Ever wonder about the Fiyta Aeronautics watches

[meanoldmanning]

I did, mostly because Massdrop seems to offer them every few months, so last go round I ordered one

I’ve had it a few days, here’s my initial impression

First, overall quality of the dial, hands, bezel, case, etc. seems pretty good. I’d read a few reviews that finish quality might be off, maybe I got lucky. Only glaring flaw is what appears to be a small ding on the bezel rotating ring.



Now, I like caseback engraving as much as the next person but this example is a bit sharp and digs at my wrist bone (styloid process) a bit. Not a deal breaker, just not ideal



The clasp on the bracelet on the other hand is pushing my patience a bit. I have the bracelet sized well but have to struggle to get the watch on over my hand. The asymmetrical clasp seems to be the issue. Maybe Chinese folks have arms like sharpened pencils that allow the watch to slide on easily? I don’t have an arm like this.



These, I think, have a ETA 7750 knockoff, the Shanghai 3L, modified specifically for this watch series.

Seems to run well enough from new. It has actually improved a bit since I took these pictures. Amplitude stays around 300 degrees now for crown and 12 down

Dial up



Crown down



12 down



Here’s the big issue though. Watch this video. The sweep is pretty erratic. It ticks away pretty smoothly in some places and more roughly, almost like a quartz watch in others. I’ve read a review or two that suggest some examples under inspection don’t appear to be very clean. Maybe this one is a bit grubby, who knows.

youtu.be/s8AZUYUkbm0

To add to the dirt suspicion, the date didn’t change over cleanly today. Pulled out the crown to set it and suddenly it straightened out. Hmm?

Also, the sweep sometimes doesn’t always return to 12:00. Sometimes it comes up short by a few ticks, other times it shoots past by 15 to 20 seconds.

Anyway, may send it back, not sure yet. It’s so inexpensive compared to most watches with an actual ETA 7750 inside I may just wait out the return period and see how it behaves.

[ausimax]

That is not an impressive sweep movement very irregular and jerky, you say it is a cheap watch, I can't find the same model as yours the only mechanical chronograph I could find is the Dakar Rally that costs AU$969.00 and that is with 30% off, not inexpensive in my opinion.

I would rather go with this one, with a hand wind ST1908 movement for AU$300.00 






I have thought of buying one just to pull down and see how it all works, even beat up Swiss chronos still seem to attract a premium, to rich for my diet.

If it doesn't improve its performance I would certainly be returning it before the return period ends.

[meanoldmanning]

I like the looks pretty well which is what attracted me to it. It was $339.00 US, so not too terribly much. I think I recall a Victorinox listed on Massdrop or Amazon recently with an actual ETA 7750 that was around $400, but was fugly. I almost bought it just to poach the mov’t for a project.

I’ll likely wind up returning it, for exchange if they have it available because I’m curious to see if I can get one that performs better. Honestly I never use the chrono function on any I have, but that doesn’t mean I’m inclined to overlook this.

[ausimax]

At that price it is not to bad, like you I very seldom use the chrono function, I think it is just one of those "must have" items, like a CD player in the car - even if you never use it!

[HiBeat]

My take is that is fine enough performance it ain't no Rolex but it isn't supposed to be, either.

Enjoy the watch and figure if you wear it a week or two a year it will last your lifetime.   No sweat.   Good looker.  Well played.

[meanoldmanning]

Jan 7, 2019 19:43:12 GMT -8 HiBeat said:

My take is that is fine enough performance it ain't no Rolex but it isn't supposed to be, either.

Enjoy the watch and figure if you wear it a week or two a year it will last your lifetime.   No sweat.   Good looker.  Well played.

You know, that’s kind of my thinking. On the one hand I’d like for it to perform as expected right out of the box, and can see sending it back from that standpoint. But on the other hand I’m curious about its mov’t and kind of want to keep it and let it run until it needs service then see what we’ve got.