Watch Review: Men's Relic "Detroit" Black Silicone Strap Watch

This week I'm reprinting a review of one of my favorite Relic watches.  Right now, it's down for maintenance.  I'm trying to change the battery and can't get the press on caseback back on the watch.

Is This the Baddest Watch in the Whole Down Town?

[This review is reprinted from reviews formerly hosted by Yahoo Contributors Network.]

When I started a new job, I decided to up my game a little in the watch department. Naturally, I turned to Fossil's Relic Brand. Relic has many cool watches in the $50 to $80 price zone. For just over $50 on sale at Kohl's, I found a watch that is called the "Detroit" on the Relic Brand website and Model ZR11924 everywhere else. It's an dark, serious, masculine quartz watch that looks good in the office or after hours.

The city of Detroit is making a comeback--at least in Chrysler commercials with Eminem and Clint Eastwood. Detroit has always been known as a tough, gritty, hard working city. Perhaps it's no wonder that Relic chose to name one tough looking watch after Motown. It can be tough to describe the subtle variations of classic watch style that give this watch the personality of a back alley punch in the nose. But, the tone of the "Detroit" is undeniably set by the flat black silicone band that straps it down to your wrist. While it is very similar to the bright band that adorns my Mossimo Digital Watch. In flat black, the strap remains comfortable, but gives this watch the serious demeanor of a mobster's car.

My Relic Detroit

The all-stainless steel, 43 millimeter diameter, case continues the serious theme with a smoky gunmetal color with a subdued shine. The bezel is non-rotating, but has raised circles at five minute intervals and numerals at the 15, 30, 45, and 60 minute positions. The watch subtly evokes the appearance of a weather diver-style watch. The "Detroit" has a dark, almost black, Navy blue dial with no-nonsense white luminous markings. At five minute intervals two millimeter diameter luminous dots subtly outlined in silver tones give this Relic good visibility. The numerals 12, 6, and 9 are given similar treatment. A square date window takes the 3 o'clock position in lieu of an hour numeral. Just inside the hour markings, smaller white numerals 13 through 24 provide military time. The hour and minute hands feature a triangle of luminous material to make time telling easy in low light conditions. The brand name is written in small block letters about midway between the 12 and the watch hands axle.

Relic Detroit

The result is a classic, functional, and tough looking men's wristwatch. It's a conventional watch that looks like it should be worn by the star of a heist movie. The Relic "Detroit" looks like the watch you'd glance at before pulling down your ski mask, climbing a barbed wire fence, and embarking in an adventure. But, since the case is only 13 millimeters thick, you can wear this watch with a dress shirt to your office job and it will fit right in. Of course, every time you glance down at your wrist, the Relic "Detroit" will remind you that you are the baddest dude in your whole row of cubes.
 

Reviewing My Men's Relic Sawyer Chronograph Watch

This is a review of the Relic Sawyer that I published on Yahoo Contributors Network a few days ago.  This watch is one that I consider a classic part of my collection.  I'm reprinting the entire review here:

Places like Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Hampton Roads are world renowned naval ports. They are also places where the Relic Men's Sawyer Chronograph watch (Model ZR66037) would look right at home. This quartz chronograph sports a battleship gray band, bezel, and 40 millimeter diameter face around a gleaming, 12 millimeter thick, stainless steel case. The look is beyond nautical. It's a naval warfare look for sure.

The Relic Sawyer

While style is important, this watch is also quite functional. The hour and minute hands have inlaid luminous material and the second hand is black. Each hour is marked by a luminous baton and small dot. Each minute is marked with a short white hash mark. The date is readable and positioned at a canted angle between the four and five o'clock batons. The 20 millimeter wide silicon strap is supremely comfortable and generously-sized to fit most wrists.

Relic Sawyer at the Battleship North Carolina

Three subdials handle chronograph functions. At the six o'clock position, seconds are counted by a small white hand in a subdial with only the bottom half of the subdial. Minute counting is handled at the 9 o'clock position in a circular subdial with numerals for 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes and hash marks at five minute intervals. Finally, twenty-four hour time is provided by the subdial on the right at three o'clock. The Chronometer will time events for up to an hour. But, the 24-hour subdial provides only the time and is not part of the chronometer feature set. The crown for this watch is flanked by buttons to start, stop, and reset the chronograph subdials.

This Relic watch does have a few weak points. First, there is some looseness to the rotating bezel. If you tap the bezel, it will click like an old-time telegraph station. For the steampunk set, the ability to tap out Morse code could be feature. But, the rest of us might find it a slightly annoying lapse in quality for a watch at the top end of the Relic product line. Full retail for Model ZR66037 is around $95. The second flaw enhances the look of the watch at the expense of functionality. The flat black numbers on the bezel are simply hard to read at a glance. Overall, these a fairly minor criticisms of a novel approach to the diver-style chronometer.

The Relic Sawyer is a fine looking watch and a great addition to any casual collectors watch box. If it had a cool nautical name, it would probably cost five times as much.

A New Relic Watch

If you are looking for nice quartz watches that are good values for the price, check out Fossil's Relic brand watches.  They sell at department stores like JC Penney and Kohls. I like this Relic brand watch because it has a simple and readable face and the flat stainless steel finish.  This model is called the Relic Detroit.

A Relic Detroit Watch

Overall, Relic offers a very good value for the money.  There are a wide variety of Relic-brand watches available here on Amazon.