This is my review of the Gruppo Gamma G-5 watch from Gruppo Gamma Watches. My initial impression of the watch is good, very good actually. Great value for money. The watch I am reviewing comes in the standard configuration. They offer the watch with different strap options.
There is no getting away from comparing the watch design to that of Panerai. The G-5 case is more akin to the 1940/ 1950s case design by Panerai. The case is of the 3 piece case construction, the parts made up of the bezel, the case and the case back. The case comes measures 44 mm in diameter without the crown, 48 mm with the crown and 54 mm lug to lug. The lug width is 24 mm. The case is made of 316L stainless steel.
The case has a polished finish. It is well made and well finished, very smooth with no sharp edges evident. There are no tool marks anywhere to be seen and fit is good. The problem with an all polished finish is finger prints.
The screw down crown is large, coming in at 7.5 mm and it is 4 mm thick. It is knurled and it is easy to grasp and use. As with the case, it has a polished finish. The crown is signed 'Brevet' and a 'plus' logo. Brevet is of course French for Patented and the 'Plus' refers to Switzerland. It is a 'homage' to Rolex of old where such crowns were first used.
Even though the crown is large, knurled and easy to use, there is a grinding feel when you unscrew and screw the crown. Perhaps some lubrication may help resolve the problem. Also I believe the crown is not really a spring loaded crown as the crown does not 'pop' out when unscrewed. On the plus side, it takes about 5 turns to lock the crown down. Talk about positive locking.
The Gruppo Gamma G5 has an exhibition or display back. The crystal used is mineral crystal and it is flat. The case back is devoid of marking other then the 3 'Brevettato' legends. Brevettato is Italian for Patented. So you have French and Italian words for Patented on the watch.
A closer view. The finish is very good.
The case back has a brushed finish unlike the rest of the case. It has the 12 sided edge case back design much like the case back found on Panerai watches. The case back is well made and finished, again no sharp edges. It would be nice if the case back to have a 'lip' that provides a more positive contact to the case and also prevents the case from being scratched when you remove the case back.
The crystal fitted to the watch is a domed mineral crystal. I would prefer the use of acrylic crystal to complete the vintage feel, but mineral is OK as well. Scratches on the crystal would just add character to the watch. The crystal, I believe, does not come with any anti-reflective coating. The crystal 'extend' about 2 mm beyond the bezel.
From a different angle.
The design of the crystal, being a single dome design, does cause some distortion when you are looking at the watch. It is more evident at certain angles. This is much like the vintage watch from the 40s that this watch is based on.
The dial. Again there is no getting away from the fact that it looks like the dial from Panerai. The dial is matte black and is of the sandwich design. The dial is void of any legends and marking except the brand name 'Gruppo Gamma' at the 12 o'clock position. The printing is good.
The matte black sandwich dial.
The hours are marked with the 12, 3, 6 and 9 at the cardinal points and the rest with baton markers. These markers looks like as if it has been filled with luminous material but are in reality cut-outs. There are no minute markers and the seconds is displayed via a sub-dial at the 9 o'clock position. The cardinal points on the seconds sub-dial are cut-outs and luminous.
There is a date window at the 3 o'clock position. It is very discrete. The window can be a tad small, especially when the date is in the teens. The spacing on the date wheel seems to be the problem as it is fine when the date is in the twenties and thirties. The date turns at exactly 12 midnight.
I like the hands on the watch. The watch hour and minutes hands are of the pencil design but with angled cut surface. It is very bold of Gruppo Gamma to use this design as it can show any flaws on the hands. The angle cut provides maximum reflection or reflects light at any angle. While this is a plus point if the hands are well made, it is a negative point if not as it will show any defects. The hands passed the test.
All three hands have a polished finish and is well made. All the hands are filled with luminous material. The hour and minute hands are sufficiently differentiated by length. Telling time at a glance is not a problem.
The luminosity of the watch is one of its selling point. It is very good and bright as the luminous material used is the C3 green SuperLuminova. It is used on the hands and also on the hour markers. The luminosity is very bright for about the first half hour and slowly degrades. But it is still easy to tell time in the dark after 8 hours. So a full charge will last one night.
The watch is powered by a Chinese made movement. It is a Seagull TY 2555 Grade 1 Automatic movement It is a simple 3 hand movement offering a date complication and a sweep seconds display via a sub-dial at the 9 o'clock position. The movement comes in at 30.4 mm in diameter and it is 7.4 mm thick. It beats at 21,600 A/h and have 30 jewels. Power reserve is 45 hours.
Since the movement is a Grade 1 Seagull movement, it comes with a very nice finishing (perlage) and blue screws. I have not timed the movement but I have been told that it is pretty accurate.
The watch under review comes with a standard leather strap. It is brown in colour with white stitching. The strap is 24mm across the length of the strap. It is soft and comfortable. The strap is signed on the under side of the strap and have raw edge finish. I like raw edge finish on straps.
Signed strap.
Raw Edge finish.
The strap is 120 mm long on the hole side and 80 mm long on the buckle side. There are 8 holes providing 5 cm of adjustment. There are two strap keepers and both are the floating type. The strap keepers are 1 cm wide and as with the strap, the edge finish is raw. The keepers are easy to use as the loop is big enough.
Well made and very soft strap.
The straps are attached to the watch via screwed pins. This makes changing straps easy. I like. But it would be great if the straps came with tubes. The other issue is the length of the screw pins. It is a tad short. 1 mm longer would be great.
The buckle is made of stainless steel. It has a polished finish on the top but not on the underside. The buckle is signed. The buckle is held in place by spring-bar.
Nice signed buckle.
The watch comes is a very nice pouch. It is an impact resistant pouch. The pouched is signed with the Gruppo Gamma logo. The pouch is zippered to prevent the watch and warranty card from falling out. The watch is held in place inside the pouch via an elastic strap. The best part about the pouch is that you can use it for other things once you remove the watch.
Conclusion.
As earlier indicated, there is plenty of watch for the money. There are a few things that can be improved (nit picking) but overall I like the watch. It is comfortable on the wrist, performs well, and is well made. Not much against it actually.
Thank you Gruppo Gamma Watches for the review watch.
