Roamer Limelight

[tribe125]

What's not to like - unless you don't like cheap stand-ins for a quartz Frédérique Constant that pays hommage to Breguet?





I bought it in Kraków, drawn by big yellow 'Promocja!' signs in the shop window. The recommended price is something like £175, but it's available for much less. Given the tidy construction and the AR-coated sapphire crystal, it would still be fair value at the full price. Three cheers for China!

It's 38mm x 6.3mm, and it was the slimness that appealed to me. The broadly similar Frédérique Constant (FC-245M5S6) is slimmer still at 5mm, but is 1mm bigger. At the price I paid, the FC is also about five times more expensive.

The dial proportions are good, and the hands are rather nice. The guilloche is neat but the dial doesn't have the texture and depth of the FC. There are no sub-seconds to tell you that it's working. I like 'Roamer' sitting boldly at the top of the dial. There's something unpretentious and 'take me as I am' about the Roamer name and logo.





In the spirit of enquiry, I went fault-finding with a magnifying glass, but found nothing amiss. But then that's usually how it is these days. Modern production methods make precision the norm, and quality differences between affordable brands can be more perceived than real.

The magnifying glass actually did it a favour, showing that the numerals and lettering were not only neat but had a slightly raised profile.

The case is well-finished, with an undercut curve that has the effect of 'hiding' a few millimetres of depth. The case-back is a snap-fit, which is good for thinness but less good for water resistance (3ATM, the same as the FC).

The crystal is a flat sapphire with an anti-reflective coating (on the inner surface I think, but I'm not entirely sure). The faux-croc strap suits the watch and isn't crying out to be replaced.

Finally, the movement is the ubiquitous Ronda 705. I haven't looked to see if it's the 5-jewel or 1-jewel version. Both can be replaced for very little money.

On the wrist, it's sufficiently slender that you're hardly conscious of wearing it. You could take it to high-toned places without setting off any alarms - unless some habitual sceptic grabbed your wrist, held it close to their gimlet eye and then went off to do some research.





A hard watch to refuse, when you fancy experimenting with something thin, and find that the 'walking about money' in your pocket will pay for it...

I quite like these battery Breguets. Maybe the Roamer will lead me to the classier Frédérique Constant. It's certainly got me looking at thin battery-powered watches.

The Roamer has also prompted me to find out a bit more about the company's recent history. I'll post that separately.

[Nokie]

Pretty nice. Looks really thin and comfortable with the angled lugs.

[T1ck]

One of my acquaintances has a jewellery shop stocking Roamer. He its a watch fan and only had the Roamer automatics in stock, but was very complementary about their offerings. I handled some of them and they seemed well built, good attention to detail and good materials.

Pretty sure they had Swiss movement inside them.

In the UK, John Lewis also stocks Roamer.

[Kronos]

I pretty much agree with the initial sentiment. What's not to like?

[Chase]

That side profile really looks great. I like it.

[CamB]

It looks way more expensive than it is!