Orient Flight ER2A001B0 PVD Review

So, I went ahead and bought it. Orients were going for crazy discounts. I just went ahead and bought the Orient Flight PVD. This makes my third PVD Orient, this one is by accident, mainly because it was the only stock available left. Or.. maybe it was my subconsciousness urging me all along *twilight zone music* and I have a real thing for PVD black watches.
Either way, I now have THREE black cased, black dialed pilot watches from Orient.

My Initial Impressions
On to my thoughts - firstly when holding up the watch in my hands, it had the quality feel to it, compared to the Orient Wingman, it feels much better built somehow.

Dial
So the dial - I can see why some people are nitpicking about the dial. While the dial follows the traditional pilot's watch format - large minute marking on the outside and small hour marking on the inside ring, this is one Orient that I feel could be better without that logo. I like the logo, but I don't think it fits here. Similarly the italics "Automatic" and "Water Resist" don't need to be on the dial. I feel that if they had the word Orient and just 100m on the dial, but the logo on the crown would've made for a much more visually uncluttered look. I don't mind the date window though.

The dial takes some getting used to: perhaps it is as designed, I am able to read down to the exact minutes (e.g. 48minutes and half), but am unable to get the hour at a glance and have to stare at it longer. Usually on a 'normal' watch, I usually read like "3:45ish" when the minute sits between 45 and 50. In the case where this is totally intended, this works VERY WELL.

Hands
The hands are white and reach the arabic markers exactly, like a pilot's watch should. (The Wingman fell short in this area). The lume isn't as bright as on the Ray Raven's, but it works well enough given that its white lume instead of the green stuff. (The Wingman also fell short in this area, in fact lume was extremely poor.)


Case
The case is PVD coated, and it seems the PVD coating is nicely applied here. Surprisingly it wears quite a bit smaller than the Wingman. The Wingman had a more traditional case style, with crown guard, so that could give it the illusion of it being larger, but the Flight actually wears very, very well on my 6.5inch wrist - much better than the Wingman did. The caseback is solid compared to the Wingman's and therefore gives it the better-quality impression, which it is. Water resistance is up to 100M.

The crown isn't signed. As I've mentioned above, I felt that the logo could be better used on the crown and left off the dial for less dial clutter.

Leather Strap
 The leather strap on the other hand.... while less squeaky than the Wingman's - for whatever reason it feels and bends (and squeaks) like compressed foam... I actually preferred the squeaky Wingman's leather strap to this one. It's a very odd texture to it. But maybe it's just me. Anyway, not a big deal, fixable with a new strap. The buckle is signed, and also brushed PVD black.


Summary
This is a nice watch. And quite I'm happy with it. Obviously I have a few things I want to nitpick about it, but for this price? No contest. And with the discount I get for it at sale price? No brainer. Orient continues to make very nice watches with their own in-house movements for such incredible prices.

I am toying with the idea to swap the Wingman's dial onto this case and make use of these hands, as I quite prefer the Wingman-style dial, but it's just an idea. I am not going to take these watches apart unless I come across parts somehow so it's just a dream for now.

(I also posted this review on WatchUSeek.com)

Another Deployant Buckle for my Orient 'Wingman' CER2D001B..

Behold, PVD deployant buckle for my Orient Wingman on its lovely tan leather strap.

Yes, another one in my possession. I know I touched about the deployant buckle I got for my Seiko but that was because I ordered this PVD one around the same time and it has just arrived. Again, not much advantage for it over the conventional buckle, but - and again - style points. :)

About the Wingman - the more I wear it the more I love it: Very visible, no-nonsense military-pilot-style dial, with nice big numerals with a no-nonsense PVD case. About its only flaw is its lume, weak. The good thing though, its large dial, hands and numbers were so big and contrast that even in low light you could make out the time.

So Casio EF-125D-7AV Bracelet Broke After 7 Years..

My Casio EF-125D-7AV's bracelet broke. Luckily, it was a spring bar that broke and fell into pieces, and doubly luckily, it was not on my wrist when it did. A simple fix. However, the 7 years of hard use has not been kind to the bracelet and spring bars.

Yes, the EF-125D-7AV is by no means a watch meant to last the eons, especially the folded metal bracelet construction, but it does worry me a bit since it has the integrated bracelet which isn't changeable when the time comes, the bracelet has gotten very loose from stretching and rattly over the years.

The watch may have stopped once in the past but that was probably due to accidental bumping of the crown. It's almost been 7 years to this day and the 10-year battery has kept ticking non-stop, with essentially zero maintenance. That is pretty darn amazing. Also, I have dropped it once to a tile floor from arm height, standing up. Dented the case a bit, but no other damages.

If you didn't know, the EF-125D was my first 'proper' watch I got for myself, back in late 2008. It is the watch that got me into watches.

Seiko 5 SNK793K1 - on crocodile strap with deployant buckle

Beautiful.

