Ikepod Seaslug
Review by Ludwig
I had seen the Ikepods nestled in their display case at one of my local pusher's for almost a year. They appeared quite silly, and looked like they were just gathering dust. Visit after visit, I spared them no more than a passing glance. Eventually, I grew to feel sorry for the poor unloved watches, sitting there mournfully in the corner.
One day I went there to pick up a pre-Moon Speedmaster Pro that had just come in. It was the week of John Glenn's flight, and most of us watch-nerds at work were stocking up on our Speedmasters, so we could watch the launch coverage while wearing them. I showed up with one of my coworkers, who had just dropped a significant sum on an Omega Speedmaster X-33. I was mocking him for spending so much on a lame quartz watch. I said "heck, I'd rather buy that," pointing at the Seaslug, which was pressing its nose against the display case, trying to attract someone's attention.
Disaster struck.
My watch pusher lept on my comment - "well, if you're interested, I could let you have it for a really good price." Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. (Apparently he didn't sell too many of these. Go figure.) Never one to resist a bargain, I picked it up for a closer look.
Hey! This thing was sort of cool. It was very comfortable, and, it was bright orange. Waterproof to 100 meters. Certified chronometer. GMT function. We had a pool party oming up that afternoon to celebrate a major project at work - this would be just the thing to wear to convince everyone that I've finally flipped... Hmmm. And at this price, if I don't like it, I can just dump it on the Sales Corner - surely someone on TimeZone must be dumber than I am... That did it.
It followed me happily home, wagging its tail...
Yes. This has become one of my favorite knocking around/casual watches. It keeps good time, and looks, um, really different. It's been holding up pretty well to careless sporting wear. I view it as the anti-Rolex.
Make no mistake - this is more of a fashion watch than a serious watch, but it has earned its place in my rotation. (My 2-year old daughter loves it, and begs for me to wear "the orange watch" for her.) With different straps or the bracelet, it completely changes its personality.
I wore this to the San Francisco TimeZone dinner last year, and was still allowed to sit at the table. (Though Walt Odets kept draping a napkin over my wrist, muttering something about the glare...) So wear it proudly!
Some will say this is just yet another watch designed by some crazed architect/interior designer. But somehow it works for me. A poor man's Silberstein, in a way. At the right price, I'd buy it again. I'd consider the silver-dial version as well.
The Seaslug's movement is the ETA 2893-2.
It is 28,800 bph, diameter 26.2mm, 21 jewels. Glucydur balance.
Nivarox spring. Incabloc shock protection. Power reserve ~42 hours.
C.O.S.C. certified chronometer. It is available with the C.O.S.C.
certificate, for an additional charge.
The GMT/second timezone is set in the first crown position, by rotating the crown forwards, towards 12 o'clock.
The date, if you have the model with the date, is also set with the first crown position, this time by rotating the crown backwards towards 6 o'clocl. If you have the non-date model, you will still hear clicking and wheels turning anyway, as if the date window has been simply covered up on the dial...
The time is set with the second crown position, which hacks.
The case is stainless steel, with a nice brushed satin finish. Diameter XXmm, height XXmm. The case is very bowl-shaped, which turns out to make it very comfortable to wear. The crystal is either TMD mineral glass "specially hardened for diving" or sapphire. It is strongly-domed, and sunk into the dish-shaped face of the watch, which results in the crystal only slightly protruding beyond the level of the rotating dive bezel. The bezel is flush-fit with the rest of the case, but there is a little bit of play.
The caseback screws on, and has a mineral glass exhibition back. Water resistant to 100m. "Limited edition" of 9999 pieces of each dial version. As mine is only serial # 4x, I suspect they are being a bit optimistic about their sales projections.
The screw-down crown is oddly-placed at the 2-o'clock position, where it is well-protected by the shape of the case, and where it does not dig into your wrist, which adds to the exceptional comfort of this watch. With my clumsy fingers, the crown is a bit of a pain to unscrew, and care must be taken when screwing it back in not to cross-thread the crown.
The weight of the watch, with strap, is only 70 grams!
The strap buckle is of brushed steel, and appears to be a bit on the
cheap side.
The dial is black, with minute chapters and tritium dot markers at the 5-minute points. The markers are an odd shape, but they grow on you. The hands are also oddly-shaped - sort of baton-like. They too have plenty of tritium. The GMT indicator is a thin hand with an arrow on the end, which points to a 24-hour scale printed on the brushed, bevelled metal inside rim of the case.
The dial has the Ikepod logo printed at 12 o'clock, and the name "Seaslug" printed at 6 o'clock. The watch is also available with silver or anthracite dials.