Wristwatch Review: Gosasa SKMEI Men's Quartz Chronograph Watch

This is a review of a Gosasa SKMEI quartz chronograph watch that I purchased off of Amazon for less than $10. In fact, it was on the Amazon Haul portion of the site with a clearance price of only $5.  But, don't le the low price fool you. This watch is surprisingly capable. The established watch brands should be quaking in their boots and thank their lucky stars that this watch was listed with the laughable name of "Gosasa Men's Elegant Quartz Watches Waterproof Big Face Date Analog Watch Dainty Business Dress Watches for Men Stainless Steel/Silicone Strap Gifts for Men." Few western men want a "dainty" watch.

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Watch

I'm not sure if Gosasa is a brand name or the Amazon store name. Chinese watch manufacturing can be pretty opaque. I've seen watches being sold with the SKMEI label in many outlets.

Gosasa Watch Features

The most surprising thing about the Gosasa Quartz Chronograph is that it actually has features. In fact, it has functional subdials that provide a 1/10 of a second timer at 12 o'clock, a second timer at 6 o'clock, and a minute timer at 9 o'clock. The watch also has the date in a window at 3 o'clock.

The subdials all work, but the 1/10 of a second time stops after 2 to 3 minutes. I think this may be intentional. Perhaps the designers think that after the first 3 minutes, wearers are no longer interested in 1/10 of a second times? This may be an intentional design as the product video shows the 1/10 of a second subdial stocking after just a couple of minutes. It does save some wear and tear on the watch.

This watch has traditional chronograph markings around the bezel. However, these are just for style since the large second hand does not work like a traditional stop watch. This isn't a strike against the watch design. Many watch manufacturers provide chronograph markings without chronometer functionality.

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph

Gosasa Watch Style

This watch has traditional chronograph styling and comes is sometimes offered in a wide variety of colors. As of this writing, the only color being offered is a rose gold-tone case with blue dial and bezel. In terms of style, this watch hits the mark and sticks the landing it is a great looking watch.

Gosasa Watch Construction

The Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph looks like a pretty solid watch. The Amazon listing says that this watch has a zinc alloy case and a stainless steel caseback. It also has a mineral-reinforced glass crystal that is gently domed.

Gosasa SKMEI Men's Quartz Chronograph Caseback

If there is an area of cost cutting, it might be the bezel. It is made of a hard black plastic that actually looks very good. The Amazon copy claims that the watch is water resistant to 30 meters. The watch comes with a silicone strap, but it is also sometimes offered with a stainless steel bracelet. Overall, this watch is built at a quality level and materials level that is similar to other watches that cost less than $50.

Gosasa Watch Dimensions

This Gosasa chronograph is a fairly big watch and it has some heft. It feels substantial. It has a 45mm diameter case. It's 46mm in diameter if you include the crown. The case is a bit thick at 15mm.  Lug-to-lug, I measure 47mm. This watch isn't dainty. 

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Profile

The black silicone strap is 18mm wide at the lug and tapers to about 16mm at the clasp.  The strap is generously long and fit my 7 3/4-inch wrist perfectly and doesn't have too much overhang. 

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Silicone Strap

The strap curves to conform to the round case, but it should be easy to replace since it is a conventional silicone strap.

Overall Impressions of the Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph

The Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph was a great buy. It looks good, seems solidly constructed, and works well. With this watch, I do miss being connected to a historic brand with an origin story and a legacy. Gosasa SKMEI is a fairly unknown entity to western watch purchasers. However, the Amazon store for this inexpensive fashion brand shows quite a few daring designs and they are all affordably priced. If I want to entertain myself with a watch purchase that doesn't break the bank, I'll look to Gosasa and SKMEI again. 

Where to Buy the Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Watch

You can get a rose gold tone and blue version of this watch here via my affiliate link to Amazon.

