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My Alpha jumping hour

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zzzzzz

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My Alpha jumping hour

Post26 Jul 2010, 08:43

A month or two ago, I bought a jumping hour watch from Alpha Watch. (Yes, it's a Chinese company selling mechanical watches for easily an order of magnitude less than you would expect a jewelry store would charge.)

I am crap with a camera, but please see the picture anyway.

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Pluses:
Beautiful! Very classy and easy to read. It is surprising how much of a difference it makes to have one hand instead of two. Also, seems reasonably accurate given that it is mechanical.

Minuses:
The band is funny: "backwards" from what you would expect, and it kind of feels funny when I wear it. Also, the claim of water resistance was at least in my case false: the crystal got foggy inside just from me washing my hands. Also, no calendar. (It feels very weird to know the time but not the date.) And if you do not have good close-up vision (not a problem for me), the hours will be hard to read.

Conclusion:
If I had it to do over, I would not buy this watch, unless the manufacturer were to change the style of band.

Also, this particular style is out of stock, although they do have some similar: see this link: http://www.alpha-watch.com/details.php?myid=541

NB: Be wary of buying from them, as some of their "jump hours" aren't (see the photos on their site). The watch I bought from them is a true jump hour, though.
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jones38

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: My Alpha jumping hour

Post08 Aug 2011, 21:59

thanks for the summary. I'm a fan of asian mechanicals, so its nice to know which brands to avoid and which to buy. Have you ever bought an orient? I enjoy my mako the most out of all my mechanical watches.
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retroleds

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Re: My Alpha jumping hour

Post09 Aug 2011, 18:35

zzzzzz wrote:Minuses:
The band is funny: "backwards" from what you would expect, and it kind of feels funny when I wear it.
Take the band off an reverse. But part of the prblem is you have a deplayment style band, which add a substantial amount of metal under the leather, against your wrist. The Alphas seem to be pretty good. I have a used one that I bought for a few dollars at a garage sale - still works perfectly, despite having been scratched up a bit.

Orient's(vintage ones at least) are very nice quality watches. Comparable to Citizens or maybe the lower end of Seikos. Rado is another overlooked better quality brand.
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.

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