WWR #12: Halios Laguna 500M Watch

I saw a prototype of this model months back from another dive watch website and it instantly captured my WIS senses.  It's design that is perfectly simple and yet unique is what attracted me to it. It kinda reminds me of a BMW M3, sedan on the outside, outstanding sports car in the inside.  The Halios Laguna looks like an ordinary 3 handed watch from the front, but surprise you, this thick and big watch under that simple dial can go 500M. 

What i love about it?
- Big and thick casind, 43mm and 14.5mm respectively
- 4mm thick sapphire crystal
- Simple dial design with inner rotating reflector, doing away with the usual divers external bezel
- Excellent lume
- Screw down crown design (watch it from the video review)
- Case design is unique
- WR500M, and doesn't look like one
- And the price at $670

 

Specifications from Halios Website:

• Comfortable, modern size: 43mm width, 49mm lug-to-lug, 14.5mm thickness
• Highly scratch-resistant 4mm sapphire crystal
• Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic movement
• Internal rotating bezel operated by non-screwdown, bi-directional crown at 2 o’clock
• 500M water-resistance
• C3 Superluminova-coated hands, dial and bezel markers for optimal low-light visibility
• Ships with: HALIOS bracelet, genuine Isofrane® 1968 rubber strap and tools
  
  All in all, this is really a value for your money.  And you are sure this ain't any next door Rolex or Timex that you  would see from your neighbor's wrist.  Something you can uniquely call your own Laguna.

Here's an excellent review by James Stacey from WatchReport.com.



That's all for this week.  Hail to Halios for this impressive watch!

Pulsar PS2004 Automatic Watch

Pulsar, who's history goes way back and now handle by the biggest watch brand in Japan, Seiko, hast its offering for this year which is their open heart collection which from my observation quite relatively new to this brand. The watch I am going to give some thought about is the PS2004 model which is the two toned silver gold dress watch.




The case is all stainless steel with polished finish in almost all views. The bezel or top of the case has a elegant gold bolt trim lining the shiny ring. The over all case width is 44mm and 46mm including the crown. The crown is likewise finished in gold color with adequate crown guards the complement it. Basically this is one of the selling points of this watch for me due to the big size of the case and the simple and elegant design in overall case design with a hint of sporty feel to it. The exhibition screw down case back also brings sporty feature giving a water resistance of 100m.



The dial on this watch is the primary feature that it can boast. It has an on-dial aperture display showing the balance wheel of the movement. For mechanical lovers, this is one sure delight. aside from the exhibition case back showing the rotor and other movement gears, the owner has another reason to keep looking at the watch longer that one should aside from looking at the time. Not so many watches on this price level can offer this feature and thus making this watch different from the rest. This version has a white dial face with gold hour indices and chapter ring display the 5min interval time.



The hands are plated in gold with hour and min hands with luminous paint for viewing on low light conditions. The design of the hands are elegant and simple, quite right for what this watch is made for.

The watch is equipped with the 21 jewel Pulsar Y674 calibre. For the Seiko purists out there like myself, you can easily spot the resemblance to the bulletproof 7S26 movement. And by resemblance and similarity, I'd conclude the movement is reliable and tough as nails too. The rotor is cladded in grey with Pulsar markings that defines it from the other shiny steel parts and gears of the movement. From a few days of use, the accuracy shows a +15 sec/day accuracy which is a decent result from the movement's accepted tolerance. Further improvement is always a choice through regulating the movement. The case back says the movement is made in Malaysia with serial numbers for the finished assembly.



The bracelet is stainless steel with hollow and folded links with a fold-lock clasp. It has a brushed finish accented with gold tones in the middle. From a personal view, the watch would look great on a pair of 22mm brown leather straps. Neat!



Overall, the watch is decent and pretty "in" with the current watch designs of today with is big size case considering it's supposed to be a dress watch. It combined the toughness of a sports watch, elegance of a dress watch and traditional mechanical art of the open heart dial displaying "Pulse" of the heart. Good job Pulsar.

Many thanks to Ariel Adams (ablogtoread.com and hourtimeshow.com) and Pulsar for giving me a chance to review and shed my thoughts on this beautiful time piece.

