Report from the field -- Explorer I

[jm433]

I'm sure that somebody has posted about this before, but I saw that new Explorer I at Shreve & Co in Palo Alto and wanted to post my thoughts.

They said they had received it about a week ago. It really looks great in person. Much better than I thought it would. It's got a lot of wrist presence. I compared it to my 16710 GMT and it's pretty much the same size. Case appears to be the same size, but the GMT's bezel makes it look a little bigger.

I know people have complained that the hands appear too small, and I was buying that argument based on pictures on the web, but in person, I don't see that as a problem at all. The hands looked totally normal.

The glide-lock clasp looks great.

My only critiscm is the 3,6,9. They look OK, but I don't think the steel (or are they white gold?) contrasts enough with the black face. I think they might have looked good done in lume -- kind of like they had on the 1016.

Overall, however, I really liked it, and it is definitely on my wish list. The watch works as either an understated sport watch or a sporty dress watch. Simple, elegant, yet sporty as well.