Szanto 5103 Watch Review

Szanto has released their latest model, technically their second diver model, the 5100 series. The specific model I am reviewing today is the 5103, which has the radiant sunburst blue dial. Other dial colors available are black and a silver/grey.

Equipped with a Miyota 2415 quartz, a water resistant leather strap, applied markers, and AR coated mineral crystal. The specifications of the 5103 on paper will not blow your socks off, but the 5103 has a unique case design and rugged good looks in my opinion.

Below, take a look at my video presentation where I give my first impressions:

Szanto 5103  full specifications:

Case material- Stainless steel

Case diameter- 46.5 millimeters

Case thickness- 14mm

Case length- 55mm

Weight- 147 grams

Band Material- Leather

Crystal- Mineral

Band width- 24 millimeters

Movement- Miyota 2415 quartz

Water resistant depth- 500md

Price – $325 USD

After wearing and checking out the 5103 for a few weeks, the things that stand out most to me is the sunburst dial, applied markers, a very comfortable case shape (even at 46.5mm) and an extremely comfortable and thick leather strap.

The dial is fairly clean with only the logo, date, brand, and water resistance on the dial. The date wheel is pretty large, almost as large as the 9 o’clock marker, which helps to balance out the dial. The applied markers and hands are generously filled with superluminova, which glows nicely as you will see in the lume shots below. The hour and minute hand are similar to ones I have seen on other watches before, but I do not consider that a bad thing. They are not your standard sword hands that are seen on many dive watches, and beyond the shape, the orange minute hand makes it easy to differentiate from the hour hand at a glance.

The stainless steel case is all brushed, well finished, and has a nice symmetry with the crown guards and case extension on the non-crown side of the case. The all-stainless unidirectional dive bezel has a combination of brushed and polished finishes, which is most noticeable with the engraved countdown markings. The bezel is a touch on the loose side with a little play, but not horrible by any means. Szanto said that they have addressed this and it will be corrected with their next production run. The large crown is easy to manipulate on or off the wrist and screws out and in with ease. The crown does sit pretty low on the case though, and depending on how you wear the 5103 or how big your wrist is, it could dig into the back of your wrist.

The caseback is screw down which helps attain the 500m water resistance rating and is nicely etched with the Szanto logo and model information. The leather strap measures 24mm at the lugs with no taper, and has a nice thick signed brushed steel clasp. Coming in at almost 5mm thick, it is a rugged strap that should last for a very long time, but the leather itself is very soft and supple to the touch. Measuring 130 x 80mm the 5103 is also suitable for most wrist sizes, but if you have a large wrist, say 8 inches or larger, you will need to look for an aftermarket strap. Szanto has announced that they will have a solid link oyster style bracelet for 2015 for this model, so if you are not a leather strap guy, you might want to wait for that option.

For those WIS that are lume junkies, I think you will be very satisfied with the Szanto 5100 series. It lasts a few good hours and is fairly bright when fully charged.

On my 7-½ wrist, I feel the 5103 wears well. The size is a little large for what I wear these days, but still comfortable and not clown sized or huge by any means. Of course, it all depends on what size watch you are used to wearing and what you feel you can pull off. On this example I did not find any rough areas or sharp corners to dig into the skin.

I honestly feel that Szanto, for a new company, is improving with each and every model they release. Keep in mind, Szanto is meant to be a more affordable brand, so I don’t expect to ever see ceramic bezel inserts, intricate engraved case backs or high end automatic movements. At $325 I still feel this is a very affordable diver with a lot to offer. I have no issues with quartz movements, as they are great grab and go watches, and of course usually very accurate and dependable. I would like to see sapphire crystals in some future models; I think that would give even more bang for your buck within the Szanto line. The 5100 series, especially the 5103 with its fantastic blue dial is a rugged yet still sophisticated that will be great for the weekend or casual office attire.

Thank you to Time Concepts for providing the Szanto 5103 for review. You can check out Szanto’s new website HERE.

As always, leave a comment below and let us know what you think about the Szanto 5100 series. Don’t forget to check out WatchReport Forums HERE.