Model # IN3107BBKO
Brand/Model: Ingersoll Cobham II Automatic
Movement: Chinese automatic
Material: stainless steel black
ion plate case, leather strap
Complications: power reserve indicator
Price: MSRP $460 USD (can be
found heavily discounted)
Plenty of photos follow the review.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
It’s been quite
some time since I ventured over to the world of Chinese-based automatic
watches. Ingersoll has been a brand I
have been interested in for awhile now and when this Cobham II automatic showed
up at a price I couldn’t resist (about $100 USD BNIB), I couldn’t pass it
up.
Boy, am I glad I
spent the money, as this watch has really shown me how far the Chinese have
come in terms of both the accuracy and the quality of their watches. Ingersoll says all their watches are designed
in Germany and even goes so far as to print it at the bottom of the dial on
this watch, but don’t be fooled, these may be designed in Germany, but they are
made in China.
Ingersoll as a brand
dates back to 1892 in America, when they made a name for themselves making the
famous ‘Yankee Dollar’ pocket watches by the millions. This was followed by Mickey Mouse watches in
the 1930s through the 1970s.
Fast forward to
1989 when British watch importer Zeon acquired the brand and has since
relaunched it with mostly automatic movement watches. Today their range is quite extensive with a
variety of styles and features that can be found on-line and discounted prices.
The Cobham II
automatic reviewed here takes its name from Sir Alan Cobham’s pioneering flight
in 1928 across the African continent, when he wore an Ingersoll watch to keep
the time. This modern Ingersoll Cobham
II watch celebrates his aviation triumphs and it’s nice that his name and that
of Ingersoll are truly linked in history.
The Cobham II
starts with a very nicely finished all stainless steel case that is ion plated
in black and is signed with the Ingersoll name on the left side of the case. The finish is shiny and is somewhat of a
fingerprint magnet, but the overall look is sharp. The case measures 45mm across; 49.5mm
including the crown. The crown itself is
signed and is properly oversized, to make winding and setting the watch
easier. The crown alone measures 7.8 mm
in diameter.
Case thickness is
15.1mm, with a 22mm lug spacing.
Overall, the proportions of the Cobham II are quite good, with nothing
seeming oversized or bulky and this watch does not wear overly large. The lugs are fairly short which help to
position the watch comfortably on the wrist.
The screwdown
caseback is standard polished stainless steel and is a display type with a
mineral crystal that shows up the surprisingly well-decorated automatic
movement with a signed and decorated rotor.
As previously stated, overall fit and finish on the case is excellent.
The Cobham II is
factory rated for a modest 5 ATM of water resistance, so best not to get this
watch wet.
The dial at first
glance appears to be quite busy but after a bit, you adjust to it and it really
is quite useful and easy-to-read. The
dial itself is a matte black with aged lume (ie: cream colored) arabics, with only the ‘6’
being ‘hacked off’ at the bottom of the dial.
It always bugs me when watchmakers bother to put arabics on a dial only
to cut them off to make room for various subdials, calendar windows, etc. The arabics on the Cobham II are all of equal
size and with only one arabic partially cut off, it presents a clean and
purposeful look.
There is a simple
chapter ring with minute gradations around the perimeter of the dial. The power reserve indicator is below the 12
position, with the watch subseconds hand located above the 6 position.
The power reserve
dial has circular patterning and is marked ‘down’ and ‘up’ at opposite ends
with a simple red pointer to indicate the power remaining in the main
spring. The gauge does have some
gradation marks on it, but it does not state how much power is left in hours,
it simply gives you a visual indication of about how long the watch has left to
run. This works fine for me. I have always appreciated a power reserve
meter on a watch and this one does the job well.
The subseconds dial
has circular patterning and has arabics every 10 seconds, with hash marks at
the other points. The hand is a
propeller type (three-hands) with one of the hands painted red. It’s a nifty look that’s easy to see.
The hour and minute
hands are styled in aged lume and are a broad sword-type style. The minute hand is nice and long and extends
to the chapter ring for accurate setting.
The hour and minute hands and arabics around the dial glow green in the
dark and lume quality is quite good; it’s evenly applied and evenly bright.
