I’ve reviewed a good number of G. Gerlach watches, and I’m pleased to say that they are indeed fulfilling this goal; they’re innovative, unique, and extremely well-built. Their latest model, the Bathyscaphe, supports this even more. I mean, just look at it – whilst its primary inspiration is a bathyscaphe, it could also be the timepiece equivalent of the Polish 7TP tank.

A bathyscaphe (meaning “deep ship”) is a self-propelled vehicle used for deep-sea dives. One of the most important bathyscaphes was the Trieste from the 1960s, reached the deepest known point on the Earth’s surface, the Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. An incredible achievement and the influence is clear on this watch, with its impressive construction and 500m water resistance.

The dial is available in yellow, orange, blue, or graphite (this one). At first glance, it appears to be quite an immense watch, with a reasonable price tag of 1,899 Poland złoty / ~£385 / ~$520. I’m not going to lie; in terms of looks, it’s a bit of a marmite watch in that you’ll either love it or you hate it. Personally, I respect the bold and aggressive appearance but it’s not the kind of watch I’d go for. But of course, this is totally up to personal choice.

Let’s check it out.

The specs

• Dimensions: 44mm diameter x 16.3mm height x 53mm lug to lug
• Weight: 158g
• Water resistance rating: 50ATM / 500m
• Movement: Seiko NH35A
• Accuracy: +4.1 sec/day
• Lug width: 22mm
• Warranty: year
• Price: 1,899 Poland złoty / ~£385 / ~$520
• Buy here: http://gerlach.org.pl/bathyscaphe.html

The video review

I’m going to start by saying that yes, this won’t be for everyone. The overall design is strong, bulky, and determined. For many, they love watches that have these characteristics. For others, it’ll be just too much for them. I’m on the fence; I appreciate the uniqueness of the watch and I do enjoy rugged design, but perhaps it could be slightly more attractive and less in-your-face. But, that’s a personal opinion and it’s ultimately down to you whether you like how it looks or not.

The G. Gerlach Bathyscaphe is a big, heavy, chunky thing with an overbearing bezel as its primary design feature. The case profile is rather plain and simple, which only exaggerates the thickset appearance.

Dumpy lugs and a surprisingly short lug-to-lug length of 53mm means it’s easier to wear than the 44mm diameter suggests. Drilled through lugs are always good to see on a proper tool watch. It makes changing straps dead easy, and you’re less likely to damage the lugs when you do.

One thing’s for sure: at 16.3mm tall, this thing is thick – there’s no chance of it fitting under a shirt cuff, but then again I would highly doubt you’d wear this in a smart setting. The size is most likely due to the impressive 500m water resistance.

The aggressive bezel grip means it’s amazingly easy to use, the 120 clicks are solid and loud. There’s a little bit of wiggle and back play, but it does line up nicely.

The case is graced with simple and purposeful finishing and production, it’s also all brushed. The only stitch of polishing is the very top of the raised bezel markings, which does provide a glimmer of glitz and a flash of light against the blasted finish of the top of the bezel.

The lume is of pretty good strength. It’s also cool to see the bold outer minute track light up. The large arrow at 12 in the bezel insert is purposeful, and the thick minute hand offsets the skeletonised lumed tip of the hour hand. It’s a great and interesting watch to view in the dark!

The lack of crown guards allows the screw-in crown to protrude. No crown guards mean it might dig into the back of your hand, as it is big and chunky. It means it’s extremely easy to use and will be able to take a knock or two if you’re using this as a genuine deep-sea diving watch. It has good grip and the G. Gerlach logo embossed on the end, raised and polished against a blasted backdrop.

The dial is as over-engineered as the rest of the watch; chunky, brushed hour markers offer a sense of quality, set against an interesting textured top. The graphite colour is pleasantly industrial looking and a subtle change to the usual dial colours we see so often.

I always like to see unique handsets, and that’s certainly the case with the Bathyscaphe: they’re large, legible, and interesting – I especially appreciate the slight skeletonization on the minute and seconds hands.

The deep-stamped caseback features a detailed illustration of a bathyscaphe, surrounded by some specs. It’s quite thick too if you notice how deep the indents for your caseback removal tool are. It’s this thick for the 500m water resistance rating, but it’s good to see the thickness has been put to good use for the deep-stamped drawing.

The silicon strap is beautifully soft and manipulative, fitting snugly around the wrist. It’s not a massive dust magnet either, which is good, and I like the subtle design to it; square ends, wide holes, a dipped centre, and small holes at the top.

The brushed buckle is robust in appearance to match the case, with a thick top bar featuring the G. Gerlach logo engraved on one side. The wide tongue fits the holes well and will provide optimum security.

The movement is the same ol’ trusty movement in 90% of watches I review: the Seiko NH35. It’s not exciting in the slightest, it’s not exclusive or extravagant. But, that’s a good thing. It’s rustic, reliable, cheap. The specs include a low beat rate of 21.6 bph (6 ticks per second), 24 jewels, 41-hour power reserve, hacking seconds, and hand and automatic winding. This one is coming in at a remarkable +4.1 sec/day.

