BOLDR Odyssey Bronze | Hands On Watch Review

BOLDR Odyssey Bronze

When BOLDR Watches first debuted about a year or so ago, I did not care for the name. I am sure most of you reading this have felt that way about many watch companies over the years. We all have our little reasons that keep us away from purchasing a watch at times, and for whatever reason I just did not care of the name. It reminded me of a water faucet commercial. Then I started looking at the watches on Instagram. I saw the Odyssey and just really liked the case shape and design. Then I started seeing some other models they released and thought, okay, this brand does have something going on, as I liked every model they put out. It was a few weeks ago that I finally got one in hand. This version, the BOLDR Odyssey Bronze is the latest version of this very popular model and now comes in bronze, and has a few different dial options. The one you see here today is the black meteorite version. This one is currently up for pre-order on the BOLDR website for $639. If that sounds a little pricey, it is, but keep reading to see if this one is for you or not.

BOLDR Odyssey Bronze Specifications:

• Case: 45.5mm CuSn8 Bronze Case with brushed finish
• Bezel: 120-click unidirectional dive bezel Bronze, with elapsed time function
• Movement: Seiko NH35A automatic movement, self-winding and hacking mechanism, 42-hour power reserve
• Water Resistance: 500m (1650ft) / 50ATM
• Winding Crown: Triple-lock screw-down crown with custom embossed BOLDR logo
• Dial & Hands: Meteorite dial
• Lens: Double dome sapphire crystal with AR-coating
• Strap: Premium Horween leather strap AND natural rubber dive strap
• Thickness: 14.2mm

Price : $639-Preorder Price*

https://www.boldrsupply.co/collections/odyssey

First things first. I find the BOLDR Odyssey to be aesthetically pleasing, whether it be this bronze version or any of of the steel or PVD versions. Despite the 45mm size, I find it to be comfortable on my 7 1/2 inch wrist and overall a watch I do like. That said, there are a few design choices I would have rather they stayed away from. The case itself, as far as I can tell, is original, and one they came up with, or one I have not seen used before. It reminds me of a Lum-tec 500m, which is long out of production, but only at a glance, in terms of the fat lugs and angled case. It is unique without being over the top.

What makes me shake my head, is that with such a unique case design, BOLDR chose to use elements that clearly homage other brands, such as the bezel, which is very similar to a Panerai Submersible, and the use of the Rolex type text on the rehaut. These two things could have easily been left off and they could have made the whole watch stand out as their own. With the current design choice, at a quick glance, it looks like a watch made from an homage parts bin. Notice I said, from a quick glance. When you look closer, you can see this is not the case, but if you are someone scrolling through Instagram, and you see a picture of this, and you know watches, it is easy to see why some may immediately dismiss the BOLDR Odyssey Bronze.

The rest of the dial is pretty clean, and obviously on this particular version, there is the black meteorite, which I have to say is quite attractive. This is easily the nice looking meteorite I have seen from a microbrand to date. Unfortunately, no two dials will be alike, so if you were to buy one, it could look very different from this.  The one I have in hand, is a sample prototype, and has been passed around from a few different reviewers before it made its way to me. Because of that, a patina has set it in and the watch has many visible scratches and marks. I trust that a brand new model will look a little more gold in color and of course be free of marks or defects.

Being honest, with so many watches I look at, review, see in hand or see in photos, sometimes it is hard to remember if I have seen a certain aspect before or not. To the best of my knowledge, the screw down crown is unique to this model, or at least rare. If I am wrong, I am sure someone will correct me. What I enjoy about this crown is the grip. While a design like this would not work on every watch, I wish more companies paid attention to the crown. It is one of the most important aspects of a watch, as it is what is used to set the time, date, complication and if not easy enough to grasp and operate, can be the cause of damaging the watch.

The elephant in the room, is the movement that is used in the BOLDR Odyssey Bronze. I will not shy away from it either. I have been very vocal in many reviews that I feel the Seiko NH35 movement is fine up to $500 watches; beyond that, I want to see a better movement choice. I understand that this model has a meteorite dial and that raises the price, but this watch after the preorder phase is to be over $700. Two other variations of this watch have been offered in steel with the STP1-11 movement, for less than this bronze preorder. The standard bronze versions are over $500 for the preorder price as well.

The lume compound used on the BOLDR Odyssey Bronze is SuperLuminova, and is done in the old radium or vintage color. I think it works with the bronze, it gives the watch a warmness, as opposed to a white or green hue that you normally would see. Since this is sample, I can not say if the lume will be brighter on production models or not, and this is all I have to go buy. I would give the lume a B-. It took a bit for me to get it to glow evenly, hitting it with my flashlight and studio lamps and still the lume pip is not bright at all.

As you can see, I am conflicted. On the whole, I very much like the BOLDR Odyssey Bronze. The case is distinct, it wears comfortable on my wrist, I love the meteorite dial in this example and the build quality is very good. The leather strap, which I really did not mention, is also a beautiful distressed tan and very supple. It even has my favorite date placement. So, there are a lot of things to put into the good column. The issue is, for me, there are quite a few for the bad column as well. I think it aggravates me more than anthing at the choice of the bezel and rehaut, and even more so, at this price point, I want to see a different movement. Had this watch had the Miyota 9015, I would not have said one peep about it. I have said this many times before, and I will state again. I am one man, and it is one man’s opinion. For you, what I state as issues, could be nothing to you. You may love the bezel, or rehaut, or the movement just does not matter to you. If that is so, the Odyssey is a solid, good looking watch.

