REACTOR Men's 59506 Trident Never Dark Review

NOTE: Click on the any of the photos for a larger view.

I bought my Reactor Trident 59506 (Hereafter referred to the Trident) around a month and a half ago and have worn it exclusively since, on and off duty.  I have not found many reviews for this watch on the net so I’ll try to touch on a few points here. Keep in mind when reading this review; I'm a watch user, not a collector.

I found the Trident while doing a search for a watch that uses Tritium tubes as its lume. Reactor watches had also caught my attention a while back while perusing watches on watchuseek. They have some very good looking watches and I almost purchased one several months ago but held off due to the asking price (then at around $400+).  The Trident 59506 comes with either a stainless band or a rubber band (59806). This review is for the model with the stainless band with the black nitride coating.

LOOKS / APPEARANCE

This model of the Trident has a solid black stainless steel case and band and a dial face with what Reactor calls a Khaki color (looks more dull yellow to me).  The dark case, band and watch dial look VERY good in my book. My wife’s first reaction when she saw it was, “It’s a little smaller than what you usually wear, but it looks good”.  The face while busy, looks very good in my opinion. The feel of this watch is VERY solid. Even the back of the watch has a unique look to it.

I would say even the mall ninja's and tactical computer warriors would be happy with the looks of this one.

BEZEL

The Bezel turns nice and turns smoothly counter clockwise for 120 clicks. The "clicks" as it turns are just the right tension; not too tight not too loose. The scallops, teeth or grooves, are a little small in comparison to my other dive style watches.  I use the bezel to time my runs and workout times. Simply turn the marked arrow with the dot of lume on the bezel to align with the minute hand and go...simple. The main arrow on the bezel lines up pretty good with the numbers.

 

DIAL WINDOW

The dial window is made of a mineral glass that is common on many mid to lower end watches. I’ve had mineral glass on other watches and have found it to perform very well.  I’ve accidentally banged this one a few times into objects and thus far, it shows no damage.

CASE

The case on the Trident is very tough black nitride Coated stainless steel and made to take some abuse. The screw out crown is placed at the three o’clock position. While I’ve found some dive watch crowns uncomfortable at that position, the Trident pulls it off nicely. The crown is stamped with the Reactor logo and isn’t rough enough to be uncomfortable against the back of the hand. The crown is protected by protruding stainless steel guards from the case. The Bezel sits on top of the case unprotected by any guards.  It is sufficiently small enough however that I don’t see the lack of protection being much of an issue. That small size however also isn’t as grippy as say the Seiko Monsters or a GSAR.  The teeth on the bezel are actually somewhat dull but are easy enough to grip and it turns nicely. The subdued numbers on the bezel, while they fit the “mall-ninja” bill, are difficult to see in all but the best light.

DIAL/FACE

The dial is laid out nicely with large florescent Arabic numerals and Tritium tubes placed at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions.  The arrow shaped hands are also large and the tips are coated with florescent paint. The hands are also inlaid with tritium tubes.  The day and date are the biggest complaint on this watch. The day and date are so small that I often have trouble reading them in all but the best lighting. A Cyclops would be very helpful on this watch. 

LUME

Reactor came up with a brilliant idea on their watches and calls it “NeverDark” represented on the dial face with a big ND. Many of my friends however who have seen this watch have asked, “What’s the NO mean on the face?” It really does look like a, “No”.  If you like florescent paint as your lume, you’ll like this watch. It’s as bright as the brightest that I’ve owned (Seiko's Orange Monster ). Reactor calls the florescent paint concoction, Superluminova. I don't know how much different it is than the paint used by other manufacturers  but it works well; it's BRIGHT.  If you like Tritium as your lume, you’re also in luck. Reactor placed Tritium tubes at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions as well as on the hands.  Tritium glows continuously for up to 20 years. The lume from Tritium isn’t as bright as fully charged florescent paint but is easily bright enough to read your watch all night for many years to come. I really like the idea Reactor came up with here. Well done!

