Today we are gonna take a look at another watch from Aries Gold. Previously we reviewed the Rocky watch and that was a real stunner in my opinion and pretty well built too. Today we are gonna look at maybe not so popular model in their range, but a good looking one in my opinion! The watch is called Cruiser and it is a rectangular case shaped watch with a skeleton dial. I know that in the watch world the square watches aren’t so loved and I don’t know why? Yes, they have some problems like water resistance, because rectangular crystal can’t hold as much pressure as round glass and also it is a pain to change one if it breaks. But I really like rectangular watches and especially Franck Muller ones or The JLC Reverso (my father actually has one and I hope I will own one too someday to match his Reverso).

The Cruiser comes in a regular black square cardboard box. It’s nicely signed with Aries Gold logo. Inside the box, we have the watch and warranty. The instructions and everything you can find online on their website. The first time I took it right out of the bix, I was surprised to learn that it was bigger than I thought, but due to that curved case back, it wears pretty comfortably. The only thing that I don’t like is maybe how thick the case is. I think it could be a lot slimmer.

So the case is made of 316L steel. The case has this rectangular/barrel shape to it. The case is very well machined with nice and sharp lines and angles. The finishing on the case is a mix of satin brushed and high polish. The case is 38mm wide, 53mm high and in thickness, it is whooping 16mm. The proportions as I said earlier are fine, except the thickness, I think there is still room to shave off at least 3mm which would make it perfect in my opinion. Right now it is just too thick and wears pretty high on the wrist. On the right side of the case at 3 o’clock we have a very large push-pull crown which is very easy to operate. The crown is signed with Aries Gold logo. The curved exhibition case back is held on with 4 small screws. The curved crystal on the case back is sapphire and round. I know that some of you watch guys don’t like when companies put round movements in square watches, but that’s how it is in the affordable market. Around the crystal, we have some specifications engraved. On top, we have a barrel shape, curved sapphire crystal with blue AR coating. The water resistance on this watch is only 5ATM (50m), but that is plenty enough for everyday use, just don’t go swimming with it.

The dial is skeletonized so you can see the movement that is also skeletonized. The dial is black with white printings of the minute track. The applied polished hour markers are in stick shape and Roman numerals. In the middle, we have a ring where we can see the 12-hour markings. The hour and minute hands have this interesting sword shape with stylized lume placement. The arrow-shaped second’s hand has a red tip to match some red printing on the dial and also the red stitching on the strap. The second’s hand is also lumed. The lume isn’t bad, but it isn’t the best one. It lasts about 1 hour after fully charged and glows decently in the night.

The movement inside is the skeletonized Miyota 8N24 which is an automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve. The movement features 21 jewels and beats at 21600BPH. This movement is basically like anything from Miyotas 8000s series. I have had a couple of watches with these 8000s series movements and can say only good things. I have heard that many experience very noisy rotors, but I never had such a problem. The movement is very reliable and easy/cheap to service as you can swap in a new movement if the old one breaks without any problems. You just can’t go wrong with these movements.

The strap that comes with the watch is black leather with alligator print and red stitching. I usually don’t like these alligator print straps, but this one looks good because of that red contrasting stitching, it just looks a bit better. The strap at first will feel stiff, I suggest to bend it a bit before taking it on the wrist so it wraps your wrist a bit better. For the strap to break in it takes about 1 week. The strap has a decent quality. The butterfly clasp that came with the strap is ok-ish, it is a bit flimsy, but works fine and is secure. The clasp is finished in polished finishing and has Aries Gold logo engraved on the top of the clasp.

Overall the watch is pretty cool in my opinion. I know some might not like the rectangular case, but I love it and especially with that skeletonized dial and red accents. Yes, there are some things I don’t like, for example, how thick the case is. I hope they make it slimmer in their next rectangular watches. The watch costs 349$ which is crazy for an automatic watch with sapphire crystals on front and back, original design and overall great package!

Price: 349$ @ ariesgold.com