The Hulk

For years I have admired the Rolex 11661LV, aka The Hulk. However, I really don’t admire the +$17,000 price tag! It’s an amazing watch, and I have tried it on, but there is no way I could spring that much for a watch. What to do? Well, I went with a sterile dial homage. Maybe, someday I can have the real deal, but for now, I’ll enjoy this watch for what it is.

The dial is a fantastic green radial starburst with applied markers. The hands are classic Mercedes style, with a high polish. Like the real deal, the lume on the hands glows blue and the markers glow green. The performance is the of the lume is okay, nothing to write home about. The date wheel is white with black text and has the appropriate font. The bezel is very nice, with a ceramic insert and a lume pip at noon. It is a unidirectional, with 120 clicks. My biggest complaint, as with the real deal, is the is not a lot to grip to turn the bezel. The dial is completely sterile.

Where this homage really shines is the crystal. It is a sapphire crystal, flat, with a very good cyclops magnifier, at least 2.5x.

The case and movement: The case is well made and polished. The crows screws down easily and winds smoothly. The movement is some sort of Chinese special. It does hack and hand wind and beats at 21,600 BPH. Accuracy has been good so far +/-10 seconds a day. The date changes instantly at midnight. The case back is screw down, with no markings. I have not opened this watch up, so I am not sure exactly what is inside.

The bracelet it cam on looked nice, with screwed links, solid end links, and a diver’s extension. Unfortunately the quality was only skin deep, the deployant cracked on one side in the first few days and the diver’s extension was always slipping. I replaced the bracelet with a shark mesh, which was a total nightmare to resize, but it looks fantastic. Much like the real deal, I wish they used 22mm lugs, not 20 on a 40mm diameter case.

Overall, I am happy with the watch, I picked it up for around $50 before Covid-19 hit. The case and quality are quite good, except for the faulty bracelet. Hey, until I can afford the real deal, this will be ‘good enough’ and it not a fake.

Case: 40mm diameter, stainless steel, 50M water resistance.
Back: stainless steel, screw down.
Crystal: Sapphire, flat, with cyclops magnifier.
Movement: Automatic, Made in China
Complications: Rotating Bezel, Date
Other: Luminous Hands and markers

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Luminox Colormark 3067

This watch has a special place in my collection. This rather beefy watch was my departed mother in law’s watch. Years ago, she knew I was a watch collector, so she asked my advice on what watch to get to be able to read in a dark theater. So she took my advice and bought a Luminox. This watch was always a conversation starter, a little old lady wearing a tactical watch. Sadly, she passed last year and I inherited the watch.

The dial is dark black with Arabic numerals at the hours with a smaller 24 hour time markings as well.. The chapter ring has tritium gas tubes at the house and ticks at every minute. There is a small date window at 3 o’clock. I think they should of gone with a back background, but they went with white. The large Luminox logo is at he 12 o’clock position, with Swiss Quartz 200 METERS at 6 o’clock. The dial is surprisingly cluttered for a tool watch. The feature most people buy this watch for is the always on luminous tritium tubes. The hands, including the second hand have tubes and the pip on the bezel has one as well. They used to work better, but this watch is close to 10 years old, which is the half life of tritium. The bezel is 60 clicks, unidirectional and shockingly hard to turn.

The case is 44mm poly-carbonate and very light. The crystal is mineral crystal and quite scratched. My mother in law wore bracelets with the watch, with jewels which were much harder than the mineral glass. The case back has 4 screws that hold down the case back. The case is 200M meter water resistant. The movement is a Rhonda 515 HH6, which is a high torque entry level movement. It has poor accuracy for a quartz movement. When the battery is close to the end of life the movement looses minutes per day. For a +$300 watch it is a disappointing movement.

As it turns out, the poor time keeping was due to a low battery. I replaced the battery and the watch appears to be a better time keeper. I am still surprised a low battery will cause poor time keeping.

The overall look of the watch is that of a tool watch, thick, rugged case with a military look. The colormark is the oldest of the Luminox watches and is what put Luminox on the map. Personally, I would prefer a Marathon watch, but since this is such a sentimental piece for me, I would not dream of parting with it. Even with the scratched crystal, poor quality movement, and fading tritium tubes I would not trade it for the world.

