Mostly for Micro Brands, but with the occasional mass market item

Over the last few years I've become more interested in watches, mostly those produced by smaller or as they are known Micro Brands and especially mechanical variants.  As I type this I currently own half a dozen and the most expensive one I've purchased has been $299 + plus import duty and handling charges (the Zelos Bronze Sword Fish Diver) and the cheapest £149 (the Gackota K-01 Pilot style) and these will be the first two I review.  I will also include my thoughts on the company supplying the watch and any issues I've had along the way.  I don't intend these to be overly in-depth, just running to between 500-1,000 words, but as always feel free to use the Contact Me form if you wish to ask something specific and I'll respond personally by email and if interesting, add it to the review as an update.

Generally pictures of these watches and some others can be seen in my Watches Gallery Page.

You can 'click' on the pictures below to open the reviews written. 

Lets talk about watches...

Actually, I'm going to have a bit of a rant here about some of the things I don't really like about watches and how they are supplied!

Packaging:
Well, after you've acquired a couple of watches which in themselves take up little or no room, you've got a draw/cupboard full of unused cubic boxes which take up loads of 'real-estate'.  Now if you're like me, then your OCD nature means you have to keep absolutely all the packaging so you just can't part with this stuff.  Now one manufacturer did offer the option at the checkout to not having the watch box included, but as I didn't get a discount for this option, well I'm certainly going to order it with the box!  One extreme example in my opinion are Omega, with their Speedmaster Moon Watch Chronograph which is supplied with a huge trunk of a case.  The thing is if you have to return the watch for repair or service, you are asked NOT to include the original watch box most of the time as it just takes up too much space - well we know that as we've got a cupboard full of the things at home!  Now, I do like quality packaging and if you're buying a reasonably costly item, you want something nice to unpack, but lets be honest does a watch actually need a large wooden box, or would people feel shortchanged if they got their watch in a decent cardboard box, with say a leather slip case?

Fitted straps - bracelets:
Inside many of my watch boxes, I have the OEM fitted bracelet, which I no longer use on the watch it came with, unfortunately as they are usually fitted so well to the watch head, you can't use these on another watch, so for me a fitted bracelet isn't a value added selling feature, now if it came with straight end links so it could be used with another watch of a similar lug size, that would be a plus point!

Exhibition case-backs:
Question - is there something worth exhibiting?  If the watch has a Seiko NH-whatever, or Miyota 8### then probably not!  Why do many makers have a display case-back to show you it is fitted with something essentially uninteresting?  At least if there was a custom rotor, or something that was visually attractive, then yes, I'd like to see it, but in many cases I'd sooner have a plain solid case-back.

Complications:
Of course here I'm talking about those; Day, Date, Moon phase, Month & Year elements and so on.
When there is a cutout in the dial face to show these, very rarely do I feel they are well integrated and just look out of place.  Some are too small to read, so they compound the issue by adding a magnifier (cyclops).  Don't get me wrong, if I really liked the watch I'd get it irrispective, but I really do hate having to tell the watch at the end of the month that there aren't 31 days.  Of course as always, there can be elegant solutions that I really wouldn't mind, the date pointer with the days of the month around the perimeter of the dial (as in the Oris Big Crown Pointer Date) I really don't mind at all, even though I'd still end up with the month end issue.
Obviously the Day, once set can be forgotten, but they are usually large and unattractive.  As for moon phase, quite often I can look at the sky and see this for myself at night, but have to say I can't ever remember thinking to myself "I wonder what phase the moon will be in today" not ever, perhaps if I was a werewolf or concerned about potential werewolf activity.....
As for Month & Year, well I might need reminding of the date, but even though I'm getting on a bit and slightly forgetful I certainly have yet to forget the actual Month and Year!

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Had some contact questions about how I put on my NATO straps after I posted the wrist shot of the Phoibos Wave Master -"... were is a the excess strap gone from the side?"  Basically I use what I believe is know as the 'Down Under' method.  Sorry for the quality of the video, but this is the very first one I've ever done!