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Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

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bucko170

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Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post21 Feb 2015, 22:30

PART 1.

This part of the review will concentrate on the watch aesthetics and size, including the accessories and display box, I will chip in with the odd comment and explanation but on the whole I will be leaving the pictures to do the talking, (click to enlarge photos).

The watch at present is available in three different versions; brushed and mirror polished stainless steel and the black DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coated version which is the watch being reviewed here, more versions are planned for later on in the year including a chrome model and models with leather bands, more information can be found on Hanno's website here http://www.hgwc.de/.

1. The Package Arrives: The order was dispatched very promptly and the contents well protected with a bubble wrap layer inside the cardboard box.

HGWC 1 PS.jpg


2. What's Inside? An outer box, gold embossed with HGWC and logo to the bottom right hand corner.

HGWC 2 PS.jpg


3. And Inside That? We have a wooden presentation box embossed in gold with HGWC and logo to the bottom right hand corner.

HGWC 3 PS.jpg


4. So Lets Open The Box Then! OK, so lifting the lid reveals an interior lined with a red velvet type material, with the HGWC and logo sticker on the underside of the inside lid, laying over the top of the watch itself is a black cleaning cloth embossed HGWC in silver lettering together with the logo to the bottom right hand corner and lurking under this cloth is the watch itself fastened around a red velvet cushion and wrapped in a protective plastic cover.

HGWC 4 PS.jpg


HGWC 5 PS.jpg


HGWC 7 PS.jpg


Continued
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post22 Feb 2015, 00:24

PART 1: CONTINUED

6. So Now It Is Finally Out Of The Box: First thing I notice when removing the protective cover is the weight, heavier than expected, not overly heavy just enough to give the watch a nice solid quality feel. The DLC coating gives the watch a nice shine and depth and the white 18k gold command button compliments the case superbly. The rounded corners give the watch a sleek 'aerodynamic' look with the overhanging wedge shaped back bringing to mind the shape of the cycle helmets worn by the top athletes during competitions and a continuation to the aerodynamic theme. The stainless steel case back and clasp blend beautifully with the white gold command button sitting proudly on top of the case and helps unify the watch together into a singular aesthetically pleasing design.

7. So How Does It Compare To Other Watches? The quality of the watch is very impressive and described in some detail above but as you would expect it stands well above the quality of the typical 1970's LED watch.

8. What About The Size? I have decided to let the photo's do the talking when it comes to comparing sizes and dimensions.

A. HGWC v Macrolon Girard Perregaux Casquette: Probably the closest 70's watch match up.

HGWC 8 PS.jpg


B. Bulova Drivers v HGWC v Two GP Casquettes.

HGWC 11 PS.jpg


HGWC 12 PS.jpg


C. HGWC v Two Common Pulsar LED Models.

HGWC 13 PS.jpg


D. HGWC v CompuChron v Bulova Big Block.

HGWC 14 PS.jpg


E. HGWC v GP Casquette v Amida Digitrend.

HGWC 15 PS.jpg


HGWC 16 PS.jpg


F. HGWC v GP Casquette v Synchronar.

HGWC 20 PS.jpg


Continued.. .. ..
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post22 Feb 2015, 00:51

PART 1: CONTINUED

A couple of additional photo's to complete this first part of the review, including the obligatory wrist shot of course.

1. Wrist Shot.

HGWC 23 PS.jpg


2. The Case Back.

HGWC 19 PS.jpg


3. The Clasp.

HGWC 18 PS.jpg


4. The Watch.

HGWC 24 PS.jpg


PART 2

The Display.

1. Photo of the unlit display.

HGWC - Blank 3.jpg


2. The time display, one press of command button.

HGWC - Time 10.jpg


3. Seconds display, one press of command button and hold in.

HGWC - Secs 22.jpg


4. Date and month display, press command button twice.

HGWC - Date 1.jpg


5. Year display, press command button twice and hold in.

HGWC - Year 9.jpg
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post01 Mar 2015, 10:38

PART 2 : Continued

The Main Menu: This is accessed by pressing the command button twice and holding in on the second press (you have to hold the button in for quite a while), keep the button pressed in until the desired menu is displayed then release to access the sub menu, six categories to choose from -

1. Batt (Battery) this allows you to store the current watch settings prior to a battery change.

HGWC - Batt 30.jpg


2. Dual, this allows a second time to be displayed.

HGWC - Dual 7.jpg


3. Sett (Settings) for setting the time, date, month and year.

HGWC - Sett 7.jpg


4. Add F (Additional Features), here you can set the time to either a 12 or 24 hour display, change the format of the date and month display to show either D:M or M:D, select the desired special feature display; year, week of the year, day of the year or day of the week, set the display to show the leading zero (i.e 2AM would show as 02:00 and 2nd Feb as 02.02) and lastly turn the flick wrist feature on or off.

HGWC - Ad df 12.jpg


5. Cl Br (Calibrate) Allows the watch to be sped up or slowed down.

HGWC - Calibrate 13.jpg


6. Info (Information) Displays model version and battery voltage.

HGWC - Info 16.jpg


The above just outlines the main menu but setting up the watch is very straight forward, the manual with complete instructions can be found here http://www.hgwc.de/manuals/SASM60A_EN.pdf
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post01 Mar 2015, 12:14

The Band

The band is very well constructed, DLC coated to match the case and has a nifty locking and adjustable clasp, it is delivered with four quite large links either side of the clasp connecting it to the case, the links are large but the watch remains surprisingly comfortable on the wrist.

