Agat 192 ChS user review

There are a number of Internet reviews of the Agat 192 ChS Zlatoust Diver’s watch, but they all seem to have been written by people who have only seen photographs of the watch, and not by people who actually wear one daily.

Let’s remedy that situation. I have been wearing the 192 for some time now as my daily wristwatch. I wear it night and day, removing it only to shower, not because it’s not waterproof, but it’s big and chunky, and you can do serious bodily harm trying to wash yourself with a 260g mass of stainless steel strapped to your wrist. Also, should you drop the watch on a hard, tiled floor, the watch will be ok but the floor will need repairing.

Let’s look at the main questions arising from wearing such a big watch. My wrist circumference is just over 20cm, so the watch looks big, but is wearable. I have developed a callous on the back of my hand just below the wrist line from impact by the canteen winder cover. If you don’t allow a callous (pad of hard skin) to develop, then the watch will cause you pain. Once the callous has formed, as long as you have 19cm of wrist circumference or more, then you will mostly forget the watch is on your arm.

Accuracy: mine is losing 8 seconds a day, which is well within factory tolerances. I was expecting to have to adjust the watch more often, so 8 seconds per 24 hours was a pleasant surprise for a manual winder of this type.

Posing value: YES! If you want to be noticed then just wear one of these. People will come up to you just to ask about it. It has serious street cred. I went into a rather exclusive watch shop recently that sells Panerai, IWC, Girard Perregaux, Patek Philippe and others, and the manager and the entire sales staff all came to look and ask about it. I never managed to achieve that effect before, even with a Rolex Submariner.

Strap: functional, comfortable and surprisingly good-looking for something so basic. I changed mine for a nice aviator style open-ended heavy-duty strap, black with contrasting white stitching, and it looked super, but it broke away after two days, so I have resorted to the original strap. The fixed, and very thick lug pins do limit strap choice, but the original is good-looking and very robust, and looks like it will last a long time, even with daily use.

Conclusion: this is a fun watch, but also a serious watch. It keeps good time; it’s incredibly strong and will withstand most use and abuse. Its rugged looks add to its charm, and it has serious poser value, if that’s what you’re looking for. It would also work as an excellent weapon for self-defence, should the need arise! If you have small wrists or delicate skin on the back of your hand, then go for the 193 ChS with the winder at 9 o’clock. If you’re up for the challenge, however, wearing one of these gives a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction, not to mention some serious street cred. A super collector’s watch, but most of all it’s a watch that jumps up and down and shouts “wear me!” at its owner. It WANTS to be worn.

Paul Crespel
Trade Mark London