BAND

The band on the Reactor Trident is very well done. I have had no pinched hairs issues, it’s solid and very flexible. The clasp has three micro adjustments on it and the fold over is branded with the reactor logo. The band on this watch is very well done, I’d rate it a 9/10.

POWER SYSTEM

This watch is powered by a “10 year lithium” battery which means it will last a long time. Ten years? I doubt it but even at eight, I’d be happy with it. 

MOVEMENT

Movement on the Trident is a no frills Japanese Quartz movement. Nothing fancy just plain-Jane accurate movement. It’s proven much more accurate than any of my auto’s. It’s at least on par with my G-Shocks. While Quartz isn’t fancy, it’s accurate and can with stand some punishment.  One other thing that I wish this watch had (and should for the price in my opinion) is a perpetual calendar. It’s another watch with the 31 day month thing that you have to unscrew the crown and change every month that doesn’t have 31 days.  Given, it’s a minor complaint but I’m a set-it and forget-it kind of watch user. 

GOT WATER?

The Trident is advertised as a dive watch and is supposedly waterproof down to 200 meters. For my purposes, that’s well within my occasional snorkeling depths. 

ON THE WRIST

Amongst the dive watches that I’ve owned, the Trident runs a bit small. The case measures 40mm wide. While this is by no means a small watch, amongst today’s mega sized divers, it’s on the small side.  I could have stood a couple of extra mm’s but that’s just personal preference.  Being solid Stainless Steel, this watch also has some heft. This heft to me speaks to its robustness. This watch feels SOLID. I like it. 

PRICE

Price averages about $350 for the model with the rubber strap to about $400 to $450 with the full stainless band. The question of whether or not it’s worth this amount is difficult to answer. If you base price upon the sum of its parts, then I would say you could find several similar Quartz watches with similar parts for much cheaper. If you base your criteria on the sum of it’s parts, construction, looks and “cool factor”, I’d say I’d pay in the upper $200 range for one of these. At $350 to $400, I’d say it’s a bit of a stretch. Still, this does not detract from the quality of the watch; it’s a good one. 

CONCLUSION

The Reactor Trident seems to be a very solid watch. It’s one of the first things that hit me when I removed it from the case. It has proven to be a very accurate watch. The NeverDark idea by Reactor works very well in my book. I’ve actually used this in the field in total darkness in what some would call Tactical situations and I’m very satisfied. I’ve run through firearms qualifications with this watch on my wrist shooting over 200 rounds of 180 grain .40 through a H&K P2000, about 100 rounds of 12 Ga. Slug and 00 buck and the entire full auto M16 qual course. The reactor never missed a beat. My dings on this watch are the very small day/date, no bezel guard, the 31 day calendar and the nitride seems to be wearing pretty fast on the stainless case and band. The price seems a bit high for me as well for the parts you get. All this being said, I like the watch and will be keeping it.

Orient CEM65002DW AKA "Blue Mako" Review

NOTE: Click on any of the photos to see an enlarged view. 

I purchased a  Orient CEM65002DW AKA the "Blue Mako " about three years ago.This review is a little different in that about three weeks after I purchased this watch, my dad came over to visit and made several comments on how much he liked the watch. Being that I had several watches and Orient was selling these for such a good price at the time, I gave it to my dad with the caveat that he would report back his likes and dislikes. Still I had the watch for about three weeks and put it through it's paces a bit to see what I liked and disliked. The rest of the review will be somewhat shallow and second hand info from my dad. He's 70 years old and is used to his Rolex. Which one does he wear more? read on to find out ;)

LOOKS/APPEARANCE

As far as dive watches go the Blue Mako is a bit "dressier" than some of the other divers I've owned such as the Seiko Orange Monster, Reactor Trident, and GSAR. I think this watch just looks a bit classier but less robust. The blue on this watch is outstanding and should be seen in person to be appreciated. The case diameter is a healthy 41mm so it's not a small watch nor does it scream, "look at me". 

