Sears Diver and SKMEI-More Watches

 Sears Diver and SKMEI

Like many people in my age bracket, the Sears catalogue was a big deal, especially during the Christmas Holidays, when my parents would let my sister and me look through and choose our presents.

In 7th or 8th grade, I thought it was time to upgrade my Harlem Globetrotter watch, though I did keep it as my ‘dress watch,’ and I picked out a dive watch from the Sears catalogue. I’ve liked dive style watches ever since, and own several variations on them now. 

I’m not sure where that dive watch ended up-I don’t know if I threw it away, which would seem odd since I think I have every other watch I’ve ever owned still, but I certainly beat the crap out of it in high school. I remember making a bet with someone in class that I could drop it on it’s face, and it would keep running. I did, cracked the crystal, but put it on and it kept on running.

For the last few years, I’ve kind of kept an eye out for a Sears dive watch. Sears actually made quality items, usually contracting with major manufactures for their goods. My family had Sears bicycles, Sears Pong games, Sears radios, Sears clothes, Sears auto parts and Sears tools. The big Sears store in East LA was a favorite shopping destination in grade school. Several major watch makers, both American and Swiss, made Sears watches over the years.

I found this skindiver on eBay for about $100. They do seem to be more and more

expensive these days. My guess is the early 70s, and the internet says that the movement was contracted out to one of the many Swiss watchmakers of the day. Interestingly, unlike most of the Sears skindivers I've seen on the internet, this is branded 'Sears' and not 'Tradition.' It's about 38mm, with a 19mm lug. It didn't have a band, which I wasn't to worked up about.

 

I wound it up as soon as I took it out of the envelope and let it run for a few days while waiting for a silicone watch band (Amazon, $10). It loses about three minutes every 24 hours, and I can’t figure out how to fast set the date, but after a quick scrub with some toothpaste and a toothbrush, it’s fine (and minty fresh)-a bit of nostalgia for my wrist.

 

 

Now, this other watch.

As I’ve mentioned before, I will buy watches off of AliExpress, and I have a hard limit of $100. The Pagani Design watch I’m wearing as I write this I bought as a beater last summer, and it really is a scratch resistant crystal-the watch still looks good.

If you type in Men’s Watch, all sorts of strange watches pop up, most with about zero appeal to me. This one caught my eye in my late night shopping, but not so much that I remembered that I actually bought it until it showed up a few weeks later. It was just under $20, and when I opened the package, it still looked pretty cool.

It’s a SKMEI, and the SKMEI page on AliExpress show a bunch of Casio and Freestyle digital knockoffs, all for around $10. This one is fun, a digital watch that shows sentences. The band is cheap leather but serviceable. The face is big and legible, and it’s though it’s a touch awkward on the arm, there are no sharp edges or things that make it uncomfortable.

You have to push the button on the side to show the time, so not terribly practical, but a fun time piece that if it works a year will be worth the $20 I spent.

Seiko/Cyma

 Seiko /Cyma Watches

Classic Seiko Vibe

It’s been a while since I’ve belonged to Watch Gang, so my watch acquisitions have slowed down some. But I still like them, and I’m still willing to buy new ones.

Plain box

I was watching some watch vlogger on Youtube, and they showed this Seiko SKX SRPJ47K1, and I thought it looked pretty cool. It was on the high end of what I’m willing to spend on a watch, but it seemed like one of those where I’d kick myself if I didn’t buy it and saw it on someone else. I like orange, I like skeleton watches, and I like dive style watches. So I googled it to find the best price, and ended up at Creation Watches.

Creation is a grey market seller that has good internet reviews. They had the watch for a price that I was willing to pay, so I gave it a try. (I just tried to find this watch on the Creation site now-it's not there anymore-definitely a buy now before they're gone kind of site).

The watch arrived after five days, in a Seiko box with tags. Interestingly, though most of the watch was wrapped in shrink wrap, the face was not. I inspected the watch closely and could not find anything wrong. I had to take out three links, but once I did, the watch fit easily on my wrist, without any sharp edges to speak of. I’ve been wearing it for about a week, and it keeps time properly and sits well on my wrist. At 42 mm, it’s a little bigger than I’d like, but not overwhelming by any means. The metal bracelet is well made, without any sharp edges.

On the whole, I’m happy with the watch and I’d be happy to buy from Creation Watches again.

