option of half links, I was between two different link sizes, so it was either slightly too small or slightly too large.

Oris Divers Sixty Five – Final Thoughts

The Oris 65 diver packs an impressive amount of punch into a really nice price point. One criticism that you will generally hear is that with only 100m water resistance you’d crazy to take this dive watch swimming. This is moronic frankly, being a 100m diver meets the ISO 6425 requirements in terms of depth ratings for a dive watch. Most recreational divers won’t ever pass 30m, let alone 100M. If you are you are diving below 100M then you didn’t buy this watch to take with you.

However, if you want a sports watch is well made, looks a little different than anything else, harkens back to some very classic horological tropes, and won’t break the bank at the same time then I cant recommend the Diver Sixty Five more.

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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Oris Divers Sixty Five at Amazon and Jomashop. 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.