Swatch Sistem51 Arrives in Los Angeles

ED209 · 2014-08-03T20:56:55Z

ED209 previews the Swatch Sistem51's arrival in Los Angeles, sharing first impressions of the Sistem Blue and Sistem Black models. Discover this innovative mechanical watch.

There's been recent posts here on HoMe about sightings of the Swatch Sistem 51 starting to be available all around the world. There is a lot of interest in the Sistem51 when it was first introduced at Basel 2013, and after a long wait they are starting to show up in Swatch stores worldwide.

Docsnov mentioned that he ordered a few online:
home.watchprosite.com

Kong posted a great on-the-wrist review back in February :
home.watchprosite.com

Ed.W posted a really nice review/overview in January:
home.watchprosite.com

And even foversta posted late last year about the Sistem51 collection as they were available in Switzerland:
home.watchprosite.com

Well, I just came back home from an early dinner while visiting the Century City Mall here in Los Angeles. I've been interested in the Sistem51 watches and curious about when it would arrive in the stores in the U.S. I happened to stop by the Swatch store just as they were closing the doors for evening. The Swatch store manager was kind enough to let me in as the very last customer of the day.

There were two other customers and since they were about to close I didn't really want to bother the staff too much, but just simply asked if the Sistem51 was available yet. The manager smiled and said that the debut for the Swatch store will be 10am sharp this coming Wednesday morning! There's already a waitlist for the different colors but they will offer a few to those that wait in line next week. I personally like to see and handle watches before I buy them so I mentioned that I'll just wait till next week and then see if I can put one on to try it before buying.

I guess it was my lucky day because the manager mentioned that he could show me a quick preview of the Sistem51! Very cool of him to do that and I was very excited to handle the watches before it officially goes on sale here.
There were two pulled out from a hidden drawer, brand new in the plastic case. I got to see the Sistem Blue and Sistem Black (which coincidentally are the two that I was thinking about buying).

The first one I picked up was the Sistem Blue (because blue is my favorite color). The case size is fairly large at 42mm but the lightweight plastic makes it easy to wear on smaller wrists. Personally I'm not impressed on the dial side because I don't really care for the white colored lines and dots but the hour and minute hands are definitely easy to read. The circular date is somewhat small. But I do like the white 5 minute dot markers on the outer edge of the bezel.

The strap is extremely comfortable and feels much nicer than previous Swatches that I've worn before. The flat black silicon strap has blue stitching that has a nice bluish tint (not too dark, and not too light in blue color).

But the most important detail is the movement. Protective stickers were placed on both the front and back, and I didn't want to remove these so I just took a few pictures as-is. But I can definitely see the movement through the clear plastic caseback. The fully automatic movement is comprised of only 51 components and is made from ARCAP (an alloy consisting of copper, nickel and zinc) with anti-magnetic properties. Power reserve is rated at 90 hours and the movement components are welded together to form a single movement assembly with a single screw. And as most PuristS already know the movement assembly is 100% automated within the hermetically sealed case.

From these initial impressions, I put my name on the waiting list and will be joining the line on Wednesday during the debut. The Sistem Blue for me, and I'll end up buying a few of each color as gifts for friends and family. And thanks again to the Swatch manager for the preview of the Sistem51, it going to be a winner for Swatch.

Regards,
ED-209

This message has been edited by ED209 on 2014-08-03 21:01:04

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