Company Website: http://www.hagerwatches.com/
Email: hager.watches@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HagerWatches?ref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagerWatches
History/About (Direct from website): "Hager [Hah•ger] Hager Watches was started in 2009 with the idea of creating an automatic watch at an affordable price with the highest quality possible. We challenged ourselves to create watches that almost everyone could afford without having to break the bank or skip a mortgage payment. Our strategy is simple, build a high value, high quality, high-volume consumer product at a low cost to the consumer. At Hager Watches we have pretty high standards and quality control, from the initial CNC machining to the final fit and finish which customers expect when they receive their watch. We also have one final axiom we abide by: "If we won't wear it and it's not good enough for us, we won't sell it to you". It took us over a year and three prototypes before we approved the Hager Commando, so you can imagine how exacting we are about our watches. Our manufacturer acquired three words from us early on..."get it right!". Without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars you get the right look for the right price and it translates as easily from work to play.
Founded by Pierre "Pete" Brown in Hagerstown, Maryland. Pete has been a watch collector and an avid watch enthusiast most of his adult life. Pete started collecting watches as soon as he could afford them. Pete has a BA in Political Science from East Carolina University and is currently studying Government at the Harvard Extension School. Pete is a former Marine, Army officer, law enforcement officer, US Government (USG) employee and now works for a Fortune 500 company. Pete's ultimate objective is to move all overseas production back to the town the company is named after in an effort to not only provide jobs for our community, but to produce an all American made watch.
Hager's graphic designer, photographer and webmaster is Brenda, Pete's college sweetheart and wife of 16 years. Brenda holds a BA in English from East Carolina University. Brenda taught high school and worked as a USG employee before homeschooling. An interest in technology and her creativity led to being self taught in graphics and web design. She is the Hager Watches webmaster and is the contact person for all general questions about Hager.
*(Secret about Brenda: She doesn't want anyone to know that she has a nice Swatch collection from the 80's thanks to the vision of Nicholas Hayek.)
At Hager Watches our goal has been simple from the beginning, to create a a quality automatic watch at an affordable price. Please feel free to contact Pete with any questions you have about our watches. He will try to answer every email that he receives with the best answer possible."
Specifications:
Case: Stainless Steel 316L CNC Machined
Movement: TY2806 21j automatic movement with a power reserve of 36 hours
Case Diameter: 40mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Height: 13mm
Crystal: Sapphire - flat w/ AR
Water Resistance: 10 ATM (100m/330ft)
Consumer Cost: $260 USD free shipping on USA orders
Email: hager.watches@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HagerWatches?ref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagerWatches
History/About (Direct from website): "Hager [Hah•ger] Hager Watches was started in 2009 with the idea of creating an automatic watch at an affordable price with the highest quality possible. We challenged ourselves to create watches that almost everyone could afford without having to break the bank or skip a mortgage payment. Our strategy is simple, build a high value, high quality, high-volume consumer product at a low cost to the consumer. At Hager Watches we have pretty high standards and quality control, from the initial CNC machining to the final fit and finish which customers expect when they receive their watch. We also have one final axiom we abide by: "If we won't wear it and it's not good enough for us, we won't sell it to you". It took us over a year and three prototypes before we approved the Hager Commando, so you can imagine how exacting we are about our watches. Our manufacturer acquired three words from us early on..."get it right!". Without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars you get the right look for the right price and it translates as easily from work to play.
Founded by Pierre "Pete" Brown in Hagerstown, Maryland. Pete has been a watch collector and an avid watch enthusiast most of his adult life. Pete started collecting watches as soon as he could afford them. Pete has a BA in Political Science from East Carolina University and is currently studying Government at the Harvard Extension School. Pete is a former Marine, Army officer, law enforcement officer, US Government (USG) employee and now works for a Fortune 500 company. Pete's ultimate objective is to move all overseas production back to the town the company is named after in an effort to not only provide jobs for our community, but to produce an all American made watch.
Hager's graphic designer, photographer and webmaster is Brenda, Pete's college sweetheart and wife of 16 years. Brenda holds a BA in English from East Carolina University. Brenda taught high school and worked as a USG employee before homeschooling. An interest in technology and her creativity led to being self taught in graphics and web design. She is the Hager Watches webmaster and is the contact person for all general questions about Hager.
