Product Review:
121Time Race Chronograph
You have heard me talk about 121Time.com’s watches in the past. Well today I wanted to talk to you about a new watch they have in their collection that I got a chance to try out. But before I talk about that I wanted to talk a little bit about the company and the unique features that make them a force in the industry.
In the watch making industry there haven’t been many “Swiss Made” watches that fall into the mid-price watch market (150-500), even though that is where many watch buyers fall worldwide. So Factory121 set out to change all that. They were able to get their prices down because they sidestepped the expensive obstacles of distribution and put themselves in the middle price segment because they already had what was necessary for their watches to carry the “Swiss Made” label.
I have talked about the innovative technology that they call the configurator before. It took them two years to complete and is an entirely flash based way to create your watch the way you like it. Let’s say you don’t like the colour of the face on the watch, no problem just change it. Maybe you like a specific band for the watch. The configurator gives you many different options to choose from. There are 3 main steps to creating your watch. First you have to select what type of bezel you would like. From there you move on to the dials and hands section. In this section you can also change the colours of the different hands as well as the numbers on the dial. Next up is the section where you choose what type of strap you would like. Once you have completed these 3 main sections you move on to the upgrade section. In this section you can upgrade the water-resistance, and also upgrade the type of crystal that covers the watch face. Finally there is personalization section where you can have the watch engraved with text or your zodiac sign.
While you are making these selections on the left is a real-time display which shows your watch and the different changes you are making to it. I have to say that the watch that you see on the left is exactly what you will be getting when you order it. It’s a really seamless way to configure the watch and it’s an impressive piece of web programming as well.
So now that I have explained how you go about creating your watch let me tell you about the watch that I got a chance to use. This watch is part of their “Race” collection. Here is the description of the watch: “Specifically designed to brave the most extreme conditions, this timekeeping instrument is a genuine sports tool, made from surgical, black titanium carbide coated stainless steel. A watch to challenge limits while making no compromises on style.” I liked the look of this watch so much that I did not do a lot of customizing. The only thing I really changed was the colour of the numbers. They were originally yellow and I changed them to silver. This watch is a chronograph. Now before getting the watch I didn’t really know what that meant. I just knew that I liked the look of it. In essence, a chronograph is a stopwatch. It allows you to time something and it will even give you the measurement down to the tenth of a second. The watch has 3 small dials on it. The one in the upper left will let you keep track of when 30 minutes have passed. The dial beside that shows you the tenth of a second. At the 6:00 o’clock position is the second hand. The watch also has a date window at the 4 o’clock position. There is a really long hand which is your stop watch. Other interesting feature this watch has is a Tachymeter. I had to look this up, but it’s a way to measure speed. So what you would do is start the stopwatch when the car leaves the line and then stop the watch when it reaches 1 kilometre. When it passes the 1 kilometre mark you can tell exactly how fast the car was travelling. It’s a pretty cool feature, but one I probably won’t use. But hey it looks cool. The watch is also water resistant to 165 feet and has a scratch resistant sapphire crystal covering the face. Overall, this is a well built, very attractive, sports watch. I love the black steel band, which sets it apart from a lot of the stainless steel watches that are silver. The watch also comes in a nice black case as well.
Once you place your order, the configurator prepares the order and sends the form directly to the assembly shop. It is there that a Swiss watch maker assembles the watch to your exact specifications. After ten days the watch is delivered to your front door. The people at Factory121 have been amazing. The service has been excellent and you really can’t get a watch of this quality at these prices anywhere else than at 121Time.com.