Wristwatch Review: SKMEI Military-style Watch

I recently ordered a new Ola Oficina  SKMEI Men's Analog Luminous Hands Day and Date Black Watch With Black Leather Strap (SK9113A) from Amazon.  Just two days after I placed my order, this box arrived on my doorstep.  If you are accustomed to a 3 week wait for an inexpensive watch to arrive from China, the quick turnaround time was a pleasant surprise.

Unboxing the Ola Oficina SKMEI Men's Military-style Watch

Unboxing the SKMEI Military-Style Watch

I had a small unboxing ceremony.  To find a smaller cardboard watch box and a bit of plastic bubble cushioning material inside.  There was plenty of room in the Amazon box for the watch to slide around.  But, there really wasn't anything to damage the watch which was snug in a cute little cardboard box.  For less than $10, I didn't expect to find a fancy watch tin.  But, I thought Ola Oficina did a good job in creating very polished and presentable cardboard packing.

SKMEI Watch Design

While this watch has a very utilitarian name, I prefer to think of it as a SKMEI Military-style watch.  The timepiece is basically inspired by a classic military camp-watch inspired design.  It has a compass-like dial with minutes marked in 5-minute intervals and inner rings with 12 and 24-hour time markings.  The watch has a fairly readable panoramic date window at the 3-o'clock position.

SKMEI Watch Dimensions

This SKMEI watch has a 43 mm diameter case, a 13 mm thick case, and a 22 mm wide genuine leather strap.  While the watch seems perfectly dimensions, the watch strap is just a little short for my approximately 8-inch circumference wrist.  It barely fit with the buckle grabbing the very last hole on the strap.

Surprisingly, the SKMEI watch strap and watch seem close to the size of one of my favorite Nautica  watch and strap combinations.  However, the leather strap of the SKEI just doesn't stretch as much as the slightly longer plastic or resin strap of the Nautica.

SKMEI Watch Construction

To reach a less than $10, Ola Oficina had to make some hard decisions about materials and construction.  However, this watch offers an alloy case, a plastic bezel, and an acrylic crystal. The manufacturer even claims that the watch is water resistant to 50 meters.  Like many low cost watches, there is minimal lume on the watch hands, but none on other markings.  The SR626SW battery is a commonly available watch battery that should pose no challenge to change.  The leather strap is genuine and thick.  Some Amazon reviewers thought it was stiff, but I found it short, but easy enough to work with and soft.  I found that the acrylic crystal had a slight tendency to pick up fingerprint smudges that were easily wiped off with a shirt tail.

Overall, I'm pleased by my purchase.  For $10 or less, I had very low expectations.  However, I found this watch to be similar to the commodity quartz watches that you'll find in many department stores.  In my opinion, it is a little bit nicer than the no-name watches that you'll see at Walmart or Target.  If you are looking for cheap bang around watch, you might give SKMEI a try, they have a ton of different models available from a variety of Amazon sellers.

TGIF: Death of An SKMEI Military-Style Watch

TGIF.  It's been a long week.  This week, I had to declare one of my watches dead. It died on the table. Once upon a time, it was one of my favorite cheap watches.  It was my OlaOficina SKMEI Military-Style watch.  

The SKMEI Military-Style Watch

Why God? Why? I had to declare this watch dead because I cannot get the watch back off to replace the battery.  I have tried and tried.  For two weeks, I have tried.  Unfortunately, the case back removal tools that I have cannot get the purchase needed to remove this caseback.  I think the case indents are just a little shallow for the tool's teeth to get a good grip.

The hard to remove caseback of my SKMEI watch

Fortunately, this watch was very inexpensive.  Amazingly, back in 2017, it cost less than $10.  Unfortunately, I can't find the same watch on Amazon now.  However, I'd try SKMEI watches again, they have lots of interesting watches available at the SKMEI Amazon store. In the meantime, I'll re-use the strap on another suitable watch.  It's the circle of life or time or something.

