The H-Factory 026k has been my daily beater ever since it was released, and this for so many reasons:
- The DLC (or whatever it really is) coating makes the watch less subject to scratches,
- It has a thick sapphire crystal with weak but colorless AR,
- It has very good lume,
- Thanks to the well made case I could waterproof it to 6 ATM,
- The 6497 is a rock solid movement, I even played golf with this watch.
- And last but not least, the price was $270!!!
I just spent an extra $130 for a custom strap, but still, where can you find a watch that good for such a small price???
That said, the watch has its issues:
- The H-Factory hands, could compete for worst quality hands in the history of watchkind,
- The H-Factory dial, with missplaced feet, leading to have off-centered holes,
- The H-Factory movement, probably the cheapest "kind of 6497" (it's not even a real 6497 clone) you can get.
I love the watch, and has been wearing it almost daily ever since it got here. I wore it in about any occasion, even while wakeboarding, diving, golfing, ... and it always kept great time. Unfortunately today was just too much to handle, and after I dropped it on the floor it stopped working.
Since it was hardwood floor I thought it might not be too bad, but after opening the watch and noticing the center wheel was broken, I decided to go for a movement swap.
Here is a pic of the old movement, no screws to secure the dial feet as you can see. Another H-Factory special.
New nicely decorated Swiss 6497-1 fitted into the watch.
Running great, even for a low beat movement. Amplitude is a little high here, but it's not unusual when the movement is fully wound.
I also flatten and polished the cannon pinion while I was at it.
After all I've done to it, the watch now shows a few marks here and there, and even if I love that watch I don't see it as huge problem. Why? Because since I like it so much, I bought another one just lik it. You know, just in case...
