An Unexpected Surprise
I’ve seen the name “Stauer” pop up a few times on eBay and Amazon while watch browsing, but I never looked into the brand specifically, or any of their models.
Today, my mom comes over to eat with me, and she had a small box that was still wrapped in the postage materials. She tells me that she picked this out as a surprise for me from the AARP catalogue.
Inside I find the watch, a polishing cloth, and a small manual, and after inspecting the packaging and first handling the watch, I knew exactly what category of watch this is, and you probably can too just from looking at the photos and reading the specs down below.
My mom was so, so excited to give me this watch, and she was telling me how she was absolutely blown away by the cost of the watch in the AARP shop compared to other online retailers. I expressed my admiration for it exactly as one does when receiving any gift from a loved one, but the more I handled the watch, the more I genuinely liked it.
The watch has a quartz movement, mineral crystal, 3ATM water resistance, and stainless steel case. The buckle is signed and matches the case finishing, and the strap was surprisingly supple and comfortable right out of the box.
The main thing this watch brings to the table: the dial.
A striking blue dial with polished Roman numeral hour markers and lollipop(?) hands. The date window is not beveled, but a printed border provides some contrast around the window. The chapter ring is entirely high polished, which can make the dial look a bit empty when viewed from an angle, but when viewed from directly above, the hour markers form a reflection and actually look pretty cool. In the direct sunlight, you can even see fine rings around the outer portion of the dial, which helps provide some depth and texture.
The only thing is, it is a tad too big for me. My wrists are only a bit larger than 6 inches, or around 15 cm, and the huge lugs really extend out and overhang a tiny bit. I really don’t mind, I’ve seen much gaudier watches on people with smaller wrists than mine, and I will have no problem wearing this when out and about with family.
Have you ever received an “interesting” watch from a family member? If so please feel free to drop a picture below; these watches may not be “enthusiast approved”, but they certainly hold special places in our hearts, and I know this watch will never leave my collection no matter what.
One thing though—what the heck is a Cotswold crystal???? 😂 Can’t say I’ve heard of that before, see the photo of the manual below.
MI, USA • Quartz & Mechanical Lover • I ramble a lot
You are a good son for refraining from telling your mother that the "original MSRP" is fantasy land and no particular deal was had. For all Stauer's shenanigans, they do make interesting designs. They even did proper center-based Roman numerals instead of having them flip midway around. Heck they even did integrated the inboard date window (a symptom of tiny movement in a big case disease) successfully so that it looks right. I'm a sucker for any kind of textured dial like this, but I totally agree that this really would work better is they shrink it down by a few millimeters.
I'd bet Cotswald crystal is just some lightly treated mineral glass like Stuhrling's Kristernia or whatever they call it. I'm in the other shoes, trying to give people watches and not finding receptive audiences.
I used to see Stauer ads in the Skymall magazine on airplanes. They sure can spin a tale! Every watch or piece of jewelry is accompanied by some very fanciful copy writing. Stories of finding rare gems deep in a cave in the Amazon, gold forged and crafted by artisans in the historic ruins of Italy, or watches inspired by 11th century crusaders.
https://www.stauer.com/category/watches
Anyway, I'm no expert, but as @OscarKlosoffWatch noted, they play the Invicta game with MSRP. That said, I've heard they sell decent watches for the price. Thier "Dashtronic" is interesting:
The good thing is that your Mom loves and cares for you. Tell her you love it and remember to wear it whenever you are with her.
The bad thing is that it's a Stauer-but she need not know that.
I used to see Stauer ads in the Skymall magazine on airplanes. They sure can spin a tale! Every watch or piece of jewelry is accompanied by some very fanciful copy writing. Stories of finding rare gems deep in a cave in the Amazon, gold forged and crafted by artisans in the historic ruins of Italy, or watches inspired by 11th century crusaders.
https://www.stauer.com/category/watches
Anyway, I'm no expert, but as @OscarKlosoffWatch noted, they play the Invicta game with MSRP. That said, I've heard they sell decent watches for the price. Thier "Dashtronic" is interesting:
I actually bought this watch since it was interesting. It's nice, but really blocky and the front case that doesn't show the time is a much larger percentage of the dial in real life than it seems in photos.
I actually bought this watch since it was interesting. It's nice, but really blocky and the front case that doesn't show the time is a much larger percentage of the dial in real life than it seems in photos.
I think they could have gone with less text on the front, too.
I used to see Stauer ads in the Skymall magazine on airplanes. They sure can spin a tale! Every watch or piece of jewelry is accompanied by some very fanciful copy writing. Stories of finding rare gems deep in a cave in the Amazon, gold forged and crafted by artisans in the historic ruins of Italy, or watches inspired by 11th century crusaders.
https://www.stauer.com/category/watches
Anyway, I'm no expert, but as @OscarKlosoffWatch noted, they play the Invicta game with MSRP. That said, I've heard they sell decent watches for the price. Thier "Dashtronic" is interesting:
Last I checked Stauer was still buying text-heavy full page ads in like car magazines and other heteronormatively masculine paper publications, like home improvement or hunting fare. They indeed spin yarns worthy of the old J. Peterman catalog, and sort of harken back to a lost age of print advertising for those with proper attention spans.
Last I checked Stauer was still buying text-heavy full page ads in like car magazines and other heteronormatively masculine paper publications, like home improvement or hunting fare. They indeed spin yarns worthy of the old J. Peterman catalog, and sort of harken back to a lost age of print advertising for those with proper attention spans.
"J. Peterman catalog"
Haha, yes! Exactly.