PRS-3 Review and Underwater Shots

[GFloyd]

I've had my PRS-3 for a month now, and thought I'd share my initial thoughts. I feel a bit odd giving amateur impressions of a Timefactors watch to this crowd - you are all pretty knowledgeable about watches in general and Timefactors watches in particular. The forum owner also has some experience with them. Undeterred, perhaps I may be of use to someone considering the watch who shares my perspective. I believe good watches need to be worn, just like good cars need to be driven, and that form must follow function. So in that spirit, you'll get no studio photos from me in this review - action shots only - and I'll focus on how the watch works on the wrist above and below water.


Under the Caribbean

Customer Service, Shipping and Ordering: During the ordering process, email communication was quick and easy. Shipping from the UK to California took about a week. The watch arrived in a very functional black leatherette case with room for two watches, including an extra strap (PU), a Timefactors pen, a microfibre cloth and the warranty card. It is a well-padded case favouring easy function, one that will work well during travel. When I opened the package, Eddie had thrown in an extra bezel with 12 hour indicators, no charge. (When I placed my order, I had mentioned that I was soon to move to a different time zone and wondered how to source or buy a 12 hour bezel like on the LE.) It was perhaps a small thing, but generous and personal. It says a lot about the company, I think. With so many watches being made from similar parts, buying from the right company is important to me. I wanted quality and customer service at fair value. And my buying experience with Timefactors validated my choice.

Case: The case exudes quality far above the price of the watch. It is extremely comfortable, sitting nicely on the wrist. Thoughtfully designed, heavy enough and sculpted just right so that it rests firmly where you want it instead of shifting around like so many watches do. The case is right for the style of the dial, feeling classic and solid while being beautifully sculpted with a nice polish. Evidence of quality of construction is everywhere. I believe the case is Fricker made, and probably among their best work. Really, it is hard to find a flaw with it, and the case alone is a good reason to buy this watch. Perhaps I could take issue with the engraving on the back, if I wanted to nitpick. The back is high polished steel, engraved with “PRS-3” and “WR 30 BAR” sandwiching a cursive scripted “Precista” in the middle. This classic case back works well with the style of the rest of the watch. But to my eye, again I’m nitpicking a nearly perfect case, the engraving doesn't look quite as finished as the rest of the case. Overall, this case is $5,000 quality on a $500 watch.


PRS-3 at the Reef

Dial: Timeless diver dial with 6 o'clock date. Going straight to the important bit, the dial is very readable. Classic, uncluttered by excess lettering, and simple. All the markings are very well done, showing quality above price like the rest of this watch. In photos before purchase I wasn't enamoured with the script "Precista" just below 12 o'clock - it seemed soft and feminine for a dive watch. Not one to put to much stock in finer points of style, it didn't dissuade me and I'm pleased it didn't. In person at normal viewing, the script fits right in and seems more bespoke than anything. Other than the small "Precista," the only other lettering is a tiny "Great Britain" below the 6 marker. The lack of cluttered lettering is a massive plus making the watch readable and almost as pretty as the case - and that is saying something.Date wheel is white on black, which is unique for this style of diver, and I think adds to the look while still being readable. However, after the first 9 days of the month in poor light, an old man like me wouldn't mind a cyclops over the date.

Hands and Lume: The hands are fairly standard, with a white sword-style hour hand and a pencil-style minute hand. Functional and easy to read, very visible in light and a nice, classic addition to the beautiful face. I think the visibility of the time, which is after all the whole point, is enhanced by the second hand, which I love. It is a black hand (on the black face) with a white square about ¾ towards the end. The result is that the hand blends with the face, leaving a white square floating smoothly around the dial, seemingly disconnected and showing off the smooth 28000 bpm movement. Bonus is that it makes the dial less cluttered and easier to read hour and minute hands, which is what you need 99.9% of the time. I think it is genius design. My friend disagrees and dislikes not easily seeing the entire second hand all the time. You be the judge. I love it, you may not. What I do not love is the lume, which needs improvement. As I do dive with this watch and wear it at night, it actually becomes a functional problem for me and my only real gripe with an otherwise fantastic watch.


PRS-3 at a Wreck

Bezel: The standard PRS-3 comes with a 60 minute dial on a 60 click unidirectional black bezel. Combined with the minute markers, some may find the hash marks on the bezel to be a bit much. I, however, need them, use them and like them. The bezel is well done – the clicks are satisfyingly strong with some tension to keep it from moving without intent, yet easy enough to turn when you need to. It is a tough balance that I think they got right here. And while I prefer diving without gloves in warm local waters, I can use the bezel with gloves on, too. If you like to grip at 3/9 o’clock with dive gloves on, the crown may interfere, but I grip at 12/6 and it works like a charm.

