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On The Wrist

On The Wrist: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate 

When Parmigiani Fleurier debuted its first set of Tonda PF watches just a few years ago, the watchmaker called the then-new series sartorial, with a look inspired by fine clothing design.

Wearing one of the earliest models to emerge from the collection, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate, gave me a new appreciation of that reference and a clearer idea of why the description so aptly applies.

The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate.

On the wrist the watch feels lighter than you might expect from a solid steel bracelet watch, especially one with a relatively weighty platinum bezel and a solid platinum micro-rotor. Both these flourishes of high-end watchmaking weighed more on my psyche than on my wrist.

Knowing that this rare and highly coveted element was built in to my (borrowed) timepiece conveyed a warm feeling of luxury. This is in part intended I presume, considering Parmigiani Fleurier rightfully humble brags about using platinum on and within the Tonda PF series.

Notes of the precious metal enhanced my enjoyment of the many details Parmigiani Fleurier builds into its watches. Wearing the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor for a week, I also enjoyed other built-in details, some sartorial and some technical, that added to the pleasure.

For instance, after staring at the slate-colored matte guilloché dial for some time I was delighted to realize that the date window perfectly matches the dial’s minute track. The longish hands, cut from real gold, are open-worked to nicely expose the slate dial.

The watch’s gently knurled platinum bezel reflects the ambient light and provides a distinctive yet subtle  – yes, sartorial – frame for the hands, date and dial.  

As the 40mm watch is only 7.8mm thick thanks to the space saving micro-rotor powering its automatic Caliber PF703, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate slips easily under a long sleeve. (Note that even the newer, smaller (36mm) steel Tonda PF Automatic 36, at 8.6mm thick with a traditional full-size rotor, rests slightly higher on the wrist than this earlier example.)

Wearing the watch during a warm summer, I didn’t quite try out this particular attribute, but I’m confident that the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate would slide nicely under even a tight-fitting cuff. 

Parmigiani Fleurier updated the Tonda bracelet when introducing the new Tonda PF collection two years ago. Now wider near the bezel and narrower along the length, the bracelet is silky smooth and feels slimmer than it appears. It offers an eye-catching horizontal-satin-finished surface that perfectly echoes the upper surface of the lugs.

I enjoyed wearing the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate very much and would happily recommend it to any collector in search of a comfortable steel dress watch with loads of genuine luxury detail. Price: $22,900.

Specifications: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate

Movement: Automatic Caliber PF703 with platinum micro-rotor and 48-hour power reserve, 21,600 vph.

Case: 40mm by 7.8mm steel with platinum bezel, anti-reflective sapphire crystal and sapphire back. Water resistance to 100 meters. 

Dial: Slate grey Guilloché Grain d’orge, delta-shaped custom hands, rhodium plated applique markers. 

Bracelet: Steel with horizontal satin finish.

Price: $22,900. 

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On The Wrist

On the Wrist: The Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph

By Isaac Despain 

The Luminox ‘secret sauce’ has always been making large, rugged, watches with tritium markers. This one, the 44mm Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph, is no exception. It has all the features that you would expect from Luminox, like 200 meters of water resistance, a sapphire crystal, and a Ronda quartz movement.

The Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph is priced at $795 on a black, white or colorful rubber strap and is $895 on the steel bracelet.

Despite having three additional functions on the dial, the hands are broad and easy to see against the backdrop of the busy dial. Otherwise, reading the time would be like playing “Where’s Waldo?”. 

Looking at the bezel, the forward action is great if you like a loud tactile ‘clack’ that can scare the neighbor’s cat. However, it does have a bit of back-play. The chronograph pushers are tactile and make this watch a fidgeter’s dream come true.

Quality product

This Luminox feels like a quality product on the wrist and all of the features are a pleasure to use.

What could Luminox have done better? 

The markings on the bezel are a real point of contention for me. When you set the bezel anywhere on the lower half of the watch, the “05” reads like a “50”. I also feel like the pip should have more contrast with the rest of the bezel as it takes me a second longer to find it. Perhaps adding a dash of red or white would have solved the problem. And unfortunately, the bezel on my example does not line up well with the dial.

