Name of Reviewer: Michael W. (UKWolfeman)
Name of person who took pictures in review: UKWolfeman
Watch Name / Model Being Reviewed / Brand: RedSea - PVD Holystone
RedSea Watches
Twin Cities, MN
Email: info@redseawatches.com
Website: http://redseawatches.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/RedSea-Watches/101286633252347?ref=search&sid=543155427.1488336166..1&sk=wall
Model: PVD Holystone
Price: $695 USD
History (Direct from the Source):The Creation Of RedSea – It is amazing how much you find out you have in common with someone when you start to discuss watches. For instance, both of us (Troy and Josh) are not only long time watch collectors who admire the art of horology, but we both have an large entrepreneurial drive and coincidentally were born on the same day and year. Ironically we didn’t cross paths in life until a few years ago… when we had our first conversation around dive watches. Since then it has been countless discussions revolving around what intrigued us about our favorite pieces and what we would change about them if given the chance. Eventually, these discussions led to one simple question - the one that started it all -- “would you consider starting your own watch company?” We soon began defining our mission - to design watches with an amazing build quality, a unique design, and a high-beat movement, all at an affordable price.
RedSea – We put a lot of thought into the name "RedSea". RedSea really hit on all fronts of what we wanted to represent in our line of dive watches. The Red Sea is one of the greatest dive locations in the world, it has an amazing history, and the name itself seems to invoke a feeling of excitement and adventure. Our first line of watches capture some of this history in both design and naming convention.
Holystone – In naming each of our models we wanted to stay away from marine life names that are commonly found in many brands out there today. The name Holystone, a soft and brittle sandstone used for scrubbing the decks of wooden ships, fit well into that “old school” theme we wanted to infuse into a tool diver watch. What is really interesting is that both the British and American navies used to “holystone” their decks before the introduction of steel decks. Even more so, the Iowa class battleships (New Jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa) were holystoned into the 90’s until they were decommissioned as they had wooden decks as well. Our Holystone model also draws upon this military inspiration by incorporating the mil-time on the dial.
Six Pounder – When you think about sea exploration and the famous battles between navies and pirates, the thought of cannons are probably one of the first things to cross your mind. The term “pounder” refers to the size of the gun. Six pounders fired solid lead shots that weighed approximately six pounds. Design elements from cannon balls can be found on our Six Pounder model including the second/minute/hour hands, date box, minute ticks, and bezel marks which are all completely custom molded parts.
Product Specifications:
Case: 44mm 316L Stainless Steel or PVD
Lugs: 22mm
Height: 14mm
Weight: 119 grams on strap, grams on bracelet
Movement: Miyota 9015 (28,800 BPH)
Lume: LUM-TEC (Blue)
WR: 300M
Crystal: AR Undercoated Sapphire
Name of person who took pictures in review: UKWolfeman
Watch Name / Model Being Reviewed / Brand: RedSea - PVD Holystone
RedSea Watches
Twin Cities, MN
Email: info@redseawatches.com
Website: http://redseawatches.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/RedSea-Watches/101286633252347?ref=search&sid=543155427.1488336166..1&sk=wall
Model: PVD Holystone
Price: $695 USD
History (Direct from the Source):The Creation Of RedSea – It is amazing how much you find out you have in common with someone when you start to discuss watches. For instance, both of us (Troy and Josh) are not only long time watch collectors who admire the art of horology, but we both have an large entrepreneurial drive and coincidentally were born on the same day and year. Ironically we didn’t cross paths in life until a few years ago… when we had our first conversation around dive watches. Since then it has been countless discussions revolving around what intrigued us about our favorite pieces and what we would change about them if given the chance. Eventually, these discussions led to one simple question - the one that started it all -- “would you consider starting your own watch company?” We soon began defining our mission - to design watches with an amazing build quality, a unique design, and a high-beat movement, all at an affordable price.
RedSea – We put a lot of thought into the name "RedSea". RedSea really hit on all fronts of what we wanted to represent in our line of dive watches. The Red Sea is one of the greatest dive locations in the world, it has an amazing history, and the name itself seems to invoke a feeling of excitement and adventure. Our first line of watches capture some of this history in both design and naming convention.
Holystone – In naming each of our models we wanted to stay away from marine life names that are commonly found in many brands out there today. The name Holystone, a soft and brittle sandstone used for scrubbing the decks of wooden ships, fit well into that “old school” theme we wanted to infuse into a tool diver watch. What is really interesting is that both the British and American navies used to “holystone” their decks before the introduction of steel decks. Even more so, the Iowa class battleships (New Jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa) were holystoned into the 90’s until they were decommissioned as they had wooden decks as well. Our Holystone model also draws upon this military inspiration by incorporating the mil-time on the dial.
Six Pounder – When you think about sea exploration and the famous battles between navies and pirates, the thought of cannons are probably one of the first things to cross your mind. The term “pounder” refers to the size of the gun. Six pounders fired solid lead shots that weighed approximately six pounds. Design elements from cannon balls can be found on our Six Pounder model including the second/minute/hour hands, date box, minute ticks, and bezel marks which are all completely custom molded parts.
Product Specifications:
Case: 44mm 316L Stainless Steel or PVD
Lugs: 22mm
Height: 14mm
Weight: 119 grams on strap, grams on bracelet
Movement: Miyota 9015 (28,800 BPH)
Lume: LUM-TEC (Blue)
WR: 300M
Crystal: AR Undercoated Sapphire
First Impressions: Nice watch case, nice diver, nice straps. No nonsense diver with a very appealing look.