Final comments

For 1,899 Poland złoty / ~£385 / ~$520, there’s no doubt that you’re getting a lot of watch for your money. The build quality and specs to price ratio have never been in question. Instead, the question is – do you like the look of it? Visually, it’s bound to be divisive; but that’s what’s so appealing about it – even if you don’t like how it looks. It’s a refreshing change to the droves of same ol’ same ol’ divers we see so much of nowadays.

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Unfortunately during the Warsaw uprising in 1944, the factory and residential buildings on the street were destroyed and never rebuilt. Emil Voellnagel tried to rebuild the business but due to post-war economic and the political state of the country it turns out to be impossible.

But the G. Gerlach legacy lives on and here we are today with the ‘Enigma’. Named so after 3 young polish mathematicians who broke the Enigma system just before the outbreak of the Second World War and helped changed the face of the world we live in today.

Specification;
Diameter: 43mm
Lug to lug: 49mm
Thickness: 13mm
Lug width: 22mm
Case material: 316L stainless steel
Sapphire: Double domed sapphire crystal (AR coated)
Dial: Black
Ceramic bezel insert
Movement: Seiko NH36A
Cost: £345

Straight from the heart of Poland, we have an excellent 200m water-resistant watch, a watch that wears rather large on my 7 inch wrist and has considerable heft to it thanks to its 43mm diameter case and 49mm lug to lug width, I would say that this is the upper limits of a wearable watch for my wrist. Having worn a 9mm thick watch weighing below 100g for the last two weeks when I put this back on the wrist it took a bit of time to adjust to the weight (a fact I cannot seem to find on their website) of this watch. Initially, I thought that it was too heavy for me and a bit overpowering on the wrist but that became a passing thought as I wore it more.

The first thing to note about the case is the black ceramic coin-edged bezel, a uni-directional 120 click bezel insert that has almost no back play and spins around the dial with a satisfying and loud click. There is no alignment issues here, the first 20 markers on the bezel align perfectly with the minute markers on the dial and continuing round each marker hits the spot perfectly. It is also nicely lumed (again, unable to find details on the website) with what I would guess is SuperLuminova matching the dial very nicely.

The dial is plain and I mean plain in a very good way, it’s a gorgeous pure black and is contrasted with some subtle yellow additions around the dial and the sweeping seconds hands also a striking yellow colour. It features the company logo at 12 o’clock and ‘Automatyczny’ at the bottom of the dial reassuring us all that this is indeed authentically Polish. The day-date window is clearly visible at the 3 o’clock position and is sitting atop a white background, normally I would complain about this but I feel that the white background works perfectly on this dial. The large rectangular hour and minute hands are indeed large and bold but work well on this dial, making legibility excellent at every angle you look at it, both featuring a block segment of lume near the tip of them, the lume shining brightly and lasting an excellent amount of time. Finally, the squared large hour markers covering the dial are excellently finished and the lume is applied evenly throughout, the hands and markers are bold and loud, they take a bit of time to get used to but once you do then you can really start the appreciate the beauty of the dial and how nicely everything is done on it.

The case itself is brushed, contrasting the polished bezel and is a thick construction with flat and angular surfaces and bevelling leading us into the short and fat lugs that to me look like a pair of fangs on your wrist. The short lugs are definitely needed to keep the lug to lug down or else that would be far too overpowering on the wrist. The coin-edged screw-down crown has some issues, whilst it is extremely easy to grip, not oversized and features the company logo nicely etched into it, I had some issues in screwing the crown back in. All the functions worked perfectly and as expected but I found myself having struggling to screw the crown back in, at times if I didn’t find the right biting point it would pop back out. A minor issue that doesn’t affect performance at all but something to note.

The stainless steel case back features the names of the three genius mathematicians and the date that they broke the Enigma system, a subtle but excellent tribute to them. Housed inside the watch is the affordable and reliable Seiko NH36A, a workhorse of a movement that gave me no issues at all with timekeeping.

The watch comes on a very nice 22mm black canvas strap with complimentary yellow stitching that has a supple genuine leather underside. It features a rather large but not over sized signed buckle, the strap as a whole compliments the watch very nicely and is extremely comfortable on the wrist.

At £345 (based on current exchange rates), it isn’t a cheap watch but it’s a very nice alternative to your Seiko diver or the Orient Mako. It carries great wrist presence and is extremely well finished and put together. So take a risk, crack the code and try this watch out.

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The latest offering, the PZL 37 Łoś is dedicated to a wartime bomber used during the 30’s and 40’s, the PZL 37B. Costing just shy of £400 (approx £385), it’s one of their most expensive timepieces; but then again mechanical chronographs always demand a higher price. Let’s take a closer look to see if it’s still good value for money.

The specs

• Dimensions: 43mm diameter x 13.5mm height x 52mm lug to lug
• Weight: 94g
• Water resistance rating: 100m
• Movement: Seagull ST1902
• Lug width: 22mm
• Warranty: 2 years
• Price: 1950 Polish Zloty / ~£385

The case

As is always the case with G. Gerlach, the watch immediately screams “solid”. This is something I’ve learned to expect with things coming out of Poland – a few of my friends are Polish, and they are like the human representation of G. Gerlach.

The finishing across the case is top notch, with clean lines and great edging. The majority of the case is brushed, bar the fully polished bezel, pushers / crowns and a ring around the outer edge of the caseback. This variety of finishing keeps things interesting and displays good skill in construction.

