Das Uhr
German (over)engineering is something that I relate to. It’s often discussed when it comes to cars but of course the Germans apply such principles to all sorts of things. The Swedes and the Germans have a similar approach. If you look back upon the cars of the 70s and 80s, Mercedes & Volvos were not too dissimilar in their sturdiness and indestructibility. Also, a tad boring. Both brands had some sporty models with sharper engines, but the big sellers were the family cars that ran forever.
I have heard people say German watches are boring. We’re not talking A. Lange & Söhne here, but the many other more mid-range options. My view is this. Look at Volvos & Mercedes now, they came from roots of overengineered, reliable cars for the people. And now, similar approaches but with the added bonus of being absolutely stunning, class leading objects of desire. |
I think the same can be said for German watches and based on my first Damasko watch, they are criminally underrated.
I came across Damasko watches through enthusiast reviews from Mark at Long Island Watch and of course the in-depth manufacturer videos from Worn & Wound. After hearing the term ‘ice hardened steel’ I decided right away that I had to have one, despite being a tad out of my price range. I kept an eye on things and finally came across a second hand listing out of Texas, of all places, and a very friendly guy named Mike. Some negotiating and a deal was struck. Covid19 times meant the watch seemed to go round and round in circles near Dallas but it finally arrived in Melbourne a long two months later. |
My impressions wearing the watch.
The Damasko DA44 came with the original box and papers. A fairly dour affair but I’d expect no less than function over form approach here. A white cardboard box containing a piano black, watch box. Solid hinges on the box, the usual watch pillow within. Nothing special apart from being built to last.
So far so good, all papers supplied, means little when you’re buying something from 2016 but in terms of collecting, nice to have. |
There are a few options for straps with this watch, when ordering new. The model I bought came with exactly what I would have chosen had I bought it new. It’s a German made leather strap with red stitching to match the red dial details. It’s super comfortable with a buckle made from the same treated steel as the rest of the watch and it even has a little leather ‘lip’ that protects your skin from any metal. I’ve never seen this before and whilst I haven’t exactly found steel buckles touching my skin being a particular nuisance of watch wearing to this day, it does feel nice and soft. The lug width is a pretty standard 20mm, but another nice touch is how the strap has been made to meet lugs exactly with about 3mm of extra width. Such a nice touch. Whilst the lugs are drilled for easy strap changes, I'm very happy with the strap and won't be changing it.
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Now, the watch. It is exactly what I had hoped for after hours of research. Build quality feels like it’s been sculpted from a sledgehammer. In fact, if I were to use my hammer on this watch, I would only make the watch angry and the hammer would likely just fold in my hand and plead to be returned to the toolbox. This is partially due to the case, with its matte grey and absolute brawler feel. Let’s dive in to this ‘ice hardened steel’ business.
Whilst Damasko use German submarine steel for some of their watches, they also hold a number of patents for other types of steel. This case is made from ‘Mertensitic stainless steel’. I don’t know what that is but I’m pretty sure it’s what Thors hammer was made of. I’m sure it’s hard enough on its own but a special process of heating up the steel and immediately cooling it with what appears to be liquid nitrogen, produces a steel that is four times harder than conventional steel. The end product results in an ice-hardened, nickel free case. It feels nice. |
The same process is used on the bezel, producing an incredibly tough surface. The numbers are lasered into the bezel (obviously…) followed by a multi component paint.
Rotating the 60 click, bi-directional bezel is something else. They use ceramic ball bearings and I’ve never felt a more precise or satisfying bezel action ever. Not from any Swiss or Japanese brands costing 20 times the price. Only one other brand comes close, German brand Sinn. Using ceramic ball bearings, it’s likely that the bezel action will take a long time to degrade, if at all. With most watches I wear, I’m hyper conscious of walls and objects when moving around in the real world. I am whilst wearing this watch too, but mainly since I’d hate to bring down a building or inflict lasting injuries on other people. Ok, exaggerating a tad, but you get the drift. |
The last bit of badassery to draw attention to is the crown. It’s super smooth to use and pops in an addictive way, it’s hard to not fiddle with it constantly whilst wearing it since the whole action is just so satisfying. But that’s not the reason of said badassery.
