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- Jul 17, 2014
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It is an elegant purpose-built watch with steel bezel, knurling on the large crown and bezel. We cannot point to any specific inspiration and hence it is not part of the ISO range. It has the essential elements for the international traveller, global importer/exporter or the modern commodity trader to make sense of multiple time-zone.
Easy to read sword hands, applied indices, black only dial C3 SuperLumiNova, date or no date. It has been tested to 30 ATM, providing sufficient protections for most occasions including diving.
Purchase/Inquire
Specifications – WT-1884:
- Case Diameter (no crown) 40.5mm
- Thickness 12.9mm
- Lug Gap 20.0mm
- Lug-to-lug 51.0mm
- Crown 8.0mm
- Crystal (Sapphire) 4.5mm
- AR Coating
- Bracelet 20.0mm x 4.0mm (non-tapering)
- End links Solid
- All links removable via Torx screws
- Bezel 40.50mm
- Bezel Stainless Steel with engraved markings
- Sword Hands
- C3 SuperLumiNova Luminescence (hands and dial)
- Dial Colours: Black
- Indices: Applied
- Complications: Date or No Date
- Movements
- Seagull ST-1812 Automatic (2892-A2 clone)
- Sellita SW300-1 Elaborate Top Regulation (Chronometre Grade)
- Other:
- Case Back Stainless Steel with 6 Torx Screw (Torque: 0.175 Nm approx.)
Order
We prefer to run the company on Old School Values and hence we have NO “Buy it Now” button. If you click on a “Purchase/Inquire” button/link, it will start an email so that we can begin our collaboration on your new watch. This may upset some, but we like to get to know our clients and make friends.To order, please email us and we can discuss what is available and what suits. We may have something on hand, but probably not.
Our watches are made to order and shipped in the sequence of order receipt.
We will discuss and when you are happy with the specifications, we will ask for your full shipping address including phone number for the courier. Then we make and we wait. We will ask for full payment before we ship.
Dan’s details are:
Email: [email protected]
OWC World Timer Review. A Microbrand Most Don't Know About But Should.
Aug 14, 2021
Watch Report
OWC is a brand that many these days are not aware of, but they are still producing not only great-looking watches but also high-quality ones. Be sure to watch all of this video to check out all this watch has to offer, and some insight into the brand...
Thank you all so much for watching!
Orange Watch Company – Global Vision – Traditional Values
www.orangewatchcompany.com
All our prices are in USD (United States Dollars)
Our PayPal is [email protected]
Pricing
OWC offer our products direct to the client with NO retailer/dealer margin. From the outset they are very competitively priced.All new OWC watches are sold only by OWC and nowhere else.
Prices quoted are indications only and may not reflect current stock availability and pricing. Please check for firm pricing and availability.
Pricing for complete watches generally includes global shipping and may have included accessories. But accessories ordered without a watch will have a cost and be subject to shipping charges.
Prices exclude ALL local and government charges, customs, taxes and excises. All local charges are paid by the purchaser. We are not international tax experts, so please check with your local authorities if in doubt.
OWC reserves the right to change, commercial platforms, specifications and prices without notice.
Compressor Principle
The underlying hydrodynamic theory is that: as a vessel is subjected to pressure the structure is compressed. If the structure is made of layers, the layers will be compressed towards each other.The basic principle of a Compressor Case is that the case back can move towards the middle case, thus increasing water resistance.
Parts of the Compressor Principle can be found in many watches: Bulova and Russian watches with their 2-part case backs; the original Omega Seamaster ProPlof with its crystal retained by a ring allowing it to be compressed with rising pressure (but the back was solid and did not move).
E. Piquerez S.A. (ESPA) filed a number of Patents for a “Fluid-Tight” watch case. As I understand from the documents, the case back screws down against a spring assembly located inside the rim of the case back. The case back is “tight” before fully compressing the O-ring. This allows the case back to move inwards as it is exposed to water pressure at depth. Theoretically, increasing the compression pressure on the O-ring for a more water-tight seal. It also minimizes stress on the O-ring by keeping it at lower compression levels until full compression is needed.
OWC takes the theory to the next level. Our crystal has a retaining ring and the case back is retained by 6 screws. Both crystal and case back move inwards as pressure increases and makes the case more water resistant. Simple but effective.
