Monday, February 1, 2016

A Black Pearl on a Cushion

Android Parma 9015 Automatic
Miyota 9015 28.8 kbph 24j Automatic

  • Reference #​: AD658BK
  • Diameter (W/O crown): 46mm
  • Dial Diameter: 35mm
  • Case Thickness: 13mm
  • Lug to Lug Length:55mm
  • Lug Width: 24mm
  • Weight (with all links): 280g
  • 316L Stainless Steel Case
  • Screw down case back with hardened mineral glass display window
  • Slightly domed hardened mineral glass crystal
  • Cyclops on underside of crystal over date window
  • 5mm thick 316L stainless steel bracelet with solid end links
  • Solid bracelet links with unique rectangular hole traversed by a steel dowel
  • Miyota caliber 9015: 24j 28.8kbph high-beat auto with quickset date, hand wind and hack
  • Miyota Parashock shock protection
  • Screw down crown with sunburst in lieu of Android logo
  • Water Resistance: 200m / 660 ft
  • Partially lumed skeleton broadsword hour and minute hands
  • Black mother of pearl dial with lumed hour indices


A brush finish case set off by a polished mirror finish bezel houses a Miyota 9015 high-beat movement. Its cushion shape makes the watch appear larger than its actual dimensions. Steep falloff of the lugs and end links allow it to fit smaller wrists.


The cyclops over the date window is on its underside, giving the date display greater legibility, and the very slightly domed crystal mitigates glare. The signed spiral knurled screw-down crown has plenty of grip without sharp or rough edges, extending sufficiently beyond the crown guards when unscrewed to be easily manipulated for winding, day/date quickset and time setting.


The Miyota movment's high beat rate is readily apparent in the smoother sweep of the second hand compared to mid-beat and standard beat movements. The movement is decorated with Geneva stripes on its bridges and a fine sunburst brush on its rotor. An idiosyncrasy of the Miyota 9015 is its unidirectional auto-wind. Most auto-wind movements are bidirectional which requires additional mechanics in the auto-winding mechanism (Seiko uses an eccentric wheel and a twin-pawl lever), but unidirectional aren't rare either. Miyota's auto-wind have remained unidirectional. The rotor only winds the movement in one direction and freewheels in the other. In a watch this massive it's very unlikely you'll ever feel or hear this (as some do with the ETA [Valjoux] 7750 chrono movement), nor should it make any difference in keeping the watch wound through normal wear, even office workers that work mostly at a desk. It does make a difference if you're using a watch winder, which will need to be set to wind (spin the watch) clockwise, the opposite of what you'd set it for to wind a Miyota 82XX series movement.


Each of the long and broad hour indices is filled with lume, the one at the three slightly smaller to accommodate the date window. The semi-skeleton hands are lumed at the tips and are slightly brighter, making them visually prominent among the bold hour indices.


The standout graphic design feature of this Parma 9015 is its black mother of pearl dial. Light plays off the dial with subtle metallic pastels in blue, green, pink and purple, constantly shifting as the lighting angle changes. Wing uses real mother of pearl, making each dial in the Parma 9015 MOP a subtle one-of-a-kind.

Note:
I have no affiliation, association or financial interest with the Android Watch brand owned by OKO International, its successor brand, Aragon, or any of their distributors or dealers.

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