Gruppo Gamma Mk IV Vanguard A-04 Watch Review

Gruppo Gamma Mk IV Vanguard A-04 Watch Review

Gruppo Gamma Mk IV Vanguard A-04 Watch Review

THE Situation

Every facet of this situation has ended-engineered. In the crown and also the crown pads, towards the caseback and lugs, right through to the the bezel it's all been very well considered making to such an advanced it's an amazing situation to see and feel.

The form is quite angular and slightly aggressive which complements Gruppo Gamma's military ties. When sliding your fingers within the corners, you are able to feel the phrase the situation it's proficiently machined.

Gruppo Gamma Mk IV Vanguard A-04 Watch Review

Rapid stumpy lugs imply that still it sits around the wrist well for any 42mm diameter situation. Actually, it's some anomaly with regards to situation size: 42mm is within reality a significant standard size nowadays however the Vanguard looks bigger than that, supplying a far more imposing wrist presence. Possibly it's because of the bigger than average height of 14mm. The lugs are drilled finished a screw pin to create altering straps easy.

The crown and crown protectors really are a lovely element of the situation, demonstrating close focus on detail. The crown protectors really are a separate entity instead of being machined included in the situation itself and therefore are screwed in position with hex screws. A little factor really, but something which takes that tiny bit more effort to obtain right which looks great.

The screw-in crown has Gamma IIII embossed around the finish, completed with impressive precision. It's great grip for unscrewing, setting time and winding.

The bezel comes with an interesting matte black insert that is PVD coated, having a lumed personal injury protection at 12. It's fascinating bulges at 2, 6, 10 with screws within they offer grip but additionally carries with the industrial feel towards the watch.

The caseback includes a azure very exhibition window the timepiece facts are deeply engraved in thick font type to supply a bold impression.

The very sitting towards the top of the situation is double-domed azure, and the good thing is that it's packed with excellent anti-reflective coating around the bottom. You can observe nowhere tint at certain angles that we find enjoyment in witnessing.

THE DIAL

The dial is a reasonably simple design, that has military cues: simple, bold and uncomplicated. Technically it's a sandwich dial even though it doesn't seem like it. It's named by Gruppo Gamma the lume is used so darn thick inside the ingress it really reaches the very best layer. And so the dial looks flatbut actually the hour markers are approximately .5mm deep full of lume.

Moving to the lume, the Swiss Superluminova used truly is tremendous it's a few of the most powerful lume I've seen, even matching the fabled Seiko standard.

The hour markers are lume filled numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9, although the rest of the markers are trapezoid formed. Simple, strong and great legibility.

The printing around the dial is okay and straightforward. The Gruppo Gamma emblem is printed inside the top half and together with 200m towards the bottom half.

The hour and minute hands are straight batons with pointed tips, along with a lumed funnel within the center, having a muted blasted finish for them. The seconds hands is really a vibrant red by having an arrow close to the finish along with a flared counter weight. The lume around the hands is equally as strong as dial.

THE STRAP

Another awesome factor concerning the Vanguard is it comes packed with two straps: leather and canvas. Additionally for this, additionally, it has a very solid small screw-driver for that screw-in lug pins for simple altering.

The canvas strap is thick, sturdy and incredibly soft around the wrist it's a pleasant option to leather that you simply don't encounter too frequently. Visually, it's a military eco-friendly colour with complimenting stitching and it's best to see another thing when compared to a. I've observed that it's beginning to fray slightly in the holes, however i don't think this can modify the durability from the strap itself.

The leather is really a enjoyable vintage / rustic style. It shows creases rapidly but that's a part of it's charm helping it develop character. It's very thick, superbly finished and quality the 2 thick keeper loops are of the identical standard. The tan colour has a number of hues, which fully trust the pale tan stitching.

The strap has a chunky pre-v buckle, using the Gruppo Gamma emblem engraved on top bar. It's impressive to check out yet simple to use.

Straps are simple to swap because of the screw-in pins that penetrate the drilled through lugs.

THE MOVEMENT

The movement within the Gruppo Gamma Vanguard may be the Seiko NH35A. This is among the most widely used movements readily available for micro-brands presently it are available in watches like the Nodus Trieste, Helm Vanuatu, G. Gerlach Submarine, Invicta Pro Diver 9094 and Melbourne Watch Co Parkville simply to name a couple of I've reviewed lately. It's also utilized in all Gruppo Gamma watches so they've attempted and tested these movements.

Using my Lepsi Watch Scope, the precision is weighing  13.1 sec / day, that is appropriate for an inexpensive movement however there certainly is room for improvement there.

Specs include 24 jewels, runs at 21.6k bph (6 ticks per second), 41 hour power reserve, hacking seconds hands, and bi-directional winding (rotor winds the movement because it spins for both). The rotor has custom signing that is an additional benefit.