While tablets and laptops become smaller certain product trend go the opposite direction. The most notable are phones (with phablets being considered the norm) and watches.

Gone are the days when a man’s watch sits comfortably big at 32mm. Nowadays it feels quite wrong to wear anything below a 40mm. And with the current trend of big, bigger and really ridiculously oversized watches, MAX XL, a Dutch-designed watch, is not one to buck the trend.

As a relatively new player, MAX XL, has taken its ‘design’ cue from various oversized watch makers like U-BOAT (Italo Fontana). This is more glaringly evident with their automatic watch line.

For this article we’ll focus on their key Automatic Watch design.

WATCH SPECS:

• Product Code: 5-max529
• Movement: Automatic
• Miyota: 82S7
• Water Resistant: 10 ATM
• Dial Color: Black
• Index Color: Black
• Watch Thickness: 12 ,6mm
• Glass: Mineral Glass
• Case Size: 47mm
• Case Material: Stainless Steel
• Case Finish: Brushed
• Strap: Genuine Leather
• Sizes Available: 47mm

Case:

The Max watch case features an IP rose gold steel case which is at the hefty side of 47mm. It also has that distinctively U-Boat – ish look of the crown protector that resembles the screw on cap of a canteen.

The bezel is polished while the rest of the case has that brushed finish for that extra rugged almost-unfinished look. The quality of the polish and brushing lacks the refinement of its high-end inspirations but then you are paying a fraction of the cost for it, so it’s not that bad as well.

The only problem we had at this point is the strap. The strap lugs are fixed to the case which makes wearing this watch sometimes uncomfortable. We would rather they had used the normal lug so the watch can swing freely and give your wrist a little bit of ventilation. If you’re planning on wearing this for just a couple of hours in an air-conditioned environment then it’s fine, if not, I suggest taking a couple of short breaks between use.

Dial:

The dial employs an open-heart design which means there’s a small opening in the dial which showcases the watch movement’s oscillator or balance wheel and escapement. This adds to the design factor and helps up the style and over-all prestige of the watch.You could actually see the oscillator going back and forth 6 times per second while pushing the escapement which eventually makes the seconds hand tick.

The watch features a sandwich dial wherein the top black dial is placed above a white one below to give it that three-dimensional effect.

To add to the design, one of the beautiful things about the dial is how they opted for a small seconds hand as opposed to the more mainstream central seconds hand. This helps take away the clutter because they added a bunch of other stuff that tries to lend to the unique design.

One such addition is the numbers used. Instead of the typical 12, 3, 6, 9 time indicators that we are all used to, majority of MAX XL watches tells time in a 24-hour clock format. While I do not have anything against this format, it’s oddly pointless since the other smaller dial ALSO indicates time in a 24-hour clock format. While I understand the need to know whether it is day or night particularly in automatic watches (for winding purposes), wouldn’t it be easier to just label the dials in a 12-hour clock format?

Movement:
The heart of any watch is its movement. More than anything this is where you want to focus when purchasing a watch. The more complicated the movement, the more expensive the watch. The Swiss made time telling an art because of the complications while the Japanese went with accuracy.

Now this is where things get a little bit interesting. For a Dutch designed and Netherlands-branded watch, the movement they employ with their automatic range is, in fact, Japanese. Yup, the MAX XL Goldeneye and its Automatic brothers all use a decorated Miyota (Citizen-developed) movement. Why interesting? While Miyota is the Eastern (and cheaper) version of its Swiss ETA counterpart, it is nonetheless a proven workhorse. To add to the effect, once you flip the watch over, you will see a display caseback featuring a semi decorated Miyota movement with Geneva Stripes or Côtes de Genève which is usually found in higher end Swiss movements.

Overall:

With a retail price of around Php18,000+, the MAX XL 5-Max529 is a good deal when comparing it to the more expensive (and quartz) peer TW Steel. If you’re getting into oversized automatic watches, MAX XL is a relatively inexpensive buy as a first serious watch. It’s a good pair to get your feet wet until you’ve saved enough for a U-Boat. For more detailed specifications of the watch, you can go to their Facebook Page.