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Stuhrling Original 664.02

4K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  Bodyblue 
#1 ·
Like many of us on this forum I love finding out about watches I have never heard of. I also know that I am in the minority in that I like quartz watches. Some of the watches one hears about are talked about because they are disliked for how the company that makes them markets them....Invicta being the one that seems to bring about them most angst IMO. The other reason many dislike some brands is how some brands are not quite clear about company history or play games with names bought from old companies and put on what some consider poorer quality watches. I simply dont care about any of that, period. All I consider is how good the product is for the price I paid for it. I admit that when I see a brand get trashed for the reasons above but I like the looks and specs of them, I am intrigued. That was the case with the two Invicta Pro Divers and it is the case with the SO that I just received. I am always on the lookout for a great buy in a quartz diver and SO caught my eye. Like many watches today, most of their line is way to big for my tastes since I like 40mm and under. The SO 664 series is 39mm so it was the only SO I am interested in. After looking at them for weeks around the $50-90 price range on eBay and Amazon (Amazon sells a ton of them) I found this one from a seller that was willing to take a Best Offer since, while new, it had no box. I offered $45 and he accepted it (to my surprise actually) and since I had an eBucks coupon, my total cost was $27. I actually did not see in the pictures that the band was of the type that cant be changed (Until after I had bought it) and it is a little skinny at 18mm but I figured for the price I was paying, I would at least let it be delivered and see how it looked.

The specs are 200m WR, Japanese movement, screw down crown, SS case and a crystal material that is supposed to be better than regular mineral.

In other words, decent specs for a quartz diver under $100. I read over 100 reviews on Amazon and the vast majority were positive and that was one of the reasons I wanted to see for myself how good or bad it was. The main complaint was that some people thought it would be bigger (duh, read the specs) and the next was that they did not like the band (more than one said the pins fell out when they took it out of the box). The positive reviews stated the obvious; its a nice looking watch in whatever color it comes in (Black, Blue, Black with orange bezel and Green Bezel and gray face) and has a lot of features for the money. The MSRP at $375 is so far beyond reality that it really is laughable. The watch itself seems to be very nicely finished (no defects in the case or face) and well built but the thing that really keeps it from being a super buy is the band. It seems to be solid link but it is light, but not squeaky. At 18mm it is a bit skinny and cant be changed. I like it and will keep it since it was only $27 but I would have been very disappointed if I had paid $50 for it.......all because of the band. Make it 20mm and changeable and they would have had a real winner for the money. Where my Invicta Pro Divers are solid $100-120 watches, this SO is only worth about $50 MAX IMO because of the band. Its not all that bad really but to someone like me that loves to change bands, it will get less wrist time than my Invictas.

Verdict; I like it, but dont love it because of the band. The quality of the watch seems comparable with Invictas in this price range but Invictas bracelets are far superior in every way. I would buy another SO if I can ever find one about this size BUT with a changeable band. If I cant find one, I would not buy another unless it was for the stupid low price I got this one for.

 
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#2 ·
They had a big following on a certain forum that. I think no longer exists. I do remember one model that came out and all the fanboys were buying then up. A couple or few weeks later reports of hands falling off were almost daily.
I never cared about the style and quality of them, so I never bought one, but that's me. Maybe they turned around
 
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#3 ·
Have one Stuhrling diver. Bought another. Was defective in the box, so I sent it back. The second one showed essentially the same flaw.

If you have one where the original owner has vetted the watch, that almost seems safer than buying new.

That said, I like the one I have. The bracelet suffers from polished center-- so scratch prone-- but it was $60 new and the bracelet exceeds the quality of many >$100 watches. Solid end links, the metal for the links had some folds, but they were tucked to the center of the link and the clasp wasn't crap.

Obviously quartz at that price point, really the only valid complaint is the lume. Fair is probably as good as I'd go with it.

Still for a <$100 diver, if you want quartz you could do worse.
 
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#5 ·
Have one Stuhrling diver. Bought another. Was defective in the box, so I sent it back. The second one showed essentially the same flaw.

If you have one where the original owner has vetted the watch, that almost seems safer than buying new.

That said, I like the one I have. The bracelet suffers from polished center-- so scratch prone-- but it was $60 new and the bracelet exceeds the quality of many >$100 watches. Solid end links, the metal for the links had some folds, but they were tucked to the center of the link and the clasp wasn't crap.

Obviously quartz at that price point, really the only valid complaint is the lume. Fair is probably as good as I'd go with it.

Still for a <$100 diver, if you want quartz you could do worse.
At the price I paid, I would call it a good deal. At $50 only a fair deal. As far as the looks go, I think its very handsome and the color is a knockout in the sun.
 
#4 ·
I will do my lime standard test tonight; I hit it with the UV flashlight for a few minutes before bed and if i can see glow all to the morning, it passes. My Invictas do it easily.
 
#6 ·
Looks like you got a decent one, Bodyblue, which is what usually happens with Stuhrling Original. As an owner of four of its watches (and buyer of five, one of which is worn by my wife), I can say that the company generally does a good job. My Stuhrling Tuskegee Flier is one of the best watches I own; hacking movement, incredibly accurate (+/-5 seconds), can be worn both casually and with suits, decent (not great) lume, and can take a licking. Best $60 I've ever paid for an object. The Stuhrling Executive is a nice skeletonized dress watch that looks better than it should for the $105 paid for it. The straps are nothing to talk about; but Seiko and Citizen also tend to do poorly when it comes to strap on watches below $300 (and being a watch enthusiast, I'll change out the straps anyway). So I wouldn't be shocked that Stuhrling's bracelets aren't much better. But in general, decent for the price in my experience.

That said, Stuhrling has had duds. Plenty of them. Especially its dual-time watches, almost all of which use the terrible PTS Resources Z2015 movement (also called ST-91015 by Stuhrling). I owned the Stuhrling Tempest for one month, and by the end of it, the rotor fell apart and stopped working altogether. Currently, it sits on my desk as the most-gorgeous paper-weight I've ever owned.

Whenever anyone asks me about Stuhrling, I tell them to buy carefully. For every two good watches, one will be less than par.
 
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#9 ·
I forgot to talk about the bezel..........its very similar to my Invictas. It is tight like them but does not have as nice of a feel, but there is no slop or play.

Also I have been thinking that when buying some of the cheaper brands, it might be a good idea to stick with quartz. They are simply more reliable and even cheap movements usually run forever.
 
#10 ·
Well after seeing how bad the lume is (my $14 Casio blow it AWAY) I decided to flip it. If either I could changed the band OR the lume was not bad, I would have kept it, but those two spell SELL ME. I really think the quality is fine, (not the lume) and if SO ever makes a model like this one that the band is standard, I will consider buying another one. Until then, SO is not for me.
 
#12 ·
Nice! But it is already packed up in its box to be sent to its new owner today. I put a good BIN price on it and it sold last nite, just a few hours after listing it. I still think it is an awesome looking watch and I think it was built and finished quite nicely, but the 18mm band and bad lume pushed it over the line for me. If the band broke it would cost more than the watch was worth to get another one. I am glad I got to actually see for my self just how good or bad they are. Their other lines are bigger so I wont be buying any more of them but if they change the band design, I can see myself wearing one. For now I will stick to Invicta Pro Divers for cheap divers. With the Amazon sale coming in two days, I am waiting til then to see what is next for me.
 
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