Welcome back to our regular our Saturday feature, Watching the Web. Here, we identify reviews and watch related posts on other sites that we think are of interest, and we point you to our most popular recent articles. From the other watch sites out there, we have a Casio smartwatch, an editorial on in-house movements, and one crazy sundial. From our site, we have the Haldor Abissi again, as well as the G. Gerlach Kosmonaut and the AVI-8 Hawker Harrier Automatic.
First up from the wider world of watches, we have the new Casio WSD-F10. In case you’re not up on your model codes, just think of it as a smart watch placed into the body of a Edifice or ProTrek. The crazy thing about this particular watch? It only has a predicted battery life of about a day. Yeah, that’s right – a day. And manufacturer estimates being what they are, there’s no telling what this will end up being in real life usage. It’s an odd bird, for sure. You can check out John’s take on it over at TechCrunch, and then see what Ariel had to say about it over at aBlogtoWatch, which can then be compared to his predictions back in May 2015.
Next up, we have an editorial about why the term “manufacture” even still matters in this day and age. This is a topic that has had no end of ink spilled over it in the last year or so, and it is worth being informed about, as sometimes “in-house” represents a company truly creating everything (ala Grand Seiko and Rolex), and other times it – unfortunately – can be nothing more than a marketing term that is barely rooted in fact. Jason Pitsch tackles this over at Professional Watches, and does a good job giving you a high-level overview as to why the usage of that terminology really matters.
Last, but not least, we have another bit of time-keeping technology that, once again, comes from a technology site (in this case, Gizmodo). In the article they bring to light a 3d-printed sundial that actually displays the time (in 20-minute increments, between 10am and 4pm) in the shadows that it casts. I can honestly say I have never felt the need to own a sundial, at least until I saw this creation from Mojoptix. Well, ok, I still don’t need one – but it would be a pretty sweet gadget to have kicking around, especially while out camping during the summer.
Turning our attention back to our own pages, the Haldor Abissi took top honors in terms of popularity over the last week. While it certainly is not unheard-of to get an ETA 2824 within an indie diver (my Benarus Sea Snake has one), it is a rarity in this day, with Miyota taking up prime market share (it seems) for the indie brands. Add in a ceramic bezel (another rarity from smaller brands) and you have the making of something special. You can check out our full run-down on the watch right here.
Next up, we have an article I consider a sort of a preview piece (as we’re working on getting a review sample in) on the G. Gerlach Kosmonaut. As long-time readers of this site are aware, G. Gerlach releases watches that are tied to particular bits of Polish history. In this case, the watch is in honor of General Miroslaw Hermaszewski, who was the first (and only) Polish Kosmonaut. The watch itself ties in nicely, as it’s an update of the same sort of seven-segment LCD display that the General wore in space. Then again, this newest rendition has had quite a few modern updates made to it; you can read up all about those right here.
Finally, we have Ken’s hands-on review of the AVI-8 Hawker Hunter Automatic. We have reviewed quite a few different watches from AVI-8, and this one continues the aviation theme (in both name and design) that the brand is certainly known for. This was Ken’s first exposure to the brand, so it is interesting to see a fresh take on their offerings. You can check out what he had to say – and learn about the pre-order promotion they have going on right now – in the article right here.
Did you know that John Biggs’ latest book, Marie Antionette’s Watch, is only 99 cents on the Kindle, or you can buy a paperback from Amazon. Oh, and even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can always read via their free apps or their cloud read (check those out here
).
We are starting off 2016 with a give-away, not for a watch, but rather for a very sweet watch winder. I was able to try it out for a week or so, and now you have the chance of scoring it for yourself. Head over to the contest page and follow the instructions for the two-part entry process.
Want to help us make a better site for you? Then consider pledging your support for us over on Patreon. There are some compelling funding levels (including site redesigns and removing ads), but really, we just want to ensure we keep this lean ship running and the lights on. You can check out John’s post (and video) about it right here. This is a fun thing we get to do on the side, and we want to keep bringing you the content that you have come to rely on from us, and work to make it even better.
We also want to put the call out for wrist shots of our reader’s favorite (or at least favorite of the moment) watches. Put together an email of your wrist shot and tell us a little about the watch and why you love it. If you happened to be introduced to it through our site (or won it through a give-away), even better. Just make sure the image is a JPEG and at least 800 pixels wide.
With that, I will wrap up this edition of Watching the Web. As always, if there’s something you think we should be covering, feel free to drop us a line. If you bring something up that we end up writing about, we’ll be sure to tip our hats (electronically, if not literally) in your general direction.