I like the Vintage Vibe

I’ve bought one other watch in the last six months, from an antique shop in Dublin back in February. I’ve always got my eye open for a new watch, and though I was tempted to pull the trigger on one of the Omega x Swatch watches, which were all in stock at the Dublin Swatch Store, before I plunked my money down I saw this Cyma in an antique shop. I’m not much for gold, but I do like the look of these 50s era gold watches (the inscription on the back says “25th Aug. ’55”), especially when they have the dial within a dial second hand and a textured face. I asked the cost, and the old guy at the counter said 60 euros. I said 50, and we had a deal.

The Cyma brand still exists, now owned by a Hong Kong luxury jewelry corporation, but this one is

Engagement? Retirement? Who knows?

Swiss made. After coming home, I took a tooth brush and some tooth paste to it, and it cleaned up pretty good. I found a band on Aliexpress, and after putting it all together, it tells good time. I haven’t opened it up, and if it starts to get way off, I’ll take it to Lucky

Watches for servicing.

10/17/25

 

A funny thing about the Seiko from back in July. I went to a screening of Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly, and the usher asked if there was any way to turn down the lume of my watch. The New Beverly is a time warp as far as theaters go, a homage to Tarantino's boyhood, and so much like the 70's theaters I remember in Downey, the Avenue and the Meralta, that it's a little frightening. The same type of curtains, the same type of seats (not the reclining seats of today), same type of lighting fixtures, a definite throwback to the 70's movie going experience.

Pagani Design Diver

 Pagani Design

Safe from China

My year of belonging to Watch Gang brought me an appreciation of Chinese made watches. I knew watches were made in China-many Fossil Watches are made there, and I have a few of those, and more than a few of the watches I got through Watch Gang were made in China. Though many of them weren’t particularly my style, as I wrote in my reviews, they all seemed to keep time okay.

I buy things from AliExpress pretty often-it’s great for computer stuff-usb drives, external disk drives, cords, etc., and I’ve picked up a few watches off the site as well. My hard ceiling for watches from AliExpress is $100. After that, I might as well buy a name brand. AliExpress allegedly has some name brand watches, but around the internet it states that they’re fakes.

I decided that I wanted a new skin-diver type watch, and that I was actually going to use it as a beater-a watch to wear to the beach, while doing yard work, fixing things around the house and other mundane tasks, so I thought a cheap Chinese watch from Aliexpress would fit the bill. I also wanted it to be mechanical-I hate picking up a watch with a dead battery. And I wanted a watch that had a face of about 39-40mm, (though I’d go up to 42mm), my preferred watch face size.

After the Omega/Swatch was released a while back, several watch reviewers popped up on Youtube saying that the Omega/Swatch wasn’t really worth it, and if you wanted a good Omega Speedmaster homage, to buy the Pagani Design from Aliexpress. The cost was about $115 compared to Swatch’s $270 (if you can find one), and the specs were much closer to an actual Omega.

I think that misses the point. If I’m buying an Omega/Swatch, I’m buying it because it’s an Omega/Swatch. A Timex quartz will tell time just as well. I want the label-oh and if you'd like to buy me an Omega Speedmaster or the Omega/Swatch, I'll take it.

Unwrapped

Which brings me back to Pagani Design. Several of their watches had positive reviews, and they had a skin-diver that met my requirements. It cost $53.95 in one of the frequent AliExpress sales (it's $62.47 as I write this), and I wanted a nato band for it, which added another $3.95.

Original band

It arrived in a reasonable amount of time, packed inside an ordinary box covering another ordinary box. I realized fairly quickly that the watch was hefty. Things that I liked right away-the black and orange color scheme gives the watch a serious look, but with a little pop. It has a screw down crown and a large date window. There’s an exhibition back, and a scratch resistant sapphire crystal. It’s also powered by a Seiko NH35 movement.

Things that I don’t like-I didn’t care for the band, so I knew that I was going to change that. The lume isn’t very good, fading out fairly quickly. It seems to be about 30 seconds fast every 24 hours (I should mention that a watch running fast is probably a good thing for me-I’m more likely to show up on time). At 42mm, it's a little bigger than I wanted.


Unexpected likes-the colors pop more than I thought they would. There are no sharp edges. I’ve gone swimming with it several times, and it’s water resistant. I don't know that I'd actually do any diving with it, but it is rated to 100m, certainly enough for me to reach the bottom of a swimming pool.

Black and Orange nato band

Sapphire Crystal

As you all know, I’ve got several watches, and I keep putting this one back on. It’s going to be my watch of the Summer, and certainly worth the $60 I put into it.

