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| Joined: | Sat Jan 24th, 2009 |
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These are Glycine Combat automatic watches. I believe they are earlier model versions and not in production anymore as I have not seen many of these around and the latest models I have seen on the sites look different. The watch is pretty large, I believe it is between 42 and 44 mm. With a thin bezel and large dial the watch looks like a big watch. It is not very thick however, probably a little more over 10mm.
The crystal is mineral, the back has also a see thru crystal. The crown is signed with the Glycine symbol, it is push in and not screw down. This probably account for the 50 m water resistence. The crown itself is protected but it is fairly big and easy to grip. Hand winding the watch and adjusting it is very easy and positive. It hacks as well. The lugs are 22 mm wide, they are drilled through which is great as this makes any strap or bracelet change a breeze.
Even if the crystal does not appear to have much antireflective treatment, it is never a problem as the dial is super extra legible. The contrast between the deep black dial and the starking white hour markers and hands provide superb legibilty in all lighting conditions. Lume is Super Luminova, and while it is not extremily bright it last several hours. I could easily tell the time any any hour of the night no matter how dark.
The cream colored Combat is also very legible but there is no lume on the dial, only on the hands. It is therefore harder to tell the time in the middle of the night without some sort of light. This is not a problem during the day however. Otherwise it seems to be the same exact watch, in terms of the case, dimensions, materials, etc. The dial is a yellow cream color while the hour markers are grey as well as the hand's frame and second hand.
The movement used on both watches is the ETA 2824 with date, this keeps impeccable time. The black dialed watch is routinely within 1-2 seconds per day while the cream colored one keeps around 5-6 seconds per day compared to atomic time. Both are excellent results in my opinion considering also that these are a few years old watches.
The construction seems great and the assembly also is of high quality. The print of the hour markers on the dial is excellent, well defined and clean. The paint of the hour markers is uniform.
I don't have the original straps and so I cannot speak of those. The black one came on a unmarked bracelet as in the photo. This is of excellent quality with solid links and great looks so I kept it on it. The other one is on a Pilot Leather strap (Debaufre) that I had.
Personal opinions:
I always liked the Glycine watches, with their big dials, bold markers, great looks and italian names (Lagunare, Incursore...). I love the look of these two Combat watches, they are both beautiful and have a great presence on the wrist. When I wear these I find myself looking at my wrist over and over even if I don't need to know what time it is. (LOL) Also I found more people staring at my wrist with these watches then any other.
I think that the drilled through lugs are one of the best features for a watch as they really make it easy to change straps and bracelets. The width of 22 mm is also proportionate to the size of the watch and the bracelet or strap look correct in size, not too large and not too skinny.
The crystal in my opinion should be sapphire. I don't know how much these watches costed new, but I have seen prices on the $5-600 range for similar models on e-bay. I think that such prices warrant a sapphire crystal.
The black dial is one of the most good looking watch I have seen. I love it. The combination between dial, markers, hands, is gorgeous. The legibility phenomenally superior.
The cream color dial is equally nice with the addition of a vintage air to it, it seems almost old style but not in a negative way.
Another very nice feature is that, while they are pretty large watches, they also are very flat and slim, meaning they are not tall. In fact they are thinner then any of my Seikos that are between 39 and 42 mm in diameter. I believe that the thinness of the Swiss movement has something to do with it, and also the fact that they do not have a rotating bezel etc. This is great if you need to wear a shirt, as they both can fit under the sleeves easily. Also both watches hug my wrist very comfortably and don't appear to be too big or too small. They sit pretty flat on it with a great fit and feeling.
I purchased both of these from the forums, so they are used. The cream colored one has visibly more wear. In fact the former owner told me he had even scratched the glass and had it replaced with a sapphire crystal at one point. Nevertheless even if used, they performed flawlessly and they have a great feel and solidity. I am convinced that these are great buys, and while new they might have been a little expensive, finding a used one for a decent price is a well worth buy. I highly recommend these or the other variants with different color hour markers and hands.