Chronometre and Accuracy
I will start with this somewhat strange comment: A good watch needs to be consistent rather than accurate.
“A marine chronometre is a timepiece that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard” (Wikipedia). The important words are “accurate enough” and “time standard”.
All mechanical timepieces have errors and inaccuracies. Many non-belivers have suggested the solution is thermo-compensated quartz.
Absolute accuracy (while important) is not as important as the consistency of the inaccuracy.
Seamen and adventurers have staked their lives on the consistent errors of their marine chonometres. This is one reason they were locked in a box, so they could not be adjusted during the journey.
As wristwatches became popular, this inaccuracy was compounded by the gate of one’s walk or the speed of one’s step. Older people tend to be less active than younger people and they often complain that their automatic watches will not wind.
Everyone wears their watch differently and this is the challenge for accuracy and consistency.
A watch is a mechanical marvel with many moving parts. Its’ wheels, cogs and teeth all wear, “bed in” or settle into their own rhythm over time. Its’ time keeping changes and the time piece mellows with age.
Strange as it may seem, good audio, amplifiers, DAC’s etc. also change their behaviour/sound after being operating for some some hours.
Galling
Galling or Cold Welding is alive and well and may be experience by some. Joe Greenslade identifies the problem: “A few times each year we receive calls from fastener suppliers who are in conflict with their customer over the quality of stainless steel bolts and nuts. The customer’s complaint is that during installation the bolts are twisting off and/or the bolt’s threads are seizing at the nut’s thread. The frustration of the supplier is that all required inspections of the fasteners indicate they are acceptable, but the fact remains that they are not working”Thread galling is most common with fasteners of stainless steel, aluminium, titanium and other alloys that self-generate protective oxide surface film.
Greenslade Points out: “During fastener tightening, as pressures builds between the contacting and sliding thread surfaces, protective oxides are broken, possibly wiped off, and interface metal high points shear or lock together. This cummulative clogging-shearing-locking action causes increasing adhesion. In the extreme, galling leads to seizing – the actual freezing together of the threads. If tightening is continues, the fastener can be twisted off or its threads ripped out.”
Simply put, Galling occurs when applying too much rotational speed and torque while tightening or undoing screws of these metals resulting in, the nut/threads bite, seize or break. The smaller the size the easier to replicate this and the lower the speed and torque needed to avoid Galling.
Most of us have never heard of Galling. Many are more familiar with automotive sizes fasteners and have limited experience with stainless and alike. Hence when presented with small and micro-screws, can become quite excited and approach the fasteners with force and torque based on prior experience and more appropriate to automotive examples.
Galling and cross threading are some common results of an overzealous application of a driver. This does happen and we have experienced this occasionally. Like a kid who is overly keen to eat the next slice of pie, gets stuck in his throat and the happiness soon ends. As one cook put it: “low and slow”.
In our experience, small fasteners need to be approached slowly, with respect and care. Overly zealous action on watch sized screws can result in galling, seizing and threat damage.
This technique may seem counter intuitive, but it has worked for us: slowly insert the screw until it stops; start turning anti-clockwise; you will feel the thread bed in (albeit in reverse); when you feel this bedding, slowly reverse the rotation and turn the driver clockwise; it should have found the thread channel and action should proceed smoothly and easily; if it does not proceed easily, STOP and reverse the rotation – it may take several attempts to align the threads until the progression is easy and smooth; proceed slowly; when you feel the screw bottom – stop; do not over tighten.
Sometimes it takes what seems like an eternity to align the threads…but patience will result in success and undamaged threads.
If one feels that one’s activity (e.g. using percussion equipment or extreme lifestyle) will cause screws to work out, wipe the screw clean with methylated spirit (or similar) and coat the screw threads with Loctite 222.
We use Loctite 222 on the screw bars that attached the SEL to the watch, but not on the bracelets (that generally are subjected to less rotational movement). If you regularly change bracelets and bands we highly recommend you get a small bottle of Loctite 222.
Shit happens and if this happens to you (and we hope not) we will do all we can to assist.
