This was easily one of my favorite watches of JCK Las Vegas and my current favorite Ernst Benz watch. I consider this to sort of be a Rolex Explorer II on steroids, the 47mm wide steel case size might have a bit to do with that. Of course the style is similar to the Explorer II as well, just look at the GMT hand and the 24 hour bezel. Ernst Benz probably doesn’t like all the comparisons to the Rolex, but most of you will easily see that. Then Ernst Benz starts with its own style. They indicate that the watch is meant to be retro inspired, which is part of the style of the finish of the bi-directional rotating bezel. Actually, the bezel is not my favorite part of the watch, though I would easily live with it. I like how the numbers are engraved into the bezel and darkened, but I would have done the polish on the metal a bit differently – minor point though.

The beauty of the watch is in the large textured dial and very easy to read face. You can see that there is a nice circular texturing and the center of the face is done with a polished finish. The applied hour markers are border in a black contrasting color and the center is a thick strip of lume. The hands on the silver dialed version have an excellent contrast with the dial – as good at the Rolex Explorer II with the white dial. The black colored version is almost as easy to read – and still offers superior legibility over most other watches. Then you have the large red GMT arrow hand that does perfect service. It is really the simplicity of the watch design and the small details that make it so outstanding, I really like this Chronoflite GMT timepiece a lot!

Yes, the size is big, but I like that in a watch like this. Again, I have smallish wrists and I think the watch looks fine. Ernst Benz doesn’t really make small watches, so this is average for them. I’ll tell you that it fits comfortably. The black alligator leather strap has that cool contrast stitching that works well, and calf leather and aviator leather straps are also available. You can also get the watch with a metal bracelet that looks pretty cool. Of course the crystal is sapphire (with double AR coating), and there is also a sapphire crystal over the caseback exhibition window.

Inside the watch is an automatic ETA 2893-A2 movement that is the 2892 with an independently adjustable GMT hand. The movement has some nice blued screws and slightly decorate black automatic signed rotor. Nothing too special about the movement though. The screw-down crown works well and has guards on it built into the case. One area I would like to have seen improved is the water resistance. I know that this watch is not a divers watch, but 50 meters of water resistance means that Ernst Benz probably doesn’t recommend you shower in it. I would have liked to see the watch with 100 – 200 meters of water resistance to give it that same type of durable character as the Rolex. UPDATE: I realized that the written Ernst Benz materials were wrong and inadvertently neglected to read the 20ATM that is actually written on the back of the watch. So the Chronoflite GMT is actually 200 meters water resistant, sorry about that. So, actually you can go swimming with the watch I am sure. and showering is probably OK, but for the price which I think is around $6,000 – $8,000 bucks. If you are looking for a solid GMT watch and can handle the price – this is a great option from a low volume, high quality watch brand.

See Ernst Benz watches on eBay here.

See Ernst Benz watches on Amazon here. [phpbay]ernst benz, num, “”, “”[/phpbay]