Gen Steinhart Ocean44 GMT Pepsi

[rckh]

Dear Folks:

Long time no see! Haven't post for a long time!

Today, I'm going to show you my new toys: Gen Steinhart Ocean44 GMT Pepsi ( Red-Blue).

All these years; I had tried different kind of movement; such as ETA 2824, 2836, 7750, Unita 6497-1, Unita 6498-1, SW-220, SW240,A7750, A6497. It's really a fun path to feel, try, test on different kind of movement & found out their good & weakness. From the moment I join the rep collecting; ETA 2893-2 Gen GMT movement became extreme difficult to source or ask for skyhigh price. That's why I don't have any chance to test in my hand.

Several months ago I found Steinhart offering this Ocean44 GMT powered by ETA2893-2 in a very competitive price + similar design of Rolex Deepsea. As all the ETA2893 model are out-of-stock in Steinhart & preorder will be the only way to get it. My order had been delay 3 times & total waiting time from placing order to arrival almost took more than 2 months. In these painful moment; Steinhart doesn't provide very good CS; no email notification for further delay ,super slow email reply(4~7days...). If anyone would like to order the Steinhart in future; you should be preparing for this.

Here is the detail Spec:

Case: stainless steel

Back: Stainless steel screwed , engraved

Diameter: 44 mm, without crown

height: 13,6 mm

Weight: 205 g

Dial: black

Crystal: Sapphire,inside double antireflection..

Bezel: sapphire crystal

Indices: Super Luminova BGW9

Lug width: 22mm

WaterRes: 300 metres / 990 feet 30 ATM acc. to DIN

Strap: stainless steel 22 mm, screwed

Buckle: stainless steel, safety clasp

Overall polish are well done; no sharp point, smooth edge from case to bracelet to buckle. The bezel & the crystal are made by sapphire; the flat crystal had been treat by inside double AR coating. The coating did their job; it reduce the light reflection & make the dial very clear to read. Dial is matte finished & the printing on dial are sharp & clear; all hands, index & the dot on bezel's 12 o'clock are lumed by BGW9 blue lume. However; I found the lume are not quite "super" as they said. Weak & not going bright even after expose under strong sunlight (IHMO; the lume just like standard crap rep factory lume....).

First impression of the ETA2893-2 is good; smooth manual winding & the automatic winding rotor is very quiet. I can't hear or feel the rotor is spinning even I shake it beside my ear. Accuracy of the movement still need more time to test. Same as the ETA movement;

1.) crown first position for manual winding

2.) second position : Clockwise for Independent GMT adjustment for 1 hour increment. Anti-clockwise for quick day change.

3.) third position for time adjustment with hack function.

So far, I'm satisfied with my Ocean44 GMT. Well build, good looking, big enough & very good price EUR419 w/shipping for a gen ETA2893-2 movement swiss made wristwatch. One more thing I need to mention; as a GMT wristwatches like my Gen Rolex GMTIIC. You should be able to set 3 different time zone 1.) the normal hour hand 2.)the GMT hand 3.)the rotatable bezel. It's very strange the Ocean44 bezel can only be rotate on anti-clockwise.....Unique/single side rotate bezel should be used on the diver watch for diver timing,right? But the GMT bezel should be capable to rotate on both side for the most convenience to use. Seems Steinhart didn't pay enough attention when they design the watch. For sure, there're not many people require for practical usage to read 3 different timezone at the same time. But at least they should improve this strange arrangment in future,right?

Sorry for a long story & my in-professional review. Hope you enjoy & here is several quick snap on my Iphone4.

Best Regards,

Raymond

[maxman]

Very nice..the AR looks like It was very well done on this model.

I also like bracelet/clasp.

Congratulations.

Mike

[Cats]

Nice to see you posting again RCKH.

Great review , the lume is disapointing but if that's all overall it's a nice watch.

Wear it well.

Carpe Diem

Cats

[valerian]

I've been contemplating one of their vintage line. They make great stuff!

Thanks for discussing the watch in detail, great info!

Val.

[rckh]

Mike, cats & Val:

Thx a lot for your reply!

BTW, I forgot to said that i believe steinhart just copy the design of rolex deepsea; but many owners complaint about the width of deepsea bracelet. As the width are same as the other rolex model; the proportion is odd and made the deepsea look like big head with thin legs. Ocean44 use a wider bracelet and made the overall proportion became balance & more reasonable.

Best regardsm

Raymond

[TeeJay]

Good to see you posting, R, I hope life's been treating you well The watch looks really nice, a fine acquisition With regards your observation of the bezel rotation, don't forget that it is branded as a diver's watch, with a luminous pearl, so the bezel function is clearly still geared towards that timing function Also, while I appreciate that many GMT's are bi-directional (some smoother than others) personally, I would prefer the bezel to only be uni directional so the bezel could not slip away from the set time-zone if accidentally knocked, bur of course, that is just my .2c