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This Affordable Watch From The Past Is Trying To Out-Do Casio
Catching a glimpse of this new KommandoStore Elektronika 55B on social media did something to me recently. Somewhere between browsing other questionable surplus sites and falling down rabbit holes of wartime memorabilia, it hit me. This was how it all started—with janky Soviet wristwatches and a lot of guesswork. Back when Two Broke Watch Snobs was barely a blog and mostly a chaotic text thread, we spent hours chatting about Cyrillic casebacks and figuring out whether a Poljot dial had been restored in someone’s kitchen. The Elektronika was another fixture in that world—a digital companion to the more well-known mechanical pieces.
The New Seiko Rotocall Makes Casio Look a Little Old-Fashioned
I never thought I’d see Seiko releasing a modern digital watch that actually caught my attention. I’m thinking about how much I dislike those newer digital Tuna models, for example. For a brand that helped define what digital watches could be in the ’70s and ’80s, they’ve spent most of the modern era acting like that chapter never happened. Believe me … people have been wanting this for a while.
Seiko’s Affordable Field Watch Icon Just Got Its First Real Update in Years
When Seiko discontinued the SARB017 in 2018, it stung the community. That watch had become shorthand for affordable Seiko magic—sapphire crystal, 200 meters of water resistance, and that distinct dial layout that felt timeless without pretending to be “vintage-inspired.” The replacements that followed under the Prospex label were solid, but the “Alpinist-inspired” language always felt a little detached, like Seiko was reluctant to embrace its own legacy. That changes now.
Marathon General Purpose Mechanical Review: Built for Battle, Worn for Fun
For way too long, I’ve had a deep curiosity with testing out the 34mm Marathon General Purpose Mechanical. From afar, you can tell that it isn’t trying to do anything clever. No frills, no confusion, no need to justify its presence with some contrived design story or lifestyle fantasy. Getting this one in for review only reinforced some of my assumptions of the watch while bringing some surprises with it. The thing wears its purpose on its sleeve (and on its caseback, dial, and strap, for that matter). It’s not trying to be a daily diver, a weekender, or a dress watch in disguise. But it does its job and that’s what people are typically looking for in a watch like this.
Timex Revives an Affordable Retro Digital Watch Straight from the 1970s
The 1975 digital original is making its comeback, and it’s one of the more faithful nods to that era we’ve seen from the brand in a while.
