Alpha Radiomir Chrono

I'll get straight to the point: this watch is incredible value for money.

Pictorial at the bottom of this post, in case you want to skip ahead.

For $150 shipped from Alpha HK, you get:

Case

Well finished stainless steel, polished case, based on an old Radiomir design (the model only had a run of 10 pieces, if my research is accurate). Not sure why - I think it's stunning.

Case width is 42.5mm (excluding crown).

Transparent case back.

No scratches, as far as I can tell - the whole thing gleams.

Crystal

I am amazed by this, but apparently the stunning domed crystal atop the watch is sapphire crystal. At $150! Awesome.

The only issue is that there appears to be little to no AR coating, hence my almost complete inability to take a decent frontal shot of the watch.

Movement

Specs: Seagull SG2903 20-jewels Hand Winding 30-min. chronograph movement + blued screws (check out the photos - fantastic).

Power reserve is stated as 42 hours. I haven't tested this yet, but it hasn't stopped on me yet.

The seconds hand sweeps smoothly and the chronograph hands reset cleanly to zero.

Winding is very smooth - not gritty at all. I have read that this movement is actually very high quality, so that makes sense.

I seriously like the design of the movement - quite the conversation piece, with its blued screws, golden wheels and patterned (forgotten the WIS term) surfaces.

Dial

I really like the design.

The green and black complement each other well, without detracting from what is a really classy, 1950s, dressy look.

I particularly like the shape of the sub-dial hands.

Strap

Specs: 24mm lug width.

Surprisingly good - very supple, good quality leather, from what I can tell.

Not sure about strap changes - I have read that the wire lugs are actually just punched in (as opposed to screwed), so there is a high likelihood that you will strip the holes where the wire lugs connect to the case if you try and take them out. You would then have to re-drill the holes, which might damage the case.

Not worth it, IMO, for a watch at this price point that comes with a decent strap.

Lume

Generously applied, particularly on the hands. Although it looks like Alpha has installed a sandwich dial, the lume on the numbers starts of quite dim.

Brightness fades relatively quickly, but it looks great when the lume is first charged.

Misc Specs

Water Resistance: 3ATM (30m) - try not to get this thing wet

Lugs to lugs: 45mm

Weight: 95g

Thickness: 15.5mm

Conclusion

Stunning watch for the money and far, far higher quality than I would have anticipated.

I've received more comments on this than I have anything other than the Speedmaster Pro (had to throw that in - I'm still excited!).

I highly recommend the Alpha Rad; but just be aware of some of my comments above (especially re the strap).

Photos

First is a seller photo; the rest are mine.