I am happy to present you with this reader submitted review of the Edox Grand Ocean Automatic Chronograph watch. Please thank Erwin V. for not only taking the time to photograph the watch and write his thoughts about it, but also in having the passion to share his perceptions with the aBlogtoRead.com reader community. The watch actually impressed me a lot and is from Edox’s most recent watch collection for 2009. My favorite part is the very life-like porthole style window on the caseback, very cool. Check out the review below with images also by Erwin V.:
“At the moment Edox is still a relatively unknown Swiss watch brand. However, they’ve made quite a few interesting watches during their 125 year history, for instance the 1961 Delfin watch which raised the global bar for shock protection and water resistance. Another interesting fact about Edox is that it remains an independent watch maker to this date. This adds an nice authentic touch to their products. They recently launched a new line of Grand Ocean watches to celebrate their 125th birth date and commemorate the Delfin.
An advertisement for the Automatic Chronograph watch from this Grand Ocean line caught my eye. A bit of surfing around found me a dealer in Belgium and a few phone calls later they had the watch on-site to try it on. I immediately liked the distinctive style of the watch. The black case and rubber band give it a sporty look while the gold touches and rounded case provide a certain elegance. It’s definitely a unique design that I haven’t seen in other watches.
The Grand Ocean Automatic Chronograph features an Edox 012 movement (based on ETA A07.211 Valgranges). This movement is a bit of a mystery since it’s not listed in the booklet that comes with the watch, nor on the Edox web site. As far as I can tell it’s a variation of their 011 chronograph movement. With a 48mm case diameter and 17mm case height the watch is quite substantial. It’s definitely bigger than what you would expect from looking at the pictures. The watch features a natural rubber bracelet and anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass. The case is constructed from black PVD with gold colored PVD details and a fixed gold colored PVD notched bezel. Water resistance is up to 100 meters. Being an automatic chronograph, the watch has the standard set of complications: automatic self-winding movement, a 12 hour chronograph and date display.
Lots of interesting little details highlight the nautical theme of the watch. The small seconds hand has a compass like style, and the gold colored hour and minute hands add to this theme. The distinctive style of the hands is also present in a compass like relief on the black face of the watch. One problem I noticed after using the watch for a few days is that the gold colored hands are hard to read on the black face in bright sunlight. There’s also no lume whatsoever, so as far as legibility goes the watch doesn’t score top points. Still, under normal conditions its perfectly fine and certainly not bad enough to be annoying. On the chapter ring is a tachymiler instead of a tachymeter. I’m guessing this ties in with nautical miles. On the back of the watch, you can see the balance wheel of the movement trough a little porthole. A map of the world’s oceans finishes the nicely detailed steel back.
On the side of the watch you have a gold colored screw-down crown to wind the watch and adjust the time and date. This crown features the Edox logo: a stylized hourglass. A further two push buttons control the chronograph start-stop-reset functions.
The watch curves around your wrist, which makes it very comfortable to wear. The natural rubber strap is specific to the Grand Ocean line of watches and also bears this name on the inside.
The attention to detail seen in the watch itself continues in the bracelet. The machine finish on the clasp of the bracelet is typical Edox and gives it a nice texture. On the outside of the deployment clasp is another porthole featuring the Edox logo. This porthole can click open making it very easy to adjust the bracelet size.
Overall the Edox Grand Ocean Automatic Chronograph is a superb watch displaying its nautical theme through a plethora of cool little details. With its large black case with gold finishing touches it provides a masculine and sporty look. The Edox name and distinctive styling certainly make it a watch that you won’t see everyday. The price point for the Automatic Chronograph is a little over 3,000 euros. For the same price you can also buy a blue/silver variant with a crocodile leather strap.”