I’ve three other AliExpress watches, and I’ll get to all of them soon.

Exhibition Back

No More Watch Gang-the Vaer and Lucky Watch Repair

I've been reading about Vaer watches for some time now. I like their origin story, a couple of guys in Venice deciding to make an inexpensive quality watch here in the good ol' USA. I had my eye on their S5 watch, which I eventually bought for my son on his graduation.

It's a good, solid feeling watch, and I still may get one for myself.

I was at a watch show at Chelsea Market in New York last year, and I met some of the Vaer people. I told them about the watch I'd bought my son, and they gave me a bag, which was nice. They had a few watches for sale, but they didn't have the one that I wanted, the D5 USA Tropic. If they had had one, I'd have pulled the trigger.

It's an expensive watch for me, though, currently $595 on their website. I haven't ever spent that much money for a watch.

So for this last year, I've checked eBay on a somewhat regular basis to see if one pops up. Since I'm not part of Watch Gang anymore, I figured that if I could find one for about half, I'd pick it up.

And then I saw it. I still spent a little more than I had intended, but it had a second band along with this tan one, and came with it's original box and all of it's papers. It was originally purchased in March of 2021, and was in really great shape. I didn't care for the band color, but the band was actually pretty new, and it came with a khaki nylon strap as well. 

I found an Ottoody Strap on Amazon for about $20, and switched it for the tan band it had come with. The band is black leather, and with off-white stitching, matching the color scheme of the D5 Tropic better, I thought, and it looked really good on my arm. The watch has a 39mm face, which is probably the best size for my arm, and a really cool domed sapphire crystal, (pretty much the same size as my Wolbrook Skindiver), and it sits comfortably on my wrist. There are no sharp edges, and though it has some heft, it doesn't feel bulky.

After wearing the watch for a few days, I was taking it off to go swimming, and dropped it on a concrete locker room floor. The Vaer made a crunching sound when it hit the ground that I had never heard from a watch before, and I was sure that I'd cracked the crystal. But I picked it up, looked it over, and it looked fine. It was running, I didn't see any scratches or cracks, and I thought that I had gotten lucky. But an hour or so later, it stopped. 

I tried to get it started again, but it was a no go, and I realized that I'd spent a bunch of money on a watch that I broke in less than a week. I can count the amount of watches I've broken over the years on one hand, so this was a bit surprising.

Still, the movement is a Miyota 9039, a well known, well liked, common movement that can be bought online for around $100. I figured that if the whole movement had to be changed out, the watch would come up to the price of a brand new one-not really what I was looking for. I also thought that maybe the Vaer people would be able to help me out and get a new movement for less, if that's what was needed. So I emailed Vaer about my watch.

Surprisingly, since it was the second week of December, Evan-Austin at Vaer got right back to me, asking for more details. The eBay seller had sent me his receipt, so I gave the pertinent facts-that I totally understood that the warranty didn't apply on watches bought on eBay, that the person I bought it from sent me his receipt and order number, and that I dropped it on concrete. I asked if I should just take it to my guy and have him take a look.

More surprisingly, I got another response the next day. It was signed from Ryan Torres, one of the Vaer founders, and it said to take it to my guy for an estimate, then let the Vaer people know, and they'd tell me if they thought they could do it for less. In a follow-up email, Evan-Austin gave me the information if I wanted to send it back to them, but warned of a 3-4 week turnaround.

So I took my watch to Lucky Watch here in Ventura. I've had Paul, the owner replace several watch batteries over the years, but more importantly, he's replaced the quartz movement of an 80's era Seiko that my mom had bought me, and a got a 20 year old Seiko automatic dive watch running for me, with both repairs under $100 each. He won't fix everything-the Beltex of a few posts back comes to mind-but I thought he could handle this one.

Red Date

I took it to Lucky Watch on Monday. He opened it up and told me the problem, but Paul's accent is pretty thick and I'm not sure what he said-it could have been 'main spring,' or it could have been something else, and then said that he could have it back to me by Wednesday, and it would cost less than $100. That sounded good, so I told him okay. I figured there was no way the Vaer people were going to charge less, and the turnaround would be no where near as fast. Plus I'd have had to get the packaging to mail the watch to them. 

When I picked up the watch two days later, Paul's advice was, "Do not drop on concrete." It's been running great ever since. 

