Stuhrling Original

Stuhrling Original Men's 165A.33112 Lifestyle 'Winchester Elite' Skeleton Automatic Watch

• Quality automatic movement; functions without a battery; powers automatically with the movement of your arm
• Reliable automatic-self-wind movement 20 jewels
• Beautifully decorated hand engraved skeleton movement and rotor with blued steel screws

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

A bold, eclectic design combines with the strength, durability and cool elegance of silver-tone stainless steel in the Men's Lifestyle "Winchester Elite" Skeleton Automatic Watch from Stuhrling Original. This distinctive timepiece impresses with its hand-engraved skeleton dial, intricate chain link bracelet and battery-free operation--the Winchester Elite is powered automatically by the wearer's arm movements, making it innovative. This timepiece also boasts a 20-jewel automatic self-wind movement and a rotor with blued steel screws. A scratch-resistant Krysterna crystal protects against wear and tear, while a fold-over clasp with double push-button safety ensures a secure, comfortable fit. Water resistant to 165 feet (50 M), the Winchester Elite arrives in a Stuhrling Original black and orange gift box along with a cleaning cloth.

The Stuhrling Original Story

With dedication to the heritage of Swiss watchmaking, Stuhrling Original timepieces appeal to the most discriminating taste at reasonable prices. The company has roots dating back to the 1800's when Switzerland emerged as the global leader in watchmaking. Stuhrling Original remains committed to its mission of preserving the high standards set in Switzerland manufacturing all of their fine timepieces in their Swiss-owned factory! Each and every model conveys an inimitable story with extraordinary style. You'll find heirloom selections for both men and women that even the most astute watch collector will cherish and admire.

In the workshops of Stuhrling Original, the unit specializing in mechanical movements, component selection, assembly, lubrication, adjustment and testing creates horological wonders entirely under vigilant attention of Swiss ownership and supervision. It is these workshops that produce the mechanical engines that are famous for meeting the highest existing criteria in there category. Starting with the main plate, the assembly process is performed in several consecutive stages up until anchoring the balance spring, which sets the watch into motion. Assembling a Stuhrling Original mechanical automatic movement comprises no less than 30 checkpoints, spread throughout the assembly process. Adjusting the angle of lift of the pallets, centering the balance-spring, poising the balance are just a few examples of these checkpoints; of which all are designed to enhance the performance of each movement. The movement must meet no less than seven criteria, including a mean variation in rate which is the highest standard in the industry in its class.

Stuhrling Original cases are distinguished by their technical complexity, their high-end aesthetic appeal and the quality of their finish. The watch cases are made from antimagnetic 316L surgical grade stainless steel, an extremely sophisticated alloy designed to stand up to intensive use. The rough parts, known as "middlecases" are blanked from a metal bar using a high-performance press. They then undergo eight successive stamping operations of a strength increasing gradually from 20 to 85 tons. Before each swaging operation, the middlecase is refired at a temperature of 1100 degrees Celsius, so as to temporarily reduce the hardness to a total stamping pressure of more than 400 tons. Finishing the cases then calls for fifteen polishing operations, all performed by hand alternating with nine baths guaranteeing immaculate cleanliness. Other components of the cases, such as rotating bezels or rider tabs also require a meticulous finish. The components of the cases are finally assembled by hand and rigorously tested.

Each Stuhrling Original dial has been designed to enable optimal read-off at a glance, while adding an element of artistic design. Stuhrling Original's dials are blanked from a brass plate and two cylindrical feet are soldered below to ensure security with the movement. Polishing operations, creating special effects through the use of vintage hydraulic German machines, and electroplating are just some of the more than forty operations required to make most StuhrlingOriginal dials. The transparent protective coating is applied in an immaculately clean environment before the various inscriptions are transfer printed using a gelatin pad which takes an impression from an inked block. On many of the dials the hour markers are either individually applied by hand or embossed into the dial and then topped with a special dye. The application of Super Luminova is performed by artisans with a nozzle pen connected to a high-pressure pipe which calls for intense concentration. Once finished, each dial undergoes careful aesthetic scrutiny under extreme magnification, as well as technical testing, to ensure it complies with all predefined dimensions and specifications.

Through meticulous labor, rigorous testing and examination of each timepiece by expert horologists, the vision of the Stuhrling Original timepiece is brought to life inside our workshops, where...

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001GPOMU2
• Item model number: 165A.33112
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,598 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great watch, just know what you are getting..., February 3, 2011

By 

Jeff Reynolds - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stuhrling Original Men's 165A.33112 Lifestyle 'Winchester Elite' Skeleton Automatic Watch (Watch)

This is a great watch for the price point and I have enjoyed wearing it. Other than some minor quibbles I'm happy with the way it looks, works, and feels. After reading a lot of the reviews I thought I would first lay out what you are and are not getting when buying, and then review a few things about this particular model.

