**Update, 7/23/15** This watch is still in my daily rotation. I wear it 1-4 days a week depending on daily activities. The leather band looks fantastic. No flaking, tearing, and the stitching is still bright and tight. There are a few tiny scratches on the watch itself, but that comes of daily wear and tear and should be expected. Still a great value-- weirdly, this watch is about $75 more on Amazon than when I purchased it. I might sell it and get something else. ****

My girlfriend recently dropped my well-worn Invicta Pro-Diver automatic watch. The watch shop quoted me a repair price of $150.00, and informed me that the thing was incredibly worn down after about 3 years of daily use. $150.00 to repair an $80 dollar watch? Not likely!

I did a few weeks of research on watches within the $100-$300 price range. What would look the best, what would last the longest, what kind of maintenance should I expect to pay out for a few years down the road, how accurate, how durable--and so on. This watch stood out as being attractive, durable, and low maintenance, with consistently positive reviews. I purchased this 02L a month ago. Here are my impressions so far:

Looks--10/10:
This is a beautiful chronograph-style watch. The pictures do not do it justice. Period. The watch face is in fact a deep navy blue, not the black that you see in the picture. This isn't a complaint; both shades look excellent. In fact, this is such a nice watch that, depending on your job (social worker) and your day-to-day activities, you may need to invest in another "beater" watch for daily use. After two weeks of daily wear I finally realized this, and bought a Casio G-Shock for $90 to wear for field work and recreation. The 02L I wear for meetings, nights out, family dinners, and every other time where appearance matters. Be advised--this watch gets loads of compliments, so be prepared to discuss it.

Band--7/10:
The band could have been a little nicer. If you are a thick-wristed guy this might be a tight fit for you. I'm 6'3, 205 lbs, with a 7.5" wrist, and it's got 3 holes to spare. The band also has a nice lining so that sweat doesn't soak into the leather. It's also a fairly narrow/tapered band, given the size of the watch body. But it works. This is too nice a watch to throw onto a Maratac watch band like I did with my old Invicta Pro Diver. Just something to consider.

Functions--7/10:
There is an alarm; never used it, but all reports say it is very quiet and functionally useless. Likewise for chronograph functions; never used them. The perpetual calendar is complicated to set; you will NEED to follow the specific instructions in order to do it correctly, as some factors such as month and leap year are set via arbitrary dial movement (for example, turning a subdial to 9 to set the month as September). It isn't as complicated as other reviewers make it out to be, but you will need to follow the instructions. Once set, you won't need to play with it again. It took me about ten minutes to get it set up.

After almost 5 weeks, the watch has lost about 2 seconds--I can live with that. The Eco-Drive also works great. Keep the watch case (or use your own watch stand) and keep the watch on display when it's not on your wrist and you will never need to worry about charging it up. For as long as you own the watch. Can't beat that. The case is also constructed of titanium and surprisingly lightweight. This ensures that it can withstand, say, being dropped to the kitchen tile by wives or girlfriends. The illuminated dials are nice for maybe 10 or 15 minutes of total darkness, but beyond that they aren't great. That is to be expected however, so no surprise there.

Final impressions--10/10:
This is a great watch for the money. The looks cannot be beat for this price; it looks like something in the $500-plus range. With the (relatively) modest price, the maintenance-free Eco-Drive, and the sharp leather band, this can easily function as your go-to chronograph for both formal and informal occasions. In the time that I've owned it, every time I wear it I have gotten compliments and other guys asking to look at it. It's really that nice a watch. If you're in the market, and willing to shell out the money, you won't regret it. For me, coming from an Invicta Pro Diver, this was a huge upgrade, and I actually use a G-Shock for daily wear as this watch is so nice. That's the only real caveat I would say to be mindful of--that this watch is actually too nice, so you may wish to factor in the cost of a "beater" watch if you don't already own one. There is also a 5-year limited warranty, so it's safe to buy with confidence. Free shipping through Amazon.com doesn't hurt either.

Happy watch shopping!