theuerkorn's Full Review: Oceanus OCW600TLA-1AV Watch for Men
Every now and then I like to entertain the idea of adding to my watch collection. While there are no funds available for real collector's items, a nice time piece still has a strong attraction and I typically look towards the Swiss part of the world for the latest design. Couldn't find the Movado Vizio anymore that I fell in love with 10 years ago, and funds are admittedly dried up. So the evil SkyMall magazine had a page with unbeknown to me Oceanus brand watches, and I really liked the design on paper and the prospect of getting both atomic precision and solar powered drives. A recent price drop of the 600series rekindled that interest and rightly or wrongly resulted in adding this watch to my collection.
IN A NUTSHELL
The 600 series appeared to me like the best compromise in the Oceanus lineup between style, functionality and cost. It doesn't have the ultra cool dial of the 800 series, but still offers solar power and atomic time keeping in a elegantly designed package.
Beyond looks, the usage is a bit temperamental at first. This is mostly due to the functionality and the complexity of conveying that to the user with the somewhat limited means of the purely analog dial.
Overall, it's an elegant and functional time piece for a very acceptable price and with the expertise of watch maker Casio in the background.
DETAILS
Style: [****-] Admittedly, this is the main reason for the purchase since it's really mostly arm candy and one that happens to tell time. The titanium is relatively bright and more similar to Stainless Steel than (older) Titanium housing with the distinct "pewter" look. The size (39 mm) works well on medium sized forearms, and might be a bit small for larger users. Thickness is noticeable and again works well with medium sized arms. The black dial ties the black band in and matches the width proportionally. That makes the watch overall appear as a unit. The leather band sports a clever "hidden" clasp making the bent leather a thing of the past. The Oceanus certainly lives up to the expectations from the pictures, which cannot be said for all watches -- even much more expensive ones.
Setup: [***--] This is by far the most difficult watch I ever had to configure before using. It's a bit of a matter of complexity by the provided functionality and the fact that the visual feedback relies on the dial alone. It's actually kinda cool using the second hand as the indicator for the mode by pointing to specific sections on the dial, but it's not always easy to determine in which mode you are and especially how to get to another mode. (especially tricky is the World Time Mode)
Atomic Time: [****-] Even though the watch supports all time zones, it can only receive a signal from the transmitters in the US and Japan. Travel to Europe has to rely on the quartz movement and will not sync to that local signal. (This is also important if you plan to give this as a gift to someone on that continent, or pretty much anybody outside the US and Japan.) It automatically queries for the signal and one can force detection manually as well. Nevertheless, during daytime the signals is a bit weak, especially inside a building and along the coast line (US) and manual setup may be required to get started.
Solar: [****-] Aside from the style and atomic time, the Solar was certainly my other main reason for the purchase. It came fully charged and so far has not dropped low enough to even indicate level 2 (by skipping in 2 second intervals). The solar "panel" is cleverly integrated and not even hinted by the color tint that was typical for older solar panels. Of course it does require to be exposed to light and isn't very effective when worn under a sleeve. Especially Winter can be a challenge if you're working in a dim lit office, and natural light is limited to times when you're inside. A fully charged watch is claimed to function for up to 4 months without any additional light, so it really should get you over even the darkest of times.
Timekeeping Mode: [****-] Obviously the most important mode of a watch, it deploys the hands for Hour, Minute and the sub dials for Seconds (bottom) and the 24h display (left). The others are set to Zero. There is nothing spectacular about this mode and the elegant design is simply allowed to work. The battery state is communicated via the Second dial, as it skips in 2 second intervals at level 2 and even stops moving in charging level 3.
Stopwatch Mode: [***--] This is really not much of a feature as it provides a basic on/off time measurement. This is one occasion the larger Second hand (center) is utilized and the Second hand dial turns into a 1/20 sec display. Beyond 24 minutes, it's a bit difficult to determine the elapsed time and it's not the most intuitive use of the Worldtime dial either.
Worldtime Mode: [***--] This one can be confusing if you're expecting the large Minute / Hour dials to also display the World time. It took me some time that home time remains strictly on those, while the World time remains strictly on the smaller dial (right). The large Second dial is used to point to the time zone the World time is currently displaying and can be advanced at any time. Of course it's a single button action and if you wanted to go back one zone, you have to do so by advancing over the whole range, miss it and you do it over again. Overall it's really more a toy than usable, just in case you ever get into the situation wanting to know how many hours difference it is to a certain area.
Alarm Mode: [**---] The Analog display of course imposes "severe" restrictions on how "fancy" alarm programming can get. It offers a single Alarm which is programmed via the World time dial and immensely difficult to set accurately since it's also a tiny 24h dial with very little "resolution". Nevertheless, it does provide a means to help you out when say the advanced alarms of your smart phone are not available. Hour chimes are not available, but also not missed in an analog design.
Value: [*****] At $580 MSRP it's certainly not a cheap watch, albeit "pocket change" compared to luxury brands. A recent special brought the price down to $406 and frankly, that's when I consider it a bargain. Especially since I had no local dealer to get an idea what the watch really looks like. Either way, for the offered functionality sporting BOTH solar power and atomic time in a Titanium casing with Sapphire window, it's certainly a strong offering and almost a bargain.
Mutli-band 2 atomic timekeeping (US Japan),Tough Solar Power 1/20 Sec Chronograph, World Time (27 Cities) Daily Alarm,Sapphire Crystal, Power Saving ...More at Amazon
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