Ratio FreeDiver Helium-Safe 1000M Sapphire Automatic 1068HA90-34VA-BLK Mens Watch

I'm trying very hard to fault this watch but can't so far - SUPERB VALUE FOR MONEY - Very well built and keeps very good time - I swapped the strap for a long NATO one cos I prefer those to rubber but the rubber strap it comes with is of good quality to. One Happy Ratio 1000m watch owner :-)

UPDATE: my first test on the power reserve is surprising - 80 hours! I'm checking again, but that's very long at over 3 days. Most of my mechanicals are 40 to 72 hours.

I have a healthy collection of quartzes, mechanicals, and automatics from Bulova, Citizen, Hamilton, Seiko, Tissot, and a couple of micro-brands with a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Swiss made watches. This Singapore made watch is half the cost of a Chinese made Tourbillon mechanical and cheaper than almost all of my quartz Citizens. I never heard of Ratio and I honestly would never had looked at it much less purchased it if I wasn't a Vine reviewer. To cut to the chase, this is an excellent watch for a shockingly low price. This is easily going to be one of my favorites and go-to divers (I have 7 others).

This watch scratched a few watch collecting itches: an automatic diver, >300m water resistance, a Seiko movement, and a strong and long lasting lume. And it comes with a sapphire crystal to sweeten the specs. All my other divers were quartz, 100 or 200m WR, with weak and short lume times, and mineral crystals. Feature and price wise, this watch crushes the others.

Here's how the watch actually wears and performs. I have an 8 inch wrist and this is definitely a big boy. The case diameter is 46 to 48mm, depending on where you measure and what bumps/bulges you hit. Lug to lug is 50mm and the lug width is 24mm. Case thickness is 15mm. The silicone strap is beefy and thick at 5mm, but it remains pliant and is comfortable to wear. However, I am surprised the band isn't longer for such a large watch that would be best worn on large wrists. I only have one spare hole left. Another possible negative is that the inside of the band has a texture to provide extra grip to prevent the watch from sliding around, which leaves indentations on your wrist. So, I may replace this band for something longer and that doesn't leave impressions on my skin. The buckle is brushed and has a tastefully displays the RATIO name.

The case is hefty and the bezel is beefy. I like the uni-directional, ceramic bezel with large and legible numbers. It has 120 clicks vs 60 on some of my other divers. The markings are spot on and aligned perfectly. The edge serration is sharp and easily gripped for turning the bezel. There doesn't seem to be any anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal. The back is a screw on with an image of a scuba diver, which is pretty neat. The dial is the standard diver type with big bold circles at each hour except 12, 6, and 9 which are trapezoidal. The day and date are surprisingly easy to read. I like how the hour and minute hands have different colored edges to help with reading the time. There's a lot of lettering on the dial, but it's all informative. That symbol above the RATIO name is the symbol for Pi. Yeah, this scratches the math nerd in me - "Pi Ratio" is perfect for a circular watch case.

The lume was a big differentiating feature, surprisingly and shocking bright at the beginning and amazingly still readable after I stopped timing at 20 minutes. ALL of my other watches become unreadable or flat out dark after just several minutes.

As for the movement, it tested at 21,600 bps with +8 seconds/day and a 0.4ms beat error. The power reserve timed in at just over 46.5 hours, a few hours over spec. So the Seiko automatic movement is pretty decent overall.

These features I could not realistically test - the 1000m water resistance and the helium release feature. I am a desk diver, will never go deeper than the diving well of the community pool, and will be in a decompression chamber. But I like how the crown and the helium release securely screw down to keep out water.

Overall, this is a lot of watch with many features and specifications for such an insanely low price. The value here is real and this watch packs a punch way above its price. However, I wouldn't recommend it for those with wrists smaller than 7 inches as this is definitely a large watch. But you (and I) should check out other watches by this brand as it seems to deliver the goods for very reasonable prices. I'm seriously considering the red version of this watch.

I give it an overall 4 stars, but that's very good considering my initial expectations was 2 or 3 stars. I can't really say it's a great watch that'll become an heirloom piece that's worth regular servicing. But for a very inexpensive automatic with lots of neat features and functions that just looks great and will last for at least several years, then it's a no-brainer. And also if you're wanting a dressy Tonneau style watch and you have a larger wrist.

Sin duda es una muy buena pieza es un reloj algo grande, esta muy bien hecho, la calidad de los materiales es excelente,la maquinaria va perfecto. Sin embargo tiene 2 detalles negativos que aunque son mínimos pueden afectar la opinión del cliente, primero, el marcador de las 12 esta ligeramente cargado a la izquierda como se ve en la foto, no esta perfectamente centrado, y segundo la correa de goma tiene un diseño interior cuadriculado con púas las cuales son bastante molestas para la piel ya que se marcan, como no quise devolver el reloj simplemente lije las púas y asunto arreglado, pero si es un mal diseño de la correa.

This watch is amazing!!! Period!!! My current watch collection has been whittled down to around 31 watches currently. This was a birthday gift to myself and all I can say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! The photos literally do NOT capture the quality and craftsmanship of this timepiece. It's stellar!!! The sapphire crystal appears to be of great quality. The second hand sweeps very smoothly. The day/date is uncomplicated and easy to read and lovely. The black isn't a faded black but a bold black. It looks amazing! Tremendous lume! The crystal has a beautiful anti-reflective coating. The rubber strap is both soft and you can even have it loosely buckled and it comfortably sticks to your arm a bit. It has weight to it but not too much. I've not wanted to take it off since I put it on! The case is superb! There's an absolutely lovely subtle engraving of a scuba diver on the case back! The value of this watch far exceeds the price by a ridiculous amount!!! Just buy it already!!!

This Ratio micro-brand is quite nice. Fit, function, features are excellent. The pricing was extremely inexpensive for a watch of this calibre. The lume is bright and long lasting with a rubber strap that is comfortable and on par with the RATIO FreeDiiver 1000M.