The crown and pushers are all suitably machined, and are very easy to use. I like the addition of an extra (unsigned) crown at 10 to control the inner rotating bezel. The main crown has the G. Gerlach logo deeply engraved on the end.

The caseback features the bomber plane it’s named after: the PZL 37B. The engraving is accurate and detailed – it’s also a good talking point.

The dial

The dial is very bold, easy to read and most definitely aviation inspired.

The inner rotating bezel features heavily thanks to the size of it – with lumed numerals at every 5 minutes.

There is no applied elements to the dial – bar one single triangle located at 12. The subdials are on a slightly lower level providing a very gentle sense of depth.

The “spearhead” hands are skeletonised and are full lumed. Surprisingly, they are still nice and legible at a glance. The lume is average strength.

The dial is detailed enough to be interesting, but not too much to be too busy. Personally to me, the dial isn’t the most striking thing going, but that’s just my preference.

The strap

The strap is delightful: beautifully soft, supple, and a very cool vintage style.

It’s pretty wide at 22mm at the lugs, which matches the watch very well. It results in a very comfortable wear.

The brushed pre-V buckle is oversized, but is very stylised with angles and a large top bar. The G. Gerlach logo is engraved in the corner.

The movement

The movement powering the G.Gerlach PZL 37 Łoś is the Seagull ST1902. This is a well-known hand-wound chronograph, used in quite a number of affordable hand wound chronos.

It’s sturdy, reliable and accurate. It runs at 21.6k bph (6 ticks per second). It’s very smooth and easy to wind, which is good as you’ll need to do it every other day.

The big seconds hand is the chronograph seconds indicator; the subdial at 9 is the running seconds hand; and the subdial at 3 is the 30 minute chronograph indicator.

Final comments

What is there to say apart from it’s a very solid and substantial timepiece. Personally, I think the dial design could do with a little bit more refinement but that’s just my opinion.

There’s one thing for sure – the quality of the construction of the watch is not in doubt. It’s very well finished, although I have noticed one tiny flesh of dust on the dal. A shame, but that’s something that doesn’t happen very often.

Costing ~£385, it is quite pricey, but it is a mechanical chronograph at the end of the day. If you dig the design, then you’ll definitely be happy with the G. Gerlach PZL 37 Łoś.

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The Submarine will cost you 1499 PLN / £285, and the main selling point going for it is the full brass casing. Let’s take a closer look to see if it’s as good a deal as the rest of them.

The specs

• Dimensions: 43mm diameter x 14.5mm height (to top of domed crystal) x 49mm lug to lug
• Case material: brass, with steel caseback
• Weight: 125g
• Crystal: double domed sapphire with AR
• Lug width: 22mm
• Movement: Seiko / TMI NH35A
• Water resistance: 100m

The case

The case is possibly the main talking point of the G. Gerlach Submarine. It’s made of solid brass, and develops a heavy patina swiftly. Due to this, it’s a surprisingly heavy 125g on the wrist – giving the feeling of heft and quality.

It’s also not small, measuring 43mm in diameter, with an oversized crown. It’s a distinct cushion shape – interestingly exactly the same shape as their Enigma. It has a completely brushed finish all over, allowing the rugged nature of the watch to take hold.

The screw-in crown is smooth and easy to use; it’s also nice to see the logo liking up with the case when fully screwed in – something you rarely see on affordables. It has the G. Gerlach logo lightly etched into the end – I would have preferred it to be properly engraved like it is on the buckle. A word of warning – the protective blue sticker on the crown is an absolute nightmare to get off. It was that hard I had to scratch it off with a blunt knife. Not ideal at all… But thankfully the brass and its patina has masked any markings nicely.

The bezel is relatively unobtrusive in terms of design. The brown insert is quite thin, containing minute markers every 5 minites. For the first 20 minites there’s also a dash at every minute. The grip is quite smooth and light, which means that it’s a little bit difficult to rotate as the bezel action itself is also reasonably stiff.

The screw-in case back is steel rather than brass – this is so they don’t get fused together. It features a detailed engraved submarine (funnily enough) image, and various watch specifics surrounding it.

Sitting on top of the case is a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on the underside. To the eye, it looks quality but is a pain to photograph. The AR coating could be a little more effective at removing reflections but it provides a splendid blue flash when the light hits it.

The case is very good for the price of watch; the only thing I realistically would like to see improving is a better logo engraving on the crown. 

The dial

The dial is has a base brown colour, which matches really well with the brass case and leather strap. The central disc of the dial is at a lower level and has a mottles texture to it. The other ring is flat, which houses the hour markers. We then have the very outside minute track which is lower and mottled to match the central disc. This alternating nature of the dial gives a sense of depth and keeps things interesting.

The dial features awesome brass-effect applied hour markers: thick and deep, straight, and look high quality. The font type used for the numbers is a great choice; classy yet bold.

The hands are part skeletonised and quite an interesting shape – like a thick sword but only the end half have a lumed centre. The seconds hand is a straight point with a delicate tear drop as a counterweight and a red arrow tip. These hands are made of the same material as the hour markers; they are what appear to be brass and have a gentle brushed finish.