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Phoibos Reef Master | Hands On Watch Review

Phoibos Reef Master

If you are someone that is always looking for the most value or the most bang for your buck when it comes to watches, Phoibos is probably a brand you should be looking at. The model I have in for review here is the Phoibos Reef Diver, which ranges from $229-$239, depending on the case finish. As you will see in the specs below, you get a lot of features for that price tag. I have covered a lot of watches under $300 over the past few years and some are great, some are just okay. I would put this one somewhere in the middle of that. The build quality and finishing are very good, but one or two design elements are a little off for me. At their current sale price, I am probably being overly picky, but that is what I do here. If you want to know more, keep reading.

Phoibos Reef Master Specifications:

• Movement: SII NH35A
• Case: 316L Stainless steel 42mmX 48mm
• Thickness 14.0mm
• Strap: Black crazy horse strap
• One rubber strap with signed buckle free
• Glass:  Double domed sapphire crystal with anti reflective under coating
• Water resistance: 300M(1000ft) 
• Bezel:120-click unidirectional ceramic bezel
• Crown: Screw-Down crown
• Lume: 15 layers Super-LumiNova BGW9 on hands, indices, and bezel marking
• Warranty: 2 years

Price $229-239 

*If you live in the US, it will ship from the US warehouse in NY.*

http://phoiboswatch.com/

I have two versions (there are a few others as well) of the Phoibos Reef Master in hand. I asked them to send me one of the stainless steel and one of the PVD coated models. Both watches are exactly the same, with the exception of the case finish and color combos. After seeing both in person, my choice would be for the non coated stainless version, as it allows you to see the contrast of the brushed and polished finishes better, where the PVD masks them too much. If you like a black watch, nothing wrong with it, I just think the stainless looks better. Both have sapphire crystals, ceramic bezels, leather and rubber straps and sandwich dials.

When I really started looking around the Phoibos Reef Master, I was taken a back a bit. I was not really familiar with the brand beforehand, except for seeing some posts on Instagram from their page and a few others. Phoibos is out of China, and from what I can tell, majority of their watches are readily available cases, catalog cases as we sometimes refer to them. I do not see anything wrong with that, especially at this price point. Getting back to when I first saw them in person, my first thought was- “How are they building and selling this level of watch for such a low price?” I do not really have a definitive answer to that, other than they might be involved in a few watch companies, or are part of the factory themselves that produces them, hence no real overhead or need to make a bigger profit. This is great for the consumer, as it allows for a pretty damn nice watch, for what most would consider low cost. On the other hand, I am not sure how other microbrands feel about the low, low pricing.

It is said over and over in reviews, but the fit and finish on these watches is impressive. What is fit and finish? Well, its a combination of things, but how the crown and bezel operate, how the case back sits against the case, the fit of the bezel, the hands and markers, etc. Overall, this Phoibos Reef Master would get a A- from me in that department. I do not feel like I am holding or wearing a cheap watch, at least not when it comes to the case and bezel.

The dial on the other hand is what keeps this watch from getting that A+. The first one, is highly subjective, but I just do not care for the octopus on the dial. It comes off cartoonish to me, and just does not translate to a professional watch. It is not just the fact they used an octopus, but the way it is drawn as well. I wish they just went with the brand name and left the octopus to the back(there is one on the back as well). The other thing that stands out is the matte dial. It just looks cheap to me. When doing macro photography on it, it looks like it is made out of black construction paper. Again, this is a inexpensive watch, so there are always going to be a few areas where corners are cut when it comes to a watch priced like this, that offers as much as this does. On the flip side, it is a true sandwich dial, the hands and markers and bezel insert are filled with BGW9 lume, and you get a sapphire crystal, and a Seiko NH35 automatic movement to boot. When is the last time you saw an automatic watch with these specs for under $250?

On the wrist, it is very comfortable. The leather straps are of decent quality and the 42X48 dimensions make it great for most wrist sizes. Of course, for some, this will be on the small side, but for those that do not like a big, chunky dive watch, this should work. The included rubber straps that I show in the video are not all that great in my opinion, but they are included, so you do get two straps with matching buckle finish. One thing I always like to check is how easy is it to unscrew the crown and set the time or date while it is on the wrist; happy to report, no issues with the Phoibos Reef Master in that department. 7 1/2 inch wrist for reference.

The Reef Master looks great in the dark if sufficiently charged and while the pics below do make it look like a beast in the lume department, it will basically be faded completely in about 2 hours. That is still nothing to really shake a stick at though, again, consider the price point and all that is offered.

All things considred, I find the Phoibos Reef Master to be a great bargain. 10 years ago, I really did not think you would ever see a quartz watch with all the extras at this price, let alone an automatic. There is a lot I like about the Reef Master, and a few things I did not, but at $229, it doesn’t matter. This is a great first time automatic watch for someone, a great beater watch, your first foray in to a dive watch or your first foray into the microbrand world. I mean, this is a pretty inexpensive way to dip your toes in the the water. I would love if they took my advice and in future models got rid of the octopus on the dial, as that really is the biggest drawback for me, but, you can’t have everything.

Thank you for reading. Please check out the video above if you have not already and you can leave your comments or questions down below.

 

 

 

 

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