Wristwatch Review: Mens Legion Analog Watch

A recent visit to Belk, one of the South's greatest department store chains, turned me on to Legion brand watches.  Legion watches are attractive house brand watch that sell for modest prices.  This review covers the first of three that I bought.

[Please note:  This review covers the Legion brand of watches that are a house brand at Belk department stores in the Southeastern United States.  I do not believe that these Legion watches are in any way related to the Legion Watches currently making a splash on the web at www.legionwatches.com.  I don't know if the Legion watches on the web are any good.]

Design.  My first, Legion watch has an attractive silver-on-silver design that looks great. The dial is silver, the bezel is silver, the case is silver, and the bracelet is silver.  Of course, when designing a silver-motif watch, it's all about contrasting tone and texture. The dial, case, and bracelet have a flat brushed metal appearance while the bezel, numbers, and Legion logo have shiny, high gloss, look.  The bezel has the popular ship's porthole look and the bezel has indents to look like it is screwed down into the case of the watch.

Construction.  As a fashion watch, this Legion watch is not rated for water resistance or shock.   For the record, of course, we are speaking of silver in color--not of the metal actually used in making the watch.  The watch has a stainless steel case back and a base metal for everything else.  However, the watch appears to be fairly solid in construction.

Dimensions.  This Legion watch is well proportioned with a dial large enough to be manly and on trend, but small enough to be tasteful and appropriate to all ages.  The bracelet is comfortably wide and adjustable via a pin in the clasp.  Initially, the watch hung very loose on my rather large wrists.  By moving two adjustments smaller on the bracelet, it fit better.

Drawbacks.   Many of the Legion watches at my local Belk had dead batteries.  Make sure that the watch you intend to purchase actually works.

Value.  Legion watches are marked at $40 to $55, but can be had on sale for considerably less.  By taking advantage of a sale and register coupon, this watch was about $23.  I'd say this watch is a solid $30 value and compares well to other commodity quartz watches like Structure, Precision by Gruen, and Folio.  Overall, I like this watch and believe it to be a good value.