Finally got my belated Orvis watch birthday present. From the moment I saw it, I didn’t like it. The face of it was huge and an ugly shade of brown. The movement was an ugly Chinese Seagull movement, nothing like what was shown on the website. I still don’t know how a movement can have 20 jewels. Every other watch movement has an odd number of jewels, i.e. 17, 21, 23 are common. Why is it usually a odd number? Because jewels are used in two situations: For pivots for gears and rotating parts (paired to together) and on the lever which interfaces with the escapement, this usually uses 3 jewels, usually called pallet stones. They must forgo the 3rd pallet stone on the lever.
Here is what the movement really looks like:
Ok finishing and some fake tool marks. It did hack and hand wind, which was nice. It looked like 21,600 or 18,000 BPH and it was a little jerky. My Seikos are much more consistent moving the second hand around the dial. Needless to say, we are returning the watch. For the amount of money, it was pretty poor quality. The case finishing was poor (between the lugs was poorly finished) and the leather strap, well, sucked. Felt like plastic and was almost impossible to bend. But, there is a silver lining. For about the same money (well, a little less, actually) I am getting another Seiko!
The SKX033. One of my favorites. A “Pepsi” bezel with a coin edge. Not a true diver, but I like the smaller case and Submariner styling. The hour markers are huge and should glow like a typical Seiko. I actually tried on a SKX031 in the store (black bezel) and was very impressed. Seiko really does spoil you with quality vs. money. All in house movements, nearly a century of watchmaking, and Japanese quality control. You can’t ask for much more. So in a week or two I should be wearing my new ‘033.
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