The lume is primarily found on the minute and hour hands, but there’s also a small lumed block at every hour within the outer minute track. The lume is slightly above average; fairly bright but not excellent. But lume on watches around this price (that aren’t Seiko) never are.

At the base of the dial is “Made in Poland” printed inside the outer ring with the railroad style minute track. I love how they’re proud of where they’re from, and as I’ve got a number of Polish friends I find it fascinating and impressive that they’ve achieved so much.

I’m pretty happy with the dial: it’s nicely designed and well executed. There’s not really anything to say negatively about it, apart from maybe the omission of a date may put some off. 

The strap

The leather strap on the G. Gerlach Submarine is 22mm wide for its entirety, which increases the chunky appearance of the watch.

The leather is plain and smooth with no mottling. It is comfortable and thick, providing a comfortable wear despite the size. The underside has quite a naked finish to it, with the G. Gerlach logo embossed on one end and Made in Poland on the other. This gentle texture is most likely the reason behind its wrist comfort.

We have an oversized square brass buckle, which is brushed to match the case perfectly. It has the G. Gerlach logo deeply engraved on one side to the top bar. Despite its size, it’s easy to use and the supple nature of the strap means it is easy to manipulate.

There’s just one thing to mention, and that’s that I’ve got a 7.25″ wrist and I’m on the smallest hole. So if you have a smaller wrist than me then you’ll probably find it’s too big with the supplies holes. 

The movement

The movement within the G. Gerlach Submarine is the Seiko NH35A. This movement can also be found in watches such as the Melbourne Watch Co Parkville, G Gerlach’s Orzel, Invicta Pro Diver and the Gruppo Gamma A-41.

It’s based on the standard Seiko workhorse movement, but has a few upgrades. It’s gained a very good reputation of being highly accurate straight out the factory and is also super reliable.

Picture from my Gruppo Gamma A-41 review

It runs at 21.6k bph (6 ticks per second) and has 24 jewels. Other interesting features are the fact that it winds in both directions (rotor spinning clockwise and anti-clockwise), has hand wind capability and a hacking seconds hand. 

The competition

There’s a few options out there, but I think the nearest competition in terms of price is the Armida A8. It also has a brass case with the exact same movement as the G. Gerlach Submarine, and costs a tiny bit less at $350 / £270. Personally I don’t think it looks as good though.

Final comments

G. Gerlach have developed a very good reputation for top quality affordable watches. I’m pleased to say that the Submarine exemplifies that ethos. It’s a rugged, incredibly solid watch with very good specs – which looks the part too. The price is right too; at less than £300 it’s definitely worth it. 

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The Enigma machines were electro-mechanical cipher machines used by the Germans in WWII (quite an intriguing read). Why have G. Gerlach named this watch the Enigma? Well, 3 Polish cryptologists broke the codes in 1932, so it’s an ode to them. I also think the mecha-quartz movement is a link too.

The G. Gerlach Enigma will cost you 950 Polish zł / £160 / $240, which isn’t really too much – especially when you think about what you get for that money. Double domed sapphire crystal, Seiko mecha-quartz movement, and the usual well-built nature supplied by G. Gerlach make it quite the proposition. I also think it looks pretty cool. Let’s take a closer look to see if it is a good deal.

The case

The cushion case is a pleasant mix of brushed and polished angles, with a distinctive ledge separating the lugs from the main section. The case is chunky, well engineered and impressive for the price. It also has a quality appearance to it thanks to the alternating finishes between the brushed case and polished bezel grip and crown / pushers.

At 43mm in diameter with a height of 13mm, it has a definite wrist presence, especially when coupled with the hefty weight of 121g.

The crown and pushers are pleasantly designed, fully polished and well manufactured. The oversized screw-in crown is almost an onion shape, with decent trip and has the G. Gerlach logo lightly engraved on the end.

The screw-in caseback features a cool Enigma motif with various details surrounding it. All markings are lightly engraved, personally I would have liked it to be a bit deeper, but I can’t have everything.

The bezel insert is nice and reflective, which works alongside the crystal and dial to provide flashes of light whilst wearing it. The bezel action is pretty poor though, it’s not very smooth at all, with a grinding feeling to it.

The double domed sapphire crystal merges nicely with the bezel, offering a smooth, gentle curve across the entire top of the watch. Double domed ensures clear legibility at all angles rather than it getting distorted – not something you’d expect on a watch of this price. The anti-reflective coating is great too, providing a high-end looking splash of blue when the light hits it.

The dial

The quality of the dial is another thing that has impressed me. The applied elements and main 2 hands are all polished, which reflect the light attractively. There’s a number of elements that show impressive attention to detail for the price, such as the date window border, subtle concentric circular pattern surrounding the subdials, and a nice deep rehaut with a tachometer within. It’s also designed well, balancing the subdials and chinky features skilfully with the entire package.

The hands are two types, the minute and hour being a simple, flat polished rectangle, filled with lume. The chronograph second and subdial hands are a bit of a juxtaposition, being thinner, more elegant, and yellow which provides a splash of colour.

The hour markers are similar to the hands, in that they could be a cross-section of one of them. With polished steel edges and a lume channel down the centre, they’re surprisingly heavily-built. They look like G. Gerlach haven’t spared any materials making these, which are yet another impressive element to the watch that makes it look more expensive than it is.

