The Encore ("Oz") - Fashion Watch Review

Quality and Dial - The quality of this watch is surprising, considering its price point, and that it is a fashion watch. My wife bought it for me as a Christmas present in 2005, at Dillard's. It was priced at $150, but marked down to $120. For that price point, one does not expect the high level of finishing of the stainless steel casement and bracelet; the watch crystal is hardened mineral glass, which is fine. Next comes the dial, which has one each of positive and negative attributes; the dial is rimmed with cubic zirconia, which provides plenty of flash and sparkle. That's the positive attribute. The dial face has no numbers, and the markers are tiny; the face is also filled with a busy, cluttered, heraldic design. This makes it hard for my tired old eyes to make out the time. I have to break out my reading glasses to tell the time. That's the negative attribute. Your mileage may vary.

Movement - The movement of this watch surprised me; it has a Hattori (Seiko) Y121E Quartz movement. These movements are not cutting edge, nor high-priced. They are inexpensive (I hesitate to say cheap, because they are actually well-made) as well as reliable, and last but not least, long-lasting. In the 18 years that I have owned it, the movement has always kept good, accurate time, and has never failed or malfunctioned. The stated accuracy of the Y121E is, like most "workhorse" quartz movements, rated at +/- 20 seconds per month. But like most of my other watches with good quartz movements, it has performed significantly above this gauranteed baseline.

Wearability & Design - The design of this watch is par excellence. The chromed stainless steel is highly polished, and has a nice glint to it; the crystal is highly polished as well, and has a dome shape to it, which also reflects light in a pleasing way. Add to that, the sparkle from the cz bezel, and you have a TRUE fashion watch, a real piece of "bling," turning your wrist into a miniature Las Vegas. In terms of wearability, it's a large watch, being 45mm wide, and sitting on a lug-to-lug of 51mm, and being 10mm thick. So it's not for the small-wristed; or is it? I think the watch is larger than most because it is intended to be flashy and eye-catching. If you were to see it being worn on a smaller wrist, I think it would look even flashier! But at any rate, on my 8" wrist, it wears great. It does feel a little heavy, but that's ok; I like the feeling of having a chunk of glass and steel, sitting on my wrist, glimmering like a beacon, hahaha. This watch is TRULY a piece of JEWELRY, that also happens to tell time.