So, how many of you pay attention to those banner ads that you see on various watch blogs and forums?  Aside from WWR, that is, of course!  Well, if you have, you will likely find this company at least somewhat familiar – Molarity Watch Group.  I found the styling intriguing, so I contacted the company, they were willing to send along a sample of their Vintage model.  So, not too surprisingly, that’s what we’ll have a look at today.

Of the three variants they have of their watch, this was (not too surprisingly) my favorite of the bunch – it seems that I’m just drawn in by the vintage-y color combo of beige, black and brown.  Thankfully, there’s some nice functionality to go with the styling.

The biggest bit of functionality is the chronograph feature.  The seconds are marked out by the large second hand on the dial, and then the minutes are tracked by the sub-dial on the left.  The pushers controlling the chrono have a pleasing click, and operated smoothly.

The other subdial (on the right) offers up a 24 hour indicator, which is something I’m growing to appreciate more, if for no other reason you know where you are in the timing cycle when you’re setting the time and date.  And last, but certainly not least, you’ve got the date display (finally in black!) at the 4 o’clock position.

And that’s going to conclude the first part of our look at the MWG Vintage model.  Tomorrow, we’ll run down the rest of the specs, point out some improvements that can be made, and give my conclusion on the watch.

Ok, so when you read yesterday’s post, you thought “Well, that Seiko IS nice, but you know?  I kind of dug the style of the Obris you showed us.”  Well, then, gentle reader, I’ve got a treat for you, in the form of the Seiko SNDA65.

From what I’ve read online, the SNDA65 has the same movement inside of it that the SNDC47 contains.  So, why might you opt for this watch instead?  Of course, we have quite a shift in style.  You drop the bezel, and pick up the Flieger-style arrowhead at the twelve o’clock position.

You also get a bump in case size (to 42mm wide and 12mm thick), which also appears to have a black coating of some sort applied.  Thankfully, that beautiful hardlex crystal made the migration to this model, as did the 100 meter water resistance rating.

So, you get all of these changes – what’s that mean for the pricing?  Understandably, given the style upgrades, the price has risen.  In this case, Amazon has it on tap for $150 – almost a 50% increase over yesterday’s model.  In my book, it’s an increase that’s merited.

Not to mention, you’re coming dangerously close, in terms of style, to what the Obris Mogan model offered up.  Sure, it’s not an automatic, but if you’re going to get a quartz, why not make it a good-looking Seiko?  Not to mention on that leaves enough coin left over to afford a quality strap!

If you listened to the last HourTime podcast, you heard how at first the Obris Morgan I took a look at earlier this month got John’s hopes up, and then dashed them on the rocks when he realized the subdials weren’t chrono registers, but date-related.  Let’s see if this Seiko can resurrect his faith in the low end of the market.

The particular model in question is the SNDC47.  Sure, it’s a quartz model, but if that doesn’t bother (doesn’t bug me), it’s got a great list of specs:

• 42mm case on a 20mm bracelet (both stainless steel); 10mm thick
•  Hardlex crystal (not sapphire, but a darn sight better than most mineral crystals)
• Tachymeter function courtesy of the bezel
• 12 hour subdial
• 1/20th of a second subdial
• 60 second subdial
• Date display
• 100m water resistance

While I find some chronos to be overly busy, here, I think the simplicity of the black and white color scheme works to keep things readable.  Also?  Kudos to Seiko for going with the black background on the date display – blends in to the dial so much better than a white background would have.

Given the style (and sizing) of the watch, it could fit in in just about any environment – work, casual, or dress.  Also, with that color scheme, it lends itself nicely to strap changes (ballistic nylon or leather of your choice).    And given what this goes for on Amazon ($105), you an afford a few strap options.

The last time I brought Glycine to your attention, it was to take a look at a watch that firmly rectangular.  Today, I’d like to revisit them, but with one of their watches that has a softer feel to it – their Altus Chronograph.  As you can see, the case is a bit more rounded, but still keeps a tonneau-inspired design that fits nicely on the wrist.

The case itself is made of stainless steel, and measures in at 46.5mm tall by 38.7mm wide, ensuring a good presence on the wrist.  It also contains a domed sapphire crystal up front, and a mineral glass crystal in the case back.  This, of course, allows you to see the ETA 7750 automatic movement at work.

The 7750 movement offers up the following functionality:

• Hours / minutes / seconds
• Date display
• Chronograph 60s
• 30 minute and 12 hour counters
• 48 hour power reserve

This is a quietly elegant watch, and I think the combo I’ve shown here (blue dial on 22mm leather strap) is the most aesthetically pleasing of the three variations.  The other two being a black dial on leather, or a yellow (antique white?) dial on rubber (also on offer is a stainless steel bracelet).  Personally, I think the antique white dial on the leather strap would be the most desirable combination.  And, from how their page is worded, that might be quite possible. Of course, at approximately $2900, one would hope you could get the exact combination you desire.

