Reactor was kind enough to give me a Fall Out for evaluation. This is a watch ready for harsh treatment. Reactor mills a billet of stainless steel and embeds a first rate Japanese movement under a heavy duty, domed crystal. The bracelet is attached with machined rods of steel with hex head screws. This thing is better made than a Russian tank.

The bezel is the most solid I’ve ever seen, with a raised edge that protects the crystal. The crown has protective ears that are as solid as every other piece of this watch. The crown is threaded, and the stem has no play. The back is also a solid piece of machined steel rather than a stamping. The bracelet is wide and thick with the most positive triple latch you can imagine.

Yes, I like this one a lot. I’ve spent several days bashing it into every solid object I can, but failing to scratch the crystal or nick the bezel. It’s thicker than I usually go with, 40mm diameter and 13mm thick, but the bracelet is wide enough that it is well proportioned. The knurling on the bezel, stem, and bracelet pins is an unusual style, but works well with the heavy duty, extreme environment appearance. The hands are well designed, large enough to be easily read, but shaped to prevent confusion. The dial markings, likewise are large, clear, and easily read. The luminescent markings are bright and keep their luminescence well. The day and date is a feature I like better than just date.

It’s not perfect. The markings on the bezel are a little distracting, with a single hash mark between the numbers that throws me off. This thing is the heaviest wristwatch I’ve ever worn, at 192 grams, but this is a small price to pay for durability. The bracelet is so wide, 22mm, that some sizing tools won’t fit it. Although water-resistant to 200m, to be a dive watch, you’d want the little bracelet extension, or a water-resistant strap so you can wear it over a wetsuit. And it’s a quartz movement. Get the movement from the Seiko 5 watches, and this thing would be the bomb.

The short-comings are trivial, the Fall Out is the watch for harsh environments and rough use. I wouldn’t wear it with a suit, but anyplace else, no matter how abusive that situation would be to a lesser watch.

I’ve done too many pieces on watches out of the price range of mere mortals, now for a serious timepiece that working Joe’s (and Jill’s) can afford. From one of the creators of Freestyle watches, we get Reactor watches. Jimmy Olmes split off from Freestyle a few years ago and has approached watches from a new direction. The over-riding objectives were the durability needed by action sports athletes and to develop a distinctive style. They succeded, and went on to create some very tasteful watches that wouldn’t look out of place with a suit while still being designed to bear up under the lifestyle of active people. They also made some really chunky watersports (and snow sports, rockclimbing, etc) watches that look excellent.


At one extreme, you have the Fusion midsize, 29.5mm x 40mm with a crocodile strap. Just the thing for a young business person who wants something mostly restrained, but with that ‘you should see what I do for fun’ thing going on. It’s not too fancy, but the seconds subdial at the six o’clock position gives it a bit of the retro styling. Despite the attention to styling, it is 100m water resistant, and engineered for, and by serious outdoors folks.

At the other, extreme, extreme, you have the Trident with black nitride finish. This one has no shame about being for somone who has no desire to wear a suit. 40mm diameter, 13mm thick, 200m water resistant, a screw-down crown, and with a combination of tritium and SuperLuminova illumination, this is for someone who resents working inside. The model with the black nitride finish and matching bracelet is neck and neck with the titanium version for my next watch.

Purists will be distainful; yes, it is a quartz movement. But hey, when did you see a mechanical with a global tide chart mechanism, like the Graviton model? Reactor has some tasteful, classy watches, and a bunch of watches for doing things that a rough on expensive watches, and they all have a distinctive style. I guess they met their objectives.

And thanks to Scott at Reactor Watches and David at the Overland Park Dillard’s watch counter for your time and assistance .

Van