Elliot Brown Holton | Hands On Review

Elliot Brown Holton

Indestructible. Tough. Reliable. These are some of the words I have seen used to describe the Elliot Brown Holton.  The Holton is a watch that had significant input from a branch of the British Military and is the first British Military issued watch in over ten years, claims Elliot Brown. Now, I say claims, as I do not really have any way to dispute that, at least not without some really heavy leg work. Elliot Brown seems to be a stand-up company though and I have seen many military and law enforcement personnel post their watches and say how tough and rugged they are etc, so I can’t see EB shooting themselves in the foot to try and sell one model of watch. All that said, I am not in the military, law enforcement or any of that, I am, as most of you know, a watch nut, like many of you reading. As always, I will come at this review from that perspective and let’s see how the Holton stacks up.

Elliot Brown Holton Specifications:

• 316L Stainless Case with PVD Treatment and Hardened Bezel
• 43mm Wide
• 12mm Thick
• 52mm Lug to Lug
• 22mm Lug Width
• Sapphire Crystal
• Swiss Ronda Calibre 715 Quartz Movement
• EPDM Rubber Strap (As shown, also available with Nato Strap)
• Battery Life 3 Years

Price $586 USD (Converted from British Pounds)

https://www.elliotbrownwatches.com/holton/

When the Elliot Brown Holton first arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it was very similar to the Tyneham I had reviewed HERE. It is, in fact, similar, as most Elliot Brown watches share similar DNA. The Tyneham is an automatic and lacks a dive bezel and is also a little smaller, but if you look at both side by side, you see they share a very similar if not identical case shape, crown placement and a fitted rubber strap as well. All EB watches are built with toughness in mind though, as I have talked about many times here before with other models. They all have triple sealed crowns and their proprietary metal housing for the movement for superior shock resistance. Elliot Brown tests all their watches rigorously as well.

The dial of the Holton is very free of unneeded text, clean, easy to read and non-reflective. These are obviously things that military personnel look for in a watch, an easy to read and very legible dial that does not really stand out or attract attention. The Holton is only available in two colors, the green shown here and a black dial. That is if you are buying from the Elliot Brown Website directly. If you want something of a different color, check out the Page and Cooper website where they have a grey dial and a teal/ocean blue dial and both of these models are sans date, if the date cutout on the regular version bothers you as it does me.

The case of the Elliot Brown Holton has a lot going on that is not visible to the naked eye.  Plated in a gunmetal PVD, it has an anti-fingerprint coating applied to it and is very non-reflective. The bezel is hardened to 1200HV Vickers and PVD coated as well, though the website does not state what the insert is made of. Seeing as this a watch that is able to withstand almost anything you can throw at it, I will assume it is not aluminum but also steel that is hardened as well, or at least I am hoping. The fully indexed bezel insert has lume applied to the numbers and hash marks as well, although you will see they do not glow very bright in the dark. The bezel is easy to grip and turn, though I would say it is almost too easy to turn, at least on this example.

Here is what I meant by the lume. As you can see, the hands glow very strong and the dial markers are decent but the bezel illumination is poor. I was really hoping that it would be much brighter. Despite not being very bright, the dial and hands do glow for a good few hours before completely fading but the bezel turns dark in a matter of minutes, even in complete darkness.

A well-known aspect of Elliot Brown watches is the bolted down case back. The company does this to ensure two things; 1. The logo will always be perfectly aligned and it also ensures a perfect seal and tension for the shock absorbing system. Inside the Holton is a Swiss Ronda 715 quartz movement that has an end of life indicator. The battery has enough juice for about 3 years and is housed inside a steel movement holder. Obviously, this watch was designed with abuse in mind. That said, I would have loved to see a 10-year battery life with this watch.

The fitted rubber strap is not only attractive but very rigid and tough feeling. This is not one of the floppy silicone or flimsy natural rubber straps, this has a rigidity to it while still allowing a nice fit on the wrist. As is customary with fitted end straps, it will make the watch a longer, putting the overall length at about 53mm. I mention this because some guys are concerned about the watch length more than the width and how it would wear on a smaller wrist. If this strap is not for you, changing out the strap is easy enough. Solid screw bars with a 5-lobe head that screws into lug shoulder are removed with a supplied driver. This strap will also fit any other 22mm lug width Elliot Brown watch if you want to add some green to the one you own. If you want to forgo the rubber altogether, a webbing (Nato style) version is also available. Here it is on my 7 1/2 inch wrist.

Since day one, Elliot Brown watches were made with abuse in mind. They have countless videos and pictures on their website of their watches being severely tested in the elements, and coming out still working. This Elliot Brown Holton has been tested even harder to be able to withstand what military personnel will put it through, so I have no doubt it will hold up to fishing, kayaking, hiking or any other outdoor or physical activity we civilians might subject it to. This is obviously not the flashy piece or an all occasion watch. Obviously, this can be an everyday watch, depending on what you do for a living, but this watch also has a purpose. Grab this watch when you would grab a G-Shock and it should hold up just the same. This is that rugged piece that should be with you for a long time.

The post Elliot Brown Holton | Hands On Review appeared first on WatchReport.com.

Jubileon Superellipse Chronograph Watcha Edition Review

Jubileon Superellipse Watcha Edition

Jubileon Singapore is about to launch their latest watch, the Jubileon Superellipse Chronograph. There will be a preorder and possibly a Kickstarter but today I will be concentrating on the Watcha Edition. If you are not familiar with Watcha, it is a popular Facebook Group and website and they have collaborated with Jubileon to do a special edition of this upcoming release. Available in 75 pieces total with 3 variations (all with Panda dial) of case finishes, making it 25 watches per variation. Preorders for this model will start on February 22, and the only way to get this Watcha Edition is by being a member of their Facebook Group (all info below).

