Mini-Review : Davosa Argonautic Lumis Chronograph
Was shopping for the new Tudor Fast Rider (Ceramic Bezel) as a gift, but ended up getting this for myself instead. Davosa is a brand that gets little mention on watch forums and zero advertising here in Singapore. So I thought I would share my thoughts on this watch.
I made the purchase knowing full well that Davosa mostly uses catalogue cases and stock ETA movements for most of their watches.
However the use of tritium gas tubes and super luminova together appealed to me.
Rough specs : 42.5mm diameter, around 51mm lug to lug, 17.5mm thick (my thickest watch to date), 22mm lug width, screw down crown, case back and pushers, manual HEV, ceramic bezel with engraved markings and sapphire crystal with AR coating and 300m WR.
Case: Thick, heavy and solid case. This is by far the thickest watch I own, thicker even than my tuna and Pam. Finishing is satin brushed and polished, very simplistic but the areas between the lugs hidden by the bracelet are also finished to the same standards as the rest of the case which is a +.. Screw down crown and pushers work flawlessly and smoothly with no wobble detected for the crown stem. Lugs curve down sharply which allows the watch to hug my 6.75" wrist rather comfortably.
Bracelet: The achilles heel of this watch. The design doesn't quite appeal to me and I would have preferred the bracelet from their Ternos range instead. However, the solid end links fit well- flush against the case with no gap or movement. The clasp however has too few micro adjustments due to the diver's extension and feels flimsy. I was lucky to be able to get a good fit as there are also no half links. At this price range, can't really complain as recent Tag Heur watches costing up to 3k plus have similar clasp quality.
Dial/Bezel: Dial is simple matt black with concentric circle pattern around the minute markers and sunken sub dials. 10 T-25 tritium micro gas tubes made by MB-Microtech AG provide illumination together with super luminova for the chronograph hands and 12, 3, 6, and 9 markers.
Use of red for "Argonautic" and the 12, 3, 6, and 9 markers plus second hand tip add a dash of color to a otherwise mono chromatic dial. Quality of the printing however isn't as good/sharp as more expensive time pieces. But it is a clean and well balanced dial. The ceramic insert is well done with engraved white filled markers and numbers. Don't know why they went with 60 clicks? But bezel action feels high quality with zero back play and everything lines up well.
Movement : Elabore grade 7750 ticking in there, everything works as it should flawlessly. Nothing much to be said about this work horse movement. Keeps time well so far +5 to +6s per day. One strange thing though my date jumps over to the next day at 11pm. Guess if I want I need to have this adjusted.
To summarise, I think this watch is good value for money. A solid watch with a reliable Swiss mechanical chronograph movement, decent build quality. Would rate it slightly better overall compared to Steinhart, Tissot.. Comparable to Hamilton, Mido but not as good as Oris, Longines etc.
If Davosa could invest in more unique case designs, slightly better overall finishing and more "exciting" designs, they would be even better.
Looks okay on leather strap as well.
Any recommendations for a thick solid rubber strap for it?
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