Typically, this is no big deal if you are paying less than $400, but when you’re forking out $795-plus I would hope for better. 

How does it wear? Awesome, actually! I have small wrists and this watch sits flat and comfortably all day. A lot of that is due to the well-designed lugs that are compact and hug the case.

Due to the fact that this watch wears a lot smaller than it is, wearing it in public doesn’t make me feel like I’m compensating for my little man syndrome. Although the specs might suggest otherwise, I am happy to report that the Pacific Diver Chrono does not wear like a “wristburger”!

Light show

We have ignored the star of the show. The real magic happens when the lights go out and the tritium ampules fluoresce. I love setting this watch on my night stand and being able to see what time it is when I get up for the fifth time at night. It’s a game changer. 

So what’s the verdict? The Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph is perfect for you if you are someone who likes the functional look of a big watch, a busy dial, and tactile feature interfaces.

If you can forgive the minor issues with the bezel, this watch will reward you with a taste of that sweet Luminox ‘secret sauce’. If you are the kind of person who wouldn’t touch a 44mm watch with a ten-foot pole, try one on before you make any assumptions. As for me, I found myself slapping this watch on the wrist and showing it off a lot more than I expected to. I really like it for what it is.

On the rubber strap, the Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph is priced at $795 and is $895 on the steel bracelet.

 

Pros:

+ 44mm wears great, even on smaller wrists

+ Tactile action with the bezel and chrono pushers

+ Tritium rocks! Until it doesn’t…

+ Good assembly

+ Cut to fit rubber strap

+ Ronda quartz movement

+ 20 ATM

+ Sapphire Crystal

Cons:

– Slight bezel misalignment and play

– “05” that reads like “50” on the bezel

– Tritium pip is too small

– Bezel pip does not have enough contrast

Isaac Despain is a watch designer and Head of Design at Fine Timepiece Solutions USA.

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On The Wrist

On the Wrist: Wearing a Waldan

During these past few weeks, eyeing my wrist has been pleasurable – and relaxing. I’ve been wearing a Waldan Heritage Professional watch with an off-white dial, and this 40mm watch’s clean time-only face requests very little from my brain. I’m lulled by its familiar, soft color and plainspoken display, which immediately registers the hour, minutes and seconds…and then seems to back off.

The Waldan Heritage Professional.

 

Dress watches typically require only admiration from wearers and observers, and on that front Waldan’s classic design here clearly succeeds. And it’s not simply the open, track-free dial that delivers a clear message.

Waldan nicely frames all the Heritage Professional cases with a polished, two-level round bezel. These curves continue onto the relatively small, lightly brushed lugs that only slightly offer contrast to the watch’s polish.

That pleasing contrast, along with the blue seconds hand and the red ‘Ameriquartz’ logo, nicely accent the watch overall, but are careful to not overwhelm the eye. The luxurious Ambra Elbamatt leather strap, on the other hand, betrays Waldan’s strong sense of fashion, which is more blatant on the collection’s green-dial option.    

Ameriquartz inside

But there’s more to the Waldan Heritage Professional than meets the eye­ – literally.

While you won’t see the Ameriquartz caliber inside the watch’s closed case, you’ll know that it will power the watch’s hands flawlessly for years.

Each U.S-made Ameriquartz movement carries a manufacturer’s five-year warranty against manufacturing defects.

Fine Timepiece Solutions, the Arizona-based manufacturer of the Ameriquartz movements that power all the newest Waldan watches, guarantees that its all-metal calibers are defect-free for a full five years. (In fact, as a founding member of FTS, iW Publisher Gary Girdvainis will attest to the ultra-high manufacturing processes that result in these movements. Just ask him.)  

The fairly slim caliber means that Waldan’s entire Heritage Professional collection maintains a dress-watch-thin 8.6mm from top to back. This size means the 40mm case diameter seems a smaller on the wrist, which is preferable for a dress model. My Waldan fit effortlessly onto my small-ish wrist. It was comfortable at all times.    

