Wristwatch Review: Naviforce Men's Quartz Sport Watch

Watchmakers from China are challenging established watch brands from around the world with stylish offerings at low prices.  One such watch brand is Naviforce. The watch listed on Amazon is labeled as "NAVIFORCE Sport Watches for Men Leather Band Waterproof Quartz Analog Wristwatch Easy to Read with Auto Date." Plain and simply:  this watch is a nice looking take on the field watch genre.

NAVIFORCE Quartz Sport Watch

NAVIFORCE Watch Design

This watch design is squarely aimed at the adventurous field watch look. I think it nails the aesthetic perfectly. The black case, the military-style digital font of the 2, 4, 8, and 10 and the other hour batons, and the arrow pointing to the day of the week, combine for a militaristic field watch look. The strap is a perfect shade of brown suggesting that adventures have been had and more are to come.  It's also comfortable, attractively branded with the NAVIFORCE logo, and generously sized.  

NAVIFORCE Quartz Sport Watch with Day and Date Indicators

NAVIFORCE Watch Dimensions

The NAVIFORCE Quartz Sport Watch is well proportioned for daily wear at 46mm in diameter and is a manageable 11.5mm thick.  The lugs are 24mm and the strap tapers subtly to 22mm.

NAVIFORCE Watch Construction

This NAVIFORCE Quartz Sports watch does not feel cheap. It has a stainless steel caseback, a zinc alloy case, a leather strap, and a mineral glass crystal. For daily wear in normal conditions, it's perfect. However, it only offers 30 meters of water resistance and the manual warns not to submerge the crown. That falls a little short of the expectations for a field watch.  In fairness to NAVIFORCE, this is clearly a fashion watch.  A few reviewers on Amazon have called out the poor water resistance and I keep mine out of the water. The case seems rugged enough and substantial enough to take a beating, just not a dunking.  Fortunately, my adventures tend to be urban and suburban.

The NAVIFORCE Quartz Sports Watch is best for suburban adventures

NAVIFORCE Price

The NAVIFORCE Quartz Sport Watch is an absolute steal for less than $25 on Amazon.  If you'd like to get one, you can find is here on Amazon:  "NAVIFORCE Sport Watches for Men Leather Band Waterproof Quartz Analog Wristwatch Easy to Read with Auto Date."

NAVIFORCE Overall Impression

The NAVIFORCE Quartz Sport Watch is a rugged-looking, attractively-priced watch, for casual adventures. Unless you really do go on swamp safaris and fishing expeditions where water is a continuous threat, it's perfect for daily wear. I'd definitely give this very affordable watch a look.

Adventure Watches: Vostok Timepieces From Russia

Everyone wants a watch that is a little edgy.  Everyone wants a watch that has an element of DANGER!  Well, you can't get much more dangerous than Russia.  I have had this Soviet-era submariners watch for years.  It is a reminder of cold war era games of cat-and-mouse under the sea.

During the Cold War, American and Soviet submariners used to stalk each other quietly under the sea.  The Russians hoped to use their submarines to neutralize America's military advantage in aircraft carriers.  Both countries used increasingly sophisticated attack submarines in a desperate attempt to track the other's "boomers" which carried nuclear ballistic missiles for potential use in a nuclear showdown.

Soviet Akula-class attack submarine

When I strap on my submariner's watch, I feel like I have a little Hunt for Red October occurring right on my wrist.

The Hunt for Red October (Amazon)

Today, Russia is a resurgent super power that is flexing its muscle all over the world.  From "little green men" encroaching on Ukraine to low flying fighter jets buzzing this U.S. Navy destroyer, the Russians are a force to be respected.  Under Vladimir Putin's rule, Russia is even more unpredictable than the old U.S.S.R.  Where stodgy party officials once made decisions for a monolithic state, today's Russia has a leader with wily KGB credentials and a bias for action.

In the real world, this means politicians shouldn't try to have amateur private servers, use "Password1234" to secure their email, use Russian financing for investment deals, or sign up for speaking engagements with Russian propaganda papers.  Under the leadership of watch collector Vladimir Putin, modern Russia is more than a little edgy.  Today's Russia is downright dangerous when crossed.  When you strap on a Russian Vostok Amphibian watch, you can capture just a little bit of that danger for your wrist.

Vostok Amphibia on the wrist

Amazon offers a wide selection of Vostok mechanical watches at attractive prices.  For less than $100, you can get a genuine Russian military watch with 200 meters of water resistance, a well-made mechanical movement, and a history dating back to the cold war.  Vostok watches are just plain cool.  But, act fast, with all the controversy surrounding Russia and western election tampering and conflict in the Middle East, you never know if sanctions will someday be enacted against Russia. 

The Watches of Adventure

If you believe the movies and television, adventure can be expressed in terms of fashion.  For example, who can forget characters like Indiana Jones who enshrined the fedora, leather jacket, and bull whip in our collective consciousness.

Photo by Gary Stewart Gary2880 (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

But, what does adventure look like in a watch?  Many watches have an adventurous bent.  For example, dive watches certainly evoke all sorts of undersea adventures.  But, when you think of Indiana Jones-style, 1930s pulp, adventure style, you think of a vintage-look dial and a leather band.

You might also think about a field watch. (I have a guide to basic field watches here.)  They have a rugged military look about them.  Today that 1930's look lives on in adventurous timepieces like the AVI-8 Flyboy, Hamilton Khaki, and Seiko Adventurer.