If you read gun magazines, you know that everything from Barbecue Aprons to pocket knives can be painted black, called tactical, and sold for ten times the price. It’s the price we pay for looking manly in a Ryan Seacrest metrosexual world. Fortunately, if you shop well, you can find the tacti-cool look at a bargain price. For example, Walmart sells a very cool watch that looks tactical but sells for only $10.
I found my tacti-cool watch on a watch department endcap nestled in among all the other cheap $8 to $12 watches. Like most of the cheap watches, the watch I call “tactical” has a Japanese quartz movement and is assembled in China. Like most cheap watches,it has a stainless steel back and a base metal bezel. Inside the case, it is surely a simple, cheap, commodity wristwatch. However, the styling and design of this watch make it look like something far more expensive.
The watch has many “tactical” styling cues. The watch has a 33-millimeter diameter black face with large white numbers. Each numeral also has a white baseball diamond-shaped marker beneath the crystal for increased visibility in low light conditions. The 45-millimeter diameter bezel has a brushed metal look in gun-metal gray. Simple white hashmarks on the bezel further reinforce the clock position numerals. The bezel has indentations that subtly evoke the rotating bezels of diver-style watches. However, since the gun metal gray case color is uniform, it is obvious that this bezel was never intended to rotate. Finally, this watch has a high quality black nylon band with a conventional fastener.
In a few weeks of wear, this cheap, tactical-looking, watch has become one of my favorites. It’s comfortable and easily readable. I also like the nylon strap. Many of my watches have nylon straps that are secured by velcro. They offer the advantage of a perfect fit for any wearer. However, nylon and velcro straps also collect dust and lint. The strap of this tactical watch stays perfectly black because it doesn’t incorporate velcro. Instead, it has a conventional fastener. The lack of velcro keeps this watch looking clean and sleek.
Of course, this inexpensive watch is not without drawbacks. While it is perfectly capable of helping an office worker like me tell time, it would probably not be up to the rigors of real “tactical” use. The generic packaging from Walmart does not provide any information about this watch being water proof or even water resistant. Fortunately for me, I don’t have a helicopter drop me in the lake next to my office. I can just park in our lot. Since this is a quartz watch rather than an expensive European automatic, it will eventually need a new battery. According to the case back, it takes a common SR626SW watch battery. This watch also does not have any night time illumination features. For only $10 to $15 more, you could choose a Timex Expedition with Indiglo technology or a Casio Forester with Illuminator technology and be able to tell time on the darkest of nights.
This watch also won’t provide a name brand for bragging. The packaging indicates that the watch was imported by Advance and has a warranty from the Geneva Watch Group. Who made this watch? I’m not sure. Personally, I don’t need a designer label. I think it would be a little “mall ninja” for me to go out and spend $500 on a real tactical watch. I’m not on SWAT team and I’m not tracking terrorists across the dusty, rocky, terrain of Afghanistan. Since I like the looks of a tactical watch, but not the price tag, this tacti-cool watch will work just fine for me.
Overall, this watch looks great and is priced just right. This is probably the best $10 watch purchase that I’ve ever made.
Other articles from this contributor:
Wristwatch Review: Precision by Gruen Men’s Diver Style Analog Watch
Wristwatch Review: Mossimo Digital Watch from Target
Wristwatch Review: Merona Men’s Round Dial Analog Dress Watch from Target