Jubileon Superellipse Watcha Edition Specifications:

• Movement: Swiss ETA Valjoux 7750
• Case: Stainless steel 316L with 3 option colors (polished silver, IP vintage gunmetal, and vintage rose gold)
• Crystal: Sapphire glass AR coated
• Dial: Panda Theme (black & white)
• Subdial: W logo disk at 9
• Lug width: 22mm
• Diameter: 42mm
• Thickness: 15.3mm
• Lug to lug: 51mm
• Crown to crown: 49mm
• Dual Crown: Screw Down
• Water Resistance: 100m
• Exhibition Caseback: Sapphire glass
• Limited edition: 25 pieces each case
• strap: denim leather

Price -Preorder price $750.

Preorder Date is 2/22/19 

Preorder by adding +1 to pinned post at www.facebook.com/groups/watcha.watch

https://www.jubileon.com/

The watch I do have in hand is a sample and because of that, I want to list what changes are going to be made to the production version, which for the most part applies to both this Watch edition and the regular version. Copy/paste below direct from the brand owner:

Inner Bezel Numeral “1” Font: You may notice that the current inner bezel may not align to the hour index of the dial. this is because of the numeral “1” where the measurement includes the edge. Hence the misalignment of the inner bezel marking. We will change the font of the numeral “1” to ” 1 ” (a straight line instead).

Leather Strap:

Improving the stamping sign for deeper and clearer of our branding.

Removal of the wording “genuine leather” from the strap.

Buckle Logo: Will make solid engraving the logo rather than outline engraving because the current engraving is too light to notice our logo.

Faded Grey Dial: The minute tracker and wording “Superellipse Chrono” at 6 o’clock will be in white color font / marking instead of black because it can’t be seen clearly through our naked eye.

Exhibition Caseback:

Sapphire Glass will be bigger to reveal the whole rotor especially our engraving branding on it.

The font size of “Superellipse Chrono” and “Limited Edition 00/50” will be bigger.

Crown Logo: Logo is missing “SG”.

Something not regularly seen on a watch such as this would be the inner rotating bezel. Most of the time that bezel would be for elapsed time, like on a dive watch. That is not the case here. This bezel can be used for a second-time-zone. This is a feature that is probably more useful than timing bezel for many, as so many of us travel these days, and while we all have our phones and tablets with us wherever we go, us watch guys like to have useful complications on our watches when we can.

The Jubileon Superellipse Watcha Edition is not a style of watch that I am used to or, one that I would normally look at twice. Now, I say that because it’s true. I find it to be an attractive watch but square watches have never really been my thing, and if I did buy one, they did not last long in the collection. I have always looked at the square Bell and Ross watches but can never pull the trigger. This is not exactly the same thing as the B&R, but you get my point. That said, it does wear much better on the wrist than I thought it would and that is due to a short lug to lug, and curved lugs as well. The 42mm case size is deceiving though as the crown to crown measurement is 49mm, making the watch wear more like a 44-45mm overall. Here it is below on my 7 1/2 inch wrist.

Two straps will be included with the Watcha Edition, the absolutely fantastic leather strap with X -edge stitching and a canvas jean style strap as well. Both straps compliment the watch very well and I found both to very comfortable. While the canvas strap is very well made, the leather strap is where it is at for me with this watch.

The dial of the  Jubileon Superellipse Watcha Edition is a typical Valjoux 7750 layout but the big difference here is the second’s subdial. Instead of the traditional sweep seconds, you get a seconds disk, adorned with the Watcha “W” logo. I think this is a nice touch to the dial and definitely unique, though it is very difficult to see the numbers through the circle cut-out on the disc. This makes the seconds almost obsolete. I did not see this in the list of changes for the production models, so hopefully, this review can serve as some feedback for them and possibly make the hole a little larger to make the seconds more visible.

The case back shows off the Valjoux 7750 Automatic Movement and the rotor is branded, but otherwise rather plain. Since this is a prototype I did not really test accuracy; I did not notice any real deviation, as that would be another issue. Because of the price, I do not expect a lavish or elaborate case back but I am one of those that like to see something a little more when I look through the glass. Those that are fans of seeing the movement in a watch though will be happy I am sure.

The lume of the Jubileon Superellipse Chronograph Watcha Edition is surprisingly very nice, especially for a prototype. The one thing missing, in my opinion, is luming the W on the seconds’ disk. It would be a nice added touch to the design and while it would not improve functionality, it would definitely up the cool factor.

I want to be very clear with something here. I pride myself on being as objective as possible with any watch I review. This watch is no different. While I am friends with the owner of the Watcha group, Shane, he was told upfront I would still do the normal review. I know both Shane and Jubileon are hoping for many preorder sales and I do hope they sell all of them. I personally would not be a buyer because the design does not do it for me, but I do find this watch to be a head turner. I am a fan of panda dials and the case finishing is superb. The design is also unique, should you pick one up, you would be wearing something different from the majority of the microbrand offerings. As far as the price, you have seen me review watches here on Watchreport that cost this much with a Miyato 9015 and were a simple 3 handed dive watch. The fact this is a Valjoux Chrono for under $800 is a hell of an offering for sure. Info on how to order is in the specifications section above, and February 22nd is the start date. I hope it does well.

The post Jubileon Superellipse Chronograph Watcha Edition Review appeared first on WatchReport.com.