It is hardened, screwed down and triple-sealed for maximum protection. In its screwed-down state, the setting stem is disengaged from the crown, ensuring that no pressure, impacts or vibrations are passed on to the piece. This patented lubricant cell supports the crown shaft and provides it with a fine film of lubricant, which lasts for many years. Smart, useful and admirable. |
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Now obviously the flat crystal chosen needs to match the rest of the watch and they use some of the toughest crystals available with around 2,000 HV (hardness as per Vickers testing).
This is treated with an anti-reflective coating on both sides and there is also a UV resistant crystal seal applied to all models. This is probably the one thing to watch out for if you’re buying a new watch. You can elect to just have the anti-reflective treatment to the underside of the crystal. Why would you do that? It’s possible to damage the outside coating and this could become a bit of an eyesore. I’m not sure what I would have done myself but I can tell you this much, looking at my watch, there almost seems to be no crystal at all covering the dial. It’s truly amazing and only a very sideways glance reveals the tell-tale blueish anti reflective coating. |
Onto that dial, it’s legible to the extreme. I love the white hands against black, with the centre black section, that almost make the hands look like they’re floating. The red seconds hands, 12 o’clock red marker and red lume pip brings the whole look together.
The cross hair breaks up the large black dial nicely and I personally find the logo placement to be absolutely spot on. The white indices are applied directly to the dial with a good amount of lume (more later) I don’t love day date complications, they are often placed in a way that interrupts the overall design. Here, they are offset to fit in with the logo and cross hair and it looks great. Rather than draw too much attention to itself, it’s just exemplary in its placement and white on black colour choice. |
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Flipping the case is over, we have a solid steel screw-in case with lots of German words on it. You can rest assure that they all relate to the extreme build quality of the watch. You will recognise these words in English: Made in Germany. You’d be surprised how flexible such claims can be. The EU regulations states that at least 55% of the added value in the production process must be, in this case, in Germany. I’d hazard a guess that Damasko far exceeds that rule. On a side note, many watches have ‘Made in’ labels on their dials, it’s really worth investigating what that means for the watch you’re about to purchase.
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The movement used is the ETA 2836-2 Elabore. It’s regulated by Damasko but this appears to be the only bit that’s not made in house and it’s such a cool movement.
If you are not a watch nerd and question the mental state of a person that describes a watch movement as cool, let me explain. If you’ve ever seen a date/day complication when it’s nearing midnight, slowly start moving towards its next state, being the next day or date, you may have seen the date starting to move slowly at around 15 mins or so before 12. Nothing wrong with that right? Correct. But this movement does not behave like that. At very close to the moment the seconds hand pass the 12 o’clock midnight, the day/date ‘snaps’ to the next day/date so fast the eyes can barely discern movement. It gives the impression of an extremely precise movement, which of course it is. I love this detail. It makes no difference to daily wear but it’s yet again a feature of watches costing many times more. |
A word on the Lume. The white indices have a decent amount of Lume applied. It’s not quite as long lasting or strong as my Seiko watches, or even my Sinn 104, but they will last through the night no worries. What is odd though are the red bits. The lume pip lasts for what feels like 5 mins. The red 12 o’clock position, does actually have some lume applied but it may as well not have since it’s barely legible at all. It works regardless since the night time ‘black hole’ at 12 makes it clear where 12 sits. It’s the one thing about this watch that I’d improve if asked for feedback (which I won’t be).
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Final Words
I’ve played around with various Omega & Rolex watches, and some of the best that Japan has to offer and to me, nothing comes close in build quality to this Damasko. Yes, it’s almost ‘boring’ how awesome it is. If it’s not obvious, I absolutely love the Damasko DA44. It’s extremely handsome, supremely legible and it would honestly be the ONE watch I’d keep if I was forced to have a one watch collection (the horror).
All that over engineering resulted in a watch that looks brand new. It’s 4 years old and does not have even a minute scratch on it. That’s not saying that you can’t scratch it, it’s more of a reflection of how well Texas Mike looked after the watch. That said, it does feel so unbelievably solid and it reflects extremely well on the small family business that Damasko is. If I had more of a disposable income, I’d start investing in their other models with their inhouse movements and silicone hairsprings, in an absolute heartbeat. |
If you’re looking at purchasing a well-made, automatic watch and you’re attracted to the military style watches, meaning perfect legibility and high contrast designs, then you absolutely must consider a Damasko watch.
It really is the modern day Mercedes C-Class couple. A slightly left of centre choice with its combination of build quality, class leading technology, beautiful looks and relatively understated badassery. Cheers, Esbjorn |
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