Case: 44mm diameter, polycarbonate, 200m water resistance.
Back: polycarbonate, screwed down.
Crystal: Mineral Glass, flat.
Movement: Quartz, Rhonda
Complications: Rotating Bezel, Date
Other: Tritium Luminous Hands and markers

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Vostok Komandirskie #211428 “Battle cruiser”

This is my first Vostok watch.  I have heard they are simple, reliable watches that come in hundreds of styles.  The Komandirskie (Commander) watch is a 17 jewel, hand wound watch.  Now that I have a Vostok, I understand why they are so collectable:  They are inexpensive and stylish with a certain retro charm to them. 

This model has star at the twelve o’clock position and a cruiser along the bottom of the dial.  From the outside to the center, the color fades from light blue to white.  The printing is very clear.  There are hour markers at 1,2,5,7,9,10, and 11.  There is no chapter ring, but there are minute markers all around.  I do appreciate the lack of words on dial, just Commander and Made in Russia.  The hour and minute hands are simple batons, with lume.  They are a nice length, with the hour hand about 2/3rd the length of the minutes hand.  The second hand is blood red and extends all the way to the minutes/seconds marks.  The date window is at 3 o’clock, with clear black printing on a white dial.  There are 2 lume pips at 12 and 6, and single pip at 9 o’clock.  The lume is pretty weak, but not as useless as I have read online.  Overall, it is a clean, well laid out dial.  Easy to read, but attractive.

The case is chrome plated brass, with a stainless steel back.  The back is held in place with some sort of spring, not screw down.  The case back has a well stamped Russian coat of arms.  The case is well sized at just shy of 39mm and is fairly thin at 12mn, with the domed crystal.  The crystal is made of mineral glass and emulates the high domed acrylic crystals of the past.  The lugs are 18mm.  There is a rotating bezel, but it is not marked and there are no detents.  The crown, 3 o’clock, is screw down and is very wobbly when winding, but this is to be expected.  This was actually done on purpose to prevent excessive side loading on the stem.  It does screw down easily.  Water resistance is rated at 20m, but this may be a dynamic rating, as opposed to the static rating on most watches.  The owner’s manual says you can swim with it, which would be unheard of on a normal 20m watch.  I don’t think I will test that claim.

The movement is the in house Vostok 2414A, hand wound mechanical.  The watch has 17 jewels, so it is fully jeweled for a non-automatic, and beats at a relaxed, very Russian, 19,800 BPH, 5.5 BPS.  Not quite as smooth as the Seiko 21,600, but noticeably smoother than the 18,000 BPH of traditional watches.  The relatively low beats will allow the movement to run for 10 years without service.  Accuracy is surprisingly good on my example, +/- just a few seconds a day. The watch is rated at 36 hour power reserve, but I wind it every morning, so I have not tested this.  Winding is quick, just about 5 or 6 turns.  The movement is not hacking, no surprise here.  The pseudo hacking trick of applying backwards pressure to the crown works, but I don’t want to push it.  From what I have read, it is a very old design, but works very well.  The date function is semi-quick set. You have to rotate between 8 and midnight to advance the date.  The date does change instantly at midnight. 

The ‘leather’ band that comes with it is just terrible.  I swapped it out after 3 minutes with a calfskin with deployant.  I did my homework and bought the band 4 minutes after I bought the watch on eBay, they arrived on the same day.  On the wrist, the watch is very comfortable and thin enough to easily hide under your cuff. 

I have been wearing this watch for almost a week straight, and I still smile when I look at it.  It is the finest watch in my collection?  Far from it.  Did they create a fun, practical to wear watch?  You better believe it.   For less than $40 shipped, I have a mechanical watch, with an in house movement and a rich history behind it.  If you are looking for a practical, reliable, reasonably sized and priced watch, you will love Vostok. 

Case: 39mm diameter, chrome plated brass.
Back: Stainless Steel, wire spring retention.
Crystal:  Mineral Glass, domed.
Movement: Hand wind mechanical, Vostok 2414a, 17 jewel, 19,800 BPH, 36 hour power reserve.
Complications: Screw down crown, date.
Other: Luminous Hands and markers.

