Parnis Flieger Pilot’s Watch

Watch Dial

Another day, another watch review. On a roll here. This time is a sterile dial Parnis Flieger or Pilot’s watch. A pilots watch is designed for easy visibility at a glance and share common features. I wanted the cleanest possible design, in this case, a sterile dial with no brand marks or even a country of manufacture.

The dial is a deep matte black with printed markings. The 12 o’clock is a trigangle with two dots. There is no separate chapter ring, but there are larger rectangles at the hours, with smaller at every minute. The hands are clean batons, with plenty of lume, the seconds hand is a simple stick. All the markings on the dial are luminous material, and it works quite well. There is no date.

Dial and Crown

The crystal is flat sapphire, there does not appear to be anti-reflective coating, but I have not had much problems with glare. The bezel is polished stainless steel, as is the top and back of the watch case. The case sides are brushed well. The overall size of the case is 42mm and wears on a small wrist. The lugs are 22mm and even the space between is polished, which I appreciate, since this watch lives on a leather strap, as do almost all flieger watches. Nice to see polished steel instead of poorly finsished steel. The crown is large and easy to grasp. The movement winds smoothly.

Movement and Case back

Speaking of the movement, I went with a Seagull ST16 movement instead of a Miyota. I usually stick it Miyota, but I wanted to try out a Seagull. There is very little seconds hand stutter. The movement hand winds and hacks and beats along at 21,600 BPH. Power reserve is quoted at 30hours, but I am seeing closer to 40 hours. The movement is visible throught the glass case back and is decently finished. The case back is screw down and is also polished. Markings are minimal, Sapphire Crystal, Water Resistance (30M), Stainless Steel.

Finally, the watch came on a thick genuine leather band. The buckle is brushed and unmarked. Simple, but works well with the overall look of the watch.

I am very happy with this watch, it was not a huge outlay and I love how easy it is to read a glance. If you want a great watch for less than $70, this one may fit your bill.

Case: 42mm diameter, stainless steel, 30M water resistance.

Back: Stainless Steel, Screw Down

Crystal: Sapphire, Flat

Movement: Automatic, Seagull ST16, 21,600 BPH, can hand wind and hack

Complications: None

Other: Luminous Hands and Markers

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Timex Weekender, Pac-Man, 7/14/2021

Pac-Man Being Chased by Pinky

Timex Pac-Man watch.

I almost never make an impulse buy with a watch and rarely buy quartz watches as well, but how could I refuse this combination of retro gaming with an analog watch?

Pac Fun

How could you say no? I am glad I snapped this up as quickly as I did, it was sold out in about 2 days! This is a Timex Weekender. All Weekenders share a very similar case and design.

The dial is just fantastic, with a Pac-Man maze clearly printed on the dial with all 4 ghost monsters, Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde. The hour markers are power pellets and the minute markers are regular dots. The hour markers use a 1980’s font, nice touch Timex. The hour and minute hands are simple sticks with luminous material. Then there is the second hand, with Pac-Man himself moving around the dial. The watch dial is Indiglo, Timex’s electroluminecent material, so when you press the crown in, it illuminates the maze and Arabic hour marks đŸ™‚ There is no date, but I don’t think any weekenders have a date feature

Typical Weekender

The rest of the watch is pretty typical Timex weekender, with one exception I will get into later. The crystal is mineral glass and flat, with no separate bezel. The case is base metal, probably brass, with a stainless steel back. The crown is small, at the 3 O’clock position, and does not screw down. This is also typical, you don’t need to use the crown much on a quartz watch. The lugs are a standard 20mm, which ever other Men’s weekender has had for 20+ years. The curve down, so even at 38mm, the round case wears pretty small. As I alluded to before, the case back is not a typical weekender. Etched in is TIMEX with Pac-Man, two blue ghost monsters, and two sets of ghost eyes, and finally the Pac-Man logo. So much went into this humble watch. The other boring stuff is on the back as well, Model M904, Stainless Back, Water Resistant to 30M and the typical CR2016 battery. It does have a serial number, which is also atypical of a Timex. The band is a very flexible genuine leather in a glossy black. At 20mm, super easy to replace when the day comes. The movement is a Timex, goodness know the number, I am sure they crank out tens of millions out of Philippines like they have for the last 35+ years.

Unhappy Ghost Monsters
Signed Buckle

As you can tell, I am very happy with this impulse buy. It is fun, practical, and affordable. I just wish I bought 2 of them, so I could keep one minty. For a watch that uses so many off the shelf components, it still feels special and I have zero regrets.

Case: 38mm diameter, base metal, 30M water resistance.
Back: Stainless Steel, snap on.
Crystal: Mineral Glass, flat.
Movement: Quartz, Timex calibre currently unknown.
Complications: None
Other: Indiglo, press in crown activated.

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