Orient Diver Watch Mako XL CEM7500

Orient Watches will be celebrating their 60th year on July 13th 2010. A company having those years of experience in watchmaking is quite unknown to the normal watch user, except if you are talking to WIS like me. But I'm not gonna talk about the 60th anniversary edition watch, we are here look at new diver model OEM7500 or otherwise named as Mako XL, Big Mako, New Mako or hogrider.

This model was released about early half of 2009 or that was the time I first saw it in watch forums. This belongs to Orient's diving sports category alongside the mako and the ISO rated 300M diver. So here's my take.

The case of the watch is a combination of polished and brushed finish stainless steel. It's 44.5mm wide which is bigger that its older brother mako to which I can say was one of the reasons I got this one. That size and finish really held on to me and just stuck on my wrist from the moment that sales lady made me try for size. It's big, but it doesn't shout loud. It's not a thick watch to with respect to the ratio of how big the case is, that is why it just sits firmly to your wrist, like a baby firmly sleeping in Dad's arms. The bezel is likewise well done. That improved big numbers on the insert and the grip for 60 click diver feel. Bad though is it has no lume pip on the 60. Well this is not an ISO rated diver though, I myself am also not a diver by any certification available, so I guess it did not bother me. The 200m WR i guess won't be really for open diving or saturated diving, just for casual swimming by the pool or beach. As they said, this is a cocktail or desk diver.

Movement is from the highly dependable and efficient 46943. I believe came from the 7000 series movement from Seiko way back in 60s, its the "if it ain't broken, why fixed it" movement. And I like it that way, its like having an old dependable VW beetle in your driveway but its just been built off the shop floor. A touch of heritage and history but still new for you to make your own.  Absolutley digg it. The movement is the basic automatic winding system with no handwinding or hacking. It has the easy quick-day function through the push of the tiny button on the 2 o'clock marker.

Casebacks. I personally love casebacks. When eyeing or trying out a watch, the caseback is the next thing I'd look at after studying the dial, the hands, bezel and everything in front. I don't know why but something in the caseback makes me feel like looking on the engine of the car, especially for clear casebacks. So for this watch, it has that nice and elegent Orient Automatic Emblem that is just perfect for the brand. It shows also the model number and case numbers but unfortunately, it doesn't have serial numbers like Seiko where you can refer when the watch was produced. Its also a screw down caseback as customary for diver style watches.

The dial on this model is black, though it comes with the bright blue and orange but those colors on watches aren't just for me. Its just either black, white or grey/silver. Well the dial is quite decent and formal, it has big hour markers with that nice Orient Emblem and that 'Automatic' and 'Water Resist' font just makes it somewhat grand. The lume though is the weakest thing on this watch. I mean, my 14 year old Seiko shines brighter than this one.

The hands are quite unique. I haven't seen this kind of arrow shaped hands in any Orient watches and in any other diver watch brands for that matter. It's definitely Orients own arrow head. The second hand has that classic look with the lume pip on the near end. But yes again, lume really sucks, so if it really bothers you, have them relumed.

The bracelet if the watch is one of its high points. It's like buffed biceps to complement and buffed chest with six pack. Its 22mm all throughout. A double push button lock clasp with that nice Orient emblem. Gotta love that emblem.

Overall, its definitley a dress/cocktail/desk diver considering the lack of true ISO diver's rating. But aside from that, its a definite beauty with superb quality craftmanship and design that is uniquely Orient that you can't deny any wrist time for years and years to come.

Nautica Chronograph Watch N17541G

Okay okay so I was never a fan of designer watches...watches from designer brands that would be known for selling other items such as clothes, apparel, or cars or food or anything for that matter aside from watches. And these brands don't even produce any timepieces, just designs em on the outside and probably puts a label on the face and lets the watch experts do the building. So you can't actually expect new watch innovations from these guys, except that they partner with a big watch brand.



Nautica watches have been around but still considered quite new. I was aware of the brand Nautica when I had some shorts with its logo on it a few years back. I saw some watches on the malls for a year or so and find them interesting, as they portray a yachting sport kind of a watch. The model I will be talking about is the Nautica Men's Chronograph under model N17541G. Well here are the horological details:

Movement: As said on the caseback, its equipped with a japanese movement. Yes that is correct, we can be assured the powerhorse is something as reliable as a honda or a toyota.



