AVI-8 Hawker Harrier II Matador Edition Grande Date Chronograph (AV-4065) Review - Perth WAtch
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
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Review of this Grande Date Chronograph courtesy of AVI-8 Watches, featuring Miyota 6S50 movement, skeleton dial, & an awesome case back!
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Hawker Harrier II Matador Ed. Chronograph AV-4065-02 (feat. Miyota 6S50)
** Use code "IVANLING20" for 15% OFF ALL WATCHES at www.avi-8.com?sca_ref=2679817.yLg5pt1bV4 **
Official listing: avi-8.com/prod...
AVI-8 @Amazon: amzn.to/2CJIkDB
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Perth WAtch - Sharing my passion for horology and watches. Enjoy the videos on watch reviews, general thoughts & discussions, side-by-side comparisons, horology topics, and more!
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Damn it's pretty!!! I really like the design, the dial, even the back plate.
Nice review as always ;)
Thanks for that... it's quite a particular type of design I think, skeleton dial and all :)
Hi firstly great review my friend, I am normally traditional and Conservative in my taste of watches, ( despite my love for casio g shock) however I have ordered one of these as I thought "Hell, why not " its crazy, definitely different, somewhat steampunk and interesting, I think the colours play well together and the fact it's large says why not be bold! Look forward to receiving mine and seeing people's reactions, maybe love or hate? Personally I'm in love with it 😍
Haha nice one, glad you found this review of some value. Hope you enjoy the watch! :)
The date windows and placement definitely reminds me of the A Lange & Sonhe datograph
Yeah it's kinda similar I suppose... perhaps even took some inspiration from that piece.
So we need to push the button to see the beauty of that dial 3 on clock and that revolve for the first 30 seconds
What?
@@PerthWAtch that dial on 3 works when we push that button right?
Can’t remember - did you watch video?
@@PerthWAtch yes just double checking😄
After watching yours and The OFD channel review of this watch, if find it intriguing, I’m not a rose gold guy, if they had the standard s/s case with the rose gold face accents, I believe it would be a keeper.👍
Thanks Chris... there're a lot of idiosyncrasies to this watch, not all of which I great I think, but it does have some highlights :)
Now I can understand brands trying to build some sort of background story for marketing purposes and even for using a heritage based story to support a brand with little heritage or provenance of its own. And this has been a key part of marketing mechanical watches which are both more expensive and less accurate than quartz ones, keeping the mechanical watch industry alive, thank goodness. But your review piece takes this to a ludicrous level. If they are going to cite an icon of Anglo-American aeronautical innovation as their inspiration, they should at least do their homework and provide some accurate and full enough storytelling in their marketing material and then clear linkage from that story to the entire watch.
Plainly there is only one thing that provides that linkage and that is the part of the watch that your friends never see, the case back. I have to say that it does evoke the hugely bladed intake at the front of what started life as a P1127, later the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel and latterly the Hawker Harrier. As you know, it was developed into its last iteration by the American aviation industry who were responsible for the renaissance in avionics in that last version.
But that is a world away from the superficially adorned piece of nothing new to offer quartz technology you have reviewed. I watched displays by these aircraft at the Hatfield UK factory when I was a kid. It was awe inspiring, balletic and a source wonder. There's no excuse for not being inspired by it even if all you've seen is a youtube video of one.
So that's the Brits and Yanks engaged by the story so far - how to engage the Spanish speaking world? Ah yes, call it something iconically Spanish even if it has staggeringly tenuous links with the contrived theme of the watch
Other than the case back, the rest of this watch has all the hallmarks of a Chinese product from a brand like Megir, Naviforce or Tevise at 1/10th the price. The skeletonisation of most watches reveals fascinating mechanical detail but here it simply shows contrived layers that are the antithesis of an aviation watch being at once visually cluttered, compromised and hard to read.
The vectored thrust jet engine, the path to its development from the flying bedstead and latterly, the avionics systems the Americans developed: these are bits of engineering history to celebrate and tell. And even if you are opposed to war, the aircraft's performance in the south Atlantic was a phenomenon.
I have no objection to people assembling technology from around the world to celebrate such human achievement. I just feel that your review piece fails in every way to embrace the story and pan continental achievement of the Harrier and represent it in a timepiece in any manner that suggests the aeronautical icon has at all inspired it. Even the turbine case back is not a first.