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Seiko Alpinist SARB017

The Grail.  For every watch collector, there is a ‘grail’ watch.  The one watch you have wanted for years, but could never justify the expense.  Some collectors shoot so high, they will never own that Rolex or Bell&Ross.  Me, I fell in love with the Seiko SARB017 Alpinist.  By no means a ‘luxury timepiece’, but still significantly higher priced than what most people would pay for a watch.  In this case, a little under $400.  For years I pined for this watch.  What made me pull the trigger?  Well, to be honest, I just left a job I spent 10 years at.  If I stayed on till later in the year I would of received an anniversary watch, but I know it was just a quartz watch.  Nothing I would pick for myself.  So this is a reward for finding a new position (that I really like so far) and actually having enough wherewithal to actually go through the whole process of changing jobs.  Enough of me, on to the watch.

The dial.  The dial of this watch is what really makes it.  A sunburst emerald green shifts in color with different lighting. In all my years of watch collecting, I don’t think I have ever encountered another emerald green dial.  The markers are gold plated, Arabic at the even hours, triangles at the odd hours.  Very easy to see.  The minutes chapter ring is white with 1/6 of a second tic marks, with luminous pips on each hour.  The outer chapter ring is a compass that is turned with the crown at the 4 o’clock position.  It turns easily and north is marker with a red arrow.  A gold pated Seiko is at noon, and Automatic Diashock 23 Jewels 20BAR is at the six o’clock position.  The date is displayed at the traditional 3 o’clock position and has a black background with white Arabic numbers.  The dial is not cluttered at all and has a field or military air to it.  The hands are cathedral style, very traditional and have a healthy coating of luminous material.  This watch has very good lume and appears to have a high grade of lumibrite, that glows for at least 4 hours.  It rivals my Seiko Diver’s and Omega.

The crystal, bezel, and case.  The crystal is sapphire and flat with anti-reflective coating.  As you can see in the photo above, it is almost invisible in some light.  The bezel is a high polished stainless steel and is chamfered to 45 degrees.  The crystal is about the thickest sapphire I have ever seen.  This is probably due to the 20 bar water resistance rating.  That’s right, it is a sport watch that you could swim and dive with.  The case is a classic ‘oyster’ style with down turned lugs.  The fit and finish are nothing less than amazing.  The crown is at the 3 0’clock position and is signed, deeply, with an S.  It is a screwdown and threads and unthreads easily.  The crown at 4 o’clock turns the compass bezel.  Both crowns have deep teeth and are easy to turn.  There are no hard edges and the polish is about the best I have ever seen.  All stainless steel, of course.  Even on leather, the watch feels quite substantial, and feels like a diver’s watch.  The lugs are 20mm, so a lot of options when it comes to straps and bracelets.

A word on the included band.  I have to agree with other reviewers, it is pretty awful and I just don’t understand what Seiko was thinking.  I replaced it immediately with the calf skin strap seen in the photos.  I also added a deployment as well.  You can get it on a oyster style bracelet, but I like the look of leather.

Case back and movement.  The case back is solid, as with every Japan domestic model Seiko I have encountered so far.  The center is embossed with the Alpinist logo with 3 mountains.  The watch is Made in Japan and is the first Alpinist made in July of 2014.  It has a 0001 serial number.  The case is this and heavily built and the watch wears much larger than the 38mm diameter would lead you to believe.  The movement is Seiko’s mid grade 6R15 with 50 hour power reserve.  Considering it only has one spring barrel, that is a lot of power reserve.  Right now it is running about -4 seconds a day, which is acceptable for any mechanical watch that is not chronometer rated.  The movement also hacks and hand winds.  It has 23 jewels, anti-magnetic, and has Seiko’s Diashock protection.

With the exception of the included band, the watch is nothing less than amazing.  I have worn it almost every day and quality wise, I would say it rivals my Omega.  It exceeds the Omega for water resistance and the lume is just hair better as well.  The accuracy out of the box is excellent and everything about it screams quality and attention to detail.  It is easy to get lost just staring at the green dial.  It can be worn with a suit or a t-shirt, so a great everyday wear watch.  It has a style that only borrows the oyster case, but little else.  Everything else is all Seiko style.  I really love this watch and I feel like it was money well spent.

Features:
Case: 38mm diameter, stainless steel, 20 Bar water resistance.
Back: Stainless Steel, screw down.
Crystal:  Sapphire, flat, anti-reflective coating.
Movement: Automatic,  6R15,  Seiko in house design, Japan Made.  Hacks, hand winds, 50 hour reserve.  21600 BPH.
Complications:  Date, compass bezel.
Other: Luminous Hands and markers.by

This is a very unique watch, insomuch that it was paid for by you, the readers of watches.cyberphreak.com! The small ads you see on the side and bottom of the page generated enough cash to fund the purchase of this watch, so, a big Thank You, to all you kind followers out there. Now, off to the watch.

