Review of Commodoor Pocketwatch

I never used to wear a watch. But since I sold my cellphone I often didn't have a clue about the time. It was time to buy a watch. I first was attracted by the Swatch beat series. But when I saw them for real they were to big. I don't like the feeling of a watch around my wrist. It gets sweaty, when I reach inside of something it is also likely to get stuck. I solved it by wearing a cheap plastic digital watch in my pocket.

When I was going through the brochures last Monday I saw what I needed: The commodore pocketwatch for only € 17.99. That was just what I needed. The price wasn't a problem. I bought it the next day. The watch has a lot of useful functions.

Features:

• Water resistant up to 50 meters deep
• Backlight function
• Displays time in 12/24 hours, date and day
• Alarm
• Chronograph
• Backlight

In the box I found a plastic stand with the watch on it, a piece of paper with the manual in English, French and Dutch printed don it and warranty information. The picture in the manual showed another display than my watch and the dutch translation said "polshorloge", which means"wristwatch". I'm pretty sure Commodoor uses the same manual for different watches. Setting the date and time, worked well when following the instructions in the manual.

After I wore the watch on my jeans for a only a few hours I noticed that one of the plastic covers that are over the buttons was getting loose. I pushed it back on thinking that would help. The next day when I left home the next day it was still there. When I got back home the button was gone. I thought about returning it to the shop again. That would mean I would probably have to wait for weeks until I got a new one. The next morning I reached deep down in my pocket and felt something small. It was the button. I decided to glue it on myself.

I didn't have any troubles after that. The backlight flashes on for three seconds when the button is pressed. Another button shows the day and date while pressed, another one to show the time on which you set the alarm to go off. The best function must be the chronometer. At the touch of a button you've got a stopwatch with all the functions you would ever need. You can even keep the chronometer counting while the normal time is displayed. After it ran for 24 hours it will shift to the next day, this means that you have a stopwatch that can run for 7 days! After those 7 days it will reset and start counting again.

Update - January 14, 2003: After using the watch a bit longer I noticed black spots in my pocket, I didn't know where it came from but after a while I noticed that the black paint on the metal was falling of. I scratched it with my thumbnail and the paint just fell of revealing a shining black metal. I scratched off most of the paint because it would fall of anyway. It looks more stylish this way, I don't understand why they put the paint on in the first place. The hook that attaches the watch to your pants or something else also doesn't last long, the spring that closes the hook will get weaker and now, after only a few months doesn't have any strength left and just hangs around, it won't stay closed anymore. Both issues aren't very serious, you can peel of the paint and buy a better hook for a few bucks, I guess that's the price that you have to pay for cheap.

The good: Cheap Something different than a regular wristwatch Lots of features Water resistant

The bad: The buttons might go loose and get lost Manual is so so No information or support on the internet Paint starts to fall of after a short while Hook's spring doesn't last long.

My score: 7/10

What I paid for it: € 17.99

Product link: www.kijkshop.nl

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