Crown: Like the rest of the watch, very functional and well made. It is a fairly large 8mm across, 4mm thick crown, with a script P on the end. The scalloped edge grips well, and the operation is smooooth. Probably the best operating crown of any watch I've owned. Firm clicks in an out, screws out purposely (like they've done with the bezel, they've hit the sweet spot between easy to turn when you need to and firmly in place when you don’t) and works like butter when you wind or adjust.

Comfort and Fit: I've worn this watch constantly since purchase, from formal wear to diving. It is incredibly comfortable and has become part of my arm. Of the many watches I've owned, this is perhaps the most comfortable, mostly due to how well is stays in place without rubbing or creating any pressure points. Again, what a well-designed case! It is 42mm wide, 46mm across including crown, with a lug to lug height of 49.6mm. I was on the fence about a watch near 50mm lug to lug with my small 6.5 inch wrists. I shouldn't have worried, the watch is a great fit even for small wrists. The thickness is 12.45mm to the top of the crystal, and this is just at the limit of what works well for long sleeve shirts and tight jacket arms. I wear it to work in a professional environment daily, and it is fine under dress shirts though a tight fit – it will likely depend on your shirt and wrist measurements. Under my tighter motorcycle gear, there is pressure on the underside of the fitted jacket - I fear that in the long term it will scratch a bit. We'll see.


Swimming with Turtles

Bracelet. The watch came with a 4mm thick x 22mm wide stainless steel bracelet. Very well made and finished, and like the rest of the watch out of line with the low price. It is fairly heavy, which helps keep the watch in place on the wrist. There is a very practical diver’s extension in the bracelet, which I used to good effect and found more useful than others I’ve used. Speaking of cool design, I thought at first that the end links were folded, because they looked that way, but they are actually solid end. I love how they are shaped to look vintage. I was disappointed that the bracelet isn’t signed/engraved, as it makes the bracelet look aftermarket, but I’m not one to quibble about form on a very functional piece. It is worth note that the design of the screw pins in the links made it tough to take links out. Knowing how thoughtful the design of this watch is, I’m sure there is a good reason for this, but it did make initial adjustment tricky. (Despite my appreciation for the very good bracelet, I put the watch on a Maratac Zulu, which I prefer for use in hot-weather swimming and diving.)

Movement. The watch is powered by an ETA 2924-2 standard automatic movement. A fantastic workhorse movement, rated for an average of +/- 12 seconds per day and maximum of +/- 30 seconds per day. My movement is on the upper end of approved variation, gaining just under 30 seconds per day. While within ETA guidelines, it is slightly disappointing. When you buy a standard, rather than elaborated or top grade, you get wider variation in accuracy, but one hopes to get one that happens to be on the more accurate side of average. Mine isn’t, but I'll take comfort in knowing that it will run forever and be easily serviced.

[Lotus Cowboy]

Thanks so much for sharing- great review and pictures too.
Regards,

LC

[Lammylee]

Great in depth review!.The watch should get more accurate over the next month, as the internal oil thins.

[trisdg]

Nice review mate. Glad you finally got a chance to write one up, and getting pics with turtles was a nice touch.

Cheers.


Tris

[Dazzler]

Nice review there, it's one of the TF watches I haven't tried yet. Surprised a little about the lume, how does it compare to others you have? Obviously it uses C3 which is top of the luminosity tree and in photos doesn't look to skimp to the stuff.

Glad you like the watch and giving it a good dunking. As said give the movement a month or tow to settle, may be a perpetuated myth but I have read they are set a little fast and need a month or so settle.

You might also think of Eddie's rubber strap (and extension) too.
http://www.timefactors.com/rubber.htm

[Dave E]

Good write up that, thanks for sharing. I think the PRS-3 is an unsung hero in Eddie's line-up. Pretty much everything about it is just right, mine gets a lot of wear. Regarding the lume, mine is OK, I can read it through the night, but I've got good night eyes.

[Stuart]

Thanks for this helpful write-up of a lovely watch that gets so little mention here. It's partly the dearth of discussion and photos that has stopped me trying this one (when I have had several TF watches).
I was amused at your introductory comment that the forum owner knows a lot about TF watches! Perhaps you're understating in jest.
Re the +30 per day: if it were mine I would remove the back and give the adjustment arm or screw a little nudge - it's easy - I'm self-taught and have done it more than once successfully on various watches. Just ensure it's a very clean, dust-free and dry environment, use a big lump of blue-tack to remove the back, and use a tiny spot of tippex on case and back to mark the point to which the back should be tightened when replacing it.

