I haven't had the watch "bug" since six years ago when I went on a small buying spree. About a week ago it hit me again. Ah well...
I like the look of open skeleton movements (especially those with exhibition backs), and I like automatic or mechanical movements as opposed to quartz battery movements. I find them beautiful and fascinating. That being said I can't afford to spend thousands for a luxury Swiss made watch (although I do have a few low end ones). So I usually troll around the web looking at the less expensive (i.e. cheap) brands. Awhile back I came across this watch on Amazon and fell in love with it's looks, and price. I have never heard of Akribos XXIV though I did go to their website. They operate out of Brooklyn N.Y. Their site seems to be down as I could not view their posted watch collections.
Pros:
Cheap-$49.99 at Amazon.
Very good looking design.
Open skeleton face ans exhibition back.
For such a busy front the hands are fairly easy to see.
Good looking dress watch, especially with a dark suit.
Seems to keep good time. Mine has gained 40 seconds in 5 days. Pretty good for a Chinese movement.
Simple watch. No complications (i.e. date, day, date, week, etc.) only time. So less chance of it dying.
Cons:
Very poor crown design. Mine is very hard to get out as the designers have left no space between the crown and the case to slip a finger nail in and get it out. I found that gripping it with a piece of rubber band between my thumb and index finger I was able to pull it out to adjust the time. And remember; if your used to having a watch with a date complication you may forget and try to pull it out two stops to adjust the time. Since this watch only tells time it only moves out one stop.
Chinese movement: These can vary wildly in quality control even from watch to watch of the same model. You may get a decent one or you may get a dud. It's cheap so don't expect Swiss quality, and treat it with a little TLC when winding and adjusting. The Chinese automatic movements in my Stuhrling and Nicolet watches still keep almost as good time as my Swiss made KINGMATIC Movado automatic, and are better looking to boot.
Although it's automatic you may have to wind it at night before going to bed as I doubt it has much of a reserve as the higher end autos.
(You can seen the mainspring through the front of the watch in the 12:30 position. When the the bands are tightly together it's fully wound. If you have to wind it NEVER wind it to a full stop as you can easily break it. Wind it just to the point you feel a firm resistance and keep an eye on the mainspring).
All in all I'm very pleased so far with this watch so far, mainly for it's great look. Whether or not the movement will will last remains to be seen.
I'd recommend this watch to anyone looking for a cool looking dress watch at a very affordable price. Just be gentle with it!
P. Sullivan Akribos XXIV Men's AK410SS 'Saturnos' Skeleton Automatic Leather Strap Watch
I managed to scoop up this watch for a ridiculous price of $55 for a one-hour sale. THis is an automatic watch, so that means thatthe scond needle has a sweeping motion, like many high end watches. This watch got me out of two sticky situations, where I was confronted with one male and one gorgeous female, and ther was nothing to talk about as it was an awkward moment, but this watch saved the day when it appeared for a breif moment when my hand reached out to press the "door close" button on the elevator. Immidiatly it became the topic of conversation, and now three people in the elevator were looking at the internals of the watch (which ARE awesome, mind you).
Sadly, you cannot tell tim ein this watc at night as it doenst have any glow-in-the-dark paint, so youll have to twitch your wrist a little to get a shimmer of light going. Secondly, this is just a nag, but this watch has only one feature. Telling time. I know that this watch should probably cost more, as it doesnt loose or gain time like many 100$ watches, but I miss my other watches where I can get at least the DATE going. If youre good with your calendar, this should no be an issue, but then again, any mans WATCH should NOT be of only one purpose.
THis watch is gorgeous, and at one point i was staring at it for 15 minutes just watching everything move on the inside. It is self winding as well, so as you move your hand throughout the day; the watch will have juice.
Great entry level automatic+exibition watch. Love the backside too. bought this watch knowing i would cut the strap and turn it into a clasp buckle, but its fine for now. I was not buying this watch for the strap, but for the watch itself. It might look good with a metal band, or any other band you may choose to adjunt it with. IT is buietiful however, and even at 150 it would still be a good buy if its your FIRST automatic/exibition/waterproof watch.
If you want to choose Akribos XXIV watch in part because it carries a warranty, please be warned that Akribos XXIV does not honor its warranty. It's been 1 year since I made a request for warranty replacement and I still have not received a response.
I bought this watch with the hopes that it would work as well as the good reviews had described, but I got one of the "unlucky ones." I was able to get the watch to work for 55 minutes through various combinations of moving the automatic winder and rotating the hands but that was before about 20 attempts where the seconds hand stopped rotating within the minute. Further attempts revealed the same disappointing results. Everything looked beautiful, it came in an amazing case too which could easily even fit three watches if someone wanted to use it while traveling, but the overall product has to be defined as a failure because it didn't do what a watch is supposed to do...keep the time. Good luck to anyone else willing to take the risk, if you get one that actually works I'm sure it'd be one of your favorites!'
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