A photo of the band in the closed position, in this photo you can see the fold over locking clip to the left side and the two release buttons on either side of the clasp, the left side release button undo's the clasp the right hand side allows the sliding extension link to move out to adjust the size of the band, I had to remove a link and you can see in the photo part of the sliding extension link sticking out of the clasp. I was concerned about removing a link because on other clasp designs removing a link alters the position of the clasp on the underside of the wrist when it is being worn resulting in the clasp not sitting central on wrist and making it uncomfortable to wear however because the clasp on the HGWC extends outwards from the clasp extending the band does not effect the position of the clasp to any significant degree.

HGWC - Clasp 26.jpg


The locking clip in the open position.

HGWC - Clasp 28.jpg


The clasp in the open position.

HGWC - Clasp 29.jpg


Removing A Link.
The band has four removable links, two either side of the clasp, removal is easy as the links are connect with a pin that just needs to be pushed out.

HGWC - Link 23.jpg


HGWC - Link 24.jpg


In Summary.

A superbly constructed and great looking watch with a lovely quality feel which sits comfortable on the wrist, it is a watch that anyone would be proud to own. The large dot display is recessed back in the case so daytime viewing is good and the large dot display makes it super easy to read. It has many additional features which are easily accessible from the main menu and all the watch functions are very user friendly. The additional features allow the display to be tailored to the users own preferences, the flick wrist action is smooth but not overly responsive so it will not activate unintentionally and drain the battery. I would not hesitate to recommend this watch to anyone.

I will complete this review at a later date with a short video, if anyone has any further questions or feels that there is something I have missed please feel free to get in touch, until then I will let the HGWC have the final say and conclude that for now this review is.. ... .. .

HGWC - Done 17.jpg
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post01 Mar 2015, 16:28

Mick. Take a well earned bow, what an utterly brilliant and informative review.
With some excellent :pics:
I was a little apprehensive before wondering if I had done the right thing, but
your review has filled me with excitement and anticipation.
It looks :mega: :mega:
Well done again dude. :Prost: :Prost:
I'm like a child just before Xmas. M:)W:)M

:call: Mr postman hurry up ~:(
I really can't wait to get my hands on it.
"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member" Julius Henry Marx

"If necessity is the mother of invention, then mother is now standing at the door calling us in to do our home work"

IF YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR SMART WATCH DOESN'T NEED CHARGING AT LEAST EVERY WEEK YOU EITHER...
A. HAVE NO LIFE/FRIENDS. OR NEED FOR ONE.
B. YOU NEED TO SWITCH IT ON.
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post01 Mar 2015, 16:58

Thanks Jagmad :-D

Still room for a few more photo's of the brushed or mirror polished versions. ;-)
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post01 Mar 2015, 17:34

bucko170 wrote:Thanks Jagmad :-D

Still room for a few more photo's of the brushed or mirror polished versions. ;-)


Will do when it arrives I'm waiting a bit longer for mine because Hanno tells me the manuals
and a watch identity card will be included instead of being sent out separately with more cost
to our friend so I said I'd wait.

It's a good job I'm not going to DTD tonight, or I would have been asking you to Pm, me your address
just so I could pop in for a cop of rosie and see it in the flesh. M:)W:)M

Here's my Mirror one. Oooo I could crush a grape.

150208hg-5.jpg

150208hg-A.jpg
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"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member" Julius Henry Marx

"If necessity is the mother of invention, then mother is now standing at the door calling us in to do our home work"

IF YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR SMART WATCH DOESN'T NEED CHARGING AT LEAST EVERY WEEK YOU EITHER...
A. HAVE NO LIFE/FRIENDS. OR NEED FOR ONE.
B. YOU NEED TO SWITCH IT ON.
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post19 Jul 2018, 20:07

Just received my Brushed Stainless HGWC from Hanno.
Great review here and I love the watch. I only found out about these when Hanno returned my repaired GP Casquette and found an advertisement card in the box.
:-D

Les
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post20 Jan 2019, 10:47

I think that the HGWC use the Monsanto Man 3 dot led as the Synchronar, isn't it ?
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post21 Jan 2019, 03:04

Pulsar77 wrote:I think that the HGWC use the Monsanto Man 3 dot led as the Synchronar, isn't it ?


I see the similarities but I wouldn't know for sure, .obviously Hanno would be the right man to answer the question.
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post23 Jan 2019, 21:35

Yes, these are all brand new Monsanto MAN3A Displays. Someone might think I took them from used Synchronars but that´s not the case. When I was on vacation with my wife in the US we literally bought every Display that I could find. So I have a huge stock of MAN3A Displays available. I also got the MAN3As from vintage Synchronar Surplus. Some Displays from that lot are badly soldered and I cannot use them in the way there are. To my surprise I even found new-in-the-box original single MAN3A Displays. Plus I bought other Monsanto Displays which have to be wire bonded (dozens of them, not just 2 boxes) so that I have enough Displays left for my next watch Project. I also bought a bunch of complete coated Displays in PA but forgot to take Pictures. On a Business trip to Russia a bought the equivalent Russian "MAN3A" copy in red and green. The Display is the most important part of the LED watch - everything else can be done quite easily.
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post23 Jan 2019, 21:43

By the way the above watch, serial 0014S (S=sample, sample serials start with 0010S, so it´s the 5th watch) is the only watch which has been produced with DLC Coating.
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Re: Review Of The New HGWC Drivers Style LED Watch

Post26 Jan 2019, 08:37

thanks Hanno for these informations.
Digital LCD & LED watches fan

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