Mitch K
2600
Overall I agree with your assessment.
Oct 15, 2014,19:48 PM
I ordered mine with a bit of skepticism. The pictures were nice and I liked the concept. When I received the watch, I must say that I was bowled over. In the metal it is so much more stunning then I had imagined. Yes the dial is fantastic. It was truly love at first sight. I have read your concerns about the date and I must say that it doesn't bother me. It is small and not terribly obtrusive.
Yes it is a big watch but it doesn't wear big. It actually wears comfortably even on my 6 1/4 inch wrist.
The operation of the watch is logical with the crown controlling the winding, date and time with just a push of the finger. I have been told that the reason the crown control was created was at the behest of Rolf's wife who wanted to protect her nails when she went to set the watch and not have to pull out the crown. May true. Maybe urban legend.
Now the music. It is either on the hour, en passant, or on demand. Yes it is not as loud as I would like but if you look at the construction it is not possible to compare it to the Sonata. FIrst of all the first iteration of the Sonata was not that loud either. But the Sonata's sound is generated in the back of the watch by a ring mounted close to the metal case. I am sure there is some resonant effects from the case. The "music box" function is on the top of the watch under the sapphire glass with no contact and perhaps not as much resonance. I think that it actually may be a tad louder than my Hour Striker. I do admit that there have been times when I have been surprised to hear music emanating from my wrist and have to realize from where it is coming. The trade off between the loudness of the sound and watching the mechanism, it is cool to watch the mechanism (I like being a gear head). I did have the opportunity to try out the other music box on the wrist - the Breguet. If you think that the Stranger is large, the Breguet is huge - it is 48 mm and 16.8 mm tall. It is said to be in constructed to amplify the sound but in my opinion the Stranger is louder. In the Breguet, the mechanism is buried and far from sight. And the choice of the music? The classical vs the classical Sinatra?
Overall, I think that the Stranger is my cup of tea.
Mitch