| Watch Specs |
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| The Story Behind This Watch |
Here’s the full review of this watch that I wrote for the PMWF. It pretty much sums it all up!
Why this watch?
Well that’s a good question. I had just over $200 in the old watch fund, and was shopping, but initially I did not know for what. Other than I wanted an automatic or hand wind, I did not have an idea at first of what I was looking for. After some shopping on EBAY! and various sales forums, I was not getting anywhere fast. Then, someone posted this watch on one of the fora:
Ah ha! A pilot watch. That’s what I have been missing since I sold my Poljot Aviator. Nothing in my current collection is quite in the “pilot” style. So, I began looking along those lines. My first searches found some good candidates, but the prices were more than I had in the bank. I was beginning to think I would have to wait and save or move onto something else. Then one day…
Andreas (UVox) posted asking if WUS was working or down. Being the helpful sort I went to check and, it worked for me. And, as the page loaded I saw this image:
Hey now! That looks like it would fit the bill pretty well. Similarities to the IWC for sure, with some differences. I thought about it for a while, did some additional searching, and finally decided to take a chance and “pull the trigger” on one. I got an email quickly from Ernie Romers that he was awaiting stock and as soon as he had some he would ship it out. I received shipment notification on the 26th and the watch on the 29th of June.
So, who is Vendoux?
Good question! Certainly they are not a brand I had ever heard of before seeing this watch for the first time. They do have a website at vendoux.nl which showcases their collection of watches and jeweller; they appear to be more of a “fashion watch” type of brand. The only info on the company that I have been able to find is on the WUS site:
“Vendoux is a registered trademark, owned by the Dutch H&V Timedesign BV. Vendoux uses Asian quartz and automatic movements inside their watches. Vendoux is not a Dutch watch in terms of Dutch watchmaking tradition, skills and craftsmanship.”
:S That last statement hardly sounds like a compliment to me…anyway…
Specs
Make: Vendoux
Model: Sorento
Movement: 22 jewel automatic
Dial: Black
Complications: Seconds at 9, screw down crown
Material: Stainless Steel
Crystal: Mineral
WR: 50M
Width: 46mm
Height: 13.5mm
Lugs: 24mm
Lug to Lug: 55mm
Purchase Price: $225USD/€174EUR (inc. shipping)
Purcuase Source: watchuseek.com
Packaging and Presentation
The watch arrived in a smallish white box (3.75″ x 3.75″ x 2.25″) with Vendoux printed on the top in sliver letters. The top of the box slid up to reveal the contents. The watch was in a length of bubble wrap, and was fitted around an arched piece of foam, which was 3/8″ thick. Also inside the box was a Vendoux International Guarantee card. A very basic package, nothing too fancy, but not a plain box either.
First Impressions
Yes, the watch is big! It’s funny, you see a watch pictured on the internet and its stated dimensions are 46mm (for example), yet you cannot picture the watch being that big in person. This watch was like this for me. The info said it was 46mm, but it just did not look that big. But, it is! When I first took it out of the box I had expected the watch to weigh more than it does, it’s actually quite light for its size (approx. 90 grams). But. I liked it right away, especially after it was on my wrist! It had the look (and size) I wanted without being an outright knock-off.
Case & Crown
The great thing about this case is the lugs (are the lugs). The watch is 55mm from lug tip to lug tip, but they curve down nicely allowing a good fit on the wrist. The strap pin-holes are located about half way between the lug and the case, which for the longer side of the strap has caused some contact with the strap which is very visible to the eye (speaks to the quality of the strap). This does lead to some concern that perhaps some thicker straps will not fit. I’ll have to try some and see how it comes out.
The watch has a solid, screw down case back. It is marked with “ALL STAINLESS STEEL” and “5 ATM WATER RESISTANT” around the outside, and “VENDOUX” “LS 12201″ in the center (the latter being the model number.
The crown is unsigned, and does screw down. The crown is big, not as big as the IWC, but still oversized at 5mm high and 7mm wide. Definitely easy to grab! It screws and unscrews with four half turns of the crown. It feels solid, there is not any play with the crown pulled out to the setting position.
Dial, Bezel, Hands & Lume
I am going to start with the weak point of this category, the lume. Uh, what lume? Seriously, though, I charged the watch for about two minutes under a strong light, took it into a dark room and was disappointed with the lack of luminescence. The color is reminiscent of the Seiko Monsters, after they have been in the dark for about 8 hours. I don’t think the watch will be legible by going out in the sunlight for 10 minutes and then into, say, a movie theater (or other dark environment). So, weak point there.
No bezel on the watch, so that’s easy.
The dial is a nice flat black, with printing kept pretty clean, I think. Only the Vendoux name and Automatic 22 Jewels adorn the dial. The sub-seconds dial has a track of white from 45 – 60 seconds, that I have no idea what purpose it would serve, other than it looks cool. The Arabic numbers and hour markers along with the triangle and two dots at 12 are outlined with silver, with the lume (what there is) inside those outlines. The minute track is luminescent material only, no silver outline. The watch does come in additional strap and dial colors (black dial/black strap, white dial/brown strap), I chose the black dial/brown strap as that combination has been growing on me lately.
The hour and minute hands are quite similar to the IWC Big Pilot, darn near identical, I think. The minute hand comes just to the end of the minute marks with no gap, a perfect length for the hand and markers. Well done there, I say.
One thing worth noting here as a potential quality control thing, there are a couple of marks on the inside of the crystal about a quarter inch toward the 3 o’clock position that look like smudges. I suspect this was done during construction. It should be easy to fix (I hope) by simply removing the movement, dial and hands and cleaning the inside of the crystal (if I ever get the courage to try that again).
Movement & Performance
The movement is an “automatic 22 jewel”, which is pretty vague. What’s inside? Well, I have not cracked mine open yet, but Ernie Romers of WUS posted some photos of one that had been, and… Well, the movement is unmarked and 99% likely to be Chinese. But, is that really all that bad? I’m not so sure it is. There have been a lot of good watches lately that have contained Chinese movements, this may well be another.
The movement is automatic but also hand winds, and it does hack. Interesting to note, the movement has a date setting stop when you pull out the crown. Unscrew and pull out once and nothing happens; if there was a date window, it would be changed in this position, pull out again and the watch hacks and the time can be set.
It’s probably too early for a true performance test, since I have had the watch just over 24 hours at this point. But, as of now the watch is spot on with my atomic G-Shock that I set it to yesterday. So, over approx. 24 hours it is +/- 0.
Strap
The strap is actually better than I had anticipated. I thought it was going to be one of those “pleather” (plastic-leather) straps that are found on some cheap watches and knock-offs. It is actually comfortable to wear and looks good as well. As mentioned above, one disappointment is the wear on the strap at 6 from where it has rubbed against the case. That does speak to the quality of the strap, for sure (it also tells me it will make a good candidate for a distressed strap project). I do intend to pick up a couple straps for the watch in the near future.
Conclusion
My overall conclusion is a positive one. The only shortcoming of the watch is the lume, otherwise it is a fine looking, and functioning, watch. It is on the larger size, which I know will appeal to a lot of folk these days, and it is relatively inexpensive at just over $200 shipped. I am excited to see how the movement performs over time. Again, quite pleased with the purchase, and I have no problem recommending the watch to someone looking for an inexpensive oversized pilot watch.