1.Understand what you are getting: This is a great watch and worth the asking price in my opinion, but know that it is NOT Swiss made. Stuhrling did start as a Swiss watch company but their operations were moved to Asia long ago. Although the factory in Hong Kong may have Swiss oversight and use Swiss designs and vintage equipment, their watches are not made in Switzerland. Were this a truly Swiss made mechanical/automatic watch the asking price would be many times higher. Note the carefully worded history advertisement above.

2. Do not pay attention to the List Price. In the watch world MSRP and list prices can be highly inflated as selling point. This is not an $800 watch. Under $200 is about right for what you are getting. When buying watches if the savings are too good to be true...

3. This watch is a mechanical/automatic watch. It's made to be wound by hand the old fashioned way, however it will also be wound by your movements as you wear it. Even if you wear the watch regularly you will still need to wind it every so often (about 25-30 clockwise rotations of the crown). I've found that mine needs to be wound every two weeks or so with regular use. The automatic feature is there to augment hand winding but not replace it entirely. You will need to fully wind it out of the box before wearing. If you look at the picture of the watch taken from the back you will see a half moon shaped piece. This is what rotates with movement to wind the watch. It may not swing completely freely but this may be due to the torque needed for winding. (This is just a guess).

4. You will need to go to a jeweler and have the bracelet adjusted for your wrist. All the links will be in place when it arrives, so unless you have a massive arm you'll need to have links removed to fit. Although some jewelers will do this as a courtesy most will charge a fee between $10-$25. Always keep the extra links you get back.

5. Mechanical/Automatic watches are not as accurate as a quartz. As with all mechanical watches this one will loose some time. A high end genuine Swiss watch may loose 5-6 seconds a day, however this watch MAY loose up to a minute or more. This is to be expected at this price point and it doesn't bother me much. Again mine has done quite well since getting it and has lost very little time daily.

6. Stuhrling will give you an extra year on your warranty if you review the watch on Amazon for a total of 3 years. I've done that but kept it honest.

Despite my gripe about iffy advertising and list prices, I really like this watch. The bracelet and casing are solid and the the moving parts are fascinating to look at. The watch itself is not too heavy (hear this Fossil?) but you know you're wearing it. As one reviewer noted the clear gasket that the Stuhrling logo floats on could have been left out, but other than that the watch looks great. There is no date function on it as the information claims. One of the things that keeps this watch more affordable is that other than the time there are no other complications like date, moon phase etc. There are recesses on the hands to take luminescence but this has been left out. I prefer it this way as it would have taken away from the older vintage feel of it.

All in all I think this is a solid and attractive piece and worth the asking price. This is not an heirloom piece to hand down through the generations, but it's still a solid watch that should last you a long time and look great.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice looking watch, May 15, 2009

By 

D. Anderson (Albuquerque) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stuhrling Original Men's 165A.33112 Lifestyle 'Winchester Elite' Skeleton Automatic Watch (Watch)

This is a good looking and interesting watch. The band is very attractive. Unfortunately it has too many flaws for me to wear it very often:

1. It has no luminescence on the hands or face so it can not be viewed at night.
2. It has an exposed translucent gasket around both crystals giving the watch a "cheap" feel & finish.
3. The self wind mechanism doesn't move well, forcing a wind by stem or else the movement stops.
4. Movement is inaccurate. Gains about 2 minutes per day (if it stays running).

If you want this watch to view the movement, go with the leather (opening band) so that you can see through the watch. In all, this watch is a good "entry level" skeleton to be worn as jewelry. If you want a timepiece, I would recommend that you look elsewhere.

Update: 7 June 09. I have been wearing this watch on a daily basis and it is starting to function better (it seems to have needed a break in). If I wear it each morning, the self wind mechanism is now keeping the watch running. It is now only gaining 1 minute per day. These things make the watch much more acceptable. I would now give it 3.5 stars.

I am still bugged about the lack of luminescence though. It looks like a manufacturing oversight as there are recesses in the hands to accept it.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive!, May 16, 2009

By 

B. Janson "BaJ11" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stuhrling Original Men's 165A.33112 Lifestyle 'Winchester Elite' Skeleton Automatic Watch (Watch)

This was an all-around great experience! I was looking for an anniversary present for my boyfriend, and decided to get him a skeleton watch. I originally looked at a few at Wal-mart that were $100 cheaper, but had very poor reviews--they broke a lot, had to be repaired, and didn't keep time well.

When I saw this watch, it was perfect! A great price, with a great warranty, for a great quality! It was a very fast and speedy delivery, too. The watch was well packaged--the band was completely covered, as well as the face. The picture just doesn't do it justice.

Update: A few months later, a screw came loose in the watch, causing the entire inside to shake and move around way too much. My boyfriend called Stuhrling, and informed them what happened. They said to ship the watch back, including $20 dollars for shipping expenses, and it would be fixed. Very thorough, although a little disappointed we have to cover shipping expenses. Still love the watch!