There is a fair
amount of printing on the dial, with the Ingersoll name below the 12 and right
above the power reserve meter. ‘German
Design’ is below the 6 position and on the left side of the dial ‘Sir Alan
Cobham II Automatic’ appears in three lines and on the right side of the dial
is an outline graphic of an airplane. ‘Limited
Edition’ appears above the subseconds dial.
All quite a bit busy, yes, but all the lettering is in the same creamy
aged lume color so it doesn’t really jump out at you. Most importantly, the time on the watch is
easy to see.
Capping the dial is
a ‘toughened’ mineral crystal that is slightly domed. I don’t know if they send the crystals to the
mean streets of Chicago to toughen them up, but it’s Ingersoll’s version of a
sapphire-like crystal. At this price
point, I really can’t complain, as it doesn’t exhibit any distortion or undue
glare, despite not being coated with any anti-reflective compound. Surrounding the crystal is a fixed black
coin-edge bezel that adds a bit of pop to the watch.
Under my usual 8X
loupe exam, the dial and hands are clean and assembly quality is superb, no
dirt or defects where noted. The watch
also has a nice weight to it that helps give it a quality feel.
Inside the Cobham
II beats a Chinese-made automatic movement running in 34 jewels. The movement’s origins are unknown, but it’s
amazingly well decorated, with blued screws and perlage adorning the
innards. Ingersoll calls this movement a
Calibre 219B.
The movement hacks
and manually winds, although the hacking function could work a bit better. At times, when the crown is pulled out, the
watch takes a few seconds to actually stop, which defeats the idea behind a
hack function. A lot has been said about
the long-term reliability of Chinese-made movements. I cannot speculate as to how this movement
may or may not perform over the long haul, but early indications appear that it
will do just fine, despite the intermittent hacking.
The watch winds and
sets properly and has no problem winding itself during average wear, as
indicated by the power reserve indicator.
How many times have you had a watch with a power reserve meter and worn
it all day and the meter barely budges?
The Cobham II’s meter responds nicely to body movement and shows the
watch is winding throughout the day. Nice.
What has surprised
me most about this watch has been its accuracy.
In my initial testing, in the crown up position, the Cobham II ran at +3
seconds over 24-hours. Power reserve is
a robust 51.25 hours. I have worn this
watch once a month or so since purchasing it and its accuracy on the wrist has
been equally strong. Absolutely no
complaints here, as this watch keeps great time.
The Cobham II comes
on a thick, slightly padded black leather strap with white contrast stitching
and because of its good looks, it’s another pleasant surprise with this watch.
The strap is signed
and is very good quality, especially since it has two keepers, one fixed and
one floating, along with a fixed metal keeper located between the two leather
keepers and a decorative stainless steel rivet at the end of the strap. I really don’t know what the purpose of the
metal keeper ring is, because it does make the strap a bit fussy at times.
The strap measures
22mm at the lugs and tapers to 20.2mm at the signed black ion plated pre-V
style buckle. Despite the strap’s
thickness, it is fairly flexible and looks great with this watch.
Presentation is in
keeping with the overall purpose of this watch.
A signed two-piece outer cardboard box and a padded black inner
box. A separate cardstock holder
contains the instructions and warranty information. A perfectly acceptable presentation.
I don’t know if
other Ingersoll watches display the combination of quality, accuracy and looks
that the Cobham II does, as this is the only Ingersoll watch I have owned
and/or handled, but as an introduction to the brand and a reflection on how far
the Chinese watch industry has progressed in the past few years, it truly is an
impressive effort. When you consider the
price this watch was purchased at, it makes everything that much more
amazing. Very well done, Ingersoll, the
Cobham II is a winner in almost every respect.
I’m sure Sir Alan Cobham would agree as well!
Pros:
surprisingly good fit and finish, excellent accuracy, power reserve
indication, nice strap, good looks
Cons: modest
water resistance, hacking function could work better, strap a bit fussy, a
sapphire crystal would be nice, dial has too much printing on it
Verdict: an
out-of-the-box hit from Ingersoll, the Cobham II automatic is a nifty watch
that combines neat design with a useful power reserve indicator and overall
very good quality and accuracy, especially for the extremely modest price
Thanks for reading
and enjoy the pics.
Excelsior!
-Marc