BEZEL

The bezel on this watch is not as aggressive looking as the bezels on many other dive watches. To me it looks cheaper but it could also be described as more of a dress watch. The bezel is unidirectional and only 60 clicks instead of 120 like on many other divers. I have to ding the Mako in this area because for me, the bezel a.) was somewhat difficult to turn and b.) didn't line up exactly at 12, 3, 6 and 9. I found myself having to use my fingernails to turn the bezel most of the time. I think Orient could remedy this my making the teeth larger or bezel taller. It just didn't feel as good quality as it should have been.

DIAL WINDOW

The dial window on the Blue Mako is made of mineral glass, a standard (but good) material in lower to mid priced watches. My dad has worn this watch daily for almost three years. Even at 70+, he works hard and is a little rough on watches. Even with the treatment he put this watch through, it still looks good.

CASE

The Case on the Blue Mako is very tough polished stainless steel and made to take some abuse. The crown is placed at the standard three O'clock position and is protected by steel on either side protruding from the main case. The bezel sits unprotected by any portion of the case unlike that of the Seiko Orange Monster which is protected by case guards at the top and bottom of the bezel.

CROWN / PUSHER

The crown as stated above is positioned at the 3 o'clock position and is protected by the case on either side by protruding guards. The crown itself is stamped with the Orient logo and looks nice. Unscrewing the crown and pulling out one click will allow you to change the date. A second pull/click outward will allow you to change the time. The pusher (above the crown) at the 2 o'clock position is also a screw out type. Screwing it out and depressing it will allow you to change the day and does so smoothly. I liked this aspect of the watch. 

LUME

The lume on the Blue Mako is a standard florescent paint like that used by many other manufacturers. While the lume is bright enough to be usable after a day long charge (or a high intensity charge with a flashlight), I found that it's brightness was average at best and did not last as long as some other lumes that I've used. 

MOVEMENT & POWER SYSYTEM

The one thing that sets Orient apart from many watch brands is that their movement is "in-house"; that is, they make their own. While I did not have adequate time to judge the Orient Caliber 46943's accuracy, reports from my dad are actually somewhat glowing. He swears by this watch's accuracy and durability. Like I said previously, he has worn a Rolex for the past 10 years and switches between that and an Omega. According to him, the Mako holds its own..Impressive. 

The Blue Mako is powered (like many divers) by the movement of your arm. My dad says it holds a charge for about 2 to 3 days when fully wound; about average for an auto diver. 

BRACELET

The bracelet on the Blue Mako felt a bit cheap to be quite honest. While the watch itself, felt solid and well made, the stainless bracelet felt sub-par.  The clasp did have the orient logo stamped on it and it looked nice but it just felt flimsy. Conversely, when I asked my dad what he thought, he just smiled and said, "you're too picky, it's fine."

PRICE

The price on the Blue Mako was VERY good for a watch with in-house movement and of this quality. I picked up mine for $132; VERY reasonable for a watch that looked this good and was this accurate. For anything under $150, I think you're getting a good deal. Anything over, I'd look towards Seiko, Citizen or even Invicta. 

CONCLUSION

I think that the Blue Mako is amongst the most popular watches from the Orient watch Company; at least it's one of the most discussed on the various watch forums. In the looks department, it's a very classy looking diver and the blue color just stands out (you really have to see it in person to appreciate it). It doesn't look as robust as some of the other divers but I guess it depends on what style you're looking for. Accuracy according to my dad has been very good but in reading others reviews is about average for a low end auto movement, probably on par with Seiko's 7S26. My major dings for this watch are the bezel, the bracelet and the lume. While they are not terrible by any stretch, I think Orient could really improve them. For the price you can pick one of these up for however, I think it's a fine watch and would recommend it to my friends looking for something in that price range. My dad? Well he's been wearing it for close to three years now and hardly ever takes it off.

Seiko Dive Watch SKX781K3 AKA "Orange Monster" Review

NOTE: Click on the any of the photos for a larger view.