Well, the AVI8 web site's animation is fun but the claim that it was the quoted "avionics" that inspired this watch seems farcical. The video seems to allude to it being the aesthetics of the aeronautical enginneering that inspired the look of the watch but this is plainly untrue in every respect other than that rather attractive caseback.
Frankly, the AVI-8 Hawker Harrier II Matador Edition Grande Date Chronograph iconises the horological bovine excrement that unfortunately demeans watchmaking and our hobby. Microbrands need to do more homework and be genuinely and credibly inspired by more than a need to come up with new product if they are to become anything more than micro.
Well said!
Thanks for a very detailed, thoughtful and insightful comment David - you clearly have quite a lot of knowledge of the area, and the Harrier II aircraft in particular. My own knowledge of aviation history is really quite poor, and anything I have gotten is from a quick reading, admittedly most of it from the materials provided by AVI-8 on their site and marketing materials. It is now apparent to me that whilst the objective bits seem to be accurate, a lot of the subjective claims of inspiration are either too far fetched or in fact not related at all. I find that this is much the case with the Spinnaker brand also (under the same umbrella of companies).
Actually I would go further to say that "Matador" actually has nothing to do with any aspect of this watch at all. But as for the overall built of the watch I would say (along with Spinnaker) it's definitely a tier above the likes of Megir, Naviforce, etc. The skeletonization in this case also appears to be more thoughtful that many of those offered by the likes of Winner, Burei, etc.
The Harrier II seems like a real phenomenon in avionic engineering, and one can hope that a company of higher standing can make a watch that does its heritage justice some day.
PS. Love the phrase "horological bovine excrement", had to laugh out at that :)
Thanks Ivan! Perhaps not the Chinese brands I cited then. But have a look at "STARKING 50M Waterproof Watch Men xfcs 2017 Original Man Skeleton Automatic" from Aliexpress if you get a chance - would make for an interesting comparison vid...
spot on 👍👍👏
Thanks man, I'll make sure to take a look :)
Vrrrm VRRRRUM! Very handsome piece. Might be just a bit overpriced, but considering the production volumes probably fair enough. Big and busy makes for plenty of interest. I especially like the crashing altimeter look of the 1/20th chrono readout and other skeletonizing. Pilots who get wet are having a bad day but I could wish for a bit more water resistance. The turbine backside would be a private joy. I'd probably choose the black and SS version even though this is more dressy than tool-y. Higher contrast hands (blue? black?) might be more legible.
Thanks for the review!
Thanks man... yeah good points there about the crashing altimeter (wish I thought of that!) and the potential of higher contrast hands.
The case back is reminiscent of some Brietling watches. Not too bad a looker. Cheers Ivan.
Thanks Sam... yeah, more and more I think that's the best bit of the whole watch :)
@@PerthWAtch i tend to agree. Not one for me.
I like this piece, some very unique design features. I just received my Raven collection of time pieces, very impressive Micro Brand for the money if you haven't seen them.
Cool, that sounds interesting... I'll have to check Raven out.
Wow I like this! I thought this would cost a lot more than it does. Checked out their website, a lot of unique looking watches.
Thanks for that. Yeah they do have some nice designs, many have workhorse Japanese mechanical movements.
Great video quick question was the giveaway winner announced
Thanks. Yeah it was announced in the community tab, but remains unclaimed. I will redraw this weekend if still unclaimed in next day or two.
Love the strap and caseback but the dial is far to busy for me, great review though
Thanks for that - yeah skeleton dials do tend to be rather too busy...
Cornish Horologist have to agree 100%.
@@rayquintanilla614 thanks ray 👍
Nice watch! :)
Thanks for that :)
A big date pilot, like the IWC 150th anniversary one.
Yeah kind of... but much less refined :)
@@PerthWAtch But you get what you paid, right. At least in most case.
Haha yes that's right in most cases!
This is NOT a Flyback movement. A flyback chronograph will continue timing once reset - this does not.
I believe you are right... I was going by some erroneous definitions at the time of making this video.
LOVE UU
Thanks... I think! ;)
:)
;)
Way too big sadly
It is a big watch indeed, although definitely not the biggest I have reviewed...
Awful watch.
Haha very concise!