We’ve spent quite a bit of time now reviewing WatchGang. (If you’d like to know more about what exactly the service is, and how it all works, read those earlier review.) Overall, we cannot say that we have been so deeply impressed. Some of the watches were mediocre and our feelings towards them were somewhat ambivalent. Other watches were downright awful. I had yet to get a watch that I was excited to wear — until this month. But is this now going to change our overall thoughts about WatchGang? Well, you’ll have to read on to find out. But first, let’s take a look at this month’s watch a little bit more in depth.
Heritor Automatic Review: Watch Style, Design, & The Good
The watch is a Heritor automatic, casually styled with a tan leather strap, and an orange adjustable timer ring around the bezel. It has a black face with white time demarcations. Other than a date window with a nice magnification, there are no other complications. The rear of the case is also an exhibition casing so you can see the watch’s movement (I always appreciate this small detail). There is no question that this watch is a looker. The orange ring and the tan strap definitely attract the eye. Plus the watch shape itself is interesting. While the face is fully circle, the outermost bezel actually is slightly rectangular, making for a “circle within a square” type of look. This is something that has taken some getting used to, and I still cannot say that I love it. But, it is different, that’s for sure. And I definitely have grown to appreciate it. The crown of the watch also sits offset in the lower right side of the watch, as opposed to centered. Another interesting detail. To top it all off, the watch case is about 47mm, while the strap is just 18mm — another interesting contrasting detail. Indeed, this watch is all about contrast. It’s an interesting style, and something that is sure to draw attention, especially from people that know or enjoy watches.
Some more details: the movement is hacking, which means the second hand stops ticking when you set the time, allowing you to set the time exactly, to the second. There is also a nice stitching detail at the tip of the strap, something which I appreciate. The watch says it is water resistant to 10 meters, so something but not very deep. The crystal is also only sapphire-coated, meaning it’s not as strong or durable as true sapphire.
Overall, the watch is very interestingly and uniquely styled, without being over the top or gaudy. I happen to like the look of this watch a lot as a second or maybe third casual watch option for a collection. Would it come before a nice Seiko or even Timex? Certainly not. But, like I said, as a less-frequent second or third casual watch, I think this sort of more unique, intriguing design is a nice addition to any collection.
Heritor Automatic Review: Quality & The Not-So-Good
From the perspective of someone not knowledgable about watches, this watch is very nice. The leather strap is of a high quality, and the watch itself feels hefty, substantial, and like something that is worth a nice amount of money. It has a great weight to it, and all the metal feels nice. The finish to all the metal is clean and neat as well, and watching that automatic seconds hand sweep around the watch is always something to behold.
But, and this is a big “but,” things are not always as they seem. As is known to those that know a bit more about watches, tons of companies now are simply buying up watch movements made by other companies, sticking them in their own casing, and calling it a day. Heritor is one of those companies. In fact, in a number of places on Reddit, users claim that Heritor states that they use Japanese automatic movements despite many of the movements actually being Chinese. While I cannot testify to this (whether it is true or not, I simply do not have the expertise), you never hear this sort of claim about Seiko or Orient. That’s because those companies actually make their watches from scratch. They do all the components in-house, and the movements are their own. These are companies with real heritage behind them, and years of experience. When you buy a watch even from a company like Timex, you are buying into decades upon decades of watchmaking experience. You buy something reputable — something that has been around for a long time, and is sure to stay around for a while. This is why brand names in watches actually do mean something. This is why people pay a lot of money for a Rolex or Omega watch. It’s because the brand names mean something, and you know that there is serious backing and support behind the product. When you buy a watch from these companies, you know exactly what you are getting, and from whom you are getting it. You buy into a piece of something more than just the watch itself. As crazy as it sounds, you buy into a piece of history.
Heritor is far from one of those kinds of companies. To the contrary, they seem to have popped up fairly recently, and who knows how long they will be around. They do not make their own movements, and they seem to be in it just to make a quick buck. Indeed, the retail price of this watch is $800. Yes, you read that right. Sure, it’s a nice watch. But for a fraction of the price, I would prefer a watch from Orient. An $800 watch from Heritor means a lot less than a $300 from Orient. With Heritor, I hardly know what I am buying. $800 for this watch is such a stupidly over-inflated, made-up price for this watch it is almost upsetting. No one seems to know much about this company, or even much about the exact components that make up this watch.
Still, I didn’t pay $800 for it. I paid $110 for it, and got it as part of my WatchGang Black subscription. And it is also by far my favorite (and I think the nicest) watch I have received from WatchGang, too.
So, where does this leave us overall when it comes to a WatchGang subscription?
WatchGang Review Conclusion & Value
In the end, I really have a hard time justifying a WatchGang subscription. Maybe if you really don’t yet know what sort of watches you like, it can be beneficial to get to see a whole bunch of different kinds of watches in a short period of time. But, still, I think your time and money will be better spent learning more about watches, and what you do and do not like, and buying your own. Truthfully, I still would have much preferred to have spent the money I spent on the last few months of WatchGang on a single watch that I knew I would really love and enjoy, and that came from a reputable and established brand whose name actually means something. Instead, with the past few months of a WatchGang subscription, I have one watch I like a lot (but don’t love), one watch I like less so, and then a bunch that I am indifferent about. Oh, and then there are the two watches that I absolutely hate.
What would you rather?