With a name like Daniel Miniuti, you have to be in watches. Therefore it’s nice to see Mr. Minuti has created a low-cost, high-quality timepiece that might be a great entry-level/gift piece for a fledgling watch fan.
The Prestige, shown here in “panda,” is a 40mm Seiko mecha quartz chronograph that comes on a leather strap or shark hunter band. The model we received has a bold white face, lumed hands, and signed band and crown.
First, let’s discuss the elephant in the room. DM uses a Seiko VK64 movement that allows for a smooth-running seconds hand and no quartz “dead beat” ticking. If you didn’t know this was quartz you wouldn’t be able to tell without opening the back. When activated the watch has a sweep seconds hand and minutes register at 9 o’clock and it also has a 24-hour hand at 3 o’clock. This means you don’t have an hours register for the chronograph which, in theory, is fine.
The watch is also waterproof to 10ATM even without a screw-down crown, which is great. In all, I’m very impressed by the thought that went into this watch.
Now for the good news: this thing is only $273. That means you’re getting a steel watch with a nice movement for less than a Moonswatch. It’s a great deal.
I’m not going to complain much about this piece. It works well, looks great, and it’s an amazing deal for someone just getting into watch collecting. Because it doesn’t look or act like a quartz I’m doubly happy. In short, DM did a very good job on making something that is accessible, handsome, and usable.
At 40mm the watch is a bit small for my wrist but that doesn’t mean you won’t like it. This size is fairly common these days and it’s actually quite comfortable. There are a few nits to pick, especially the use of a 24-hour hand on a watch like this and the relatively useless tachymeter, but those are design issues. If you like the style of this piece, you’re going to be happy with the build quality, movement, and water resistance.
DM did a good job. I’m honestly very pleased and could see this ending up in someone’s permanent dress watch collection.
