So, I have obtained my beast of a watch and it is a beautiful thing.
I hummed and hawed and got hold of their customer service, who answered all my questions and were extremely helpful, even to the point of making sure I knew what I was getting into with a 50mm watch. The shipping is the same for any choice of mover, so I took a deep breath and decided on Fedex.
I ordered over their website and as an afterthought, sent an email asking for an extra link.
Got a reply instantly. Gladly do that and your watch is on its way.
It arrived today, held at the local Fedex facility. Fedex was even halfways friendly, only burning me ten bucks, as opposed to the 50 ups scalps you for.
Came in a sturdy cardboard box, padded with bubble, with the lovely faux leather, magnetic closure display box. Inside THAT, there was more bubble as well as about nine yards of blue plastic on the watch itself.
The watch:
50mm wide, close to 60 across the lugs. 15mm high. Official weight is 11 oz (312g). The polished stainless steel bracelet tapers from about 40mm at the solid lug ends and is very wearable, because Wing designed a downturn lug. The spring button flip lock clasp does not have a diver extension but does have a three hole fine adjust and operates very smoothly.
The grey dial has a fine textured circular pattern, which is very subtle and handsome. Two polished steel hands and a red second hand, matched by a red edged, unobtrusive date window at 4:10. The crown similarly has a red accent stripe and a silly but charming double oval logo done in superluminova on the face.
The bezel is a nicely rendered steel 120 click monodirectional with superluminova. It is covered in a transparent coating that is as nicely polished as the rest. The bezel knurling is nicely odd interrupted toothed knurl.
The display caseback is a little wasted on the plain Seiko workhorse but it is nicely rendered.
The Good GREAT
The price - literally cannot be beat for a t100 tritium 200m diver
The Customer service - phone or email, quick, knowledgeable and helpful
The presentation: A really nicely made strut hinged, magnetic closure faux leather in middle blue.
The packaging: padding inside padding. Really well done
The build quality and design: Slightly quirky, nice touches and feels bulletproof.
The OK
The Seiko workhorse movement has the usual slop in the setting but the rest of the movement speaks for itself, with the patented biwinding system, which hacks and handwinds.
The Subjective
There isn't any bad. You cannot beat the price on a beautifully rendered 200m tritium diver. Be aware that the specs are not kidding. It (and the 44 isn't much smaller) is a beast and makes a statement. I will never ever forget it is on my wrist but I like that, with my meathooks. Some guys like brushed finish and it is definitely polished. Everywhere.
All in all, I will be keeping an eye on their offerings and not hesitate to order from them again.
After a Week On The Wrist
After a week on the wrist, and today wearing my Glycine DC-4 (which, at 42x11mm feels like a toy), I am happy to report my impressions.
The watch is a head turning beast. For reference, I am 18.5 hands and 20 stone and the polished steel case and links draw the eye down and not just watch nerds. Many people have asked to see it and try it on and then laugh as it flops on their puny wrists.
The exhibition back over the workhorse Seiko, as mentioned before, is a bit like an ornate art frame around a picture of a middle-aged tradeswoman. Like an expert tradeswoman, it works perfectly, keeps almost perfect time, to about three seconds fast in four days. The power reserve is at least a couple of days, as I wore the glycine two days running and the Aragon is still running this morning.
The tritium is perfect, with several colours outlining the different hands and numbers. As per the findings of British Power way back, the dial size is best read at a slightly bent arm's length. Too close to your face and your eyes start in the middle of the dial and travel out before your brain registers the time. This makes it perfect for night or day drives or dives, as you only raise your hand or roll your wrist slightly from where it is without having to bring it close and take your attention off the road to read it.
All in all, I am over the moon with this one. The closest competitor would be Ball at ten times the price and no such beastly offering to be had anyway.
AFTER A WEEK ON THE WRIST
The Pros
The price: Could not be beat. At all. And they have many beautiful designs,
The customer service: Cannot be beaten, with one small detail, below.
The design: The Hercules design suits my body and preferences. They have a smaller version, another with batons instead of arabic and many other designs that are eye catching.
The lume: perfectly designed for legibility and very attractive. Besides the tritium, the entire bezel is done in blue, which lasts a good while.
The engine: This is not a pretty movement but man does it keep time.
The Cons
I put pretty much everything I own on nato. The solid fork lug design prohibits this. I have sent Aragon a request to see if they think a lug adapter (such as Oris makes) would be possible.
This is not a watch for a sombre office/funeral/job interview dress. No way is this going under a cuff. Around the suit jacket cuff maybe but not under a shirt cuff.
The mass: Even I will sometimes take it off when I am spending a long time typing. At 315 grams, it is not for the faint of wrist. The smaller brother is a full third less mass but even so, I am glad I got the big one.
Toll free: As mentioned above, the customer service is perfect, except that, if you want to talk to them, it will cost you long distance. This is small beer but bears mentioning for full review.
The Silly
There is a very nicely executed superluminova logo on the face of the crown. I just love hitting it with a flashlight and watching it glow.
The conclusion: Would I buy it again? Hell yes. Would I recommend it to someone else? Yes, with the caveats of size and mass as above. Would I recommend you go look at aragonwatch,com ?
With every chance I get.