[GFloyd]

Nice review there, it's one of the TF watches I haven't tried yet. Surprised a little about the lume, how does it compare to others you have? Obviously it uses C3 which is top of the luminosity tree and in photos doesn't look to skimp to the stuff.

Glad you like the watch and giving it a good dunking. As said give the movement a month or tow to settle, may be a perpetuated myth but I have read they are set a little fast and need a month or so settle.

You might also think of Eddie's rubber strap (and extension) too.
http://www.timefactors.com/rubber.htm

Thank you - good to hear that the movement may settle in a bit with time and use.

I'm not sure what happened with the lume, I tried to take a photo of it, but it won't photograph easily even with long exposure times and a great charge. It just isn't useable. I laid it next to a friends MK-II that theoretically has the same C3 Superluminova and there was no comparison - and the MK-II is still a step behind my Seiko and its Lumibrite. I understand that the Seiko Lumibrite is proprietary, and that they are connected to the company (Nemoto) that licenses the related Superluminova to others. I suspect that variability and slightly lower quality in the Superluminova product is part of Seiko's plan to keep a market advantage. Perhaps my watch got a bad batch as part of Seiko's evil plan, or there is some odd interaction with the materials in the dial, or the method of application onto the dial and hands is flawed or there is some strange UV filtering with the AR coating . . . Who knows? You are right that the C3 should be brighter than what I've got, but that doesn't help me see the dang thing at depth. Regardless, still a fantastic watch that is near perfect.

Eddie was kind enough to include a black PU strap with the watch, and my comment on it in the review was a casualty of my wordiness and the 10000 character post limit. I put the PU strap on for a few days to test it out - I liked it very much. The kind of practical strap that fits my use of the watch in the water, and works well with the classic style. Out of the water, though, it got a bit sweaty under the rubber bits here in the tropics. In a less humid environment, it would be my choice, but in the heat, a woven band like a NATO or Zulu strap is the way to go.

Another turtle for the thread:

[GFloyd]

I was amused at your introductory comment that the forum owner knows a lot about TF watches! Perhaps you're understating in jest.

[Rollon]

GFloyd,
Hi and thanks for the great review. I've never owned the PRS-3, nor probably ever will due its larger size, but seeing yours in the pictures, I think it looks perfect on the black Zulu you have it on. Were the watch smaller and mine, I think I'd probably prefer to wear it on a black Zulu like that (or a black NATO) most of the time ---- looks great to me.

I also admire the PRS-3 for some of the hidden, but I think very valuable, upgrades TF and Eddie put into its construction like the metal movement ring (I think most of the watches in this price range and even some above have generally used plastic for the movement ring), plus also a highly maintainable and easily replaceable screwed-in crown tube and a decoupling type crown and crown stem. If you look closely at the PRS-3's case cross-section diagram TF kindly puts up on its site to show the details of the watch's construction to the prospective buyer, you can see that there is even a small retention flange on the crystal's gasket that fits into a corresponding recess machined into the steel crystal seat at the case mouth. Once the crystal and its gasket are properly seated into the case, the little detail of that gasket-to-case anchoring retention flange is there to help secure the critical sealing of the crystal joint against disruption and dislodgement by the knocks and impacts, etc., the watch might be subject to, as well as, I think, helping it better withstand low level negative pressure conditions should they ever occur.

Although I think that some people, and a lot of manufacturers preferring easier and cheaper production methods and sometimes technologically compromising design shortcuts, might describe high specification design details like those above as "over engineering", I think of it as the way, if well executed, to make an intrinsically good watch instead of one that just looks good.

Nice watch, and I had not realized quite just how aesthetically good it also looks until seeing your pictures. Thanks


[ P.S. I also like the way the date window is done on these --- I think it being at 6 o'clock helps it be neat and discreet and out of the way without spoiling the classic RN diver dial, but the date indication is still there when you need it. ]

[GFloyd]

Just giving an update on my favourite watch, which has relegated everything else I have to lonely existence in my desk drawer:

Functionality: I'm still in love with the watch after three months of almost daily wear. Easily readable face, I still love the black second hand and the clarity that brings, and the case stays put on the wrist just where it belongs. Fantastic watch case and face a nearly perfect pairing. My PRS-3 has now travelled to six countries, ridden with me for 1500 miles of motorcycling, and spent about twenty hours underwater. It has hiked a Dominican volcano, dived the coasts of St. Lucia and Barbados, and explored the San Bernardino national forest. It has also served me in meetings with two Prime Ministers and many a formal cocktail party. It has been a durable, functional and beautiful watch equally at home anywhere she's been. Following is my PRS-3 in a rollercoaster selfie, which I have to conclude constitutes reckless disregard for its automatic movement, for which I offer Eddie and the nation of Switzerland my apologies. My PRS-3 has earned its keep through hard use, and been a reliable friend in adventure.



