I Have The Time, If Not The Inclination

Well, Dear Reader, late last year I bought myself an early Xmas present: the COURG Type-A 39mm Ti-5 watch from RDX.

Yep, yet another watch. And I only had my last watch, the Suunto Traverse Alpha Stealth for less than 6 months.

What gives?

Well, I found the watch by accident, while surfing one of my favourite sites for all things gearporn - everydaycarry.com. You know it.

There was a lead photograph on a post regarding the best "knife, light, and watch" carry from October that caught my eye. I really liked the simple and clean-looking minimalist design and wanted to know more.

Surprisingly, that particular watch was not mentioned in the actual post. Someone had luckily provided the details in the comments with a link to the manufacturer's website. Actually, I think I may have missed that at first and spent ages searching all over and somehow found their kickstarter page which had a link to their website. But all roads etc etc.

The manufacturer offers a number of variant options including face/dial design, with or without date window, Titanium-2 or Titanium-5 construction. My personal choice was the Type-A, no date window (those really irk me), and the more robust Titanium-5.

So what does this watch actually do apart from tell the time, you ask?

Nothing.

The only thing that makes this different from most others is that it is an automatic, ie self-winding, mechanical watch. I really liked that aspect.

When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. It came in a small wooden crate along with a small canvas roll-bag and a "mission log" notebook. A nice touch.

 

So my verdict?     

The Good

• Clean design - I prefer minimalist designs
• Various options - I like having options, like no date window
• Self-Winding - Why not?

The Bad

•  Nothing

The Indifferent

• The 'factory standard' NATO 20mm watch strap - kind of thin for the watch's bulk
• The night-time illumination - Well, it's no tritium...

So my only real gripe was concerning the strap, a 20mm NATO ballistic nylon strap. It felt 'thin' in comparison to the heft of the watch. Luckily, I purchased (also from RDX) a robust black leather strap replacement and like the way the watch sits on the wrist more now.

Overall verdict?

I think this watch gets a deserved A grade. If there was a tritium option for illumination, it would definitely get an A+.

Now the only problem I have is deciding which watch to wear...

And, honestly, I haven't worn the Traser since last June.