RALF TECH WRX Sunset Cruiser (review)

FIRST IMPRESSION
After first laying eyes on the WRX I couldn’t believe how big it was in person. A big watch with an even bigger personality, with its most prominent and striking feature being its enormous domed sapphire crystal; I ‘m huge fan of domed crystals so it was received very well.



ASETHETIC
Its case is beautifully proportioned giving it a very chunky and aggressive look. Its rose gold PVD coating is actually quite subtle and works beautifully with the black of the bezel, strap and crown; a really lovely combination, adding to its already larger than life personality. The WRX has to be one of the most photogenic watches I have. It posed beautifully for the camera, confidently showing off every curve and line.



CASE
Big, bold and in your face, but in a good way! Its 47mm case has been constructed from 316L surgical grade stainless steel. The case sides bulge out purposefully. As previously mentioned the case has been rose gold PVD coated, which gives the look of rose gold, but is much more durable than an actual gold plating, which has a quite a short lifespan and can easily lose its integrity. The WRX has 26mm lugs allowing for big and beefy strap changes.

CASEBACK
The WRX has a screw down case back, engraved on the back is the RALF TECH logo and the words ‘Live & Let Dive’ a nice play on words from the Bond title ‘Live & Let Die’.



BEZEL The WRX has 120 click unidirectional rotatable bezel with a black insert featuring an elapsed dive scale. The bezel is nice and firm and has a smooth action. In all fairness it can’t be as easily manipulated, as would I like it to. So, in terms actually getting a good grip on it and being able to turn it, it’s not brilliant. This is due to the bezel sitting so flat against the top of the case. It barley protrudes; an extra 2-3mm in height would have eliminated this issue.

CROWN
The black screw down crown looks very nice, it has been designed with grip in mind, BUT it is far too small for a watch of this size. It just doesn’t feel right to me. Much wider spacing should have been made between the crown protectors allowing for a large and more substantial crown that would actually be worthy of such a case. The crown is signed with the RALF TECH logo.



CRYSTAL
Got dome? Yes, in a big way! The WRX has a huge domed sapphire crystal. It looks amazing, for me it is one of the coolest features on the watch and gives the watch much of its presence.

LUME
The WRX’s lume is not really on par with other dive watches in its category. I have to say it is disappointing at best. The good news is that RALF TECH say they have since improved on their lume application.



WATER-RESISTANCE
The WRX has been rated to 400m, I for one quite like depth ratings that are a little unusual, 300m rated watches are pretty abundant as are 500m. So why 400m? Maybe because the RALF TECH WR1 holds the World Record in depth for a dive at -330 meters (around 1000ft), yes somebody actually dived to 330 meters with a RALF TECH strapped to their wrist!



MOVEMENT
The WRX houses what is known as hybrid movement, the merging of two completely different movement technologies. You get the rotor, which is found on an auto (usually to keep the main spring wound), but instead here it is used to kinetically power a small power cell which in turn powers a quartz movement. You have all the benefit of an automatic movement but with the precision and reliability of a good old-fashioned quartz.



STRAP
The WRX has a superb strap, it is extremely comfortable and has lovely wide fit. The strap is held in place by huge rose gold PVD buckle.

DURABILITY
Surgical grade stainless steel is about as tough as you get, and it has been PVD coated to make it even more scratch resistant, but as with any PVD coated watches you must try to avoid scratching it too badly as this will mean completely re-coating the whole case.



FUNCTIONALITY
Unidirectional rotatable divers bezel with elapsed divers scale - check! Thick comfortable silicone strap with enormous buckle - check! For a watch developed by a diving company the WRX is not as functional as it should be. It is of the up most importance to have a nice clean legible dial so that the time can be told at a glance, but the reflective surfaces of the hands and the carbon fiber dial (although beautiful) don’t make this an easy job.

WEARABILITY
The WRX is still very wearable even though it is a great big watch. It sits nicely on the wrist and on its silicone strap is lovely and comfortable.


© OceanicTime

VALUE
At 980 euro this quite an expensive watch for what it is, but you can take into account its exclusivity, all WRX series models are limited editions, also the WRX is not widely available outside of France of which many can be tracked down on the net.

OVERALL IMPRESSION
Cool, fun, young and in your face, the WRX Sunset Cruiser is not a watch for everyone. I’m not going try and tell you it is, but if you want to make a bit of a statement 'bling-bling' ;) without breaking the bank and if rugged reliable oversized dive watches are your thing; then the WRX hits all the right spots. Its one the coolest watches I own and draws a fair amount of attention, yes from the ladies ;) !

However as true functional dive watch it falls a little short of the mark. Then again if you are looking at one of these diving is probably the last thing you have on your mind, it will be far better suited hitting the nightclubs and bars of Miami.