Watch Review: Cufuo SKMEI Men's Quartz Dress Watch with Brown Leather Strap

One of the watches in my current rotation is a cheap Chinese watch, but you'd never know it from a casual glance.  It's a nice looking dress watch that was sold by Cufuo on Amazon under the brand SKMEI and cost me less than $15.  I have also seen this watch sold under LYMFHCH.  The Amazon advertisement listed the watch with the short and elegant moniker - "Mens Leather Band Quartz Watch, Men's Analog Business Working Roman Numeral Casual Waterproof Watches with Calendar Date Daily Dress Fashion Wristwatch - Brown."  Sheesh!  You'll likely just want to find it via my link.

WATCH DESIGN FEATURES

The watch has some surprising features at this price point.  The dial is marked with Roman numerals on the hour, hashmarks on the minute, a small date window at 3 o'clock, and an elegant, but basic, guilloché pattern on the dial.  The genuine leather strap offers a generous length that I have found very comfortable from the first wearing.  The dial has a bright white face, but it easily takes on the tone of your surroundings.

WATCH DIMENSIONS

This is not a huge watch. The case diameter is 38 millimeters and the watch is 10 mm thick.  The strap is 20 mm wide.

WATCH CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY

This is one of the best cheap Chinese watches in my collection.  But, it is not perfect.  When I run my finger over the zinc alloy case, there is a little burr on the front that I can feel.  However, I cannot see it with my eyes.  It's the only flaw that I can find.  Otherwise, this watch would be right in there with other commodity quartz watches or even basic Timex or Armitron watches.

Another issue with this watch is that when you click on it directly on Amazon, you see the watch as I have pictured it.  However, when you order it, a brown watch of a completely different model is shown in the picture on the order page.  This makes for a bit of a panic until the watch arrives.  The seller really needs to clean the listing up so that the right picture is shown consistently.

OVERALL

This is a great watch for under $15.  If you are on a budget and want a decent looking dress watch, this might be one to take a chance on.  I like it.  If you like this watch, here it is on Amazon.

Are you ready for Amazon Prime Day

As a watch collector, I find Amazon to be an amazing resource.  You can use Amazon to learn about smaller brands with interesting timepieces.  Alternatively, you can skip the middleman and order some popular watch styles directly from the factory.  Finally, you can shop unobtainable prestige brands and weep privately in your own home.  But, as great as all this is for Amazon shoppers, Amazon Prime takes it to the next level.

Advantages of Amazon Prime

A Cool Caravel Watch from Amazon

Amazon Prime opens up access to more free and fast shipping options.  It also provides online photo storage, an excellent music streaming service, and prime video with exclusive programming that is unavailable elsewhere.  But, if you really want good deals, Amazon Prime offers Amazon Prime Day in mid-July.  The whole day is like a Black Friday sale in July.  You'll get great deals, all day long, on the coolest products.  

If you don't want to miss out, you'll want to sign up for prime today!  If you'd like to try a free trial of Amazon Prime, bang it here!

The Other Moon Watch: The Bulova Lunar Pilot

The Omega Speedmaster has always been the official moon watch of NASA.  Consequently, it commands big money in the marketplace.  However, another wristwatch has also visited the moon:  the Bulova Lunar Pilot.

On August 2, 1971, Commander David Scott's NASA wore his personal Bulova as a replacement for his NASA issued Omega.  The crystal of the Omega had popped off and was lost.  He was able to use the Bulova for his remaining five hour moonwalk.

With this month marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, interest in the Apollo program and our astronauts has never been higher.  If you'd like to add a watch with a connection to astronauts to your collection, the Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph is a watch that we can all aspire to own.