I bought my SKX781K3 (Hereafter referred to the Seiko Orange Monster) around two years ago and wore it frequently since then on and off duty.  Since there are already hundreds of reviews on the net that pretty much touch on every aspect of this watch, I'll just give my thoughts on the basics and aspects I like and dislike about this watch. Keep in mind when reading this review, I'm a watch user, not a collector. A collector's view would be MUCH different.

The Orange Monster and it's brother the Black Monster (SKX779) are arguably Seiko's most popular dive watches amongst watch collectors, enthusiasts, horologists, et. al. These are the models with the rubber bands; of course they come with nice stainless steel bracelets too in the SKX781 and SKX779K models.

LOOKS / APPEARANCE

The first thing that stands out about the Orange Monster is that it's much different than other watches; in a good way. For those who like dive watches, the Orange Monster is a "looker". The orange color, large size and just plain good looks garner comments from even the non-watch crowd. The stainless steel case without the crown is a substantial 41.5mm across and almost 13mm thick. The crown is offset at the 4 O'clock position which minimize rubbing against the back of the hand when your hand is bent backwards. The Scalloped Bezel stands out amongst other divers and looks very nice. The crystal dial window called hardlex by Seiko is slightly convex and slightly magnifies the details of the watch face. In short, it's a beautiful watch and I can't count the number of compliments I've received on it.

BEZEL

The Bezel turns nice and smoothly counter clockwise for 120 clicks. The "clicks" as it turns are just the right tension; not too tight not too loose. The scallops or grooves, are perfect for gripping it. I use the bezel to time my runs and workout times. Simply turn the marked arrow on the bezel to align with the minute hand and go...simple. If you're looking for a bezel that lines up perfectly with the corresponding numbers on the dial face, you may want to look elsewhere. This doesn't bother me.

One thing that was pointed out to me to a "watchuseek" user (tirod) was that the scallops on the bezel are polished or buffed to give the shiny look while the rest of the bezel and watch are left to the standard stainless steel look. Good eye tirod. :)

DIAL WINDOW

The dial window is made of a hardened crystal that Seiko calls Hardlex. In short, IT"S TOUGH. I've banged my Orange Monster into many things from fence posts, to barbed wire to brick walls and it barely shows any signs of wear. I'm impressed.

CASE

The Case on the Orange Monster is very tough polished stainless steel and made to take some abuse. As stated before the crown is placed at the four O'clock position and is protected by steel on either side protruding from the main case. The Bezel sits inside of a protective Bezel Guard  at the top and bottom which is also part of the main case. Seiko leaves the sides unprotected so you can grip the bezel to turn it. Seiko put some thought into this case and it works perfectly.

DIAL/FACE

The dial is laid out nicely with large lumibright markers where the numbers usually sit. The arrow shaped hands are also large and coated with lumibright. The day and date are pleasantly large enough to actually read (a complaint I have with many other watches). The dial on the Orange Monster is one of my favorite things about it.

LUME

Seiko calls their lume coating used on their dials Lumibright. Lumibright is Seiko's own concoction of florescent paint used on watch dials and hands. It absorbs light when available and glows for a short while in the dark. Of the watches that I currently own that use florescent paint for lume, the Orange Monster ties for the brightest with my Reactor Trident watch. After a day in the sun, the Seiko stays illuminated brightly for about 20-30 minutes, then less so then on for about and hour. At the three hour mark, the very slight glow is barely enough to read the time in the dark. To be fair, the lume on most florescent painted watches do not last this long and Seiko has them beat in this respect and in it's initial brightness. The only lume that lasts longer is electroluminescent options or tritium tubes. As you can see below, the Seiko lume is BRIGHT.

 

POWER SYSTEM

The Orange Monster like many Seiko's is an automatic watch. This means that it does not require a battery and is powered by your natural movement when mounted on your wrist (or while sitting on a winder). Seiko calls their automatic movement the Magic Lever Winding System which consists of only four moving parts. The simplicity of the system aids in it's robustness which is one issue many automatics usually fall short on.  The power reserve on mine was usually good when fully charged for about 2+ days. If it runs down, just pick it up, give it a minute or so of gentle shakes, adjust your time and your set.

