Swiss Army Victorinox watches are very important to the watch industry in my opinion. For many people not familiar with the greater breadth of offerings from the watch industry, these Swiss timepieces are a creamy options when wanting a piece that combines good design, sporty styling, and solid value. As a kid I grew up knowing about Swiss Army watches, and not so secretly wanted one. I recall in college an friend of mine who had received one as a gift wearing it around (as I admired it). He wasn't at all a watch person, but liked its chunky substantial feel, and dead-easy to read dial. Swiss Army for many people represent a good choice for a nice watch, and the brands hold's this reputation well.It all starts with the logo. The little Swiss flag made into a strong looking shield. It is a slight modification of the logo of the actual Swiss Military. A not so subtle reminder of the value of the Swiss watch industry, and the strength of the brand. In my opinion, this is one of the most clever logos in the watch industry. Being attractive, while at the same time communicating the values of the brand and the Swiss timepiece industry. This even persists despite the ironic nature of the Swiss army itself - which is more or less a peace keeping force. So you have a brand built around the idea of a durable high-activity timepieces, but with the name of a lack-luster military power. Switzerland is a well-known neutral country and has a small armed forces unit that never makes the news. When was the last time you actually heard of the Swiss army? Google "Swiss Army" and the watch brand holds the first few positions. If anything, the best thing that happened to the Swiss military was Swiss Army watches. Interestingly enough, according to Wikipedia, the Swiss army has mandatory services for males when they reach age 19. Though no one has ever mentioned this to me while I was in Switzerland.The vision of the Swiss army has been over taken by watches, and we can thank Swiss Army for that. They add the Victorinox name in there because no brand can sustain a trademark with a name like "Swiss Army." The success of the brand has yielded many competitors who have similar names and symbols. These include Wenger and Swiss Military Watches. But I digress.A few years ago Swiss Army Victorinox decided to ramp up (substantially) its presence in the mechanical watch market. The idea was to take the core look and values of the brand, and produce higher-end pieces. As such, the brand would retain its core market of quartz based timepieces, and supplement it with mechanical watches that has the same feeling, but with upgraded cases, components, and of course movements. The positive association with the brand would make it easy for a generation of Swiss Army watch lovers to "graduate" to mechanical watches from their quartz timepieces. Staying in the same brand would be of course good for Swiss Army.So you started to see mechanical watches. Often in limited editions models, Swiss Army has now offers full (non-limited) collections of Mechanical watches that are quite impressive. Many of them feel like more polished and better conceived versions of the military-esque mechanical watches that Hamilton has been offering for years. Hamilton just sometimes offers totally weird stuff that I don't understand. I appreciate the experimentation, but Swiss Army seems to retain a more conservative quality to their mechanical watches that I appreciate.A few years ago the Swiss Army Dive Master collection of watches came out to my delight. From the first time I saw them I loved the quartz based dive watches that came in cool gunmetal gray cases. As I pointed out above, Swiss Army released a limited edition mechanical version of the Dive Master, and eventually a full line of mechanical diver watches called the Dive Master 500 Mecha (or Mechanical) collection.Dial design differed from the quartz models. It is a matter of taste which you prefer. The dials for the Mecha models are a bit more intricate, but there is a bold simplicity to the quartz ones that I like.?? New for 2010 is this blue colored version of the Dive Master 500
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