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This was originally posted in the General Forum by member RAJP
Daniel Mink Diver Chronograph Review
While I’m definitely no expert on watches, as per boscoe’s request I’ll try and throw down a review for the WTF community. If you require some info that I happened to leave out just say something and I’ll give you my opinion on the matter. I also want to apologize in advance if any of my ramblings dont make any sense--again ask for me to clarify and I'll do my best! Not all of us have even a tenth of the talent JBH has!
Case
So the first thing that stood out to me about this watch was the thick, tool-like case of this watch—its about 1.5 cm thick. All the steel on this watch is brushed, and as a result it sort of comes off looking almost like titanium. Used to the sheen of my previous SS watches (an Oris TT`1 and an Omega SeMP), this watch provided me with a change in aesthetics I wanted without changing the weight (I like heft) one iota.
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Crown/Pushers
The pushers and crown are both screwdown. While this definitely impedes the use of the chrono-function some, I have appreciated the fact that I don’t accidentally start the chrono multiple times throughout the day (like I did with my Tag Formula 1). The screwing motions of the pushers is quite smooth and fluid, but I cannot say the same about the crown itself. Even with the scoring of the crown, it still requires a good solid grip screw it out completely. I’m not exactly sure why this is as I’ve never seen this with other watches but it hasn’t really bothered me too much as the power reserve of this watch seems to last quite well.
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Bezel
The bezel of this watch is slightly loose, it can wiggle maybe a mm at most. The movement of the bezel is very ratchety/not smooth compared to most (reminds me of the Marathon SAR I had), but has enough resistance to prevent most accidental turns. The lume pearl is really weak and could definitely use replacing.
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Applied Markers/Indices
Being a huge Omega fan, the first thing I noticed about this watch was the style of the 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11 indeces. They are very Planet Ocean-like in aesthetics but sadly have almost no useable lume. Likewise, the 12,3,6, and 9 markers are almost completely lacking in lume.
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Hands
The hands seem to have a rather unique look—no blatant rip-off as far as I can tell. They seem to fit the rest of the watch in theme quite well and thankfully they glow quite well unlike the markers. At night its like reading a Movado!
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Dial
The first thing I noticed about this dial was how deep the black was—its like looking down a 100 foot well…you get lost in it. The main dial itself is glossy, while the chrono sub-dials are matte. In small red letters you see the minutes printed outside the markers. Initially I thought this made the dial a bit busy, but in the end I find it makes the applied markers pop that much more. The visibility of the date is unperturbed by the rest of the dial as they chose to make the wheel white with black lettering. While I would normally prefer black wheel with white writing, I think that the visibility would be much to low if done on this watch.
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Stock Rubber Strap
Initially, I was worried that this watch wouldn’t work for me and that I’d still crave a stock bracelet (which doesn’t exist). I’ve since been surprised by the fact that I really do love this stock rubber strap. As you can see in the picture, the strap is cut to fit perfectly into the lugs and rolls down perfectly around the wrist. While I’ll no doubt try a leather strap on it soon, I really do like the toolish nature of the stock rubber.
Overall Impressions
Overall I’m really crazy about this watch as it presents a great value for me. Over the last 2 weeks the watch has stuck to within +/- 10 seconds a day and that really leaves me with no room to complain considering this is a budget watch. The overall fit and finish is quite good; the lume is the only giveaway that it’s a “cheap” watch (I paid about 400 for it). This watch was meant to fill the Auto Chrono void in my collection and I believe its done so much better than any watch in this price category could. Consider this guy happy (for now
)!
Daniel Mink Diver Chronograph Review
While I’m definitely no expert on watches, as per boscoe’s request I’ll try and throw down a review for the WTF community. If you require some info that I happened to leave out just say something and I’ll give you my opinion on the matter. I also want to apologize in advance if any of my ramblings dont make any sense--again ask for me to clarify and I'll do my best! Not all of us have even a tenth of the talent JBH has!
Case
So the first thing that stood out to me about this watch was the thick, tool-like case of this watch—its about 1.5 cm thick. All the steel on this watch is brushed, and as a result it sort of comes off looking almost like titanium. Used to the sheen of my previous SS watches (an Oris TT`1 and an Omega SeMP), this watch provided me with a change in aesthetics I wanted without changing the weight (I like heft) one iota.
Crown/Pushers
The pushers and crown are both screwdown. While this definitely impedes the use of the chrono-function some, I have appreciated the fact that I don’t accidentally start the chrono multiple times throughout the day (like I did with my Tag Formula 1). The screwing motions of the pushers is quite smooth and fluid, but I cannot say the same about the crown itself. Even with the scoring of the crown, it still requires a good solid grip screw it out completely. I’m not exactly sure why this is as I’ve never seen this with other watches but it hasn’t really bothered me too much as the power reserve of this watch seems to last quite well.
Bezel
The bezel of this watch is slightly loose, it can wiggle maybe a mm at most. The movement of the bezel is very ratchety/not smooth compared to most (reminds me of the Marathon SAR I had), but has enough resistance to prevent most accidental turns. The lume pearl is really weak and could definitely use replacing.
Applied Markers/Indices
Being a huge Omega fan, the first thing I noticed about this watch was the style of the 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11 indeces. They are very Planet Ocean-like in aesthetics but sadly have almost no useable lume. Likewise, the 12,3,6, and 9 markers are almost completely lacking in lume.
Hands
The hands seem to have a rather unique look—no blatant rip-off as far as I can tell. They seem to fit the rest of the watch in theme quite well and thankfully they glow quite well unlike the markers. At night its like reading a Movado!
Dial
The first thing I noticed about this dial was how deep the black was—its like looking down a 100 foot well…you get lost in it. The main dial itself is glossy, while the chrono sub-dials are matte. In small red letters you see the minutes printed outside the markers. Initially I thought this made the dial a bit busy, but in the end I find it makes the applied markers pop that much more. The visibility of the date is unperturbed by the rest of the dial as they chose to make the wheel white with black lettering. While I would normally prefer black wheel with white writing, I think that the visibility would be much to low if done on this watch.
Stock Rubber Strap
Initially, I was worried that this watch wouldn’t work for me and that I’d still crave a stock bracelet (which doesn’t exist). I’ve since been surprised by the fact that I really do love this stock rubber strap. As you can see in the picture, the strap is cut to fit perfectly into the lugs and rolls down perfectly around the wrist. While I’ll no doubt try a leather strap on it soon, I really do like the toolish nature of the stock rubber.
Overall Impressions
Overall I’m really crazy about this watch as it presents a great value for me. Over the last 2 weeks the watch has stuck to within +/- 10 seconds a day and that really leaves me with no room to complain considering this is a budget watch. The overall fit and finish is quite good; the lume is the only giveaway that it’s a “cheap” watch (I paid about 400 for it). This watch was meant to fill the Auto Chrono void in my collection and I believe its done so much better than any watch in this price category could. Consider this guy happy (for now
)!