Chronograph Function: It only reads minutes and seconds sans the milliseconds that we usually find on most chronograph quartz watches. The usual dial for such is occupied by a 24 hour dial seated at the right upper corner of the watch. The chrono pushers are big and very fitting for the watch size. The start/stop function has that clicking feel to alert you the start of the function. It does not have a lap time function though for continuous timing.



Dial: This is one of the design features of the watch that caught my attention. The layout is simple with the 3 rings sitting nicely on the black dial. The date window is also something original and unique as it sweeply opens up on the 4'o clock position with a crescent style opening showing other 2 days of the current date.



Hands: I especially love the hands on this one. It sports a skeleton style hands in white for the minute and hour hand. The second hand is a full white pin shaped hand that complements the whole face. The 3 rings for the chrono, second and 24 hour dials are read through a gauge meter style hands that are thick and short.

Case: It's in all stainless steel with a screw down caseback with a nice big Nautica logo. The case is a combination of polished and brushed finish that distinguished the smooth edges and accents of the whole design. Lug width though is only 20mm which is an understatement considering the 46mm diameter of the case.

Bezel: It rotates in 120 clicks with a formal black bezel insert with 5 min interval markers. The edge of the bezel though needs a little improvement as it somewhat queer to the rest of the case

Strap: This model comes with a leather strap. Quality of strap is average. The buckle though comes nicely with Nautica name on it and has that edgy design that fits nicely with the concept of the watch. Its belt-buckle style and would be perfect if it would have been in a deployment clasp style.







What got me to get this watch was aside from bargain price for the value of the watch, was it's looks. The only cons on this is the thin leather straps and the large grip holders on the bezel. Aside from that, everything looks, feels and works great. It has that classic look that you won't grow tired off after a few years down the road when big faced watches will go out of style. It can be easily be mistaken from another watch brand. You can wear it on the office, casual or parties. Its a keeper.

Off to the waves i guess.

A Pepsi Diver for the Next Generation (Seiko 7002-700A)

Just about 8 years ago, a junior in college, I was going to a beach trip with couple of buddies. And me being always having a watch in my wrist every since I learned how to interpret time, wanted a companion during two days at the beach so that I would never get that feeling of being naked when without a ticking piece on my left wrist. Observing from the past months, I saw that my dad had a watch, built for the seas, in which he seldom uses. And sort of a good kid I am, I tried to ask if I could borrow it for the weekend trip. “Oo” – Yes in English, with a grin on my face, sprinted off to their room and immediately grabbed the watch from the jewelry box. This was specifically the Seiko diver’s watch identified as 7002-700A. Nicknamed in the horology fan base as the Pepsi Diver.

After soaking the watch on the beach trip, it was like I could also see it smiling at me, happy that I took it to its purpose. Well not that deep as it states on the dial but nonetheless near enough. Soon, I was wearing it everywhere, it was my daily beater. The rubber strap took a beating just by being worn almost everyday. Had it replaced 3 times before replacing it with a jubilee SS bracelet. The bezel was already loose off its clicks. Its accuracy was notably a minute plus daily. But still nonetheless, wore it proud.


Seiko, having a century of experience in watch making under its belt, have every reason that should be worn with pride. They bear this rich culture and tradition of innovation, craftsmanship, ingenuity and durability. Coming from a rich Japanese pedigree, this model sprung to the market way back in ’96. Having a rugged built frame, classy looks with big hour/minute hands that boldly pointed out to those rectangular indices made it a sure bet. The design and functionality later on caught up and became popular to watch aficionados and I would say is part of the list of reputable icons when it comes to automatic scuba diver’s watches. At present, Seiko presents their new lines with their new slogan - Is it you? I asked myself. Then promptly I replied: I may not be a diver, sure hell not a Pepsi, but I do reflect the person I want to be with this watch. Someone who would carry the symbol of values that my Dad had and as what Seiko encased in this timepiece.

After 12 years of ticking an incredible precious time, I had it serviced. I had it regulated, replaced the gasket and realigned the screw down crown. The movement, upon watching it serviced was still strikingly clean and looked ready for another decade or more of time beating. This watch may not be a Patek, nor did my dad give it to me on the balcony of a mansion fronting a huge hectare of vineyard with wine in our glasses, but I made a pact to myself that I am going to keep and nurture this watch till the day I will hand it down to my next generation. It was not meant, it was not planned, but it overtook its own purpose and did something better. Kudos to Seiko, Kudos to my Dad.