Review of the Arbutus Automatic
"Eureka" GMT Watch #AR0089WB
By: John B.
Holbrook, II
June 7, 2006
(re-printed with author's permission)
Arbutus is a new name to me in the value mechanical watch
segment, but according to information on their company website,
the founder and his brother established the company in the early
1980’s in New York. Since then, the company expanded to create
an international fashion profile, and have added jewelry and
eyewear to their offerings.
The
good folks at Island Watch recently provided me with two
examples from the Arbutus watch lines – the “Apexon”, and the
“Eureka.
The
second example I was sent for review was the Eureka - Arbutus
interpretation of the sport GMT watch. The Eureka is a bit more
traditional and understated than the Apexon, and the bracelet
dresses up the watch nicely. The Oyster-style bracelet on the
Eureka is entirely polished, as is the case. This gives the
watch lots of shine – very attractive. The stainless steel
bracelet is very heavy and the center and end links are solid.
The removable links on the bracelet are held in place with push
pins.
The
dial of the Eureka is black with a matte finish, and features
Arabic numeral markers with alternating metal applied markers.
Again, we have a well laid out, high contrast dial with
excellent legibility. A date complication is found in the
standard three o’clock position, and the watch also features a
GMT hand. Like the Apexon, the Eureka hands and markers have a
luminous coating which I found to provide a very strong glow in
low light.
The
movement is similar to the Apexon in that the movement can be
hand wound, and the rotor appears to be unidirectional in
winding capability. However, the Eureka does hack when the crown
is extended, which is nice on a GMT where accuracy is
important. The GMT hand is not independently settable as you
would find in a higher end GMT model – it’s tied to the main
hour hand. You can however rotate the inner bezel ring of the
Eureka to provide the same functionality of higher priced models
of being able to track a 2nd time zone – clever
solution.The control to advance the 24hr. inner bezel is located
right below the crown at four o’clock.