*(Secret about Brenda: She doesn't want anyone to know that she has a nice Swatch collection from the 80's thanks to the vision of Nicholas Hayek.)
At Hager Watches our goal has been simple from the beginning, to create a a quality automatic watch at an affordable price. Please feel free to contact Pete with any questions you have about our watches. He will try to answer every email that he receives with the best answer possible."
Specifications:
Case: Stainless Steel 316L CNC Machined
Movement: TY2806 21j automatic movement with a power reserve of 36 hours
Case Diameter: 40mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Height: 13mm
Crystal: Sapphire - flat w/ AR
Water Resistance: 10 ATM (100m/330ft)
Consumer Cost: $260 USD free shipping on USA orders
Case (Crown Side): The Commando is as stated in the specificatiosn 40mm 10-4. If you measure in the crown the diameter bumps up to a nice 43mm. The crown is unsigned and is the screw down variety. The crown measures around 6mm in diameter and engages smoothly with very little play or wiggle. The case has alternating brushed and high polish finishes and resembles various Sub watch model cases.
Bezel, Dial and Hands: The Commando comes with a coin edged 60 click unidirectional rotating bezel. The bezel clicks are precise and quick firm with very little play in the bezel at all. The bezel insert is metal and is the 60 min/sec variety which I actually prefer and contains a lume pip at the 12.
The Commando has a 2.24mm sapphire crystal installed and the dial opening itself measures at around 30mm. Beneath the sapphire crystal is a black standard appearing sub c type dial. The dial is marked with the company logo and name above center and model name and specifications just below center dial. There are applied hour markers at all positions except the 3 where the date window is positioned. The markers are all lumed. The date window is pretty small but standard for this size watch. The wheel is black with white numerals which looks nice with the rest of the dial markings.
The hands are sword shaped and have a high polish finish which provides contrast to the finishes on the watch. The hands contain lume as well as the tip on the second hand. Overall this area of the watch is exactly what should be expected with a sub c style timepiece.
The Commando has a 2.24mm sapphire crystal installed and the dial opening itself measures at around 30mm. Beneath the sapphire crystal is a black standard appearing sub c type dial. The dial is marked with the company logo and name above center and model name and specifications just below center dial. There are applied hour markers at all positions except the 3 where the date window is positioned. The markers are all lumed. The date window is pretty small but standard for this size watch. The wheel is black with white numerals which looks nice with the rest of the dial markings.
The hands are sword shaped and have a high polish finish which provides contrast to the finishes on the watch. The hands contain lume as well as the tip on the second hand. Overall this area of the watch is exactly what should be expected with a sub c style timepiece.
Movement: As stated previously in the specifications the Commando comes with a TY2806 21 jewel automatic movement with a power reserve of 36 hours. This movement is produced by Seagull out of China. One popular rebranding of the ST-16 ebauche that some readers may be most familiar with for reference is the CL888.
The movement in this particular Commando has been accurate since arrival. The power reserve has also been as advertised.
Straps: Not a whole lot to say in this area. The Commando comes standard with a quality NATO pictured below. Leather strap options are available. I would recommend a nice rubber dive strap option.
The movement in this particular Commando has been accurate since arrival. The power reserve has also been as advertised.
Straps: Not a whole lot to say in this area. The Commando comes standard with a quality NATO pictured below. Leather strap options are available. I would recommend a nice rubber dive strap option.
Lume: The lume is not incredible but it is very nice. Hager uses RC Tritec lume which glows blue. The Tritec compound requires a good charge but looks really nice when fully charged. The lume doesn't glow brightly long but the afterglow is still present into the early morning hours. I believe very adequate lume for a watch in this price range and I personally love blue lume. I might suggest looking into using BG W9 which glows blue as well but has a greater intensity as long as the price would not be impacted greatly.
Summary: I would like to commend Hager for the Commando. At $260 shipped free in the USA I'm not certain there is any better bang for buck watch available. You get a nice case design, screw down crown, sapphire crystal, a decent movement that so far I can attest to has been as accurate as any movement in my collection. I hope Hager looks into improving the water resistance and lume on the Commando but again only if cost isn't greatly impacted as below $300 the Commando is a great find and will be a solid watch in any collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment