Customer Reviews

Oceanus Men's OCW500DA-1AV Analog Chronograph Watch

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

... but this review is about the qualities of this watch. I have owned it now for 2 years. Bought it from Kenmar via amazin' Amazon: no worries, Kenmar is a great shop and I like the Free Ship!

A little background you can skip: I collect watches. Not a serious collector but more like a serial buyer, or a watch-craver...If I see a watch I like (and can afford) I will end up buying it. I blame my dad for that because he always used to buy watches and then hand me down his old ones (which I thought was very cool). However, over the year I found that certain 'traits' really annoy me:
- Watches that don't run very precise (a minute every few months or so is acceptable but more than that somehow starts to irritate me over time)
- Many watches cannot be worn 24/7 as they either have leather bands, are not waterproof, need to be adjusted or need a battery transplant
- Many watches that are worn 24/7 start to look raggey (scratched glass, band etc.)
- Watches tend to need battery replacements, and as I found out the hard way, if not done properly waterproof watches CAN drown

About this Oceanus
Anyways, I looked and looked and finally found the Casio Atomic watches with tough solar, solar power so you never ever need a battery and atomic time so it always runs precise. Especially since the regional commuter train service Metra runs all their trains on the same Atomic time servers you can really get it down to the last 20 seconds to make it. Also, atomic time auto adjusts to daylight savings.
Much to my chagrin the Casio only lasted a year. 100$ down the drain as the chrome started to come of the casing (I wear it always) and one of the buttons came loose.
I then found referrals by watch lovers online to Oceanus. Technically this is high end Casio. Much like Toyota vs Lexus: the might of Casio's investment and R&D power to develop the technology but a entirely different audience and price point with a VERY different quality standard.

I have had this watch for 2 years+ now and it still looks great. I can imagine that this thing lasts a lifetime. Out of my 50+ watch collection this is the only one I really ever want to wear, all the others are gradually moving out to new homes on eBay.
The best features?
- Sapphire crystal glass (expensive!)
- Full metal casing
- Atomic time
- SOlar propelled
- Multi timezone setting
- Wrist-flick lighting: you can set it so that when you flick your wrist the bezel gets lit, great for pitch dark time keeping
- Illumilite hands (for a few hrs after lights out you can see them)
- Full featured with stopwatch etc
- Has power bar on bezel (left smaller dial)showing how much charge is left. In the summer it always shows HIGH, in the winter drops to MID
- Cool date and stopwatch LCD, showing atom time indicator
- Intelligent beep system so you can set display even in dark

What else is there to say? I bought my wife a very pretty womens version with a pink bezel (still Atomic time and Solar powered).

Conclusion:
If you want an everyday, everlasting watch that always runs on time, never runs out of power and comes full featured then I HIGHLY recommend this Oceanus brand. The more expensive models have multi Timezone Atomic, great if you travel as those will be accurate in any region.
They are only marginally thicker than regular watches but a great conversation piece for people that do not know the Japanese Oceanus brand.

I have owned this watch for over 6 months and love it! It is easy to use, looks great, and offers everything you could except email access. I have started to notice some scratches on metal band, but the face shows no wear or damage. I'm very active and very hard on watches. I have destroyed Ironman's and G-Shocks in less time I have owned this watch.

Although not specified here on amazon, at the manufacturer www.oceanus-us.com it did note that this watch is solar powered, so no battery replacement needed. In addition, the watch's surface is sapphire crystal, I seriously doubt that you could find another watch on here in similar price range with that feature.

Overall, I really like this watch, and I would have given it a full 5 star rating, except for the stationary bezzel, I have also owned a tag heuer, and I'm used to the rotation bezzel vs. the stationary one.

