IMP TIME-ONLY - TIGER EYE DIAL

I’ve been wearing the time-only IMP tiger eye dial wristwatch for the last few weeks and have (mostly) only great things to say about this watch. And I’ve been following IMP’s watchmaking journey from nearly the beginning, and congratulate them on a job well done.

First, the watch is incredibly comfortable to wear…I almost forget I’m wearing it which I realized is not a thought I've had with many other watches I own. The beads of rice bracelet it comes on was easy to adjust to my 6 inch wrist and for how sensitive I am about my small wrists needing smaller sized watches (I typically do not wear watches with a case diameter >38mm), this watch does not feel or look (in my opinion) too big. The quality of the bracelet, however, is a major con in my opinion. While the look of it is VERY sharp, it feels rather flimsy, jingle/jangles a lot which would be annoying to some, and the most disappointing aspect is that the bracelet clasp has opened accidentally a number of times already while wearing it- first time, my 14 month old hit my wrist and it opened and he’s really not that strong, on another occasion it opened when lifting a medium sized box off the floor. And since the bracelet can be purchased separately for a good $91.00, I honestly think that money could go toward a 3rd party BOR bracelet for a similar cost with higher quality. Thinking about the overall reasonable cost of the watches, however, making it attainable for mid-tier collectors, I can understand the difficulty in matching the quality of the bracelet to that of the watch itself to keep costs down.

The stepped bezel case is pure class and just works- feels right and looks great. The only down side is that in each step it gathers dust quite well which usually doesn’t bother me (I try not to baby my watches so dirt/dust/light scratches are part of its journey with me). There is also a very very small gap between crystal and case that gathers dust which you can notice is you’re looking closely at the dial from a side angle i.e. you see the dust accumulation mostly when looking into the case from the side (poor quality zoomed-in photo included to demonstrate, sorry!). And the gap is small enough that it’s hard to clean that space. The case back is completely clean (perfect for engraving/customization which I like) and near flush with the case (which might make it a challenge to remove- rubber ball would probably do the trick to avoid scratches), but does not add height to the case and allows for the watch to hug the wrist so beautifully.

The height of the case might be a bit thick for some (see all watch specifications in the item description), but overall the watch is so well proportioned that it doesn’t at all appear too tall from a side profile.

Onto the dial: the real star of the show. It is truly stunning. Mesmerizing really. It plays with the light beautifully and I find myself looking at it countless times per day. I think the mineral K1 crystal is well suited for the IMP chronographs which has a vintage aesthetic, however, the stone dial line of time-only watches feel like luxury and I think they deserve sapphire crystals. I know this would bring the price point up a bit, but I think that’s okay for these particular watches. I think the mineral glass actually takes away from the dial a bit unfortunately, because from certain angles it appears almost like plastic which just cheapens the overall appearance (again, just my take!). But that stone dial though…

Overall, I am extremely happy with this purchase. I love having this unique timepiece in my collection, and am stoked to support the Impossible Watch Co.