Back in 2017, I reviewed one of the most interesting diver-style watches currently on the market with the Swiss Favre-Leuba Raider Harpoon (aBlogtoWatch review here). Similar to the brand’s other dive watches visually, the Favre-Leuba Raider Harpoon was distinctive when it came to how it indicated the time. The time-telling system should probably have a catchy name to explain how it works, but I’ll describe its operation for you. In essence, it removes the hour hand entirely and replaces it with a disc. The replica watches disc moves around the dial but requires the minute hand to accurately identify the time.
The hour hand both indicates the hours and minutes. How is that possible? It works because the hour disc moves in a manner such that the minute hand points to the correct hour while also pointing to the current minutes as indicated normally. Seconds are indicated by a rather small spinning disc (with an arrow hand on it) that is centrally mounted. In fact, most of the people I’ve shown this watch to ask the question, “Why is the hour hand so little?” It is a fair question because it isn’t at all immediately obvious that there is an hour-indicating disc. To tell the time, you simply look at the where the replica watches uk minute hand is pointing to determine first the seconds and then the hour by seeing which two hour indicators the hand is between. This is somewhat different from how time is traditionally indicated with hours first and minutes second. That said, once you get used to the “traveling hour disc,” this system becomes both very legible and continues to feel effortlessly clever. Wearers of the Favre-Leuba Raider Harpoon can also marvel at how virtually no one can read the time without a basic explanation, even though after learning the system there is never a question as to what time it is. Favre-Leuba was so invested in the success of the Raider Harpoon that is was offered in a number of colors and with various strap options. No doubt the watch was special and offered something novel and fun that the market was supposed to love. Only the original Raider Harpoon (still produced today) was, unfortunately, a bit fake rolex too large for a large number of wrists with a case size of 46mm-wide. It isn’t even that 46mm-wide is terribly large, but with the case thickness and wide lug structures, the 46mm-wide Raider Harpoon was mostly reserved for the beefiest of wrists. Favre-Leuba quickly got the point and development of a smaller Raider Harpoon was forthcoming. That watch is now here with the Favre-Leuba Raider Harpoon 42 — and I have to say that I think the company finally got the Raider Harpoon size just right. On my wrist here is the Favre-Leuba Raider Harpoon 42 reference 00.10131.08.52.20 with a blue-themed dial and on the matching steel bracelet. The only two differences between this and the Original Raider Harpoon 46 watch are the downsized case and a bit less water resistance. This latter fact barely matters for all practical purposes, to be honest, as the original Raider Harpoon 46 is water-resistant to 500 meters, while the Raider Harpoon 42 is water-resistant to 300 meters — still entirely suitable to make it an authentic diver’s watch. Even as a smaller watch, the Raider Harpoon 42 is not a small timepiece. The brand-distinctive polished and brushed steel case is 42mm-wide, about 15mm-thick, and has a 50mm lug-t0-lug distance. Over the dial is an AR-coated sapphire replica rolex crystal, and the steel bracelet drops down immediately at the lugs, making the watch suitable for the vast majority of wrist sizes. If the Raider Harpoon 46 was suitable for maybe 20% of male wrist sizes, the Raider Harpoon 42 is suitable for about 80% of male wrist sizes out there, in my experience (including larger wrists).
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