I do have one complaint about the watch, and it is a minor one. The date is in the 6 o'clock position, without any magnification on it. It's also a black dial with cream numbers, like the rest of the face-except every four days when the date is red. I'm not sure why it's every four days, and with the cream on black numbers, the date blends into the face. Vaer people, if you happen to read this, a magnification over the date would really make this watch pop. It's a minor quibble, and obviously not enough to prevent me from wearing the watch.

One more interesting side note-Vaer makes a D7 Tropic, which to my eye looks the same except for "Swiss Made" on the bottom of the dial instead of "American Assembly." Instead of the Miyota movement, it has a Sellita SW-200 movement. The specs of the movements are the same, but the Swiss watch is $200 more.

I'll stick with the USA assembled, Japanese movement.

The Beltex continued/Watch Gang 10 Carrero

It's a beautiful day here in Ventura, and I'm sitting in my backyard listening to People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938, something I picked up years ago and don't know if I've ever played. I do have a bit of a thing for murder ballads and western swing, affinities that I have always had though I know not why. My parents certainly didn't listen to this, and I was born a bit after the 'Cowboy Show' of the 50s.

I picked up my Beltex a few days ago, and it's beautiful. I've found a few more things about it. (There's one on Ebay right now, if you're interested). It's a Swiss made watch that likely dates from the 50's. There's not a lot of information on the brand, but it appears that by the 1950's Beltex was a 'fashion brand,' only making casings and not movements. According to the internet, the movement was made by Venus, and was used by several smaller Swiss brands. That is why you see similar faces on watches by Huer, Gallet, and many others. It is a good movement, and apparently parts are available.

At the end of the day, I probably overpaid for it all, but I smile when  I look at my wrist, and I know that the servicing is recent. Tom the 'Watch Doc' threw in a crystal since I was paying cash, and it looks really good on my wrist.

The Watch Doc, Toluca Lake

Which brings me to what will likely be my final Watch Gang watch. 

The Carrero

According to the tag attached to this watch, the MSRP is $1475. On the website, the Carrero CS17733MR is also listed at $1475. EBay gives you the true worth, though, and there are 50 Carrero watches ranging from $75 to $1400.

The first thing I noticed when I took it out of it's rather plain box is that it weighs a ton. It's also the first Watch Gang watch that I've opened that wasn't running when I opened the box. Even the automatics were wound and running when I got them. This had the plastic piece that keeps the watch from running down the battery still in place.  

According to the Carrero website, this is a stainless steel watch with a mineral crystal. It has a 44.5 mm face, and a Japanese Epson VR33 muscle movement. The three smaller dials represent the stop watch second hand and minute hand, as well as a 24 hour dial. Interestingly, for a watch at this supposed price point, I'd want the stop watch second hand to line up at zero, which it does not. The 24 hour dial doesn't quite line up either.

On my wrist, after removing a link, it still feels heavy. No sharp edges, though. The face appears to be a deep burgundy.

It's not an unattractive watch, and according to their website, 34 of these have been sold. I will say there's no way in hell that I'd pay $1475 for this watch-maybe $150-200. The movement, for what it's worth, can be purchased for $16.99.

I'm going to wear it tonight. Right now I've noticed that the clasp doesn't seem to stay closed, but that could just be me.

A few days later

I wore the Carrero for a couple of days, and my initial assessment stands-it is a heavy watch, and though the clasp isn't broken, I feel like I have to fight with it a bit more than I should in order to get it to close.

It does have a nice look on my wrist, but not so much that I'd have actually picked it up on my own. I think this will be the last Watch Gang watch for me. I'm going to take the money that I'm not spending on my monthly membership, and start looking for the two watches that have fascinated me for ages, the Hamilton Ventura and the Bulova Accutron Spaceview. Also, I'd love to find the Citizen Bullhead watch that Brad Pitt wore in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And if you'd like to toss me a Rolex or Omega, I'd take one.

Wolbrook, Lake & Sons and Watch Gang 9-Dufa,

In 2019 I saw a Kickstarter ad on Facebook for Wolbrook watches. I liked the design of the vintage dive watch, and the whole origin story of being Neil Armstrong's watch.

But I also did a bit of research. Neil Armstrong did have a Wolbrook watch, apparently from when he was a test pilot and he gave it to his brother (or father). On the moon, he, like the rest of the NASA astronauts, wore the Omega Speedmasters they were issued. 

I liked the look, especially the red bezel, and it seemed like a fun watch to own. It also reminded me of the skindiver watch my parents bought me in high school. It was supposed to arrive at the start Summer of 2020, and I justified the price as an early birthday present to myself.