Watch Box/Case: The Holystone came packed well with inner box surrounded with bubble wrap. The inner box containing the watch box/case as you can see below is stamped with the company name, logo and geographic location. The watch box/case is of the travel case variety making it extremely useful and not just another watch box/case to throw in the bottom of your closet. The box/case is made of a leatherette type material and has dual zippers for securing the box/case. RedSea has embossed their logo and specific model name on the top which is a nice little added detail. The interior of the case is composed of two separate lined compartment for the purpose of carrying two watches or one watch and additional straps securely. I enjoy it when watch companies such as RedSea decided to provide the consumer with a little something extra that is useful rather than just a standard box that takes up space.
Watch Box/Case: The Holystone came packed well with inner box surrounded with bubble wrap. The inner box containing the watch box/case as you can see below is stamped with the company name, logo and geographic location. The watch box/case is of the travel case variety making it extremely useful and not just another watch box/case to throw in the bottom of your closet. The box/case is made of a leatherette type material and has dual zippers for securing the box/case. RedSea has embossed their logo and specific model name on the top which is a nice little added detail. The interior of the case is composed of two separate lined compartment for the purpose of carrying two watches or one watch and additional straps securely. I enjoy it when watch companies such as RedSea decided to provide the consumer with a little something extra that is useful rather than just a standard box that takes up space.
Case (Crown Side): The crown side of the case reveals the PVD finish, bezel (not quite gear cut), spring bar access holes and a signed 6mm crown at the 4 position. The signed crown is knurled and easy to graps. The crown screws and unscrews with ease and is very firm with zero wiggle or play. The crown has 3 positions when unscrewed. The 1st position allows for manual winding of the watch movement. Position number 2 allows for independent date setting while the 3rd position is for time setting purposes. The 6mm crown works well with the overall case size and height and I would love to see an oversized crown next time around. The spring bar access holes allow for extremely easy strap changes. Overall nicely done by Red Sea. The case is approximately 51mm lug to lug.
Case (Non-Crown Side): This side of the case normally in my reviews I mark as unremarkable. However in this case I would like to comment on the nice even application of the PVD finish as well as a nice view of the bezel. This view allows one to see that the bezel is slightly larger than the case.
Bezel, Dial and Hands: The Holystone comes with a pretty standard appearing smooth 60 click dive watch bezel with more than appropriate resistance for rotation. There resistance is adequate enough that one need not worry about the bezel moving while diving. The bezel is extremely easy to grasp which is an important feature. However, when I first started looking over these areas of the Holystone I had one major question in regards to the lume specifically on the bezel. In regards to the bezel the lume markers were raised and my first concern was the lume was painted on the bezel rather than being inset into the bezel. Well rest assured that is not the case. RedSea used 8 layers of LUM-TEC blue lume that was specifically formulated to resist the effects of salt water as well. The 8 layer application resulted in the lume being slightly raised on the bezel which is different from many inset lumed bezels that I have seen where the lume is flush with the bezel or inset down in the bezel.
Beneath the 2.60mm thick Sapphire crystal of the Holystone rests what I would describe as a black sunray style dial. The dial opening measure in at around 33mm. The dial is very clean and uncluttered in my opinion. The RedSea brand name is located below the 12 with a little color in the name to provide some color coordination with the minute hand. Not sure if RedSea did this intentionally or not but I like it. The model name and water resistance are noted on the dial just above the 6. Black date window/white numbers rests at the 3 which I really like rather than the standard placement at the 4 on many divers. Also a plus in my opinion to have the black date window with white numbers on a black dial/PVD watch as it just seems to fit the watch better. Lume markers at every hour position with each hour postion marked in military time 13-24 just to the inside of the lume markers giving the dial a miliatry OPS style appearance. The LUM-TEC lume appears to be applied evenly and in great abundance on the hour markers as you will see further in this review.
As far as the hands go they are nice dive watch style hands that I would describe as ladder style. The minute hand is outlined in red providing some color to the dial area while the hour hand is fully white and slightly smaller as it should be. Both hour and minute hands are lumed well. The second hand sweeps the dial as you would expect with the relatively new Miyota 9015 movement under the hood giving the hand an almost ETA type sweep in appearance. The second hand tip is also well lumed with the same LUM-TEC lume as the rest of the hands and markers.
Beneath the 2.60mm thick Sapphire crystal of the Holystone rests what I would describe as a black sunray style dial. The dial opening measure in at around 33mm. The dial is very clean and uncluttered in my opinion. The RedSea brand name is located below the 12 with a little color in the name to provide some color coordination with the minute hand. Not sure if RedSea did this intentionally or not but I like it. The model name and water resistance are noted on the dial just above the 6. Black date window/white numbers rests at the 3 which I really like rather than the standard placement at the 4 on many divers. Also a plus in my opinion to have the black date window with white numbers on a black dial/PVD watch as it just seems to fit the watch better. Lume markers at every hour position with each hour postion marked in military time 13-24 just to the inside of the lume markers giving the dial a miliatry OPS style appearance. The LUM-TEC lume appears to be applied evenly and in great abundance on the hour markers as you will see further in this review.
As far as the hands go they are nice dive watch style hands that I would describe as ladder style. The minute hand is outlined in red providing some color to the dial area while the hour hand is fully white and slightly smaller as it should be. Both hour and minute hands are lumed well. The second hand sweeps the dial as you would expect with the relatively new Miyota 9015 movement under the hood giving the hand an almost ETA type sweep in appearance. The second hand tip is also well lumed with the same LUM-TEC lume as the rest of the hands and markers.
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