This Red Balloon watch is a pretty good watch when it comes down to it. It's fairly durable, not expensive, stylish and easily adjustable thanks to the velcro strip. I wish watches like this existed when I was younger! As soon as it arrived in the mail, my daughter couldn't wait to try it on, and wore it for a couple of days before she pointed out something that docks the score down. But she does like to wear it, and we're working on teaching her how to tell time. In doing so, I've noticed an additional problem which might not apply for everyone.

The watch has a stainless steel case, nylon strap, a plastic bezel and is supposedly water resistant up to 33 feet. I don't know who's going to be letting their kids in 33 feet of water, but the watch should be just fine when they're in an appropriately sized pool. A few people have mentioned that the watch survived a trip to their washing machines, so that's a good sign that the water resistance bit is reliable. The design of the watch is good, though I don't care for the curved second hand. All of the usual numbers and features on a simple watch are here. No Roman numerals are here to throw off your child. Adjusting the time is easy to do, as is adjusting the strap. The watch comes with a little pamphlet/time teaching table that can be useful, but teaching time is just one of those things that kids learn quickly once they get the difference between the little hand and the big hand...then work on the numbers shown on the watch. Still, it's a nice addition that a lot of watches I had as a kid never came with.

Now for the two issues my daughter and I have with the watch. My problem is that the print on the face is very small. Yes, it's obviously going to be small since this is a kid's watch, but I did a double take when I looked over the numbers. My daughter also mentioned that the velcro started to itch after a while. She'll wear it for a little bit before having to adjust re-adjust it so the scratchy part isn't touching her skin. I had a watch with a velcro strap a few years ago, so I know exactly what she means. Kids with sensitive skin might not be too fond of this one.

Just be aware of those two issues before buying and you'll be fine. This really is a cute watch and it's good to see one used as a time teacher of sorts.