My departed OlaOficina SKMEI watch

The $100 Watch Collection: 5 Watches for a Total of $100

Watch collecting doesn't have to be cost prohibitive.  You can easily build a starter watch collection of several watches for less than $100.  With a little smart shopping online, you can easily find great watches for under $25 apiece.  For this post, I put together a five watch collection for $100 on Amazon.  It includes a dive watch, a minimalist business casual watch, an outdoorsman's watch, a tanker-style dress watch, and a traditional dress watch.

The great thing about this collection is that I actually own all of these watches and I can attest to them all actually being pretty decent watches.  While prices do fluctuate, you should be able to build this collection for approximately $100 total as of June 2024.

1. Casio Black Resin Dive Watch (MRW-200H-1BV) - At approximately $22 on Amazon or at your local Walmart, Casio MRW-200H offers a uni-directional rotating bezel, 100-meters of water resistance, and classic dive watch markings.  It's a legible, readable, watch that makes a great daily wear beater.  You can find a variety of number and bezel marking colors on these watches. 

Casio Black Resin Dive Watch

2. Brigada Men's Watches Cool Black Blue Business Casual (Brigada Minimalist) - For about $17, Brigada brings a great minimalist watch to the market place. It looks great on the wrist and feels very comfortable.  The company offers several varieties that give you some options about whether you want numerals or just markers for the hours.

Brigada Minimalist Watch

3. Casio Forester (FT-500WC-5BVCF) - This is a small watch that's built for the hiker.  For about $22, the Forester gives you a tough lightweight watch with a cloth strap that's perfect for hot summer days.  It's another beater watch that can take abuse. I love the sense of adventure that comes with the Forester name and it brings back many memories of late night dog walking in Florida and all the nocturnal creatures I used to encounter with one of the best dogs we ever had.  I think this one is the ultimate beater watch.

Casio Forester

4. Armitron Men's Genuine Crystal Accented Leather Strap Watch (Armitron Tank) - The rectangular shape of a tanker-style dress watch is an unusual sight these days.  I found one on special for only $20 on Amazon.

Armitron Tank Watch

5. MASTOP Men's Analog Quartz Roman Numeral Watch (SKMEI Dress) - Finally, this classic dress watch has the SKMEI label on the dial.  For only $17, this watch looks great and is a comfortable dress watch for daily wear.  I've had a similar dress watch from SKMEI and have reviewed it here.  You can find different dial colors.  But, the watch is attractive and functional.  Here is my review of a review of a similar SKMEI watch.

SKMEI Dress Watch

This small investment in five wristwatches is just a starting point.  They also serve as a baseline for watch purchases in your future.  These low cost watches are a challenge to the more prestigious brands to bring something demonstrably better to the market.

Sharp Watch Shout Out: MASTOP (SKMEI) Diver-Style Nylon Strap Watch

If you are looking for an inexpensive watch and have $20 to blow on Amazon, check out this diver-style quartz watch with a nylon strap from MASTOP. It's just a cheap watch, but the way the strap design carries across the dial is very cool. There are several color combinations of strap and dial and all are really eye-catching. That's why this watch gets a Sharp Watch Shout Out!

MASTOP (SKMEI) Quartz Diver-Style Watch

If you are cool with $20 watches, I don't think you'll have a problem with this one. I won't attempt to navigate the ins and outs of Chinese watch companies. However, it looks like the company sells many watches with the SKMEI dial label on Amazon. I've had pretty good luck with SKMEI watches over the years. You can read about them here on this blog. I had one that was very difficult to get the caseback off for a battery change. But, that's about it. You aren't risking much at the $20 level.

You can check this watch out here on Amazon.com.

Stealth Fighter Inspired Digital Watch

When the F-117 Nighthawk was revealed in 1988, it revolutionized air warfare.  For the first time, an aircraft was nearly invisible to radar.  It was the "stealth fighter."  The aircraft served with distinction in the skies over Panama, Iraq, and Yugoslavia until being retired in 2008.

