I tried some macro shots with my point and shoot – they seem to have come out quite well (for me at least).
So here is the review of my Romain Jerome Extreme Rusted Steel T-Oxy III Chronograph. The watch is ‘nearly new’ with just a few desk diver type scratches on the clasp and lugs, but nothing that cape cod can’t handle.
This is not a refined watch, it is clearly designed and built to be an intimidating watch with a very masculine, aggressive look
The bezel is made in the Harland & Wolff shipyards that made the Titanic out of steel recovered from the Titanic itself. It doesn’t look like rusted steel because of the way that it has been stabilised, but it is a very interesting look and the texture gives the watch a little more interest.
The dial is also made using coal recovered from the boiler stores of the Titanic. The dial background is very flat, and I’m OK with that, I think it would be too fussy if it had any guilloche. The cross is slightly raised and that is textured with lines that run along the length of the cross. Although the coal is processed to produce the dial, the lines are reminiscent of the striations that you see in a piece of coal.
The sub dials have snail spiral guilloche and that works well (the ‘strange’ look to the sub dial is the photo, not the watch
I do have one complaint about the dial, the dial is remarkably thin, and that is undoubtedly because of the use of the Titanic coal. One of the impacts of that is that there is a gap between the bottom of the dial and the date wheel and you can see the bottom of the previous date and top of the next date when you look at the date window at an angle. This is made more evident by the white date wheel – white on balck would have been a much better choice. This is avoidable and I can’t help thinking that this may be indicative of the financial problems that RJ have had – it seems to have resulted in a lack of attention to detail in a few places – more to come.
I’m also a little disappointed with the lume – it’s bright, but it’s only on the small arrow heads of the hour and minute hands so there isn’t much of it. It works, but I would expect more ‘presence’ on a watch like this – even if the framework of the hands were lumed it would make it more unique.
The sub dial hands actually work well, the red running seconds is different to the rest and stands out, but I actually think that it works well in the metal.
The details on the dial itself are exceptionally good; whoever made the dial definitely knew what they were doing
The crystal is completely flat, slightly surprising given the size, and as best I can tell it has no AR. It’s possible that it has single sided AR and that the flat surface diminishes the impact, but I don’t think so – I see no evidence of any blue in the reflections. This is another example of the lack of attention to detail that appears in places with this watch – the watch is readable, but this is basic stuff that I expect to be addressed on a watch like this.
This is a big watch at 50mm, but I can wear it comfortably on my wrist
The height of the watch is also not excessive for a watch of this size
The case design has one very useful feature on a watch of this size. The lugs are bolted to the case and have a little play up and down. It’s only a couple of millimetres at the ends but it does help with the overall comfort – I really like the feature.
The crown and pushers have a very industrial look to them – the case has the same look on the left side as well, although there aren’t any pushers there obviously. The pushers are quite stiff so you do get an impression of the pushers in your finger, but no big deal.
The strap is a plain rubber with just a lightly embossed RJ logo close to the lugs. I’m not sure that I like it, it seems very simple and plain compared to the watch itself. I’ve been thinking of an aggressive pattern ABP strap – hornback, python, etc, but a couple of people have said that they think that the simple rubber complements the watch and that a fancy strap could be overkill. I can understand that, will need to consider my choices.
The strap is a deployant, but it’s designed to look like a tang
The tang element is actually the way that the deployant is adjusted, and it works well, although the butterfly style deployant is a little difficult to do up. Once on it’s very comfortable.
There is one problem with the strap that I consider completely unforgivable. There are two keepers on the strap, but the first one is not fixed – that is so basic it blows my mind that it hasn’t been done on a watch like this. The impact is that when you take the watch off the keepers both slip down over the deployant and have to be slid back up onto the strap before you can put the watch on. A part of me wonders if it was deliberate to make it easier to get the end of the strap through the keeper when doing the deployant up, but in truth I think that it is just an oversight – and to me it’s just not good enough – minor yes, but there shouldn’t be things like that on a watch like this.
The caseback is designed to show the movement and has a large sapphire window as well as details of the LE number and the Titanic information
The movement is by Concepto and I really like the fact that it’s a totally different look from the ETA / Valjoux type movements that we are so used to. The rotor has been designed to look like an anchor in keeping with the Titanic theme and it works very well, I really like the way that this has been done
The movement itself is good quality, but if you get in there with a loupe you can tell that it’s not an in house movement. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s clearly not quite so refined as you would see from JLC, IWC, Zenith, Panerai, etc
You may think by reading this review that I am disappointed, and that is definitely not the case. When I first bough the watch I said that it was the first watch that I had bought without really knowing why. Now that I have it I understand more – the whole package really calls to me. I want unique pieces in my collection now, and this fits the bill and then some. The faults don’t detract from the overall package and in some ways the lack of perfection adds to the ‘industrial’ feel of the watch – this watch isn’t trying to be perfection on the wrist.
However, there is an expectation that a watch in this price bracket will meet a certain standard and I think that RJ have a ways to go if they are going to be successful due to the watches themselves rather than the gimmicks. I certainly wouldn’t have paid list price for it.
I can’t finish this review without some reference to the Titanic connection. The watch isn’t ‘in your face’ with the Titanic, but it’s clearly there, and I obviously know. I gave a lot of thought before I bought the watch about how I would feel about it, and obviously more thought now that it is here.
I’m not tremendously knowledgeable about the Titanic, and I have no personal connections to it. I am conscious that beyond a famous story and a blockbuster movie this was a very human tragedy that affected a tremendous number of people. I decided that I was okay buying something made from relics from that and some people will likely disagree with that decision. I now find that as I put it on I am more conscious of what happened nearly 100 years ago, I’m not going to claim that I have a moment of silence or anything ‘worthy’, but it does cross my mind and I feel that the watch deserves some ‘respect’ – hard to explain. Ultimately I’ve decided that I am comfortable wearing the watch, and that’s a very personal decision.
So to sum it up – I am extremely happy, the package of this watch is exactly what I wanted – a different part of the collection that is also an individual piece that I enjoy strapping on and staring at. It’s not perfect, but it is an incredible piece.
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FAQ
, and maybe some people may think i'm grazy but i really love the bezel and the way the pushers are attached to it.
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