This blog is about watches that are affordable. While we admire all the expensive timepieces for their beauty, craftsmanship, and innovation, we leave them to others to write about. Staying focused on products that don’t cost more than a paycheck or two helps us keep it real – most people can not justify spending more. So relatively speaking, a $600 watch is expensive and a $1,500 watch is an indulgent and rare luxury.
And this blog is about useful features. Fortunately, there are almost no features (with the exception of real diamonds, solid gold, tungsten, dive computers and tourbillion) on high-end watches that can’t be found on inexpensive watches. It’s the ability of many of the manufacturers to emulate the quality of the esoteric products that gets us excited and a few companies do this very well. Momentum watches from the St. Moritz Watch Corp. are a great example of this. The value is strong and you get a feeling that you are getting more for the money than you are paying. Here are some examples, starting with their newest line..
Momentum Format 4
“The Format 4 is our modernized version of our ground-breaking, immensely popular Format 2 model. This is a wrist-instrument with combined analog and digital display with unmatched ease of use. The clean dial displays the time at a glance, in any light conditions, without the need to press any buttons. The backlit, dual digital readouts provide every essential sports-timing function (day/date– chime – alarm – chronograph – countdown timer – dual time).” according to Momentum’s web site.
What this blogger finds compelling is the combination of understated design, perfect size and extra functionality. There are a lot of features but at first glance the watch face appears uncluttered and the four control buttons are so well shaped and integrated that they are hardly noticed. The lug-less case shrouds the strap ends, further simplifying the overall look. It shows and wears like an expensive watch and the closer one looks at it, the more useful, serious and sophisticated it appears.
One thing this blog is always sensitive to (especially since readers inherently hold review blogs accountable) is each product’s warranty and service. Momentum watches come with an initial warranty of two years and there is a plan that extends the warranty when you send them the watch for a “tune-up.” Details are well spelled out on their website.
Amazon stocks several band options: black or brown perforated leather, black grooved leather, or black Italian rubber. A little shopping on your part could result in a better deal than Amazon’s by about $40.
For an in depth review of this watch, visit
www.watchreport.com
Momentum Chronologic F3
With some added sophistication and a whole different look, the Chronologic F3 offers complications that could be very useful to some people. Momentum says, “A bold, 45mm case made of space-age titanium and clean analogue and digital displays make the Chronologic stand out in any crowd. The Chronologic F3 brilliantly marries form to function to create the ultimate watch for the adventurer.
“Three time zones with synchronized analogue hands ensure you’ll always know the time whether you’re here or there. Complimented with alarm, stopwatch, tachometer, and countdown timer.
“The super-hard sapphire crystal and deluxe Italian rubber bracelet are standard. Guaranteed to a depth of 100M/330FT.”
Setting the Chronologic F3 apart from the Format 4 and accounting for the higher price are the addition of sapphire, an extra time zone and the ani-digi synch. In some ways the watch is not as attractive: buttons that more visibly protrude and conventional bracelet lugs. Some people won’t like the stubyness of the hour hand and this blogger’s not enamored by the primitiveness of the hour marking font. Despite the cosmetic shortcomings, it’s still a pretty kick-ass timepiece, worth all the (roughly) $450 it costs to own.
Momentum Aeromax
Field Watch Style
We like this watch, too. It’s particularly attractive with the right combination of materials and features – not exactly a classic field watch, it has that general sober and serious look of an officer’s timepiece.
“The Momentum Aeromax is designed especially for globe-trotters and to withstand rugged outdoor use, but it also features deluxe, modern touches to complement the style of any modern man or woman. The watch pairs unparalleled luminous technology with a super-hard sapphire crystal and a stand-out, 45-millimeter case constructed from space-age titanium. Its bold, black dial features over-size, Arabic-numeral indexes and an easy-to-read date calendar at the 3 o’clock position. The black, natural-rubber wristband adds a stylish touch as well as more comfort and durability. Savvy travelers will especially appreciate the included GMT function, which clearly shows a second time zone on the retrograde, 24-hour scale. The watch is powered by Japanese-quartz movement and is water resistant to 660 feet” according to their web site catalog.
Momentum VS-1 – Digital G-Shock Killer
Here’s a watch that takes on the Pathfinder (and G-Shock Riseman) and shows Casio a thing or two about watchmaking. Since the crystal is sapphire and the case is solid stainless steel, without a hint of resin and not a gratuitous knobby bump in sight, it has a clean, no frills grown-up appearance. Even he operations buttons on the sides are low profile but tactile and reachable. The back-lit display is hi-res dot matrix, so the numbers and letters are easy to read – that is important because there is so much information to read. The features include altimeter, barometer, digital compass, temperature, chronograph with recall, dual time zones, 12/24 hour mode, ski mode, sail mode and dual alarms. The battery may be changed by the user. This rather complete package is available for around $175. So, could someone call a paramedic, please, I see in the back there that the Casio engineers have collapsed and will need to be revived..
Other recommendations
Anyone looking at diver style watches should include Momentum in their shopping effort. Momentum produces a variety of watches in the genre and the wide range of options: colors, sizes, bands and features make them a strong contender for your wrist watch investment money. The Momentum products are carried by dive shops around the world
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay
tags Momentum, format 4, vs-1, Aeromax, g-shock killer, chronologic f3 f-3,
Wrist Watch Spot 