SKMEI 2116 STARRY SKY MOON PHASE review

Summary: It is an interesting-looking watch that appears in the marketing to have a date, a moonphase, and an overlay starfield as complications, but ultimately bad alignment and foolish design choices make it a let down.

Issues: most importantly, the moonphase complication is so badly aligned that for about half the icons it does not show the phase, but rather shows parts of a phase plus whatever is next to it. This makes about a third of the phases indistinct and perhaps another third merely confusing.

The second important function issue is that the date and moonphase are set together on a single stop, with a single action, that allows you to set a date or a moonphase, but each phase is tied to small date range in such a way that you can only have a full moon on or about the last day of the month. To put it another way, when setting the moonphase or date, rotating the opposite way does nothing, and changing how far the stem is pulled out only changes the hour and minute.

The other things about the watch that are also not good, but not quite as bad are: 1. post clasp strap loop is affixed to one spot, so the strap only fits without an annoying tail for people with a particular range of wrist sizes, all much bigger than mine. (Leather strap version reviewed)

2. A starfield film/disk duplicates the faces printed stars and rotates instead of a second hand. It is a nice idea, but would be far better if it rotated smoothly and/or if the stars were printed more finely and/or it complemented the other stars instead of copied them. Also aesthetically, the film/disk is reflective, an unnecessary distraction. Functionally, It is not clear where it should be aligned at the top of the minute.

I'm returning mine. It was purchased on AliExpress from the highly rated Skmei Official Store. Based on minimal reviews that fail to point out the main issues with the watch I experienced. I noticed Aliexpress is not allowing me to review the watch there, which strikes me as dishonest and scammy, since I experienced the watch and a negative review is just as important as a positive one for shoppers. My other interactions with Skmei have not been great either and I cannot recommend trying to do business with them for this reason. Still, I thought, low risk, and potentially high reward-- such a nice looking thing! For now I am waiting for a refund which I expect based on previous AliExpress returns. Purchased for about $20 with shipping.

The case was not opened, so the movement type is not confirmed but it kept okay time for the few hours I observed it. It says it is a japanese movement, but if so, I believe it is likely not a reliable moonphase movement.

I didn't mind the feel on my wrist, and it did manage to make it under my cuff. Spouse really liked the look but ultimately I felt too silly wearing a watch with so many imitations of fun and interesting things that looked "off." And that is why my time with this Skmei is done.