The lume isn’t too great, it takes a while to charge and isn’t the brightest.

The printing throughout the dial is delicate and sharp, with no smudges or signs of poor quality.

For some, the standard white date wheel will be a disappointment but let’s not forget the price of the Enigma. The date window is encompassed by a precise polished steel border.

The strap

The strap is probably the aspect I’m most unhappy with. Not that it’s not fit for purpose, but rather surprisingly I never find canvas straps to be particularly resilient or hard wearing. After a could of weeks, the threading is already showing plenty of wear and I’d question its longevity.

The hardware is well made, although the keeper loops are fixed in their locations – so if you have a small wrist you’ll have a long length that flops around at the end.

The movement

The movement powering the Enigma is the Seiko VK64. It’s quite well known for the fact that it’s a “mecha-quartz”. Basically, it’s a movement that has both mechanical and quartz technologies within – the time is standard quartz, but the chronograph is mechanical, but powered by battery. So you get a “sweep” of the chronograph second hand, at 5 ticks per second.

As it’s a Seiko movement, you can be sure that it’s going to be well made and reliable, and will stand the test of time. The specs include 3 year battery life, +/- 20 seconds per month accuracy, date, 24 hour indicator and chronograph functionality.

Final comments

The quality of this timepiece has staggered me, it looks and feels the quality of a watch at least double the price.

Firstly, it’s well designed, which is always important. But it’s the sheer weight and attention to detail that has struck me. The case is great, with a super clear double domed sapphire crystal (not seen very often on affordable watches) and anti-reflective coating (I always think a decent AR makes a watch look expensive), and also a dial that’s been well thought out and put together, with elements here and there that you wouldn’t expect.

Of course, it’s not all perfect; the strap will need changing sooner than you’d think and the bezel action is a bit clunky and not so smooth, but there are minor flaws on what is otherwise an excellent timepiece. And then you have the cool mecha-Quartz Seiko movement too.

For £160 I’m struggling to think of a better option in terms of a heavy duty chronograph.
Nope, I don’t think I can.

If the G. Gerlach Enigma takes your fancy, then I’d highly recommend it.

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It’ll cost you 1359 Polish Zloty / £245, and you get a solid Seiko automatic movement, blasted case, sapphire crystal, and a 2 year warranty to name a few features.

The ORP Orzel was the lead ship of her class of submarines in the Polish Navy during World War II, and the word Orzel means Eagle. ORP stands for Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, or Warship of the Republic of Poland. Now you know your Polish, let’s take a look at the watch to see if it is good value at £245.

The case

The case is a decent size, measuring in at 43mm in diameter, with a 52mm lug to lug length, and a height of 13mm. My wrist is sized between 7-7.5 inches, and I feel it fits me very well. I actually think it wears a little smaller than the 43mm diameter should, which is good. Perhaps this is due to the curved coined edge bezel and angled rehaut. It is quite high, so it is a little difficult to fit under a shirt cuff. Although the design of the watch is the sort that it’s unlikely to be worn with smart wear.

The case is a pleasant sandblasted finish, and is made of 316L stainless steel. I do like how a sandblasted finish is a little bit different, and you don’t really see it around that much. In this, I feel the Orzel 85A provides a nice alternative to the majority of other dive / pilot watches.

The water resistance rating is 200m, which is perfectly suitable for regular scuba diving, which would be suitable for the majority of us, bar the professional divers out there.

The case has a domed sapphire crystal, which has a lovely blue anti-reflective coating on the underside. The AR is effective, albeit a bit of a pain to photograph. You can tell it’s a decent thick crystal, as it sounds a decent thud when you tap it.

The Orzel has a screw-in bulbous onion shape crown. The grip is thin and light, yet is very precise and works perfectly due to the size and shape of the crown. It has the G. Gerlach logo extremely lightly etched on the end, which actually almost lines up nicely with the case when screwed in.

The screw-in caseback features a graphic of the Orzel submarine that featured in World War II. surrounding this is some watch specifics, mostly in Polish. Again, like the crown, it is etched a little too lightly. I believe it could be due to the case being sandblasted rather than the more usual polished or brushed finish.

A key design cue of the Orzel is the coined edge bezel. Each groove is accurate, smooth and not too heavy on the eye. This is the kind of things that would split opinions on a watch, so you either like it, or you really hate the watch because of this. I’ve never been too fussed on this style of edging, but I’m surprisingly pleased with how it looks. The watch does get a lot of comments too, so it’s obviously popular with others.

The case has Orzel 85A etched on the left side, much deeper and more impressively done than the caseback and crown. It suits the watch well and has been tastefully done, unlike how Invicta do it sometimes.

The Orzel has reasonably long, curvy lugs. They’re drilled through, so changing the strap is easy and you’re unlikely to damage the case whilst doing so.

The case is simple in its shape and design, but it’s very well machined. The sandblasted finish is completely flawless across its entirety. This is the sort of thing that G. Gerlach have become well know for: solid, reliable manufacturing.

The dial

There’s two main parts to the dial that are key features. Firstly, there’s the blue (or black) sunburst effect, where the colour lightens in the centre. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this (Lew and Huey Orthos) but it seems to be rather popular. Indeed, it’s more interesting than a plan blue or black dial – but I feel that it’s something that you’ve got to like to go to with it.