Gorgeous.

Seiko 5 SNK793K1 - on crocodile strap with deployant buckle.

  Yup, I went out and bought another Seiko 5. The SNK793K1 Blue Dial. I also got a deployant buckle for it, because why not. Well it turns out how wrong I was.

  I've discovered that a deployant buckle for a strap isn't exactly advantageous in any way AT ALL. Firstly, there's the cost of getting the thing in the first place. Then, the darn thing, when folded up, takes up at least 4-5 milimeters inside of your wrist, so an OK fitting strap becomes terribly tight fitting, or, if you use a looser slot, it ended up still too loose. Lastly, you'd still have to slot the end of the strap to the loop in the end. So you've just saved ZERO steps, while adding another (when clipping them together, gotta do one side before the other) so therefore in my honest opinon - deployant buckles are a complete waste of time and money. They do look cool though. So style points for that..

You can buy your Seiko SNK793 here.

Leather Strap & Deployant Buckle here.

Bitten by the watch bug

So here's how it happens. First you buy a watch, without knowing too much about watches.. your first watch. It's  quartz. You think, well that is gonna be my last watch, after all, humans only have two wrists, and you really only need one watch to tell the time. In fact these days it's not really a need as a smart phone could do that... but you accept it as a form of jewelry,for men. (Or woman, if you're a woman.)

Some time passed.. and then you look online at other watches.. some of them have nicer features.. then you buy one that you liked... like solar ability for example, or chronograph complications.. and you know, as an alternate watch, for other occasions. You justify it by saying, it's to save the tear and wear on your other watch..

Then even more time passed. By now of course, you're learning a great deal about watches.. watches to avoid, and watches that are highly recommended. You buy an automatic. Or two. And then a manual winder. And maybe a vintage, or two. You get the popular models and understand fully why they are highly acclaimed. You obsess over watches worn by characters in movies, shows and even documentaries. You begin to initiate watch talk to people. There are at least 5 watch-telated items on your bookmark or eBay watch list. You even try taking things apart and putting them together again.

And then, lo and behold, you are actually thinking of spending over $1000 on a watch soon. Your start looking for your "grail watch".

Congratulations, the final stage of the infection is complete....

Seiko 5 SNKK71

Stock photo

Yes, just joined to the Seiko camp by buying one, brand new. I got a SNKK71 for myself recently because I am bitten by the watch bug. The Seiko 5 series has the 7s26 movement with 21 Jewels, which is a very affordable and reliable workhorse movement. The SNKK71 has a black satin finished dial, and raised indices which are actually very beautiful and not captured by the pictures on the internet.


The caseback is hardlex and allows anyone to look into the 7S26 - which is nice, because this is the first time I owned a watch with a transparent caseback. And actually, even if they say it isn't decorated, the movement is finished in such a way that it still has some nice shiny bits to look at and admire.


I did not bother to get the bracelet adjusted, and immediately removed the bracelet and fit it with a leather strap as shown in my very poorly taken photo (sorry, this was taken at night, with room lighting:

Marvelous.

Bad picture

 Last post, I had the Orient Wingman on and looked like it has a huge overhang off my wrist. That's because I had the watch strap resting on top of the desk, and it was pushed upwards a slightly. And add the magnifying effect of my smartphone wide-angle(ish) camera, the watch looks like a huge clock on my wrist, and further made huge with the illusive wide dial of the Wingman. Add to that I was trying to get an angle without reflections. Which I assure isn't the case. The watch actually fits quite well on my 6.5++ inch wrist when all is said, the camera wide lens is the main culprit, followed by the slightly loose strap.

New Leather Strap for my Orient 'Wingman' CER2D001B

Got a new tan leather strap for my Orient 'Wingman' today.

The 'Wingman' gives a very clear and very readable dial, this version with the PVD so it remains readable in bright conditions. You could read the time from a mile away. And many times I have found people trying to read the time off my wrist as a result. Either that, or they are admiraing the Orient 'Wingman' CER2D001B.

The stealthily designed date window lines up with the white line at the 3 O'Clock, so it is not apparent at first glance but is there when you look closer, which is a nice touch.

Is there more nice touches? Yeah. Many in fact, but one stood out that I just found out : when you adjust the time, as you push the crown back after setting the time, the minute falls back to EXACTLY where it is supposed to be accordingly to the seconds hand! E.g. if the seconds hand is at the 30 position, the minute hands falls to halfway between the minute markers!

How about that for nice touches?



Specifications

*Self-winding movement
*21600/hour vibrations
*Date indicator
*Stainless steel case
*Mineral crystal glass
*Water resistant
*Diameter 41mm  (by my own measurements: 43mm)
*Lug width 22mm

Rainy Day..

Cheap Fashion Watch - Curren

Another day, another watch. Today's Quartz fashion watch : Curren

Features a gigantic 8 on the dial and a smaller hand showing date.

Not bad, if viewed from far away.