Stealth Fighter - By Jon Sullivan [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Today (as of this July 30, 2025 post update), you can get an interesting looking Stealth Fighter inspired digital watch on Amazon.  

Gosasa (SKMEI) Men's Sports Military Watch with Airplane-Shaped LED (Amazon Photo)

This stealth watch is from SKMEI and uses an unusual case design.  According to Amazon reviews, it's a very popular watch with kids.  If you are looking for a way to bring a grandchild into the world of watch collecting, the stealth fighter watch might be a great way to start.

You can find this unusual watch at this link posted on 7/30/2025:

Gosasa SKMEI Stealth Watch on Amazon

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!

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.

[Update July 2025, you can find the SKMEI 9058 here on Amazon.]

TGIF: Defining Watch Affordability

Do you ever get frustrated by watch blogs and magazines that promise affordable timepieces and then direct you to articles on expensive luxury watches? I know I do. I'll read a headline teasing us about an "affordable" watch and then find myself reading about a $4500 watch that I won't be able to afford any time soon. Since I don't want to aggravate you, I figure this might be a good time to throw out some general definitions of watch categories. I'll use some terms that come up regularly on this blog and in my X posts:  cheap, affordable, attainable, and achievable.

An Inexpensive Watch at Walmart

What is a Cheap Watch?

To me, a cheap watch is a watch that costs less than  $50 US. Most of us can purchase a cheap watch without deeply affecting the family budget during a given pay period. At this price point, there are legions of watches available. Reliable brands like Armitron, Caribbean Joe, Casio, George, Timex, and US Polo Assn are solid brand names in this category. However, as my Ten Dollar Tuesday blog posts show, these brands are being pursued by lesser known Chinese brands that are delivering surprising features in this price category.

A Rumours Quartz Watch

A good example of a cheap watch is this square watch from SKMEI. It seems inspired by Bell & Ross, but it has a smoothness that seems like it should be perfectly at home in a Bugatti.  The surprise is the price. This watch is art, but the price is well less than $50.

An SKMEI Square Watch for Men

You can take a closer look at this beauty on Amazon. It's available via here via my affiliate link.

What is an Affordable Watch?

I believe an affordable watch is a watch that generally costs less than $300 US. Most of us can purchase an affordable watch with just a little savings or a credit card. An affordable watch shouldn't impact family finances much.  At this price point, brands like Casio and  Timex are joined by brands like Caravelle, Guess, Invicta, Hilfiger, MVMT, Nautica, Perry Ellis, and Wenger. Watches from brands like Bulova, Mathey-Tissot, Momentum, Orient, and Seiko also start to appear on shopping lists.

A Wenger Grenadier Watch

What is an Attainable Watch?

To me, an attainable watch is a watch that generally costs less than $1200 US. It's not always easy or prudent to purchase an attainable watch, but diligent savings, a nice tax refund, a decent work bonus, or some other windfall should sometimes allow an attainable watch to enter the collection from time to time. Attainable watches might come from brands like Bulova, Hamilton, Laco, LIV, Mido, Mondaine, Movado, or Tissot. There are lots of attainable watch brands from France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. I consider these watch brands something special, a real luxury, and they evidence a strong commitment to watch collecting.

A Bulova Watch with Diamond Markers

What is an Achievable Watch?

To me, an achievable watch is a watch that generally costs between  $1200 and $2500 US dollars. You have to be financially successful to have the disposable income to buy these watches.  However, if you work hard, save, invest, and make all the right moves, you should be able to achieve the success necessary to buy one of these watches. I cover these watches from time to time because they are interesting and because they might be something we can get our hands on without using a ski mask and a hammer. But, this blog doesn't dwell on these watches because they are beyond the prudent reach of many readers.

What lies Beyond Achievable?

