Customer Reviews

Swiss Military Hanowa Men's 06-4149-04-007.9 Navalus Chronograph Watch

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

 

 

I have some real problems with this product, mostly from the claim it is "easily seen in the dark" and the use of "illuminated" when describing the dial face. Glow-in-the-dark hands like you will find on a $50 Fossil watch, is not "illuminated". There is no lighted dial with this watch, it is pretty hard to see in a low light environment, which I work in occasionally, so do not think you are going to see this watch any better than one 15% it's cost. You'll need a magnifying glass to read the date and day, but it does have a big face.

It is a pretty watch, the crystal seems particularly strong, and the casing is solid. I do not care for the rubber based band, which you'll have to live with if you buy this one. The chronology features are outstanding. There is a separate dial for seconds in a minute, allowing the sleek "seconds" hand to serve only as a stopwatch. With the help of another micro-dial, you can track up to 20 minutes on the stopwatch easily. It has lap and pause features that are more logical and easy to use than similar built-in stopwatches in watches.

I managed to get this for $104 in a Gold Box special at Amazon, a little bit more than I think it is really worth, but not enough to cry about it. But if you pay much more than that for it, you will be sadly disappointed.

This is the first new watch I've bought in years, replacing my tried-and-true Nixon Scout watch.

Aesthetically, it's a good-looking Swiss watch, with a big face (over 1.5" across), glow-in-the-dark hands and hour marks, and a large rubber strap. The strap is long enough to hold a very large wrist; I mean, you'd have to have a seriously large wrist to not fit this watch.

It's "water resistant" (as it says on the back) to 10 atmospheres, which Wikipedia tells me (in its Diving watch article) means about 100m/330ft. It's explicitly NOT a diver's watch, but should suit any light water activity just fine (snorkeling, kayaking, surfboarding, etc.).

It's easy to operate, easy to read, and easy to set.

I was so happy with my old watch that I think any reservations I have about this watch stem merely from the fact that it's new, but really now that I think about it, nothing about this watch seems unsatisfactory. I have a feeling it will grow on me.

I got this watch from Amazon during a gold box deal, which cut about $80 off the price - so if you can find it at that price again, I would definitely recommend it. The low price and overall attractiveness & quality of this watch are what enticed me to replace my still-functional older watch.

A nice change from my big Invicta watch. Rubber band is very comfortable, durability is questionable but only time will tell. I did set the date while the clock was between 9pm and 0:am, which the instruction booklet said not to do. Hopefully it didn't damage the watch.. The instruction was in very small print and the english instructions were hard to find at times. Still can't blame them, only myself for not being thorough. I like the 30 minute stopwatch function... since I have 30 minute lunches at work, hopefully i'll never be late clocking back in from lunch. again, very comfortable watch (but then, I can only compare to my hefty Invicta) and can wear with long sleeve dress shirts (unlike the Invicta).


UPDATE: The stopwatch function is defective. It does not reset back correctly. The long second hand resets to the :05 position and the little minute countdown on the left resets to 29 min instead of 30. Didn't bump it or drop it. Just one day it did not reset back correctly. Now I can't use it for my 30min lunches in case i'm late. What a waste. Will see what kind of warranty this carries but i bet it's going to be a hassle.

!!!!!!!!!!! Be aware of this Swiss Watch Maker--Hanowa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Poor quality, worse service, worst response!
Why I am mad with Hanowa Swiss Military Watch? Why I wished to give it a zero star or even negative star, if Amazon would offer me!

Here is my long story.

I receive this watch as a Christmas gift from my daughter who visited Switzerland in 2009 September. She bought this Swiss Military Watch from a Swiss gift store. She handpicked style and dial color that she liked. It was a nice looking watch, thin, elegant and luxury. I was so proud of the gift from my beloved daughter that I showed off to my friends at every Christmas party that I went.

Now the sad things came after Christmas. In a few days of wearing, I immediately noticed that the watch has some mechanical issues, It ran slow about 5 seconds each day (that may be acceptable but not good for a quartz watch, right?). The worse, it stopped running for no reason than started running again. I have it happened on me a few times in a month. With each incident, it might lost tens minutes or even hours. I also replaced a new battery to make sure that battery was not the cause.

I contacted Hanowa service center here in US on Jan 26, 2010 (there is only one in US as "Swisservice Inc 1774 East Herbert Ave Salt Lake City, UT 84108" ) The service person responded immediately and agreed to take my watch for a warrantee service but indicated that I have to pay shipping for round trip. I wrapped watch and packaged as instructed plus a $15 check for returning shipping.

Up on receiving it, the service center confirmed that the watch did have some issues and they were going to order a new movement (mechanics) to replace mine. After about two months time, I got my watch back in end of August. So eager to test my repaired watch, in an hope, I can now wear it all the time with confidence.

Just testing it for a few days (I compare the time with www.time.gov) I noticed the watch is losing about 20 seconds each day. The result immediately set me on fire. I sent a email to the service center on Sep 13, 2010 indicating the problem I have with their service. I asked whether missing 20 seconds a day is considered Hanowa watch standard and acceptable as a well done service? So far no response from the service center.

As nowhere to pursue this issue further, I went to Hanowa watch website and found contact information of the company General Service Manager. I sent a email to the manager listed all the mishaps that I had with this watch and hope she could do something to help me out. So far no response. I then resend the email again thinking that the first one might get lost somewhere, no response what so ever.

Now, I have nowhere to get this issue resolved.
And this so-called Swiss made high quality watch (if you go Hanowa Swiss Military Watch website www.hanowa.ch, that's what they claim) is laying in my watch draw. The Hanowa still loses time every day, and even worse, it stops and goes when it sees the need. It makes me laugh since there is another junky watch I got from Wal-Mart for $10 which has run for almost a year now and is only off of 5 seconds.

I was wondering some times, had it were not from my daughter, I would have let it go by smashing it with a hammer.
Since it still carries the message from my daughter "I love you, Dad." I would rather just keep it as a souvenir.
Also, as lifelong reminder, "not all Swiss watches are made equal" and stay away from Hanowa!

While I thought the watch was well made, the big drawback is the date indicator. The date indicator is so small that, while you can read all the watch functions, you may need a magnifying glass to read the date. I recommend that you look at the watch at normal size on the Amazon zoom feature and check to see if you have any trouble reading the date indicator before buying.

I am very pleased with this watch. It looks much better in person, and has that swiss quality through out. I give this one 5 stars.

Early indications deem this aesthetically appealing watch a keeper. However, only 4 stars at this point still too early to determine it's functionality with it's multiple features. Quality made. Wears comfortably with the formed rubberized band. I like it!