MOVEMENT

Movement inside the Orange Monster is provided by Seiko's in-house 7S26 21-Jewel mechanism. It's nothing fancy but it works as it should. The 7S26 has it's good points and it's bad; first the good. Seiko's 7S26 movement is a very common movement used in many of their watches and also used in many other brands sold to them by Seiko. This being the case, if you ever have to have your watch serviced, most horologists know how to clean and repair them. The other good point, is that due to their simplicity, they are a little tougher than other more complex movements. 

The bad points unfortunately for me are that (on my two tries/copies) it wasn't as accurate as I would have liked which lead to other problems I didn't like. My first attempt gained over a minute a day! My second try showed a gain of about 40 seconds a day. Then I read various sources that claimed that this movement got better after prolonged use and it will eventually "settle". On my Orange Monster, it did finally settle to the accuracy of 1 to 1.5 minute gain a week. While it doesn't seem like much, over several weeks, it adds up to an inaccurate watch that I constantly found myself adjusting. This lead to another issue I have with the Orange Monster. The weakest part of this (and other analog watches) is the crown, hence why they are all protected in some form or another by some type of guard. Every time you need to adjust the time on the Orange Monster, you must unscrew the crown, pull it out two clicks, adjust the time, push it back in and hold it in while your screw it down. The date function on this watch must also be adjusted frequently because it counts from 1 to 31 every month and as you know, every month doesn't have 31 days. Again, this leads to having to access the crown, pull it out one click and adjust the month. While having to constantly adjust the time and month may seem trivial, I'm 6'1" 230 and have gorilla hands that do not work well with delicate instruments and the crown is by all accounts a delicate instrument. 

GOT WATER?

The Orange Monster is first and foremost a divers watch and is reportedly waterproof down to 660 feet. While I've attempted a 660 foot dive to test this, for some reason, I've never gotten past 9 feet deep. I usually run out of breath and my ears start popping, so I'll have to accept what others say is true. I have however, snorkeled with this watch extensively in local rivers and lakes and had zero issues.

ON THE WRIST

As I said before, when wearing this watch, I get compliments all the time. It is an eye catcher for sure. At almost 42mm wide, it's not a small watch but I do own larger ones. For a 6 foot plus tall man, I think it's the perfect size. It even looks good on a smaller wrist in my opinion. The positioning of the crown at the 4 O'clock position works well for comfort. This watch wears well in a dressy environment or in shorts riding your mountain bike. I've worn it many times at work where I sometimes walk for miles through the south Texas brush climbing fences, banging it against trees and fence posts, subjecting it to sweat and the elements. For an automatic, it has held up well and never showed any signs of stress.

PRICE

Price, if you can find one, is very reasonable for a watch of this quality. The problem was that initially these watches weren't available in the US. The internet has somewhat alleviated these problems and if you can find one on the web, the Orange Monster with the rubber strap can be had for $150-$170 and the model with the bracelet can be found for anywhere from $180-$200. You can also find them occasionally on the watch nerd forums in the classifieds. Again, for the price, this is a nice watch. 

CONCLUSION

The Seiko Orange Monster (and the Black Monster) have become one of Seiko's all time best selling dive watches and for good reason. The movement while not as accurate as some higher priced watches is durable and can reportedly run without adjustment for 15+ years. It is still however an automatic and cannot take the beating of a quartz or come close to what a G-Shock can take. Still, under normal circumstances, the 7S26 movement should provide years of reliable service. The looks of the Orange and Black Monster are a thing of beauty; from the distinctive bezel to the lume to it's large size. If you buy this watch, you will get questions and compliments. For me however, being a "set it and forget it" type user (not a collector), I ended up selling it. If Seiko ever upgrades the movement to a Seiko 6R15 and gets a perpetual calendar, this may be the perfect watch for me.

Ironically, after writing this review, I think I may go buy another one with the stainless steel bracelet. It is a very nice watch :)