The one – perhaps the only – attribute Swatch has going for its Sistem51 series of automatic watches are its funky designs. Having purchased a Tangerine recently I was surprised at the tactile differences between it and my equivalent Seikos:
- Only the hands are lumed, weakly, as opposed to hands and markers
- Second hand displays an obvious visual “tick” as opposed to the fluid sweep of my divers
- The ticks are loud; clearly audible from around 6″ away, and my only auto for which that’s the case
- Crown feels cheap, and the handwind sounds like a nail file
- Incredibly light (this isn’t a negative – just surprising)
I’m curious how long it’ll last: I’ve read stories on watchuseek of movements giving out around the two-year mark – and that’s off-putting, considering I’m used to my autos cranking on for at least a decade with minimal maintenance. I hoping that the Sistem51’s design isn’t tailored to disposable timepieces, but only time will tell.