Daiso Military Style Quartz Watch - Cheap but Versatile, A Review (plus Video)

When I got my SeiyaJapan watch recently (see the review here), the package also included a free watch. A cheap watch but a watch nonetheless. It it a watch sold by Daiso Industries Co. Ltd. of Japan. Daiso is famously known as “the Japanese dollar store”, where all items on sale are kept under a certain price. In Japan it is typically YEN100 per item. In Malaysia it is RM5.90. This watch came straight from Japan and is listed for YEN500.

The Watch

Made out of plastic, the watch is 38 mm in diameter with a lug-to-lug length of 41 mm. It comes with a boxed clear plastic window which bumps up its height to 12 mm.  

The crown which happens to be the only metallic on the watch casing is located at 3:00. Although the watch casing is black, the crown has a bright polished steel look to it.

The black dial has the typical military inspired design with the minutes represented by line markers, and the hours represented by triangle markers as well as Arabic numbers. An additional scale representing 12-24 hours is nested within the primary timing scale.

The watch is a simple 3-hand wristwatch. The hands have the needlepoint-styling and painted with luminous paint. The triangle hour markers are also painted the same. The luminous paint is not any of the famous brands we know but it is adequate for a watch this cheap. In the dark, you will be able to see the hands and markers but it does not last long.

The sterile crown is the odd piece of the design. It should have been blacked out like the rest of the watch but instead, the metal is left bare. It uses a simple push-in and pull-out system to engage the gears in the movement to adjust the time. Pulling out the crown also disengages the power source. A lot of people recommend to do just that if you plan to leave the watch stored for sometime so as not to waste the battery. However, I would suggest you take out the battery completely. Having the crown in the open position creates a big gap for dusts to enter the watch.

In the photo above, you will noticed the downward curving lugs. This is a good design as it follows the curvature of the wrist to make it more comfortable to wear. Unfortunately, the lugs on this particular cheap plastic watch does not have lug holes for a spring-bar to attached to. Instead, there is a permanent plastic bar between the lugs. This means, the watch can only accept NATO or ZULU type straps. Meanwhile, the lugs are 20 mm wide.

The solid plastic case-back is a push-in friction plate. Some basic information about the watch, such as the battery type are stamped on the case-back. There is no serial number provided. Note that the texts are not arranged around the peripheral of the case-back. Instead, it is stamped just like how vintage military watch used to (see Hamilton Khaki Pilot Pioneer Mechanical H76419931 and Marathon GPM Government Black Mechanical Reference WW194003BK as examples).

The NATO strap provided is well built. Although thin relative to higher-end NATO straps, there is no obvious fraying at the edges and buckle holes. Even after wearing the watch for a few days, the strap looks as fresh as the day I took it out from the plastic packaging. There is definitely value in the strap.

 

The quartz movement is generic. Could not get any additional information about it. The battery used is the SR626SW.

 

 

The Wearing Experience

 

For a cheap watch, I can't find much fault. I can say that it wears well. Let's see how long it would last before the first problem crops up. Honestly, if something goes wrong (even when the battery runs out), it is better to throw away than to repair.

 

 

Below is a video of the watch on my wrist.

Specifications

Materials: ABS for the casing; polyester for the strap; stainless steel for the buckle
Crystal: Boxed plastic
Strap: NATO style
Movement: Quartz analog (unbranded)
Battery: SR626SW
Width: 38 mm
Length: 41 mm
Height: 12 mm
Lugs: 20 mm
Price: YEN500

Photo Gallery

 

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