Band/Strap: Despite the Maratac Zulu's great look and rugged functionality, I'm planning to switch back to the PU strap or bracelet. While I've given the Zulu hard use, to be sure, it is starting to wear a bit at the edges. Not as durable as I'd hoped, but that just gives it character and wouldn't necessarily cause me to decide to switch it out. What has is a bit of a stench. To be indelicate about it, the Zulu picks up sweat like a cotton towel, and despite regular dunkings in the Pacific Ocean and weekly washings off the watch, it has acquired a smell that is a mix between sweetmeat and stale socks. Not at all attractive. The problem started almost immediately, but over time I've been losing the battle and will now go into full retreat. The folks at Maratac would do well to give their bands an anti-bacterial treatment, perhaps an infusion of silver, because hard use in a tropical environment simply destroys the band. Curious if anyone has run across this before?

Movement: The movement has been very predictable at precisely +25 seconds a day. Liveable and within specifications for an ETA 2924-2 standard. Not elaborated or top performance, but I didn't pay for a more elaborate movement and I am quite satisfied. However, the reserve has been only 30 hours in monthly tests (I couldn't bear not to lose wrist time for more testing), significantly below the 40-42 hour standard. From a practical standpoint, the difference between 30 and 40 hours reserve is significant, as it means you can't take it off for bedtime Monday night, wear a different watch on a Tuesday, and have it still keeping time when you wake up for work Wednesday morning. 30 hours is just short of what you need to get you through, so if you take a day off from wearing her, you have to wind and reset. Luckily, she's so well designed, I'm not tempted to leave her off my wrist that often. That said, I'm planning to have it serviced - I think something may be amiss. (Now, fully aware I've just posted a picture of my PRS-3 being irresponsibly taken on a roller coaster, but I will say that the time gain and power reserve were the same both before and after and have been very consistent over the three months.)

[Rollon]

............. My PRS-3 has earned its keep through hard use, and been a reliable friend in adventure. ......................

Sounds like it. You've kept some pretty high grade company with it too and I'm impressed that you didn't feel the need to "impress" with a traditional premium class "Power Watch" even in those situations.

For what it might help and be worth, my own ETA 2824 that I wore a lot for several years was not only extremely consistent in holding +7 to +10 seconds per day seemingly absolutely regardless of position, state-of-wind, temperature range, on-wrist/off-wrist, easy or rough wear conditions, (reasonable) degrees of G-Force, etc., etc. It was very consistent in that and also was very consistent in holding to a 41 to 42 hour power reserve from a full wind (being used to and much more familiar with this movement's manual wind precursor, the 2801, I always started wear with a full 40+ turns of the crown -- something a very knowledgeable member here at TZ-UK later warned was not a good idea for automatics, recommending a maximum of 20 or so turns of the crown to start it up at most, IIRC).

As you know, if your 2824's +25 seconds per day is consistently so, as you've already found it is, you have a treasure and its rate can be easily adjusted down to where you might want it, but the low 30 hour power reserve doesn't strike me as sounding right at all. I'm in no way an expert, but my own wild guess might be that your movement's mainspring protecting overwind clutch release mechanism on the dual winding train is perhaps kicking in too early so that you never actually get a full wind?

By the way, after reading your newest post above, I'm glad I've always hated roller coaster rides even since being a little kid. I think your concern is that the G-Forces involved might warp your movement's balance wheel, but I think that the 2824 is pretty tough in that regard. Even so, great excuse to avoid roller coasters if you feel about them like I do.

[Stuart]

You should remove the back and give the timing adjuster a nudge. It's easy. I have done it as a complete novice and got that movement to +1.5 per day.

[GFloyd]

As you know, if your 2824's +25 seconds per day is consistently so, as you've already found it is, you have a treasure and its rate can be easily adjusted down to where you might want it, but the low 30 hour power reserve doesn't strike me as sounding right at all. I'm in no way an expert, but my own wild guess might be that your movement's mainspring protecting overwind clutch release mechanism on the dual winding train is perhaps kicking in too early so that you never actually get a full wind?.

I was unaware of just how easy this was to adjust downward, so thank you. Since I'm taking her in on the reserve issue, I'll ask for the rate adjustment as well.