The Steinhart Marine Chronograph – Blue as the Sea

Steinhart is a brand that gets a lot of mention when one is looking for a value brand in Swiss watches.  Most of their offerings are well made and attractive, and come at price points that are reachable for the average beginning collector, or someone looking to step up from a quartz watch.  A new watch from the firm, the Marine Chronograh, fits nicely in that mold.

Priced at just a shade over $1,000 US (depending on the exchange rate at the moment, minus the VAT and including chipping), the watch is an attractive and affordable automatic chronograph.  Housing the ETA Valjoux 7750 elabore movement with an exhibition caseback to show off the gold rotor,  the watch is a nice upgrade from quartz automatics at the same price where many 3-hander Swiss watches sit.

The watch has some very nice touches to it, sch as the domed sapphire crystal, the blued hands (all but the second hand at 9:00), and the 22/18mm shark skin strap with a butterfly closure.  All that blue, along with the compass themed second hand at 9:00 evokes a maritime heritage.  Of course, I am not sure you would want to be on a ship that changes headings every second.  I also wish that the water resistance was a bit more robust, since a 5 ATM rating would  probably make me leave this on shore if I were to go sailing.  Last time I went out, a friend put me in his sailing dingy and I turned it turtle and took a swim.

Day and date are displayed at 3:00 on the clean white dial, with the chrono functions covered by a 30 minute dial at 12:00 and a 12 hour dial at 6:00, along with the central second hand.  The case is polished stainless at 44mm, sitting 16mm high.  Overall, I think it is a very attractive design that includes features I like, the blued hands, the automatic Swiss movement, and the domed crystal, to name three.   www.steinhartwatches.de

Watch Overview