Torx Design
Torx head screws are technically superior to the other designs. (They also look cool).Torx screw head/drivers were developed by Camcar Textron in the late 1960’s. Torx heads are characterised by a 6-point star-shaped pattern. ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) specification ISO 10664:2005 – specifies the shape and basic dimensions of the hexalobular internal driving feature for bolts and screws, including the gauging method.
Torx screw are found in engineering, electronics and applications requiring precision and high torqueing abilities. Sometimes related to applications requiring “tamper resistance”, since they are not as widely used as more common types
Design Considerations
Torx head screws resist cam-out better than other types like Phillups head or slotted head screws.Phillips head design causes the driver to cam-out, preventing overtightening. Cam-out, while seemingly possitive, risks damage to the driver, screw head, workplace and application. Torx heads are desing to prevent cam-out
One can understand during the widespread automation of the early 20th Century, cam-out can be beneficial to speed up construction. With the development of torque-limiting devices and automatic tools that precisely measure and stop at the desired torque, this benefit has diminished.
The Torx design facilitates the application of higher torque with a similar sized tool without damaging the head, tool and application compared with other designs.
In a hex head design, if the radial force is too great for the material, the corners will be rounded off and the part/tool may fail. In the Torx design, the internal sidewalls are straight and internal facets angles are much smaller than in the hex design and this is greatly minimised.
Hence for a given torque, the potential for damage is much lower. This allows the head of the fastener to be smaller for the same required torque. This is an advantage where space is limited.
Practically, the Torx design facilitates the application of higher torque on the same fastner before the occurrence of cam-out. Simply put, the Torx head is more precise, avoids cam-out, requires a smaller driver, reduces damage to the tool, fastener and application.
The Downside
There is always a price to pay for good design. But we think this is worth it.Those unfamiliar with the Torx design have a disproportionate expectation of the necessary torque required to secure the fastener. While not an issue with automotive sized fasteners that most of us are familiar with. But with small precision horological sized screws this can be an issue.
In practice this means those unfamiliar with the required torque, will apply far too much torque to Torx heads. Worst case, the head will be sheared off and/or the thread is damaged – this happened with our case backs from an unnamed Swiss Assembly house. So it can happen to the experts, (we will not use this house ever again).
As a side note, our Compressor Case has been designed to move. That means it gets more water resistant the higher the pressure. This means that all our case/bracelet screws, retaining rings, etc. do NOT need to have the f@#* tightened out of them.
OWC Leather Band
Simply put we do not like most of the bands on the market. We take bands seriously and wanted better.Many “leather” bands were not 100% leather and some “leather” bands were not leather at all. Many “leather” bands contained artificial man-made fillers or other products We did not like these.
We contacted band makers in China, in Italy and all over the world. None made a band we liked, nor were they willing to make it to our specifications. We tested and deconstructed many bands from the expensive “name brands” to the cheap ones on eBay and found lies, deceit and more lies.
One large Band Manufacture said to us, when asked: “how do you make your vast array of, crocodile, alligator, ostrich bands?” – “We use cow”
This is not is not good, not value and not authentic.
It has taken some time, but our research pointed to Kangaroo.
Studies conducted by CSIRO (an Australian Governmental Scientific Organisation) confirm that kangaroo is one of the strongest leathers available…. Kangaroo leather is lighter and stronger than the hide of a cow or goat. It has 10 times the tensile strength of cowhide and is 50% stronger than goat skin. (Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_leather)
It is not surprising to find Kangaroo used in critical areas of professional Motor Sport for (in particular) gloves and full leathers (race suits).
Hence the OWC band is made from 100% Kangaroo leather, stainless steel hardware (buckle, strengthening tubes), thread and some glue. That is, it – nothing else – just 4 strips of Kangaroo stitched together.
We found a shop in Vietnam: gave the bloke the Hermes videos on strap making and told him: “We want better”
Being obsessive compulsive and a little sceptical, we supply everything (except the thread, glue and labour).
The OWC Bands are designed for OWC watches with screw bars and will be hard to remove if attached to watches without drilled lugs, (due to the 3 stainless steel strengthening tubes at the buckle and screw bar ends).
The OWC Band is competent, clean, designed and fit for purpose – nothing else. It is that simple.
At OWC we accept no Bull.
[Specifications subject to change without notice.]
Thanks Mike.