Before I begin, I need to make one note about the dimensions of the watch. This watch is a large watch; but, I knew this from my research. The size is now more apparent as it sits on my wrist. I do not have small or thin wrist and therefore the watch dimension works. It sticks up and is on the heavier side. While I mention this, I was well aware of it before I purchased the watch and therefore do not take it as a detraction. Other's, who are interested in the watch, should be take note that a small or thin wrist will contrast the size even more. That being said, the watch band was easily adjustable with simple tools. The band provides easy identification of the pin direction. The minor issue I take is that there is only one band adjustment position in the clasp. It is either one link or one adjustment point. A few more adjustment points in the clasp would be more convenient for fitting the band size.
The numeric display is one of the requisites I have in a watch. Ideally I would like to have numbers for each position; this watch has more than most. It is only missing the numbers at the quarters. The face is dark purple and the numbers contrast well making it easy to read. The luminescent paint provides ample light to read the time at 5:00 in the morning. The hands are much easier to pick up, but without any ambient light the number can be read as well. I was not expecting this, as it was noted by others that the display was hard to read after a few hours.
The LCD window provides all the information the watch uses to operate, with exception of the battery level. I wear bifocals to read, and was pleasantly surprised that I have no problem reading the LCD display, even when using the build in light. Unfortunately, there is very little in the sales brochure about the light. The light from the two LEDs is orange and is distributed around the dial making all information on the watch face easy to read in the dark, including the LCD window. With a little work even the Tachymeter dial can read with the LED's.
This watch has many features which are displayed in the LCD window. It stands to reason that it takes a little time to become familiar with them. After four days, I mastered almost all.
When I first received the watch it was dead. After sitting under a halogen desk light for one hour the watch started to receive the time signal on its own. After three hours the battery meter display indicated a "MID" range. After three days of wearing the watch in an office environment with flourescent lighting the meter did not change. On the fourth day, with slightly hazed over sun, I set the watch in a south facing window for four hours and the meter registered "HIGH". It was nice that it recovered faster than I expected from the literature.
The alarm will not shatter the ear drum or wake me out of a dead sleep, but has enough volume that I am aware of the hourly chime and the when the alarm sounds. The alarm uses a "deet" "deet" or double high tone alert. I would have preferred the Seiko 7C69 movement version which uses an alternating high low tone alert for the alarm.
While the watch displays the time in different zones, the watch "Home" time zone needs to be adjusted manually for the location in order to use the watch alarm and analog display functions. Once the time zone is displayed the watch has to be put back into auto receive in order to get the automatic time updates. Changing the home time zone is very easy and therefore I would not indicate a lower rating for the watch. Adjusting the analog time was very easy. When I first started playing with the watch settings I accidently adjusted the analog display do that is did not match the digital display. It was easily corrected.
The waterproof rating (100M or ~10 BAR) on the watch is good for swimming and snorkelling which is far better then the 5 BAR rating on many of the other chronographs I have owned.
The saphire crystal (one of the hardest crystals on watches) does have a reflection. The crystal makes the watch easy read in all but very shallow angles. I appreciate it for its scratch resistance. When compared to a watch with a Hardlex crystal, there is very little difference in viewing angle ability or reflection. I am not sure what Oceanus was trying to say about the reflective nature of the crystal in their brochure.
One final note, my rating is based on what Oceanus indicated the watch could and could not do and how satisfied I am with those functions.

I have been using this product for about a month now and I wanted to write a review about the product after using it for some time.
I like the overall look and feel of the watch though it feels a bit bulky on the hand. But it sure does have pretty neat layout across the face of the watch. It has a pleasing number dial.

I love this watch. I've had it for several weeks now and have learned to appreciate the weight of the stainless steel case and bracelet. You know you have a substantial piece on your wrist. Great styling and functionality as well. No problems with the automatic updates from Colorado. I cross time zones often and find it very easy to update the time by changing the "home" time zone to wherever I am. I have gotten several compliments on this watch and highly recommend the Oceanus brand.

It was a little hard to get the correct time set since we live in Europe and had to set it manually. Once my husband got it set though, he hasn't taken it off. It's masculine enough to wear as an everyday watch but also elegant enough to dress up for a night on the town.

I wear the watch most of the time. I like the features and knowing it does not have to have a battery! It took a couple of days before it charged from the 3/4 to full charge, but has been fully charged ever since. The down side is it has got several steps to go through for some functions, it does not have a double clasp, the links do not have screw pins for the links. I did not see the little direction arrow for removal and drove one out the wrong way. But all things concidered, it's a cool looking watch with many great features.