Second, it has a distinct linear guilloche texture to it – think Melbourne Watch Co’s Flinders. These lines are impeccably chased into the dial, even at extreme close ups. The logo within the top half, and the “85A” in the bottom half are both on their own mini platforms to ensure the printing is on a flat surface. This is done with brilliant accuracy, as you can’t even tell due to the printing being so precisely done within them.

The hour and minute hands are simple – but I think they’ve been styled to mimic a submarine or a torpedo. If this is the case, then it’s very clever and ties them into the theme of the watch nicely. They both have lume filled centres, which matches the hour markers as being the only aspects visible in the dark. The seconds hand is a simple thin steel hand, with a triangular counterweight.

All the hands are made with precision, and finished very well with no tool marks or bad manufacturing evident. They’re all polished, so they catch the light nicely, and match the hour markers.

The hour markers are quite petite, being discs for the majority – apart from batons for 12, 3, 6 and 9. Matching the hands, they have a lumed centre and a polished steel border. They’re all formed with the precision we’ve come to expect from G. Gerlach.

The dial has a set of red crosshairs on it, which mimic a periscope on a submarine. Another nice nod to the Orzel submarine.

One thing that has impressed me is the strength of lume on the Orzel. The hands and hour markers all glow very well after having a brief charge, and it also lasts a reasonable amount of time.

There’s a pretty large rehaut on the Orzel, which I feel joins the dial with the case and creates a large viewing area. It has a minute track neatly printed on.

All of the printing on the dial is precise. Even when the text is extremely thin, it’s still printed cleanly and without any smudging.

The dial as a whole is flawlessly implemented. The only thing that concerns me is that the sunburst effect won’t be to everyone’s taste. 

The strap

The strap is a very thick, soft leather measuring 22mm wide for the entire length – from the lugs to the buckle.

For many, a decent strap can really make a watch stand out, and I feel that this is the case with the Orzel. The strap is very impressive – not only in thickness but also in how it feels and looks. It’s extremely soft to the touch, and is very comfortable on the wrist too. All stitching is thick, extremely well stitched and gives the feeling of very good quality and craftsmanship.

The strap only has one keeper loop, but it’s as wide as two put together, which I guess is the reason why there’s only one. It’s the same decent leather as the strap, secured with two decent stitches. Because it’s so wide, I haven’t found it an issue with having the long end of the strap flapping around which can be annoying.  The colour is a deep oak reddy brown, which sets the blue of the dial off nicely.

The Pre-V tang buckle is brushed, so it doesn’t match the case perfectly, but to be honest it can get away with it due to them never really being right next to each to be able to tell the difference.  It has the G. Gerlach logo etched on the right side, providing a pleasant design feature, keeping it interesting. The tang is an angular shape, fitting the deepness of the holes well and should make the strap last a while before they get all mangled up.

There is just one thing to mention, which of course is inevitable. The length at which you put the buckle on the strap whilst wearing the watch leaves a crease on the leather pretty quickly. This is most probably due to the thickness and softness of the strap. Of course, this happens with every leather strap but I did notice it happen quite quickly with the Orzel.

Still, even with this tiny issue it’s a real beauty of a strap. 

The movement

The movement used in the G. Gerlach ORP Orzel is the Seiko NH35A, a movement we’ve seen a few times recently, namely in the Melbourne Parkville and the Gruppo Gamma A-41. It’s become known to be an excellent movement. Based on a classic Seiko workhorse moment, it has been upgraded and has the added features of a hacking seconds and hand winding capability.

It boasts a pretty standard line up of specs, namely 24 jewels, runs at 21.6k bph (6 ticks per second), and has a 41 hour power reserve. The rotor winds the mainspring up when it spins in both directions – clockwise and anti-clockwise, which is good as it winds up at every opportunity. If you’re interested in how it looks in the flesh, have a look at my Gruppo Gamma A-41 review. 

Accuracy-wise, the NH35A is well known as being excellent straight out of the factory, and the one we have here is no different. It’s losing no more than 10 seconds a day which is what affordable mechanical movements should really be aiming for.

For me, I think it’s a great choice. You’ve got the Seiko history and experience, combined with their ability to make outstanding workhorse movements that go on for decades without requiring a service. I think the movement in the Orzel 85A will go on for a very long time with no problems whatsoever. 

The competition

There’s not a lot out there that looks similar to the Orzel. It’s a sort of cross between a diver and a big pilot / B-Uhr watch. If you want something on the cheap that looks sort of like it, then you could go for the Parnis Big Pilot, which will cost you about ~£70.

Alternatively, you could go for another diver watch, but one that looks different. There’s so many in this price range. How about the Orzel’s brother, the Otago?

Final comments

I must say, the Orzel 85A has received a surprising amount of comments. It’s obvious that people really like how it’s styled, and it’s plain to see that it’s a solid, well made timepiece too. Specs-wise, there’s not much better you can go for the price: solid Seiko automatic movement, sapphire crystal, lovely thick leather strap, and sturdy build quality to boot.

