I’ve done too many pieces on watches out of the price range of mere mortals, now for a serious timepiece that working Joe’s (and Jill’s) can afford. From one of the creators of Freestyle watches, we get Reactor watches. Jimmy Olmes split off from Freestyle a few years ago and has approached watches from a new direction. The over-riding objectives were the durability needed by action sports athletes and to develop a distinctive style. They succeded, and went on to create some very tasteful watches that wouldn’t look out of place with a suit while still being designed to bear up under the lifestyle of active people. They also made some really chunky watersports (and snow sports, rockclimbing, etc) watches that look excellent.
At one extreme, you have the Fusion midsize, 29.5mm x 40mm with a crocodile strap. Just the thing for a young business person who wants something mostly restrained, but with that ‘you should see what I do for fun’ thing going on. It’s not too fancy, but the seconds subdial at the six o’clock position gives it a bit of the retro styling. Despite the attention to styling, it is 100m water resistant, and engineered for, and by serious outdoors folks.
At the other, extreme, extreme, you have the Trident with black nitride finish. This one has no shame about being for somone who has no desire to wear a suit. 40mm diameter, 13mm thick, 200m water resistant, a screw-down crown, and with a combination of tritium and SuperLuminova illumination, this is for someone who resents working inside. The model with the black nitride finish and matching bracelet is neck and neck with the titanium version for my next watch.
Purists will be distainful; yes, it is a quartz movement. But hey, when did you see a mechanical with a global tide chart mechanism, like the Graviton model? Reactor has some tasteful, classy watches, and a bunch of watches for doing things that a rough on expensive watches, and they all have a distinctive style. I guess they met their objectives.
And thanks to Scott at Reactor Watches and David at the Overland Park Dillard’s watch counter for your time and assistance .
Van
