Skagen “Strand” Square Watch – $135.00
“Round round get a-round I get a-round yeah”
And so does everyone else when it comes to affordable watches. There just aren’t a lot of other dial options being made for the sub $200 watch market. Square, rectangular, cushion case… forget it. 95% of those that are being made with a different case shape are beyond
So applause for Skagen, who recently released this square dial option dripping with… nothing. Just their modern, understated design.
Very suit worthy, and doesn’t look cheap when dressed up.
It’d be hard to call a Skagen design “classic”, but combine the Danish minimalism with a square face & slim trapezoidal case, and you end up with something that has an art-deco look to it.
Completely suit worthy. The blue tipped seconds hand is a nice touch. There’s no texture to the dial, other than the fact that the outer ring square is slightly elevated above the central field.
Construction specs aren’t real impressive. Japanese Quart, mineral crystal, and a measly 30m in water resistance. But it is super lightweight. So for those who don’t like having some cinder-block strapped to their wrist all day, it’s got that classic Skagen feather-feel. The “genuine leather” band is also par for Skagen’s course. Really light weight. Still soft and flexible. Just not something wildly nice.
No date function, just a super clean dial. Blue tipped second hand is a nice detail.
Don’t be freaked out by the 35 mm case measurement. True, each side measures 35mm, but thanks to geometry it wears larger due to the diagonal (corner to corner) measurement. Bottom line: Squares & Circles… are different, and this thing wears like a watch in the 40-42mm range.
Can’t seem to find these anywhere for less than the full price of $135. Usually once a Skagen model hits Amazon or a discount watch retailer, they’ll get at least some kind of price cut. For now, at least it ships & returns free through Nordstrom for $135.
Skagen knows slim.
I’ve had two Skagens and both quit on me after about three years. They stopped keeping accurate time. Also, the bands on my particular models started to look pretty tore up after a year…and they could only be replaced by Skagen due to the unique size. The watches look great, but beware, they may not be the highest quality.
I don’t think that’s the biggest surprise. Skagen doesn’t make a super expensive watch by any stretch. But 3 years, and just dead doesn’t sound great. Battery replacement, sure, but not d-e-a-d dead.
This is a perfect argument for spending a bit more on quality. My 40 year old Omega runs like a top.
It looks really good, but Skagen quality gives me pause. Pretty sure my next dress watch will be this Seiko Solar: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008X6JJNC
I like the design on this a lot. It’s got a real Nomos-meets-Junghans-Max-Bill vibe going on. I guess I’m a snob, though, because I’m not sure I could bring myself to wear a Skagen again. I’ve owned a couple before… good-looking, but not real impressive in terms of overall quality (as noted in this review).
Design-wise, I’d love to see the second hand removed or maybe replaced by a small seconds dial to make the quartz tick-tock a bit more subtle.
One day, when the lottery is won: http://www.nomos-store.com/en/Watches/Model-series/Tetra/Watches-with-manual-winding/Tetra-sapphire-crystal-back.html
$2320 though. I mean. Cripes.
Could be the battery replacements that killed them. That’s happened to me before despite always taking watches to jewelers to have the battery changed. Those guys supposedly know what they’re doing but I’ve had a watch quit soon after battery replacement often enough that I don’t think it’s entirely coincidental.
Thanks for the review Joe – love seeing watches on this site
Just FYI: looks like there’s a rogue “v” in the post’s title
Oddly enough I like the design of the Skagen better – I prefer the Arabic numerals and the rounded case shape.
Heh. Derp. Thanks AJ. Fixed.
That’s a bummer you had a bad experience with them. Just to offer up an alternate experience – I got my first Skagen 8 years ago and it’s still running as good as ever. I did have to replace the band after a few years (and I’m due to replace it again…), but that was a pretty painless process and if I remember correctly it only cost around $10-15.
I have a second one that I got 3 or 4 years ago which is also running fine, and the strap isn’t showing any signs of needing a replacement yet. All in all, I’ve been really happy with Skagen. (and I get compliments on both of mine all the time, but I know nobody’s disputing the looks here)
i own this one. aside from the stiff-ish band (which i want to switch anyway) i really like it.
Thanks for the report! It’s very tempting for the price.
One of the things keeping me back from buying it is that I’d immediately want to splurge on a black shell watchband from FFF, at almost the entire cost of the watch. 🙁
“A measly 30m in water resistance”
I don’t know, I’m frequently dropping my dress watches in 100 feet of water. I wouldn’t want to go down and fish it out just to find that it somehow stopped working!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resistant_mark
30m = “splash/rain RESISTANT”
Not proof, resistant.
So, be careful. That’s all that’s being said.
I’m with Brendan. I’ve had mine for about eight years and it’s still accurate. It looks worn, but not terrible and still get compliments on it. Of course, I got the metal band and that might play a role in the durability. But even after 3 years, the economics of the watch are pretty good: 135/3 = $45 a year compared to an Omega at 40 years $2000 (which is conservative)/40 = $50 a year.
I’m prejudiced against Stuhrling Original for their ridiculous MSRP games (I’m prejudiced against Invicta for the same reason), so I don’t really ever give them a chance. There’s no way anyone has ever paid the MSRP, because the watches just aren’t that nice.
That being said, that’s not a bad looking set of Navitimer homages, but don’t expect quality above what you’re actually paying. I’d prefer to go with the Rotary Navi homage (what’s it called again, the Chronospeed or some such?), if it were me.
I certainly wish they’d worked out. They are sharp looking watches. I’ll still wear one once in a while… even with the time way off.
not sold on the square but still much more tasteful than that Bulova from yesterday
Sure, Skagen isn’t known for their quality… but Hot Damn do they have some sexy minimal design. For about $100… I’d do this watch all day.
Be prejudiced against Invicta because they suck, not just because of price games. Their blatant ripoff of other designs is just a shitty move, and not iconic looks like the Submariner or Oyster, either. Their original designs are garbage, too. I had someone buy a Corduba Chrono for me; all metal case, 26mm PVD link band. It weighed over a pound. As if that wasn’t bad enough, one of the hands on the chrono is swinging freely around inside the case.
Really solid look. Not so sure I like the blue-tipped second hand though, kind of disappears to the eye and/or unbalances the clean minimalism of the rest of it. Maybe it’s one of those quirks that you grow to love.