As ever, it’s a question of whether or not you like the style of the watch. The two main culprits I can see are the coin edged bezel and the sunburst effect on the dial. But if you do like these, then it’s definitely a great buy.

The post G. Gerlach Orzel ORP 85A Watch Review appeared first on 12&60.

G. Gerlach was created by a group who wanted Poland to become better known in the industry world. According to their words on their website: “Poland’s economy is not innovative – it’s just reproductive.” G. Gerlach wants to change this, by creating watches which are Made In Poland, known the whole world round. Thus putting Poland firmly on the map. 

So let’s take a look at the Otago. It costs 1169 Polish Zloty, which equals around £220 / $350. For that price you’re getting a well specced watch; with sapphire crystal, automatic SeaGull movement, 2 year warrantee, and the reputation of an excellent watch brand. The Otago comes in a variety of colours, namely orange, graphite, yellow (the variant we’ll be reviewing) and blue. Let’s see if it holds up well under closer inspection. 

The case

The case is a very distinctive shape, measuring 42mm in diameter, with a 50mm lug to lug length – so it’s quite a beast. It’s a very 70s retro barrel shape case – the main design feature I feel is how the lugs cover the top of the strap ends. This makes the Otago look larger than it is due to the flat bottoms, although it still fits my 7.5″ wrist perfectly fine with no issues in being oversized.

The height is 15mm, which may cause issue for some during casual wear. It does sit pretty high, and it can be a struggle fitting it under a cuff. But that’s the price you pay for buying a tank-like watch. 

The Otago weighs in a 150g on the silicone strap, which is super heavy – this is a testament to how chunky and well made this thing is. When you have it on your wrist you definitely know about it. 

The majority of the case is a brushed finish, only the two sides are polished. I love the brushing on the top of the case – it’s all in a outwards starburst direction, rather than straight upwards or sideways. This is the first of many lovely touches of pleasant subtle design and high attention to detail. All of the finishing of the case is excellent – the polished finish is spotless, and the brushing is superb, thanks to the starburst effect. Where the two different finishes meet together, the join is neat and refined. The machining of the case as a whole is good too, especially considering its unique shape. 

The screw-in crown on the Otago is larger than normal, measuring 9mm in diameter and 5mm wide, although surprisingly it doesn’t dig in to the back of your wrist or arm whilst wearing it – thankfully. It’s fully brushed, bar the insides of the grip’s teeth which is a pleasant level of detail that could have easily been overlooked. These huge teeth acting as grip are excellently machined, with definite corners and equal depths. They do their job well, offering good grip on the crown to unscrew and adjust it. 

The crown has the G. Gerlach logo engraved on the end, pleasantly deep and thick. The thread is evidently high quality and seems to last forever when you’re unscrewing it, reassuring you of the Otago’s 200m water resistance. 

The bezel is in a similar vein to the crown; chunky and tool-like with epic grip. I really like the shape of the grip on the outside edge of the bezel, each tooth looks like a shark fin pointing anti-clockwise. This is probably the most effective grip I’ve ever come across. As you’d expect, it’s made beautifully and looks quality. Here’s another nice positive – the bezel markings are all lumed. The engraving is accurate, especially around the small numbers, and the lume is filled evenly. The lume itself is strong, glowing brightly and charging without any problems. The one problem with the bezel, and indeed one of the only negatives of the Otago is the bezel action. It’s extremely harsh, feeling almost as if there’s sand in it, and makes you wince as you use it. This is a shame, but it does work, and it’s fairly easy to use too – it’s not as if it’s really hard to rotate. Interestingly, it does rotate both ways, whether it’s supposed to or not, I’m not sure. 

The bezel has a perfectly flat top, which lines up absolutely with the top of the flat sapphire crystal. The crystal is wonderfully clear, thanks to the highly effective anti-reflective coating on the underside. Thanks to it being flat and not curved, you get good visibility from any angle without distortion. It’s really that impressive, it makes viewing the watch a delight, especially when you catch the light on the hands and applied indices. I particularly like how seamless the link is between the tops of the crystal and the bezel. 

The caseback is another impressive aspect of the Otago. It’s screw-in, as you’d expect from a divers watch. It’s fully brushed, and has a delightful drawing of the ship Otago, plus Joseph Conrad’s signature. Surrounding this is the watch specifics, such as the water resistance, serial number, sapphire crystal etc. Imitating the case as a whole, it is exquisitely engraved, even the very finest and intricate points. A highly impressive case back. 

The case in general is indicative of a watch of much greater cost. G. Gerlach have done a fantastic job of creating such an impressive refined beast for £220. 

The dial

The G. Gerlach Otago comes in a variety of colours, the yellow and blue being the latest to be released. As a divers watch, the bright colour of the yellow dial and the contrast with the thick hands offer excellent visibility. I love the colour too – it’s not a harsh luminous yellow, but rather has a much more classy, elegant golden hue. This allows you to be able to wear the Otago in a casual setting easily without looking like an idiot. 

The printing is all done with pinpoint accuracy: The dial features the G. Gerlach logo in the top half, which is just the right weight – not too large, bold or overpowering. It has “Rotor system” and “water 200m resist” in the bottom half. The dial also features a thin set of crosshairs, breaking it up into quarters and keeping things interesting. 