Waldan is introducing its Heritage Professional series with dials in four colors, including black, white, off-white and green. While I look forward to seeing additional dial color options in future debuts, the off-white model nicely fits my wrist, as I’ve noted, while also perfectly enhancing my mood.  With its ability to satisfy both those demands, the Waldan Heritage Professional, priced at $299, is a bargain.

 

Specifications: Waldan Heritage Professional

Movement: American-made Ameriquartz Caliber 70200 quartz movement, all metal, hand made, assembled and tested individually in the United States. Fully serviceable and warrantied for five years.

Dial: Off White (OA variant) with black applied Arabic numerals, steel hands, black outer dial rim with applied SuperLuminova plots. Sunken and diamond-cut subdial above 6pm for sub-seconds register with small blue steel hand. Signed ‘Waldan, New York,’ ‘AMERIQUARTZ’ and ‘USA MOVT’.

Case: 316L stainless steel, two-piece, double stepped case with screw down back and anti-reflective-treated flat sapphire crystal. 40mm diameter x 8.6mm thickness x 20mm lug width. Mixed finish with polished case and brushed lugs. Knurled crown signed “W” with multi gasket system for 50 meter water resistance. Caseback signed.

Strap: Genuine Ambra Elbamatt brown leather, stainless steel buckle.

Price: $299

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On The Wrist

G-Shock Move Combines Fit and Function

As G-Shock’s first watch outfitted with a heart-rate monitor, the new GBDH1000 reaches out to a host of fitness buffs requiring instant cardio data during their workout routines. Runners and athletes can access the new optical sensor and team them with the watch’s GPS and other sensors to measure a full range of health-focused metrics.

The GBDH1000, which announces G-Shock’s new Move collection of sports watches, includes sensors to measure acceleration (step counter), magnetic direction (compass), pressure (altimeter/barometer) and temperature (thermometer). Optical sensors on the back of the watch (below) flash an LED light to let you know they are detecting the blood flow under the skin in order to report your heart rate on the dial.

The watch’s five sensors help the wearer stay in touch with his or her activity in real time. G-Shock’s well-known GPS technology also allows the wearer to access location information as desired, which can then be combined with the stopwatch to keep track of information such as distance, speed, pace, and much more.

Solar power plus

Like many health and heart monitoring wrist devices, the watch can be powered-up via a USB charger wire (included), but unlike most other devices this watch will extend its battery life with exposure to any light source. In fact, the basic time mode, which also includes step count measurement and notification functions, can be powered indefinitely with solar charging alone.

But G-Shock typically builds more than ‘basic’ into its fitness watches, which the new Move model demonstrates quite effectively. During the weeks iW tested the watch, we saw very few dips in power during a typical daylight wearing. Officially, with about 2.5 hours of USB charging, the training features can be used continuously for up to fourteen hours.

Easy-to-read

The watch is large on the wrist—no surprises there. The case’s 63mm by 55mm size allows for easy LCD dial viewing while on the run or otherwise active. Large, slip-resistant pushers and a dominant Run button at 9 o’clock allow for simple operation of the watch’s myriad optional functions. A curved resin back enhances the efficiency of the heart sensor positioned there.

With a smartphone link to the G-Shock Move app, the GBDH1000 allows a secondary automatic time adjustment, easy watch setting with world time in more than 300 cities, alarm setting, training plan, training function setting, training log data management, notification and the highly useful phone finder.

And finally, the new urethane strap is generally quite comfortable. But more than that, the strap’s expanded number of keeper slots means you’ll always find just the right fit.

For active G-Shock fans, this debut Move model is an impressive and healthy combination of fit and (multiple) function. Price: $399.

 

Specifications: G-Shock GBDH1000 “Move”

Case: 63mm ×55mm × 20.4mm resin and steel, weight is 101g, shock resistant, mineral glass crystal, 200-meter water resistance

Features: Smartphone link functions: automatic time adjustment, easy watch setting (world time for over 300 cities, alarm setting), training plan, training function setting, training log data management, notification, phone finder, LED backlight (Super illuminator), GPS-controlled, solar-powered, Heart rate monitor, digital compass, barometer, thermometer, altimeter, step tracker, stopwatch, multi timer, daily alarm, vibration alarm. Power saving feature (goes dark after a period of inactivity).

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