In the illustrious and glamorous world of watch reviews there are few things that motivate us at Watch Report like a good deal. Very few people buy products based solely on the price so most of us will choose the product with the best value because it is value that justifies a price. Justification for the price tag is paramount when it comes to watch shopping because watches are one of the few items that inhabit a price range between $5 and $1 million dollars and still share the same basic purpose. So what are we all paying for when we buy watches? Exclusivity? Quality? Or worse, brand? Lets take a look at a new model in the ever-growing market of indie watch manufacturers; the Holotype from Canada based Halios Watches.

Features of the Halios Holotype (Yellow Dial, PVD) dive watch:

• Water resistant to 300m/1000ft.
• 44mm stainless steel case (16mm thick).
• Available in PVD, brushed or bead-blasted finish.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Yellow or black dial.
• Miyota 8215 Automatic movement.
• 45 hour power reserve.
• Unidirectional bezel.
• Solid stainless steel bracelet with screwed links.
• Push button clasp with dive extension and flip lock.
• Limited to 300 units.
• Comes with rubber strap, tools, and travel case.

Today, we bring you a treat. The beast in the flesh, the internet forum darling, the Citizen Ecozilla. The model for review is the BJ8040-01E, a large dive watch that makes you feel like an old-school diver from the minute it is strapped to your wrist. Lets review the stats:

• Dive watch rated to 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet).
• Titanium case.
• 6mm thick mineral crystal.
• Helium release valve.
• Uni-directional dive time bezel.
• 180 day power reserve.
• Citizen Eco-Drive solar quartz movement.
• Movement caliber: B873.
• 46mm wide and 18mm thick.
• MSRP: $595.

Disclaimer: We don't usually review low-end Chinese watches on WatchReport, but after much discussion and forum topics, we've decided to re-post this one. 

'Jump hour' requires a bit of explanation. If you look at 12 o'clock on the dial, you see a round window with the number '3' displayed. This is the hours, which are on a disc that changes at the top of the hour. Minutes are read from the long center hand, and seconds are at 6 o'clock in a 'subseconds' configuration. The hour change is quite rapid, about 1/2 of one second, which is why it's called a 'jump hour.'

This is more properly labeled a 'jump-hour regulator,' which denotes the central minute hand. It makes an attractive and unusual dress watch, though I must admit that the hours are harder to read than a normal 3-hand watch due to the small window and reflective metal surrounding it.

Our second Skagen review today is of the 697XLMLMB. It's a quartz men's dress watch with a style a bit more daring than most of their line.
Specifications:

• 35g in weight with strap.
• 42.5mm across with crown, 40.2mm without, 49mm lug to lug.
• 8.5mm thick.
• Black ion plated stainless steel case with polished snap-on caseback.
• Integral black calfskin leather strap with thorn buckle bearing Skagen logo.
• 'Super hardened' mineral crystal.
• Miyota quartz movement with 'big date' complication.
• Decorative dual-layer dial, with center metal section with etched indices and screws.
• Matching ion plated crown, non-screw-down type, with Skagen logo.
• 30m (100ft) water resistant.
• Lumed hands and indices.

As with the Skagen 233XXLSLB, the 697 is clearly a Skagen in style, but look closely and the differences are pronounced.

As a followup to our interview with Skagen founder Charlotte Jorst, today we have a review of the Skagen 233XXLSLB. From the upcoming 'Skagen Leather' collection, it's very much down the center of the Skagen style: Quartz, slim, and low-key in appearance. Some specifications:

• 30g in weight, with leather strap - incredibly lightweight.
• 7.6mm thick, 37mm wide without crown and 39mm with, 41.5mm lug to lug.
• Black calfskin leather strap, secured by two screws on each side. Thorn buckle, signed with Skagen logo.
• 30m (100ft) water resistant.
• 'Super hardened' mineral glass crystal.
• Stainless steel body, brushed finish with polished snap-on caseback.
• Hour/minute/second quartz movement with date window at 6 o'clock.
• Signed and knurled crown, non-screw-down type.

Read on for the full review!

View the Casio G-Shock MTG-1500-1AJF photo gallery.

I'm a big fan of Casio's MRG line of watches (as evidenced by my recent review of the MRG-7500BJ), but there's no question that they are expensive. Fortunately, Casio created the MTG line of watches for those of us who want all the features of the MRG line (and even a few more), and are willing to compromise on the quality of the materials in order to get them.

Although lacking the highly scratch resistant DLC (Diamond-like Carbon) coating of the high-end MRGs, and the nearly scratch-proof sapphire crystal, Casio's MTG series sacrifices absolutely nothing in terms of features. In fact, the MTG-1500 even comes away with significantly more functionality than anything in the MRG line, as well as a very unique style all its own.

Features of the Casio MTG-1500-1AJF include:

View the Casio MRG-7500BJ-1AJF photo gallery.

