I am writing this review for the Kamasu itself, but also for my experience with my first mechanical watch, as I imagine it will be for many people who buy this watch. I think the watch looks great; the dial, hands, crown, and wristband are all stylish yet understated, which is a quality I think a lot of men look for when buying jewelry. It has its own style to it, and it adequately differentiates itself from a lot of the Rolex clones you see. I especially like the red dial on my version. At first glance looking at pictures of it online, it may seem a bit loud, ostentatious or difficult to work into the rest of your wardrobe, but the hue of red is much closer to a subtle burgundy with only a dull shine in real life (which I like). It is also nicely textured if you look at it closely. My only aesthetic criticism is with the bezel. It is ribbed along the rim which catches the light and makes it look a little frillier and fancier than I think it needs to. As for the mechanical aspect of the watch, for me, it is a bit of a mixed bag. I really like the fact that there are no batteries or tiny electric motors, and that the watch runs simply on stored potential energy released carefully through mechanical advantage. It also winds itself if you wear it every day, which is very convenient. I also like the weight of it. It has a satisfying heft to it unlike many quartz watches, but I will say it’s weight does make it hard to forget that it is there. Functionally, it is also not perfect. I am perfectly aware that accuracy is not a strong suit of mechanical watches, but mine gains about 10 seconds a day. This is well within the margin of error advertised for this watch, but I do enjoy my watch ticking over to the next minute at the exact time it is supposed to (like a nice quartz or digital watch). If I wanted that with this watch, I would have to set it every day, and it runs a minute fast for every six days I do not reset the time. I do really like the day-date feature, but I will say I had some trouble getting it to work correctly, although I honestly chock that up to my own ignorance and impatience. The rotating bezel is also cool if you need a quick stopwatch or timer, but, again, I could do without it if it meant the bezel was smooth (it's ribbed so that you can grip it). I haven’t exactly tested its waterproof capabilities besides washing my hands while wearing it, but honestly, I don’t really think I would want to. The crown screws down into place against rubber gaskets that seal the inside, but it doesn’t really seem worth it to me to risk if, for instance, I didn’t screw the crown down all the way. The luminescence on the hands and hour marks is cool, but the glow fades quickly once it’s been in the dark for a bit. All things considered, I am very happy with my purchase. I would definitely recommend this one over the Orient Kanno, as that one is a little too big for my wrist (I would say I am a very medium sized man), and it has a mineral crystal instead of sapphire, like this one.
