I finally got the Milgauss GV after a one year wait. It’s an exceptional watch
and I’ll now describe some of my feelings towards it. I find the green crystal
to be genius. Variations such as making watches larger, changing bezel or hand
colors, are all changes that one may expect or imagine to occur at some point.
Conversely, changing the color of the crystal is something that I find very
subtle and definitely not something that I would have thought of. Apart from it
being a genius variation, I find it very pleasant too. The green is not
obstructive – it does not degrade the clarity of the dial in any way.
Furthermore, the green has enough presence that it’s actually there and you can
see it all the time should you wish to, without having to “concentrate” or look
for it (i.e., not like the crown etching, which incidentally, I haven’t seen on
the GV). In other words, Rolex found a perfect tonality and balance of green
that is present but yet not obstructive. I’ve found that once you get used to
the colored crystal, the green slowly “disappears” (i.e., you notice it less)
and it merely leaves a pleasant contour the the watch’s dial/crystal. Even if I
hated all of the aspects of this watch, I’d still strongly love it simply
because of its colored crystal – that’s how much I like that attribute and how
much it matters to me. If this is the first watch with a colored crystal, I
think that it may indeed launch a trend in the future or at least be remembered
as the parent of this (to me, great) idea.

Next, even if its not a uniqueness of the Milgauss, I love the rolexrolexrolex
engraved inside the watch. I’ve always felt the space between the dial and the
crystal to be somewhat empty and I believe that Rolex now found a nice and
subtle way to fill it. If the writing was more in relief and explicit (e.g.,
Yachtmaster II or Ring Lock System) it would have bothered me. If you chose to
ignore the rolexrolexrolex writing, it will virtually disappear in front of you -
otherwise it will emerge. I find it to be of the same subtlety of the green
crystal, and hence I like it.

Following that, I actually like the fact that the Milgauss has writing on the
caseback. This is also something I liked on the Sea-Dweller although I prefer
the Milgauss implementation. The font seems smaller on the Milgauss so the
writing looks less like an advert and more like a decoration.

I like the mix of orange and white indexes. It highlights important points on
the dial and gives the watch a nice symmetry. Perhaps an orange crown would
have made it even more symmetric – or ruined the watch! The different colors
also make the dial less boring, without exaggerating it. I think that I’ll
absolutely love the lume and its different tonalities at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock
markers. I still haven’t had time to experiment what the lume looks like – it’s
difficult to find sunshine in London these days. The “two-tone” lume could turn
out to be a great winning factor for me since I’m a great lume fan.

I’m not so sure that I’m a fan of the orange lightning bolt hand. Maybe I would
have preferred it to be black. Maybe I would have preferred it to be straight.
The current implementation makes the watch seem less elegant and more playful.
Maybe the orange on it is too strong. In any case, it doesn’t bother me, but it
also doesn’t make me jump with joy. It’s a bit like the cyclops – I have a
love-hate relationship with it; sometimes I like it, other times I don’t.
Ultimately, in practice, I’m indifferent – it’s not the factor that makes me
choose one model from another.

One of my first reactions with the Milgauss was that the watch was big. I think
that it had to do with the fact that it has a clear / empty bezel. I’ve always
had watches with something written on the bezel (e.g., numbers) and this is the
first time where there’s a lot of “empty space” following the dial’s perimeter.
Perhaps this illuded me into thinking that the watch was rather large. Now that
I think about it, the Milgauss’s bezel reminds me of the DD2 which is a
relatively large watch, so perhaps I saw the same size in the Milgauss.

The watch actually feels quite heavy. It feels heavier than all of my other
watches, including the Sea-Dweller. It doesn’t feel uncomfortable although it
definitely has wrist presence. The watch overall also feels very “solid”
somehow – almost indestructible. The crown on the other hand seems less “solid”
than that of, for example, the Submariner. When screwing the Submariner’s crown
it really feels like closing the hatch of a submarine (not that I’ve ever closed
one) and it feels that the crown is impenetrable. With the Milgauss, less so.
Perhaps because it turns less, it “clicks out” less, and perhaps because there
is no rubber gasket immediately visible. Finally, the crown has no shoulders
(which I’m instead used to) which at first seemed a bit awkward although I think
that I now like this simplicity. Overall, the Milgauss’s case feels very smooth
and has no rough ends like instead the Submariner has. For example, on the
Submariner, the corners of the case where the bracelet is attached are rather
sharp – not so on the Milgauss.

The clasp on the Milgauss is very solid and practical. It’s probably better
than the other clasps I’ve come across (Submariner, Daytona). It opens and
closes very easily and quickly. There’s no extra piece to open/close for
“securing” it like on the Submariner, and this makes it simpler to open/close
during day-to-day life. Sure it may be less secure, but on average, I don’t
need that security and would prefer practicality. The extension link is also a
very nice feature which I’ve already appreciated on the Daytona. Finally, I’m
not a big fan of polished center links since it gives the watch a two-tone look
which I don’t like, but I must admit that they fit the Milgauss well – better
than the Daytona.

Overall, on the Milgauss, I love the green crystal, like the simple dial, love
the clasp and like the solid feel of the watch. I’m less convinced by the
orange lightning bolt hand – maybe the color is too strong for me, although it
may turn out that I’ll actually start liking it with time.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Watch Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.