The MRG line of Casio G-Shocks is as high-end as G-Shocks come. They are the most sophisticated, most refined, toughest, and, of course, most expensive watches Casio makes. Watches in the MRG line range from around $700 to over $3,000 with the MRG-7500 falling in the middle at around $1,500. Why so expensive? Check out these features:

• Titanium case and bracelet with highly scratch resistant DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating.
• Push-button and lockable clasp. There's a switch on the clasp that allows you to lock the clasp which disables the push-button release mechanism. This is one of my favorite features of the MRG line, and something I've never seen on any other watch.
• Nearly scratchproof sapphire crystal.
• Extremely shock-resistant construction.
• Atomic calibration (Japan, US, and Europe).
• Solar powered with about a two-year power reserve, two power saving modes, and a low-battery alert (the second hand starts jumping in two-second intervals).
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/20th of a second and a max time of 59 minutes and 59.95 seconds.
• Daily alarm.
• Automatic calendar with day and date (no month).
• World time with 27 cities covering 29 time zones. You can also swap your home city and the world time city by holding down the top right button for about three seconds while in world time mode.
• Very bright luminescent paint on the hands and hour indices.
• Water resistant to 200 meters, or about 650 feet.
• 46.8mm wide and 14.6mm high, 113g.

View the Citizen Attesa ATV53-2933 photo gallery.

About three or four years ago, I got an email from a reader chastising us for not having better coverage of Citizen. I remember thinking at the time that I really wanted more Citizen content on Watch Report, but that they just weren't doing anything all that interesting. I promised the reader that we would keep a closer eye on Citizen's new watches, and do our best to make sure they were better represented.

Fast forward to the present, and Citizen is now one of my favorite brands. Since June of 2006, we've written 11 articles on Citizen watches, and I anticipate that the pace will increase. Every year, Citizen is stepping up their game and releasing more and more watches that are grabbing our attention. Although I'm still a diehard Japanese-market Casio G-Shock fan, I now regard Citizen watches with the exact same level of respect.

A great deal of my interest in Citizen watches comes from the Attesa line which I consider comparable to the MR-G line of Casio G-Shocks. Both lines represent some of the most advanced, durable, and certainly coolest quartz watches in the world.

The first Attesa to really grab my attention was the ATV53-2832, but it was the extremely unique look and functionality of the ATV53-2933 that finally inspired me to do a full review.

Let's start with a detailed rundown of an extremely impressive (and lengthy) set of features:

View the Casio G-Shock GW-M5600BC photo gallery.

Sometimes the only way to really know how much you like a particular watch is to simply see how much you wear it. I've had plenty of watches which I thought I was going to love -- watches with all the right features and materials -- but that ended up getting almost no wrist time whatsoever for one reason or another. And then I've had watches which I didn't really expect to care for all that much, but that I found myself reaching for over and over. The Casio G-Shock GW-M5600BC turned out to be the latter.

The features of the G-Shock GW-M5600BC are pretty consistent with almost every G-Shock I review:

• Solar powered (with battery indicator and power-saving function).
• 5-band atomic (calibrates with all atomic clocks in the world except the new one in China)
• World time (48 cities).
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/100th of a second.
• Countdown timer (max 60 minutes).
• Five daily alarms (one with snooze option).
• Electroluminescent backlight.
• Perpetual calendar (day and date are visible simultaneously, which I really like).
• Waterproof to 200 meters, or about 650 feet.

The Casio G-Shock GW-M5600BC certainly isn't all that much to look at which is why I never expected to become so attached to it. The case is the standard retro G-Shock square with the corners cut off and the traditional four small stainless steel buttons. It has an inverted LCD (white on black) which, on the one hand, sets it apart from most of its G-Shock siblings, but on the other, makes it more difficult to read than modules with regular LCDs. The overall look is so much that of a standard and anachronistic G-Shock that the only comment I've ever gotten on it was from a Rolex-wearing doctor who said something along the lines of "Wow, they still make those things?"

Today I'm reviewing a watch that I like a great deal: the Christopher Ward C8 Pilot, model number C8SKK. It's a mechanical watch in the style of pilot's watches from decades ago, updated using modern materials and the ETA 2824-2 mechanical movement. Let's start with the specs:

• 44mm by 9.7mm, 140g.
• 22mm leather strap, black with off-white (ecru) stitching, brushed rivets and a nice butterfly double deployant clasp.
• Antimagnetic inner case and dial.
• Sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating.
• Small mineral crystal on the back for viewing of the balance and rotor.
• Signed oversized crown, gasketed but not screwdown.
• 50m (150ft) water-resistant.
• Matte finish stainless steel case.
• Lumed indices and hands in the new blue-white SuperLuminova SLNBGW9.
• Applied double-dot triangle at 12 o'clock to rapidly show dial orientation.
• ETA 2824-2 movement, 28,800 vph and 38 hour power reserve. Hacking, handwinding with center seconds and date at 3 o'clock.
• Swiss Made (which usually denotes a vastly more expensive watch).
• List price is 212 pounds for non-EC buyers, or about $311 as of December 2008.
• Christoper Ward has an unusual "60/60" guarantee for a 60-day no quibble return and 60 month (5 year) warranty.

Other versions are also available (white dial, brown strap, PVD case), but all share the same basics. Read on for our review.