Once we get beyond $2500, we enter the world of the highly successful. These might be the luxury and ultra-luxury watches of entrepreneurs, lawyers,  doctors, and real estate moguls of our world. This blog ends where many mainstream watch magazines and influencers begin. We might admire these watches from afar. For most of us, watches from brands like Panerai, Tudor, and Rolex are out of prudent financial reach. I spot them from time to time on people who are successful entrepreneurs. God bless them for putting in the hours and taking the risks to fuel our economy. These brands established the icons that serve as aiming points for the rest of the watch industry. I don't generally cover these watch brand on this blog unless I notice one in the wild, find a great deal on a used one, or use one as an inspiration for finding similar looking more affordable watches

Hopefully, these definitions help a bit. Obviously, they can be a little fluid from time to time. But, this should cover the gist of what I cover on this blog.  May all of you attain the prosperity to only visit this blog in search of beater watches for gardening and mowing your lawn.

A Guide to Military Style Watches

The military style watch has been gaining popularity in recent year.  Our nation and the western world has been at war against Islamic terrorism for 16 years and there is little sign that the struggle will ever end.  As the Army recruiting commercials say, "every generation has heroes," and perhaps all of us want to identify with those heroes and show our support.  Military-style watches are practical tools for today's warriors and a fashion homage to our heroes for the rest of us.

What time is it? - Photo by U.S. Army Europe Images from Heidelberg, Germany (What time is it  Uploaded by GiW) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Most military-style watches are generally based on standard issue military watches from the Vietnam era.  They consist of a simple analog dial displaying the 12 and 24-hour times against a plain dark background and feature a drab canvas or leather strap.  Many military-style watches feature a white triangle at the 12 o'clock position.  While the SKMEI military-style watch below features numbered minutes prominently, many do not.  This is a typical example of a military inspired watch.  Amazingly this one costs less than $10.

Some military style watches forego the 24 hour markings in favor of a simplified dial.  One of my favorite affordable military-style watches is this simple Timex Expedition Vintage Metal Field Watch.  It's very simple and it fits the military theme well.

If you are looking for another inexpensive option, this U.S. Polo watch is a nice simple and inexpensive example.  While war is no polo match, this watch has the big readable numbers, 24-hour time, and that ever present triangle.  You can generally find US Polo watches priced for less than $25 at traditional retailers like Kohl's or Sears.

You'll find some watches are even more simplified with markings inspired by World War 1 era aviation watches.  This Invicta 1461 is typical of that genre of watch.  On a more expensive end of the spectrum, Bell & Ross followed its smash hit instrument panel watches with a very sparse and utilitarian World War I inspired pilots watches.  These watches are great for those of us with older eyes because we don't have to explicitly admit that we need an Easy Reading Watch.

Of course, sometimes there is no substitute for the real thing.  The Marathon Watch company currently makes military specification watches.  These watches have tritium tubes that provide lighted markings without having to be charged via a light source.  They are also made for the extreme conditions that soldiers may actually face.

Watch Companies: You Better Bring It!

Here is a perfectly respectable Embassy brand watch at Kmart.  It has a reliable quartz movement and probably sells for around $14.99.

There's nothing wrong with this watch and I'm sure it will work well for whomever buys it.  Here's the thing - if a rather generic Kmart watch looks this good, why not buy this watch instead of a more expensive brand name watch? 

This watch is a warning to Timex, Casio, Armitron, and all the other watch companies out there.  Anybody can make a straight forward quartz watch that works well.  If you want to make the sale and wow your customers, you better bring it!  You need to bring watches to market that turn heads, attract customers, and make them want to buy.  If you are an established watch company, you need to have great watches in stock at every outlet even Kmart, Target, and Walmart.

[As of 2025, Kmart is a distant memory. Embassy watches are only oddities on eBay and Etsy. But, the threat to the watch industry remains. Now, customers can buy watches directly from manufacturers via ecommerce megasites like Amazon and Aliexpress. Brands like Nibosi, SKMEI, and Baltany are challenging watchmakers big and small. It's a big threat to traditional watch brands.]