Then Covid locked down the world.

The Wolbrook people regularly sent out emails talking about their supply chain issues, and I think I finally got the watch 4 months after their projection.

It's a great watch! They've got several watches now, but this one is a Skindiver WT, currently sold out on their website. It's got a Miyota movement and a sapphire crystal. I really like the magnification above the date, and it has a very bright lume. The band has broken in nicely as well, and it's very comfortable to wear. Initially, I was surprised by the size-it's a bit smaller then many of my watches, (especially the ones that have been sent to me by Watchgang), but it's very comfortable on my wrist.

This Lake & Sons I kind of tripped over. I had bought my son a Vaer S5 field watch for his college graduation, since he does not share my passion for watches. I figured the Vaer was a solid watch that was unique and not too expensive. Not everyone will have one, but it's still a basic watch that those in the know will be somewhat impressed with.

When I saw the watch, I thought it had a good look, but I wanted the A5, their automatic watch. While looking at that, I noticed the Bulova Hack watch and the Hamilton Khaki had a similar look, and all were at a similar price point. (A side note, I just saw that the Bulova is down around $200...). I started to Google hacking military style watches, and came across this one.

Lake & Sons is based in St. Paul, Minn., and sells men's gifts and accessories. This is the Pilot Watch, and it currently sold out. I had a discount, so I think I paid just a touch over $100 for it. It was limited to 500 pieces, this being 468, and has a Seiko movement and sapphire crystal. 

The band is a little flimsy, but I've had it for over a year and haven't felt compelled to change it. It's 40 mm, which is the same size as the Vaer and larger then the Bulova or Hamilton, but it's not a huge watch. My only complaint, if I have to have one, is that the lume is pretty much non-existent. You can see my review on their website-it's a great watch. 

Every few months I check the Lake & Sons site to see if they come up with another watch that I might want.

The DuFa

The DuFa arrived in a white box that said 'DUFA' and inside it came plastic wrapped on a grey pillow. It has clean lines, and interestingly, it is made in Germany. A quick glance at the DuFa website finds several German made watches, and several references to Bauhaus design. 'Bauhaus' is an art and design movement which is geometrically based and features no sentiment or emotion.

This particular watch is the 'Polar White' and retails for $386. It has a Seiko meca-quartz movement, though I don't understand why since it has only three hands, and measures out a 42mm. As always, I had to remove a few links from the bracelet, and wearing it now is comfortable. It's not too heavy and has no sharp edges.

Many watches are pictured on the website, ranging from $282 to $711, though many are labeled as 'coming soon,' and have no price listed. At one time, Germany made quality time pieces, almost on par with the Swiss, but the movements of all the watches I looked at are either Japanese or Swiss made. Not a bad thing, but not a big selling point either.

Interestingly, the lume is on only the hands and the 12 o'clock marker. It would appear that the hours would also have lume, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I've worn it several times since I've taken it out of the box. It's a little bigger than I like-I think my preferred watch face size is 40mm, but it's very comfortable to wear. I don't have any others like it, and unlike some of the odd colors I've gotten from Watchgang, the white face always goes with what I'm wearing. It's a casual watch that dresses up well. At first, I wasn't too sure what to make of it, but now I like it.

 

Jury Duty post Covid/Beltex Watch/Lucky Watch Repair

It's been years since I've had Jury Duty, and some things have changed. The most important thing for me is that there was a small coffee bar that served pretty good coffee when I was here before, and refills were a dollar. It seems to be gone, though the space here remains.

They do brew up Peets Coffee, which I'm okay with, but in the main cafeteria area.

Also, instead of filling the Jury room and having us stay in or around the courthouse all day, they bring in a morning group and an afternoon group.

I picked the morning of July 1st, figuring that no one would start anything before a three day weekend.

So I'm in the cafe, stalling on doing real work.

Beltex Watch

I've seen this type of watch before, and when it showed up on the Goodwill Auction site, I thought I'd make a bid. The listing said it was running, though untested, which I thought was a good sign.

 

It's a little beat up, but when I see them, they usually go for around $400, so I figured out what I was willing to pay, and made a bid.

 

It wasn't running when I got it, and they'd taken the back off and didn't put it back on. I was able to get the date hand to work, but it didn't wind and there's no ticking. I'm pretty happy with my watch guy here in town, Lucky Watch Repair, and I took it to him. 

