Sandoz Submariner Review

Singapore Model

by ihaveaticker January 2006

It was a sunny afternoon when I picked-up a small package from my local post office. I rushed home to attend to its contents. The seller has packaged the watch professionally and the watch box was even wrapped in a plastic within the package, presumably to keep it safe from water spillage while in the shipment. The watch itself was supplied in a nice, what I call traditional, jewelry presentation box - green with a touch of gold. Inside of the box is a pillow on which the watch rests. Manufacturer gave the packaging a nice touch with gold lettering on white background, including pillow - "Sandoz of Switzerland" / "Since 1870". Naturally, the international warranty card was included.

Now to the main feature. The first impression that I felt when I picked the watch was its solid, heavy feel and what appears to be a great craftmanship. I was not wrong there - the watch is manufactured to high quality indeed.

The case is made from a single stainless steel block. Sides and bottom, including the crown guards, are polished while top of the case has a mat finish. The case has drill-through lugs, the feature often reserved for higher-end timepiece.

Caseback is of screw-type and provides watchmaker with two options on which tool to use to open/close, as you can see from the photos. The caseback is polished with exception of the central part which is machined to a mat finish and features the following text: "Water Resistant 10 ATM" / "SANDOZ" / "LA COMPAGNIE DES MONTERES" (translation from French: "WATCH COMPANY") / "SANDOZ S.A." / "SINCE 1870" / "2002" / "Stainless Steel".

The dial is black but it appears to be lacquered giving it a very classy look. Luminous markers with silver outline are located at each hour. They are round with exception of 12 o'clock which is inverted triangle and 6 and 9 o'clock markers which are rectangular. Date window is at 3 o'clock. Individual minute gradations are painted against black dial in white, with hourly gradations being slightly thicker, a subtle touch making the dial easier to read. Immediately under 12 o'clock marker the dial features the Sandoz relief-type coat of arms and "Sandoz" lettering. The lower half of the dial, just above the 6 o'clock features the following lettering "AUTOMATIC / 25 JEWELS / SAPPHIRE". At the very bottom of the dial "SWISS" is printed in small lettering. I have to say that all printing and application of markers and the coat of arms are made exceptionally well and is very difficult to spot any flaw. Chapter ring appears to be made of polished aluminium or steel, it is hard to tell because it is not as glossy finish as sides of the case.

Bezel is made of polished steel but top, which is sloping away from the crystal, is painted in gloss black with silver markers at 5 minute intervals and actual 10 minute interval as a number. A shorter gradation marks are painted for each minute, until 15 minute interval. The 12 o'clock is marked as inverted silver triangle and sports a luminous marker. The bezel is one-directional and turns with some effort, however it is slightly easier to turn than, for example, bezel on Seiko Landshark. There are 60 clicks per one revolution. The sapphire crystal is flat rather than domed and it does not have anti-reflective coating. Cyclops eye is located above the date window providing 2x magnification and it works well. The date wheel itself is white with black numbering, again, all printed exceptionally well and appears superb even under the magnification.

Hour, minute and second hands are thoughtfully designed. It is hard to describe what I mean by that but basically overlaps between various hands and markers are such to allow good readibility and are aesthetically pleasing. The hands are also well-made. I couldn't spot a single flaw even given the intricate 'Mercedes' pattern on the hour hand.

The screw-down crown is located at 3 o'clock and is larger than those found on Sandoz models manufactured in Hong Kong. In addition, it is signed with the Sandoz logo. The crown screws and unscrews easily and it has tight feel to it but the thread is coarser than you would find on Citizen Nighthawk or Seiko Landshark. On related matter, I am yet to find a crown that has as good feel as that on Nighthawk. I have no doubt that Sandoz Submariner has a good waterproof ability but I wouldn't take it on air dive tours of the Great Barrier Reef, ya know what I mean. While it has that classic diver look, it is not designed to be a diver watch so it should be treated accordingly. Finally, the crown has two position, date change and time change - standard ETA 2842 operating procedure here.

Bracelet has solid steel links with polished middle links which gives the watch a really nice, classy yet minimalist look. I like that - sometimes manufactures try too hard making the watch to 'dressy'. The clasp is made of stamped steel and has a lock which is polished and features shallowly engraved Sandoz logo. I have to admit, the clasp is a little bit of let-down - there's nothing wrong with it but it does have a slightly 'cheap' feel in comparison to rest of the watch. All link pins have small screws, the feature often reserved for upmarket bracelets.

I did not venture under the hood, so what I'm writing about the movement is what I know about this watch. Basically the watch has Swiss ETA 2824-2 25-jewels automatic hackable movement. I can mention, though, that I have observed a crisp date change within less than 1 1/2 min past midnight!

Well, no need to guess what's next, the first thing to check-out is the lume. I have taken a few shots of the lume just after watch was exposed to sunlight for about 1/2 hour. While it may not be that obvious from the pictures, at least two different luminous materials were used. Hour, minute and second hands, as well as lume on the bezel marker, definitely glow brighter and for longer time than hour markers. I'd guess, Superluminova was applied on what is perceived as 'more critical areas' such as hands, while dial markers were demoted to older phosphorus-type material. I guess, they had to cut the manufacture costs somewhere to keep the piece competitively priced (I'm thinking about the HK competitor). All in all, the lume glows bright and is applied to sufficient surface area, but does not last very long. Don't expect to wake up in an early morning hours and be able to tell the time.

Now to the most interesting part. One of the reasons I bought this watch was all that intrigue I was reading about ETA 2824 movement, so I had to see it for myself. Basically, I have decided to keep the track of timekeeping accuracy out-of-the box, before giving it away for regulation. I monitored the watch for about 4 days. The time keeping accuracy out-of-the box was less than impressive - the watch gained ~28.7 sec per day (within one standard deviation of 5.7 sec). That would add up quickly to nearly 14.5 min per month! If there was a good news it is that the watch gained time consistently.

Well, that won't do for daily use I thought, so I took the watch to my local watchmaker in Canberra. It's hard to find a professional watchmaker these days (sorry, I don't count those 10-minute battery replacement places as professional watchmakers). I was lucky - the guy is a top bloke and did not even wanted to charge me for the job (this was the second watch I brought to him for regulation). Anyway, I left the watch for a couple of days and he did a good job, as one would expect. Following the regulation, I have recorded observations of the watch time against an official source, every day for a period of 2 weeks. In the first week I took readings twice a day, reducing to a daily readings over the last week. The results were good - the watch gains about 3.6 sec per day. I would estimate the error band on all observations to approximately +/-1.5 sec. All but 3 readings were within one standard deviation of 1.7 sec and clearly there is a consistent trend. This amounts to less than 1.8 min per month. Now I can live with that! How these graphs compare with previous - a little bit of regulating can make a HUGE difference.

I believe, the watch is capable to keep time even better - basically it was running for only 3 weeks since manufactured. I will pay a visit to the watchmaker in 3-6 months time after watch has run-in, for that final regulation. Of course, I'll keep you posted about the outcome!

Sandoz Submariner (Singapore model) is a great value (around $200 USD) for an automatic watch based on ETA Swiss movement. It is a quality timepiece with style and if you ever longed for that classic Rolex Submariner but could not part with your hard earned cash, this is the watch to have. The movement is capable and can deliver good timekeeping, on par with watches in much higher price brackets.

While there is not much left to be desired for, there are few things that would make this watch even greater: domed and anti-reflective coated crystal rather than flat one, better lume material on the hour markers, and better quality bracelet clasp.