Good afternoon folks,
I haven't come across much on the Armida A9 and thought I would give a short review on my latest acquisition. Acquisition by chance as a matter of fact. Originally I was looking into the Steinhart OVM, unfortunately I could not get over the grey dial on the MKII.
Other alternatives:
Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military (42 mm, Swiss made ETA movement)
Davosa Ternos (42 mm, Swiss made ETA, more here: https://www.watchuseek.com/f67/davosa-ternos-ceramic-full-review-2215690.html)
Squale 20 atmos (40 mm, Swiss made ETA, seems hard to get in Europe)
Precista PRS-82 (40 mm, NOS ETA, no bracelet)
The Armida A9 is a milsub homage, and comes at the traditional size of 39.5mm bezel diameter. It uses the NH35A Seiko movement, which is a robust and reliable movement, but does not have the pedigree of the ETA. SO far it has lost about 3s in 24 h which I can live with very well.
Some of the specs directly from Armida:
- C3 lumed bezel dot, hour markers and hands
- 38.5 mm case diameter
- 39.5 mm bezel diameter
- Lug to lug 47.8mm
- Lug distance 20mm
- Height 14.8 mm (incl. domed crystal)
- Sapphire crystal 2.6 mm double domed
- Anti reflective coating on the inside crystal
- 20mm bracelet and rubber strap
- Waterproof to 500m/1650feet
- Screwed and signed crown 7mm
not mentioned here are the drilled lugs, which I always find a bonus, especially on a milsub style watch. The finish of the Armida is very nice, with polished sides and a polished and signed crown, all other surfaces are brushed. The bezel notches are polished as well.
The bezel insert is made of Aluminium and has minute marks all around the diameter. The 12 o'clock is not marked by a triangle as is commonly seen on all kind of submariner style dive watches. The pip is set on a metal disk and centered on the 12 o'clock mark. The bezel clicks nicely, 120 clicks per turn. It turns well, not as good as my Seiko Sumo - but this is mainly due to the reduced gripping area on this style of bezel.
The sword hands are polished and contrast nicely in sun light or when lit with light, the lume is very good and lasts through the night. The dial is matte and has the indices printed on them. Generally the dial is very nice, a little too sterile for some maybe.
One thing that I have found mentioned in the sparse posts here and on other forums is the height of the caseback. It is indeed a little higher, but I do not think that the height of the 500m version will pose a problem to anybody.
The riveted bracelet is a little annoying to size, but not much more annoying than Seiko Sumo/Tuna or Omega Seamaster bracelet I have encountered. It has solid endlinks. The links are solid and somewhat thin (but not cheap or light) which adds to the vintage flair in my opinion. To come to the biggest drawback, the clasp. It does its job, and is a step above the Invicta, but not as nice as other clasps in this price range. The divers extension is a little annoying and disengages a little to easily.
A comparison between the oh so common modding watch the Invicta 8926, which comes in a similar size (40 mm). A few wrist shots on my 6.75 in wrist follow.
I think it can be said that it sits slightly higher, but not as much that it would be uncomfortable. As a matter of fact it is an extremely comfortable watch to wear on your wrist.
Compared to the Seiko Sumo
Some more strap options:
Pro:
- case shape and size come close to the vintage feeling
- solid bracelet (with solid endlinks) with vintage flair
- great lume
- double doomed sapphire glas
- good finishing
- no date option available
Neutral:
- Seiko movement, feels a little to cheap for this price class, still a solid movement though
Disadvantage:
- clasp
- dial is a little sterile
Edit:
according to http://www.timetechtalk.com/forum79/27037.html and roughly confirmed with a ruler the bezel dimensions are:
Dial opening: 28mm
Bezel insert ID/OD: 29.7mm / 36.5mm
This would mean aftermarked bezels for the Rolex 10460 would be an exact fit. Very useful if spare parts became unavailable
I haven't come across much on the Armida A9 and thought I would give a short review on my latest acquisition. Acquisition by chance as a matter of fact. Originally I was looking into the Steinhart OVM, unfortunately I could not get over the grey dial on the MKII.
Other alternatives:
Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military (42 mm, Swiss made ETA movement)
Davosa Ternos (42 mm, Swiss made ETA, more here: https://www.watchuseek.com/f67/davosa-ternos-ceramic-full-review-2215690.html)
Squale 20 atmos (40 mm, Swiss made ETA, seems hard to get in Europe)
Precista PRS-82 (40 mm, NOS ETA, no bracelet)
The Armida A9 is a milsub homage, and comes at the traditional size of 39.5mm bezel diameter. It uses the NH35A Seiko movement, which is a robust and reliable movement, but does not have the pedigree of the ETA. SO far it has lost about 3s in 24 h which I can live with very well.
Some of the specs directly from Armida:
- C3 lumed bezel dot, hour markers and hands
- 38.5 mm case diameter
- 39.5 mm bezel diameter
- Lug to lug 47.8mm
- Lug distance 20mm
- Height 14.8 mm (incl. domed crystal)
- Sapphire crystal 2.6 mm double domed
- Anti reflective coating on the inside crystal
- 20mm bracelet and rubber strap
- Waterproof to 500m/1650feet
- Screwed and signed crown 7mm
not mentioned here are the drilled lugs, which I always find a bonus, especially on a milsub style watch. The finish of the Armida is very nice, with polished sides and a polished and signed crown, all other surfaces are brushed. The bezel notches are polished as well.
The bezel insert is made of Aluminium and has minute marks all around the diameter. The 12 o'clock is not marked by a triangle as is commonly seen on all kind of submariner style dive watches. The pip is set on a metal disk and centered on the 12 o'clock mark. The bezel clicks nicely, 120 clicks per turn. It turns well, not as good as my Seiko Sumo - but this is mainly due to the reduced gripping area on this style of bezel.
The sword hands are polished and contrast nicely in sun light or when lit with light, the lume is very good and lasts through the night. The dial is matte and has the indices printed on them. Generally the dial is very nice, a little too sterile for some maybe.
One thing that I have found mentioned in the sparse posts here and on other forums is the height of the caseback. It is indeed a little higher, but I do not think that the height of the 500m version will pose a problem to anybody.
The riveted bracelet is a little annoying to size, but not much more annoying than Seiko Sumo/Tuna or Omega Seamaster bracelet I have encountered. It has solid endlinks. The links are solid and somewhat thin (but not cheap or light) which adds to the vintage flair in my opinion. To come to the biggest drawback, the clasp. It does its job, and is a step above the Invicta, but not as nice as other clasps in this price range. The divers extension is a little annoying and disengages a little to easily.
A comparison between the oh so common modding watch the Invicta 8926, which comes in a similar size (40 mm). A few wrist shots on my 6.75 in wrist follow.
I think it can be said that it sits slightly higher, but not as much that it would be uncomfortable. As a matter of fact it is an extremely comfortable watch to wear on your wrist.
Compared to the Seiko Sumo
Some more strap options:
Pro:
- case shape and size come close to the vintage feeling
- solid bracelet (with solid endlinks) with vintage flair
- great lume
- double doomed sapphire glas
- good finishing
- no date option available
Neutral:
- Seiko movement, feels a little to cheap for this price class, still a solid movement though
Disadvantage:
- clasp
- dial is a little sterile
Edit:
according to http://www.timetechtalk.com/forum79/27037.html and roughly confirmed with a ruler the bezel dimensions are:
Dial opening: 28mm
Bezel insert ID/OD: 29.7mm / 36.5mm
This would mean aftermarked bezels for the Rolex 10460 would be an exact fit. Very useful if spare parts became unavailable