Bremont certainly thinks so, as they’ve labelled it the Super Marine.  At first, you might say that this name owes a lot to it’s 500 meter water resistance rating.  However, once you dig into the history of the Bremont company (established 2002; first watch produced in 2007), you learn that they’re a British company, and that Super Marine was actually the company that manufactured the Spitfire fighter plane.

Now that we have that mini-history lesson out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the watch itself.  At first, you might be tempted to write it off as another Submariner clone, and it certainly does share some design cues.  However, closer examination reveals that this is not just another cheap knockoff.  If you purchase one of these watches, you get the following:

• BE-36AE automatic chronograph chronometer (COSC-certified) movement with 38 hour power reserve
• 43mm stainless steel case with 22mm lugs
• Sapphire crystal (AR-coated) surrounded by a lumed uni-directional bezel
• An automatic helium escape valve
• Hours/minutes/seconds, with day and date at the 3-o’clock position

The pricing is another indicator this isn’t a cheap knockoff – it’s running about $4600 at current conversion rates.  With the specs above, and Bremont’s motto (“Tested Beyond Endurance”), you can see you’re getting a watch that can stand up to just about anything you can throw at it.  It has a clean and familiar style that is classic.

The one thing that is a bit “off”, to me, is with the case design.  If you look at the right-hand side of the case, you can see that you have a slight bulge as the case goes up towards the crown.  I suppose it helps in keeping the watch from being bulkier than it needs to be, but it does make things non-symmetrical (obviously), and that distracts me some.  Then again, it may be one of those features that just fades into the background once you’ve had the piece for awhile.  If you’ve got one, let us know!

When it comes to watches, you’ve got them coming with Swiss parts, or perhaps even Swiss-made.  You want one that’s truly Swiss, through and through?  Then you should be taking a look at Victorinox, aka “The Swiss Army” folks.  It’s not the first time I’ve written about one, but they’ve brought out some new models, and this one grabbed my attention.

The model in question is the Alpnach Mechanical Chronograph, shown here with the grey dial (there’s another option that has it with a black dial, that also puts the date display in black as well).  I gravitated towards this gray model as I feel that it helps to make the subdials stand out, and make them a bit more legible.  Of course, the orange encircling them helps in that regard as well.

As this is a Victorinox, you’re getting a Swiss-made self-winding movement (chrono in this case, obviously) that’s tucked into a 44mm stainless steel case that’s been PVD coated.  Rounding out the package you have a sapphire crystal with AR coating up front, an exhibition case back, and a Nato-style strap.

This watch offers a good bit of functionality and a generously-size case, as well as the reliability and accuracy that the Swiss are renown for.  At an asking price of $2,195, however, the Nato-style strap seems to be a bit of a letdown.  Perhaps if it was offered as a second strap along with a leather or rubber, then it would seem a more complete package.  Then again, that may just be my own preferences.  I’ll leave that for you to decide!

Why, the Chase-Durer Special Forces 1000XL UDT, of course! Now, why would you want to wear this if you’re not going anywhere?  For that answeryou’d need to ask Micheal Westen – the main character of a fun show on the USA Network called “Burn Notice” (seriously, you need to check this show out).  It was only a few episodes into the series when I noticed his watch was something I hadn’t seen before, and started poking around on the web to find out what it was. Turns out, quite a few other folks had the same question on their mind.  And, as a matter of fact, this very site reviewed the watch way back in 2005 (original post).

However, since it’s been a few years since we’ve looked at the watch, I thought it was time to bring it back up – and if you’re in the market for a tough-looking diver (with some on-screen credentials), this is the watch for you.  Oh, and regarding the title of this post?  The phrase “you’re not going anywhere for awhile” is in the final sentence of the opening sequence.

Specs

• Swiss-made
• Movement: ETA 251.262 quartz chronograph movement; 27 jewels
• Case: 44mm stainless steel with PVD finish
• Crystal:  Sapphire
• WR: 1000 ft / 330 m
• Lume:  Super-LumiNova on hands & numbers

Now this is how it’s done. Hodinkee has a pic of the new Tudor Monte Carlo, a two-register chrono with a little bit of style.

Leaked today is a modern day equivalent of the Tudor Monte Carlo, and it is an absolute knockout! In this words of an esteemed (nameless) colleague and authority, “the Tudor historic lines steals the show!”. We tend to agree, when you look at the nice but completely expected and almost required refreshes of the Rolex Submariners and Explorer.

This new Monte Carlo is absolutely perfect, and it does the original a great service by imitating but not copying the looks that made it so famous. Sized at 42mm (perfect), this chronograph even has a rotating bezel and comes on a NATO strap!!

They definitely mean business with the NATO strap and at about $4,000 you’re talking prices anyone can consider.

RGM, based out off Mount Joy, PA, is launching this beautiful chrono this year.

Driven by a larger Valgranges movement, the new Model #400 is a bold statement chronograph that will feature a variety of dials to choose from.

Amazing stuff. One more shot after the jump.