About a year ago, I got a vibrating alarm Casio G-shock because none of the dozen or so alarm watches I had listened to were loud enough for me to hear from more than a few inches away, when my desktop computers are running. Recently, I happened to be near "The Watchmaker" store in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and browsed around. I heard the Luminox Field Chrono Alarm go off about 10 feet behind me, above the sound of a bus rumbling past the store. That pretty much sold the watch to me right then and there.
The watch is a model 1888. On the back is "Series 1880." It's on the Luminox website under "1880 1890 Field Chrono Series," and doesn't even mention the alarm. (
http://luminox.800rpm.com/index.php?/site/catalog/series/1880 1890 Field Chrono Series) The 42mm version has the same functions and looks similar, but I suspect that the alarm is not as loud.
It is 47mm, thick and heavy, but I can easily read it without my glasses, even from 10 feet away... and of course in complete darkness because of the tritium markers.
It's stainless-steel, battery-powered and has a thick heavy leather band. For my skinny wrist, I need the next-to-last set of double holes to buckle the strap. But, once on, it's comfortable, and I quickly become unaware of it until that alarm fires off.
Several years ago, I got caught in an important situation at work where my battery-powered watch had died and I didn't know it. That cost me plenty on several levels. Since then, it's been strictly solar or mechanical for me. So why would I buy this battery powered watch, I asked myself... because it will tell me when the battery is running low. Instead of just stopping, the second hand will jump four seconds at a time. Well, that was my rationale for buying it, anyway.
This has become my "every day" timepiece.
Pros:
1. LOUD alarm.
2. Easy to read on a nightstand or from across the room.
3. Light green tritium on hour and minute hands and at each hour numeral, and orange tritium at "12".
4. Crisp detente on chrono and alarm pushers.
5. Two-position screw-down crown.
6. Sapphire glass crystal
7. 48-month battery life with low-battery warning.
8. Heavy duty, double eyelet leather band with roller on buckle.
9. Heavy duty steel case.
10. 100-meter water resistance.
Cons:
1. Not solar.
2. Window displays today's, yesterday's and tomorrow's date, but not day of week, month or year.
3. No automatic calendar adjustment.
4. Not "atomic" (time update receiver).