I'm Having a Bad Day tona

As you know, in a previous post, I've had only good things to say about the Alpha Watch Company. They produce a line of homage watches that can't be beat at least not when it comes to price. My own experience with this company and it's products has been a positive one so I'd have no problem recommending them to anyone.

One of their products is an automatic version of the Daytona chronograph. Not that it's really a chronograph, the extra dials are for day of the week, day of the month and 24 hour time. Supposedly the watch is made entirely of stainless steel. My brother-in-law (former Army Ranger) ordered one on-line after I extolled the virtues of this miracle watch company. He's admittedly rough on his watches and this one was no exception. He wore the watch for about a year before the hands fell off. No, really! The hands fell off two of the dials. The odd thing is that he doesn't remember what he did to cause this to happen.

Did you spot the AWOL hands between 8:00 and 9:00?

Signs of wear and tear. The plating has worn off of the "day of the month" pusher.

A shot of the back.

I must admit though, the watch is still running and keeping good time. So, now we have a watch that we could: a) Throw away, b) Throw in the drawer and forget about, c) Try to fix ourselves, or, d) pay someone else to fix for us. I'm afraid that d) would cost more than the watch itself. And I know that I can't bear to throw away anything let alone a watch so a) is out. That leaves b) and c). Unfortunately I don't have the proper tool to open this kind of watch case back which makes b) Throw it in the drawer and forget about it, the winner, Yay!

But seriously, my brother-in-law is pissed.

Alpha Since 1993

How do they do it? They make a stainless steel watch that looks like a (insert famous, expensive watch name here) with an automatic movement, presumably with Swiss machinery and Swiss testing devices, ship the watch 10,000 miles to your front door at no cost and charge a mere $35.99 and $60.99. They feel reasonably well made. They seem to be as water resistant as promised. And...

They are made in China by the Alpha Watch Co.

Despite the sometimes unflattering comments that I've read on some of the fora on the internet I am surprised at how many watch enthusiasts out there have Alpha watches. Some of these commentators actually have several. I have three, the Alpha Explorer, Alpha Triple Date Sun/Moon and the Automatic Regulator. Actually I have two now that I gave the Regulator to my wife who wears it several times a week to work. My remaining two Alpha watches are a steady part of the rotation and have been for the last two years. So far, so good. I should break my review into three parts: The case/bracelet, the face and the movement.

The case and bracelets of these two watches are stainless steel. I don't know what grade the steel is though. I did find that the back of the Triple Date developed a small blue spot. Unnoticeable when worn. I wasn't crazy about the brushed finish on the top of the case as I thought it looked uneven and rough. My solution was to polish the brushed finish right off with Cape Cod cloth. It didn't take very long to do so I suspect that the steel is pretty soft. The cases at the lugs of both watches are somewhat crudely finished with sharp edges. The steel bezels are polished and the crowns of both watches bear the Alpha "a". The bracelets are well made but feel a bit light. Overall, the complaints are minor and few. Remember, you're not going to get a Rolex for $35.99.

The crowns of both watches sport the Alpha "a".

The faces are well made as both have applied or raised hour markers. The Alpha Explorer has lume applied to the hands and hour markers while the Triple Date has none. The Explorer has a salmon colored face with no date function while the Triple Date has a silver face with day, date, month and sun/moon complications. Hence the $60.99 price for the Triple Date. Day, date and month are adjusted independently by push buttons in the watch case.

Side view showing the Day push button.

The movements are a mystery. Are they made by Sea-Gull, a China based watch movement company or what? The Triple Date has an exhibition caseback so I can see the number 98-1229 and 35 jewels. The caseback of the Explorer says YL98-12-29. Again, I don't have any definitive information on these movements, if these are indeed the movement calibers. I have observed that the second hands on both watches sweep smoothly without any lags or jumps.

The casebacks of the Alpha Explorer and Triple Date respectively. The Explorer movement uses 21 jewels while the Triple Date uses 35.

Performance is very acceptable with a loss of approximately 3 - 5 seconds per day. I did notice once that the Explorer lost five minutes in one day. I think that might have been because I set it wrong, did not wind the watch adequately or a combination of the two. Performance of any automatic movement can be affected by temperature, position or amount of time left idle.

All in all I'd buy them both again and would consider buying more Alpha watches in the future. They provide the watch enthusiast on a budget the opportunity to own a decently made, automatic watch that looks far more than it costs. And now the specs.:

Alpha Triple Date, Sun/Moon

Case Material: Stainless steel
Cas Back: Glass exhibition.
Case Size: 37.5mm without crown. 45mm lug to lug. 13mm thick.
Bracelet: 20mm stainless steel, Jubilee style. Non-solid end links.
Crystal: Domed acrylic.
Movement: Automatic, 35 jewels.
Water Resistance: 30 meters.
Weight: 106 grams
Current Price: $62.99 with Oyster style bracelet.

Alpha Explorer

Case Material: Stainless steel.
Case Back: Stainless steel.
Case Size: 35mm without crown. 44mm lug to lug. 12mm thick.
Bracelet: 20mm stainless steel. Oyster style. Non-solid end links.
Crystal: Flat glass (sapphire?)
Movement: Automatic, 21 jewels.
Water resistance: 30 meters.
Weight: 105 grams.
Current Price: $50.99.

You may also wish to check out AlphaUSA at http://alphawatchusa.com/

In the meantime I'm considering the Alpha Multi or the Newman or the Planet or the Daytona or the MilSub or the... well, you get the picture.