Watchdives WD1960S V2 — A Ridiculous Amount of Watch for $100
I've been curious about the Watchdives brand for a while, and the WD1960S V2 finally convinced me to give them a try. I chose the printed matte-black version with the Seiko VH31 quartz movement. After spending some time with it, I'm genuinely impressed. At roughly $100, I wasn't expecting perfection. What I wanted was a well-made, attractive everyday watch that gave me a chance to experience the VH31 movement. What I received is a watch that feels considerably better than its price suggests. Dial and Design This may be my favorite part of the watch. The matte-black printed dial is simple, extremely legible and nicely proportioned. The creamy off-white lume gives it a subtle vintage character without going overboard with the faux-patina look. Everything works together. The size of the indices, hands, crown, case shoulders and bezel all feel appropriately proportioned. The angles of the case are pleasing and the overall design flows very naturally. Nothing feels like it was added simply because there was empty space available. The lume is also impressive. It charges quickly and remains visible for a surprisingly long time. The VH31 Movement This movement was a primary reason for interest in this watch. It's quartz, but instead of the traditional one-step-per-second tick, the seconds hand advances 4 times per second. The result is a noticeably smoother sweep that gives the watch much more visual life than conventional quartz. I'm increasingly drawn towards sweeping seconds, so this movement provides and interesting middle ground: quartz accuracy and simplicity without the traditional quartz 1 second tick. I don't suddenly need a collection full of VH31 watches, but I understand the appeal now. It's a neat little movement and particularly well suited to a simple three-hander like this. Case and Wrist presence At approximately 36.5mm, this is smaller than may of the watches I normally gravitate toward. That concern vanished once the watch arrived. The proportions keep it from feeling undersized, and the relatively light case makes it extremely comfortable. I've been wearing it on my left wrist and it disappears surprisingly easily during the day. This isn't a large or imposing watch. It's simply appropriately sized for the design. Bracelet and Clasp The bracelet is good, but this is also where most criticisms live. There were some sharper edges than I'd prefer, one link had a small ding in a seam, and I found some machining swarf around the clasp. None of these issues affected functionality, but they're reminders that this is still an inexpensive watch. I also wish Wachdives supplied half-links. I'd prefer sizing a bracelet through the links rather than relying heavily on clasp adjustment, and a half-link would make getting the fit absolutely perfect much easier. That said, I was able to get mine very nearly perfect and once sized it's extremely comfortable. The folding clasp itself is perfectly acceptable. It's secure, works well, and doesn't feel flimsy at all. This is the one area where putting it beside my significantly more expensive Hamilton reveals the difference in refinement, but the comparison is also surprisingly flattering to the Watchdives. It doesn't feel remotely as inexpensive as it actually is. Finishing The overall finishing is more than good enough for this price point. There are clearly watches with more precise transitions, cleaner bracelet edges, and finer finishing. I'm not going to pretend a roughly $100 Watchdives is finished like a much more expensive Swiss watch. But that's almost beside the point. Nothing about the case makes it feel cheap on the wrist. The brushed and polished surfaces work well together, the geometry is attractive, and the watch presents itself extremely well. I've handled watches costing two, three and four times as much that didn't leave me feeling like they offered proportionally more. Value This is where the WD1960S V2 becomes difficult to criticize. At roughly $100, this thing is a steal. At $150, I would still consider it a good watch and a good value. Push beyond that and now we're getting into territory with considerably more competition, including mechanical watches and watches with better finishing. But at its actual price? It's a smoking deal. Watchdives managed to put together a stainless-steel watch with good proportions, sapphire crystal, useful water resistance, strong lume, a comfortable bracelet and an interesting smooth-sweep quartz movement for about what some manufacturers charge for a replacement bracelet. Ultimately for $100 the Watchdives WD1960S V2 isn't merely good for the money, it's genuinely a fantastic watch, that just happens to be accurate, inexpensive and good looking.