Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste

[WRXtranceformed]

Early birthday present came off the boat from Hong Kong and was waiting for me this weekend when I got home from golf! Here's my writeup and some pics from the WUS forums:

Hey all! As a fellow dive watch enthusiast / addict I wanted to post up some pics of the unboxing of my Dagaz Aurora 2016 that just arrived in the mail and give my first impressions. I actually didn't know about this watch until I was browsing around on the Dagaz site looking at mod parts (I've got a bunch of stuff coming for a separate project on my SKX) and stumbled across it. I've always been a fan of the Doxa dial / hands style but never really wanted to take a 4 figure flyer on a Doxa to see if I would like it more than an Oris or Omega etc. Given the reviews I read on the original Aurora, Dagaz' / Jakes reputation for quality parts, the overall specs & look of the watch and the current discount I figured I would pull the trigger. A few weeks later and it hit my mailbox!



Awesome pseudo-Pelican case:











Lume shot:



Sized up:



First impressions
Pros:
- Overall the build quality is seriously fantastic, it has awesome wrist presence
- It was a toss up for me between the blue and black dial, but I'm really glad I went with the blue dial. It's a beautiful matte blue and the grey rectangles on each side of the hour lume markers are very slightly raised, it's a cool touch
- I was hesitant about loving the "ufo" shape of the case but it really is stunning in person and super comfortable. The curved caseback sits nicely on the wrist and the brushed top / polished sides of the case and bracelet look awesome
- The Miyota 9015 movement winds and sets like a dream as you would imagine, it seems to be running about +10 sec / day and I expect it will settle down as it breaks in. Awesome sweeping seconds hand
- Domed sapphire is excellent, it fits flawlessly with the bezel

Areas of opportunity:
- Love the lume, especially the triangle bezel pip it glows crazy bright, but would have loved to see C3 used on the hands and the hour markers as well instead of C1 / C3 blend. The hands and dial markers just don't glow quite as bright or match 100%
- The bracelet also looks awesome, better than I expected in person, but it was a serious PITA to size. They are screw in links but with "double" screws on each side, so you have to kind of hold one end stationary with a screwdriver while you twist the other with another screwdriver. I've sized a bunch of my own watches but never one of this style, and while I was pretty proficient by the end I had some nice painful red circle marks in my palm from trying to keep one end of the screw from spinning
- The clasp on the bracelet was REALLY stiff when popping it open, I actually shredded my cuticle on the Dagaz logo keeper on one of the first times popping it open. It seems to be loosening up a little but it took a LOT of effort to pop it open probably the first 10 times.
- Unidirectional bezel, bi-directional would be nice but not necessary. Bezel is a little stiff but also not a huge deal.

For the money it's a fantastic piece, I learned how to size a new type of bracelet (ha!) and this one is definitely going to get a lot of wrist time. :thumbup:

Now I excitedly wait for some more parts to arrive from HK / Poland for my SKX project. I already bought the last Seiko Sumo movement that Northeast Watch Works had and had Duarte set it aside for me, that thing will be perfect when I am done with it 8) I think between this new Aurora and my Seiko project I should have scratched my watch itch for a little while at least :lol: