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anilv

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I first came across this watch on the net a few months back (was it here?) and thought it looked cool. While browsing the 'bay I saw it and figured for USD35 + free shipping it was worth a punt. I'm not usually a fan of cheap skeletons but I fell for this one!

A month + later and I had it in my hands. The movement itself is as simple as you can get. The gold bar running across the dial side is actually the balance bridge but it also retains the hour wheel and secures the hand-setting wheel. The two screws holding it in have been 'blued'... how cool is that!

You will notice there is no set-lever or clutch of any sort. Instead you have a floating gear which sets the hands forward when the crown is moved in the counterclockwise direction. You cannot set the hands backwards (like if the watch is running fast).  It seemed pretty weird at first but ok once you get used to it. The crown is a screw-down. As you can't disengage the clockwise hand-setting, the only way to prevent the hands from moving inadvertently is to lock the crown down! The first few times I set the time the hands moved a bit. To get around this you have to start turning the crown in before applying inward pressure for the the threads to catch.

The balance shock-absorber looks like a kif .. nice touch as it looks good! but the balance cock (the aforementioned gold bar) looks pretty flimsy. The 'cotes de Beijing'  finishing on the plates is reasonable at a glance .. about par for Chinese watches! From the dial side you can also see the mainspring is uncovered. While this follows the skeleton ethos, the possibility of old oil falling into the movement is there. Chinese movements usually have no oil or too much oil... in both case you're stuck. Another detail is the escape escape wheel which has its own cock. Its location exactly opposite the crown gives a pleasant symmetry  to the whole package. Hands are basic with lume and the bezel has some faux screws.

IMG20180104084748.thumb.jpg.20b6b13776bc2f4d524d7b045cfb074b.jpg

IMG20180104090809.thumb.jpg.ceec2ace865b57c3c90a34ccf2cfc101.jpg

The back is less interesting.. the same finishing on the plates and a cut away automatic weight. The winding is by way of Seiko's 'magic lever'which is not surprising as its probably one of the simplest automatic winding systems designed. Here you can see the other side of the balance and it also appears to be a cock. So we have a balance wheel supported by two cocks. This allows the main part of the movement remain in a rectangle and from a design point it also balances the barrel which sticks out on the opposite side.

One thing I don't like is that the automatic weight sounds pretty rough when it spins. I'll probably remove the back and rotor to oil the bearing. I may even paint the rotor as it lacks definition and the skeleton effect is lost.

IMG20180104084844.thumb.jpg.c47520926daf46400a3637e314c4f119.jpg

The movement is pretty thick..

IMG20180104094538.thumb.jpg.bc1402b99fbbe17165a1da6ac1094e09.jpg

Pretty thick watch at almost 24mm. Chunky too.

IMG20180104084900.thumb.jpg.6980fd6e7462b04a9ef24e9f3871c13e.jpg

A weird brandname.. another 'n' and some may thing it was a reward for something you did! While the bracelet feels pretty cheap, I figured a cheap chinese bracelet would be better than a cheap chinese leather strap! I may try to buff out the brandname as its only laser etched.

IMG20180104084915.thumb.jpg.3b6444c2257024e44f77c11c97a1bf49.jpg

Overall my feelings on this watch are positive. I don't think it'll handle knocks and drops well but there's not much than can go wrong. The designers showed some careful thought and the overall design gels together. It gets a lot of interest and most people are surprised when I tell them how much it cost as it looks more expensive to a non-watch enthusiast.

I don't think the Swiss have anything similar.. there was a dress hand-winding watch in a similar vein some years ago but it was not repeated .. anyone remember who made it? I cant remember for the life of me.

Anilv

 

 

IMG20180104084839.jpg

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12 hours ago, anilv said:

I first came across this watch on the net a few months back (was it here?) and thought it looked cool. While browsing the 'bay I saw it and figured for USD35 + free shipping it was worth a punt. I'm not usually a fan of cheap skeletons but I fell for this one!

A month + later and I had it in my hands. The movement itself is as simple as you can get. The gold bar running across the dial side is actually the balance bridge but it also retains the hour wheel and secures the hand-setting wheel. The two screws holding it in have been 'blued'... how cool is that!

You will notice there is no set-lever or clutch of any sort. Instead you have a floating gear which sets the hands forward when the crown is moved in the counterclockwise direction. You cannot set the hands backwards (like if the watch is running fast).  It seemed pretty weird at first but ok once you get used to it. The crown is a screw-down. As you can't disengage the clockwise hand-setting, the only way to prevent the hands from moving inadvertently is to lock the crown down! The first few times I set the time the hands moved a bit. To get around this you have to start turning the crown in before applying inward pressure for the the threads to catch.

The balance shock-absorber looks like a kif .. nice touch as it looks good! but the balance cock (the aforementioned gold bar) looks pretty flimsy. The 'cotes de Beijing'  finishing on the plates is reasonable at a glance .. about par for Chinese watches! From the dial side you can also see the mainspring is uncovered. While this follows the skeleton ethos, the possibility of old oil falling into the movement is there. Chinese movements usually have no oil or too much oil... in both case you're stuck. Another detail is the escape escape wheel which has its own cock. Its location exactly opposite the crown gives a pleasant symmetry  to the whole package. Hands are basic with lume and the bezel has some faux screws.

IMG20180104084748.thumb.jpg.20b6b13776bc2f4d524d7b045cfb074b.jpg

IMG20180104090809.thumb.jpg.ceec2ace865b57c3c90a34ccf2cfc101.jpg

The back is less interesting.. the same finishing on the plates and a cut away automatic weight. The winding is by way of Seiko's 'magic lever'which is not surprising as its probably one of the simplest automatic winding systems designed. Here you can see the other side of the balance and it also appears to be a cock. So we have a balance wheel supported by two cocks. This allows the main part of the movement remain in a rectangle and from a design point it also balances the barrel which sticks out on the opposite side.

One thing I don't like is that the automatic weight sounds pretty rough when it spins. I'll probably remove the back and rotor to oil the bearing. I may even paint the rotor as it lacks definition and the skeleton effect is lost.

IMG20180104084844.thumb.jpg.c47520926daf46400a3637e314c4f119.jpg

The movement is pretty thick..

IMG20180104094538.thumb.jpg.bc1402b99fbbe17165a1da6ac1094e09.jpg

Pretty thick watch at almost 24mm. Chunky too.

IMG20180104084900.thumb.jpg.6980fd6e7462b04a9ef24e9f3871c13e.jpg

A weird brandname.. another 'n' and some may thing it was a reward for something you did! While the bracelet feels pretty cheap, I figured a cheap chinese bracelet would be better than a cheap chinese leather strap! I may try to buff out the brandname as its only laser etched.

IMG20180104084915.thumb.jpg.3b6444c2257024e44f77c11c97a1bf49.jpg

Overall my feelings on this watch are positive. I don't think it'll handle knocks and drops well but there's not much than can go wrong. The designers showed some careful thought and the overall design gels together. It gets a lot of interest and most people are surprised when I tell them how much it cost as it looks more expensive to a non-watch enthusiast.

I don't think the Swiss have anything similar.. there was a dress hand-winding watch in a similar vein some years ago but it was not repeated .. anyone remember who made it? I cant remember for the life of me.

Anilv

 

 

IMG20180104084839.jpg

looks good!  some interesting ideas there,  especially the lugs. vin

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