This is a Seiko 5 Sports, a SRP273K1. This watch is my second with Seiko’s new line-up of entry level automatic movements, the 24 jewel 4R36A. While the 7S26/36 is a solid movement, it lacks hand winding and hacking, both of which the 4R35/36 provide. The 4R35 has date only, the 36 has day and date. While what is on the inside is important, it is what is on the outside that you notice.

The dial of this watch is deep black, with lime green markings. The contrast is very deep and makes the watch very easy to read. The hour markers are Arabic numerals, with the 12 and 6 O’clock markers larger for easier time telling. All hour markers have a luminous dot between the marker and the chapter ring. The chapter ring has a lot going on. There is a 24 hours scale, in addition to second markings, and finally, 1/6 of a second markings to match with the long seconds hand. The dial is quite verbose, with Seiko, the 5 shield, Sports, Automatic 24 jewels, 100M and a box around the day and date window.

The hour and minute hands are large, Skelettform, filled with luminous material. They are, thankfully, appropriately long. The hour hand extends to the hour makers, and the minute hand extends all the way to the chapter ring. The seconds hand is a simple stick with a large, circular, luminous tail. It also extends to the chapter ring. That is one thing I really like about Seiko watches, nearly all of them have correctly proportioned hands to the dial. For the day and date, the day of the week dial is black, and the day dial is white. This is a nice touch, since there is no hour maker at the 3 O’clock position.  The hands are well filled with LumiBrite and glow for several hours, even exposed to just indoor lighting.  Not as well as my Diver’s, but good enough for most people.

The case is a pleasingly modern 39.5mm in diameter, stainless steel.  It actually wears larger than 39.5mm.  The top and bezel are brushed, the sides are polished.  The crystal is Hardlex and flat.  Glare is rarely a problem with Seiko’s Hardlex, even with flat crystals.  The bezel makes the watch wear bigger than it actually is.  The crown is unsigned, but very large and easy to wind.  This is important since you can hand wind this watch.  I think my largest complaint with my Omega is that is is pretty hard to wind, especially compared to this Seiko, which cost a twentieth the price.  The lugs are 20mm and are drilled through, to make for easy band changes.

The case back is an exhibition, Hardlex and polished stainless steel.  It shows the latest entry level automatic movement from Seiko, the 4R36.  It is simply, but well finished with laser sharp markings.  It appears to have a bit more polished parts and finer finishing on the bridges, as compared to the 7S26/36.  The 24 jewel movement keeps good time with a 40+ hour power reserve when fully wound.  Hacking and hand winding are standard now.  This particular watch is running a little fast, about 20 seconds a day, but I am sure it will settle down after a few more months.  Seiko tends to set the timing a little fast from the factory since they know when the movement breaks in, it will slow down a little.  In this view, you can see the large, deeply knurled crown as well.

Finally, we have the 3 ring, Zulu, nylon band.  The rings and buckle are stainless steel and highly polished.  The buckle is signed Seiko.  The green stripe perfectly matches the green markers and hands of the watch.  The black matches the dial.  It is also the thickest nylon band I have ever seen.  Seriously, it makes makes every after market band I have seen look like a joke.  It is 20mm the whole length.

This watch is a great sports watch, true to its name.  It is easy to read in all lighting conditions, and is a nice, modern size without being overwhelming for smaller wrists.  The watch feels like a quality piece, with the small touches like the band being perfectly matched to the dial of the watch.  The movement upgrade from the previous generation of Seiko 5 Sports is very welcome, and did not significantly increase the price of the watches with this new line of movements.  It has received a lot of wrist time over the past few months and pairs well with casual clothing.  A dress watch, this is not.  See this review for it’s dressier brother.  I am very happy wearing this watch and recommend it to anyone looking for a field/military style watch.

Features:
Case: 39.5 mm diameter, 13mm thick, Stainless Steel.  100M water resistance.
Back:  Hardlex display, screw down.
Crystal: Hardlex, flat.
Movement: SEIKO 4R36, 24 jewel automatic,  hand winds and hacks.
Complications: Day, Date
Other:  On Seiko Zulu nylon heavy duty strap.

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