I looked at a number of Skagen and other watches to replace an older Skagen that died. This one has much better contrast than the old one which was always hard to read (it had silver hands on a gray face). The new one is very comfortable, easy to read except in very dim light, and the blue dial looks good. I would have given it 5 stars if it were a bit smaller; at 38 mm across (outside dimension) it's almost too large for my wrist, and the date window is a bit too small. My old Skagen was only 34 mm across, but they don't seem to make any in that size with second hands now. Excellent value.