Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read the other reviews, and I can tell that most people buy this watch because it is stylish. While that is not a bad reason, you should have full disclosure. A) This is an automatic, mechanical (not quartz) watch. They are inherently less accurate than quartz. This is the technology we had before quartz burst on the scene in the 1970s. As a result, expect that it can be off by as much as 30 seconds per day. On this watch, you won't necessarily notice, as there are no dial markers. You will only know the time to the nearest 5 minutes anyway. Face it, you are not buying this watch for the accuracy. Plan on setting it once a week, and you might be surprised to notice that you are more confident about your watch than the quartz owner who never checks his watch! B) On the other hand, the result of this being automatic is that it will never need a battery. It winds automatically using gravity, your normal wrist movement, and a weighted rotor, which one can see through the display back. You can also hand wind it to get it started. With this watch, one can see the mainspring right through the face, so you know approximately how much of a wind is on it! Really cool. C) This is a Swatch, which means it cannot be opened. This is the big sacrifice with Swatches. If they die, they're dead. This makes them cheaper to produce without sacrificing any quality. The downside is that if worn daily, you can expect a lifetime of probably 5-10 years. Mechanical watches have their parts under tension always. Some parts more than others. Occasionally, they need to be taken apart, cleaned, and lubricated. With this watch, that is not going to happen. It was designed to have a limited lifetime. By contrast, quartz watches have hardly any pressure on their movements. The better quality quartz watches have jewels that the wheel pivots turn in. I'm not sure if Swatches do. D) Compared to a quartz watch, these mechanical watches have a lot more character. The seconds hand moves more smoothly and quietly. Swatch quartzes, especially, are VERY loud. Mine will keep me awake at night from across the room if I don't put it in a drawer. They also need a battery every year, which gets old. E) The bracelet is a mixed blessing. When brand new, it is polished to a high gloss, inside and out. Ditto with the case of the watch. It looks sharp, but it picks up scratches easily. The bracelet has many pivot points, so it forms to the wrist easily and comfortably. The links are solid metal. The clasp is very positive. The only problem is that since the links are also polished on the inside, it tends to stick to the wrist, and this is not comfortable. Some people won't notice it. F) The crystal is acrylic, rather than mineral or sapphire glass. The plus side is that it is impossible to break. The negative side is that it is very easy to scratch. If you want, you can polish it again back to look like new with a rotary tool, a buffing wheel, and some plastic polishing compound. Mineral glass is much harder to scratch, but it can be done. Once scratched, it is about impossible to polish. But it is cheaper than sapphire and harder than acrylic. Sapphire glass is nearly impossible to scratch. It takes a gemstone. But it is more expensive. FINAL RECOMMENDATION: If you are aware of the pros and cons mentioned above and still want this watch for its unique design and stunning good looks, buy it. There are no skeleton watches of this quality for this price elsewhere. If you like the idea of an automatic and are willing to give up the skeleton face, look at Seiko 5s here on amazon. The cost less, have "Hardlex" crystals, (mineral glass) are more accurate, and are fully serviceable. It is not uncommon for them to run 20 years without service, and then they only need a clean & lube. Mine runs about +12s per day. If you really just want the better accuracy, pretty much any quartz watch will beat these automatics. Spend at least $50 and you'll get superb accuracy, in the range of 1/2s per day to 2s per day. Edit 19Feb2012 - I have a rather fanatical commentator to this review who is claiming this watch has a mineral crystal. That is false. (no matter what the Amazon spec. indicates at this time) The Amazon specs. also indicate that it has a Japanese movement. That too, is false. It has a Swiss ETA 2842. For more on the subject, google 'anatomy of an $85 Swatch.'