The date window is located at 3 and is incorporated into the slightly raised outer track housing the minute markers and applied hour indices. The window is pleasantly done – it’s not just a hole cut into the dial, but rather it has a precise white border around it. One thing you rarely see on affordable watches is a date wheel that isn’t white. This is because alternative colours are harder to get and therefore more expensive. Thus, usually even if the design calls for it, they’re never changed to match. It’s pleasing to see that the date wheel on the Otago is black, to match the window surround and the watch’s design. The white printed date numbers are spot on and in a font that matches the style of the watch. 

The hands are chunky batons with points on the end, providing good visibility against the dial. The hour and minute hands are both polished, bar the bottom half of the minute hand, which is black. They both have a lumed channel down the centre, which is of similar impressive strength as the bezel. The second hand is a long pointed arrow, and is white. They are all made spotlessly, and I do very much like the design of the hands. I feel it matches the hefty feel the whole watch well. It would look completely wrong if a watch like this had thin, feeble hands. 

The outer track provides a small sense of depth, thanks to it being applied and therefore on a higher level than the main section of the dial. The white printed minute track sits neatly within this dark grey surround. Each hour marker is also located in the outer chapter ring, which extends out to necessitate them. This mimics the extreme tooth design of the crown and bezel, allowing the  heavy duty tool / diver ethos of the Otago to flow through. Each hour marker is designed to look like a cross-section of the minute and hour hands – two thick polished steel edges down the sides, with a strong lumed channel in the centre. All of the hour markers are finished to perfection, with no markings on whatsoever. Because of the thickness of the polished hands and indices, the Otago really looks stunning when they all catch and reflect the light just right. And thanks to the clarity of the crystal, you get to see it perfectly. 

I’ve been positively impressed with the high level of detail and pinpoint accuracy of the Otago so far, and the dial definitely didn’t disappoint. 

The strap

The strap measures 22mm wide at the lugs, reducing to 20mm at the buckle, which feels like the correct proportion for the Otago. 

It is a gum / silicone strap, with an incredible vanilla smell that is actually very pleasant. You get the occasional whiff of it whenever you move your wrist around. The strap is excellent quality; it’s soft to the touch and pretty thick too at 4mm – but also surprisingly supple and malleable considering this. The soft feel means it’s comfortable on the wrist and doesn’t rub or irritate the skin. The thickness does mean that it will take a little while to break in as it is a little stiff to begin with. 

The strap has “Made in Italy” and the G. Gerlach logo moulded on the bottom on either side, accurately and neatly done.  

On the top of the strap is a sporty carbon fibre texture, which isn’t the usual thing you see on a divers watch. Still, I think it suits the style and design well and looks good. The pattern is gentle  enough to not be too overpowering or attention grabbing. 

One thing I would have liked to see is a little more effort put into is the buckle. It’s plain polished steel, with no markings or engravings at all. Personally, I think it should be brushed rather than polished, to match the case; and then it should at least have G. Gerlach or the G logo etched into the top bar – because at the moment it seems to be an afterthought, almost as if it was the buckle that came with the strap, and nothing was done with it. 

The strap itself is clearly a high quality silicone strap, which not only looks and feels good, it also smells pretty nice too. Yum.

The movement

The movement powering the Otago is the Seagull ST25: A no-nonsense workhorse of a movement from a brand which is popular with affordable watch manufacturers.

The ST25 is an automatic movement, running at 21.6k bph (which beats 6 ticks per second). It has a date function, can be hand wound, and has a hacking second hand. It feels very sturdy in the hand when changing the time and date, reassuring you that it’s well put together. 

Whilst it’s quiet when it’s running, you can hear  the rotor spinning quite loudly if you’re somewhere quiet and move your wrist quickly. 

The accuracy is proving to be very good too. I’ve measured this one to be 8 seconds fast a day. Considering a COSC certified chronometer is regulated to 5 seconds a day, I’ll happily take an extra 3 seconds for a watch that costs £220. 

The competition

Like any affordable diver, the main competitors are always going to be Seiko offerings. The two that come to mind are the SKX007 and the Monster – both of which are excellent watches in their own right. However, they do appear a lot and aren’t that exclusive or unique anymore, unlike the Otago. In terms of specs, the Otago can say that it has sapphire crystal vs hardlex, and a movement with a hacking seconds hand, allowing you to set it with greater precision. But at the end of the day, any of these watches are excellent. 

Final comments

I’ve really grown to love the G. Gerlach Otago. It oozes a refined industrial feel to it, which is a neat trick for a divers watch. The fit and finish of the case is excellent, as is the execution of the dial. The delightfully clear sapphire crystal tops it all off.

Something I haven’t mentioned before is the lovely wooden box the Otago comes in, plus the inclusion of a strap pin removal tool. These are lovely little features that make the experience of owning a G. Gerlach all the better. 

The only negative is the bezel action. Whilst it does work, it’s not a pleasure to use and the first time you do you’ll probably go “urgh” as I did. Still, I don’t think it’s something that should stop you from buying it. I would definitely recommend the Otago to someone seeking a chunky diver, which is an alternative to a Seiko, that can pass off as a casual watch. At £220, it offers brilliant value for money, plus you’re supporting a wonderful small brand from Poland. 

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