 

A quick note about Lucky Watch. An Asian man with a thick accent, his shop is pretty beat up looking behind the Baskin Robbins on Main Street. But his prices seem fair, and he does good work. I've had him replace the movement of a Seiko UCLA Alumni Association watch that my Mom had bought me, service my Harlem Globetrotter watch, replace the batteries on my Zodiacs and Shinolas, get my cheap (though supposedly limited edition) Goofy and Donald Duck watches running, and repair my 20 year old Seiko Automatic Dive watch.  

But he looked at the Beltex and said, "I can't get parts."

I was counting on him, so that wasn't good.

So, now I need to shop online and send it to someone, and hope that I can get it repaired for a price that is worth my while.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

Tommy Bahama and Watch Gang 8-Charles Hutton

Vintage Styling

I bought my first Tommy Bahama shirt back in the mid 90's while working at Nordstrom Glendale. It was expensive, even with my discount, and it was my go-to dress Hawaiian shirt for a long time. I still have it somewhere-I'm not all that hard on my clothes and haven't changed shirt sizes in forever.

There is no Tommy Bahama, which most people probably realize. It was dreamed up by a couple of guys who wanted to create high-end casual clothes, their vision of what a jet-setting beach bum would wear. I've got several Tommy Bahama shirts (I especially like their Christmas shirts), some glasses, house wear and a few decorative items. I also have three of their watches.

Room for engraving

I've never paid full price for a Tommy Bahama watch. It seems as though people take pretty good care of them, but don't ever want to change the battery, and so I've found many on various auction sites for prices that I'm willing to pay. They look nice, and the three that I own say that they have either Swiss or Japanese quartz movements. I've been trying to find out who made them-there aren't any on the Tommy Bahama website at the moment. My best guess is the Geneva Group, which is alluded to in an old online article. The Geneva Group makes several lifestyle brand watches.

A replacement band

Of the three I own, my favorite is the yellow faced one. I bought a nice yellow leather racer band for it, and I think the watch looks pretty sharp. It's easy to read and stands out, but not too much.

The watches seem solid enough, (though on my black faced diver some water got in and left a stain on the crystal), and are based on vintage or casual diver/sports styles, kind of like their shirts, reflecting a past that never was. Initially they sold for anywhere between $115 and $350. There's a couple of hundred on eBay right now for under $100.

Diver with a water stain

Shinola watches operate in a similar niche, a reflection of a past that never was.

Charles Hutton

The Charles Hutton came in a large box, and inside there was a leather watch carrying case, large enough for at least two watches-a nice bonus as I find that when I travel, I'm now bringing a few watches with me, for no other reason than I have many and I can. It is a nice leather pouch.

The watch inside is heavy. After removing four links from the band so that it would fit, I feel it on my arm. According to the Charles Hutton website, it's a Longbridge ($270 list) with a green face, and a case size of 42mm by a thickness of 11.5 mm. It has a Japanese quartz movement made by Hattori (used by Seiko, Lorus and Pulsar).

The brand seems to be based out of England, and is named after an English mathematician. In their story, they say that they base their designs on the "Classic British lifestyle" and specialize in chronographs and other complications. The website has a section devoted to James Bond, calling him the "Quintessential British Gentleman," and saying their watches are built for the modern man in a James Bond way. There are people who keep track of the watches worn in all James Bond films (James Bond favors Rolex and Omega, with some Seiko digitals in the 70s), and Bond seems to prefer diver watches, but I'm not going to mention that to the Charles Hutton people. 

Charles Hutton is sold at Macy's and this Longbridge is currently going for around $100 in eBay. Prices for watches on their website range from $225 to $285.

Did I mention it was heavy? Along with being heavy, there seems to be some sharp edges around the the bezel and base. Not enough to cut, but enough to be slightly uncomfortable as I type this out. As I gather more watches, the little things start to come into play, and the little bit of sharpness does matter-I imagine at the end of a long day you'd really notice it and the weight. 

I do like the pin that holds in the hands, and the day/date function is interesting, with what seems like two additional dials working on the inside of the watch. Also interesting is that the date works in a reverse clockwise way.

The look is unique and I like it. But the weight and the sharp edges probably would have kept me from buying it in another setting.  Eight Watchgang watches, and only a couple would I actually have bought. I might have to give this up-we'll see.

Next Day

I've worn this watch for the better part of two days, and the weight is as such that it starts to slide down my wrist. I can't remove more links without it being too tight to wear, so the weight does come into play as the day progresses. It does look good on my wrist, but again, as I acquire more watches the little things matter.