INTRODUCTION

   Wearing a wrist watch is not something many people do nowadays mainly because pretty much all of us carry smartphones so knowing the time at the push of a button is not a hard thing to do. Of course many of you know that to me a wrist watch is much more than just a device to tell time, it's an elegant accessory that defines the overall style of a person much like you belt, shoes, glasses or even your car. Until recently however my wrist watch collection included just analog ones so i begun my search for other kind of watches which are more "suited" for gadget lovers like myself. The first unit i stumbled across was the rather strange Diesel DZ7164 LED watch which thanks to its rubber coating is very appropriate to wear when jogging, at the gym, playing ball and generally when doing sports. However i also wanted to find something designed for casual everyday use and this is where Cadence comes in with their latest Josh Chadwick wrist watch.

   The Cadence Watch Company designs, produces and sells high-quality watches at revolutionary prices. The company started in Cambridge, MA, in 2002 with a patented sports monitor. Since its move to Philadelphia in 2004, Cadence has expanded into a full and growing line of branded performance and lifestyle watches, including the trademarked 4-Bit line, the in-the-know 4:20 line, environmentally friendly Ecomatic line, oversized digital Wrist Rocket, and our design-focused Collective series. Our meticulously crafted, custom timepieces are created by a team of in-house and external designers at our office in the Marketplace Design Studios in downtown Philadelphia, a former car factory on the Schuylkill River. Cadence watches help you stand out, get ahead in life, and express your identity. They are designed by us, custom-made for us, and available exclusively on our site. By cutting out middlemen in watch distribution, we deliver eye-catching designs at eye-popping prices. We are disrupting the $43 billion watch industry by creating a watch brand for smart consumers. Consumers who appreciate outstanding design, workmanship, and service. Consumers who refuse to pay inflated prices of a middlemen-saturated pre-Internet era. Consumers who want to stand out, grab life by the horns, and reveal their personality with fine timepieces.

   The Josh Chadwick wrist watch was the winner of an international design contest performed a few months back and since i was closely following that contest i just had to test out the winner. Unfortunately compared to the initial design concept the Josh Chadwick watch lacks the unique single side magnetized wrist band and instead comes with the classic two part band which may not be as innovative and impressive (not even close actually) but works pretty well. Granted the end product is almost never the same as the concept design (take cars for instance) but I’d really like to see that magnetic wrist band. Anyways the rest of the watch is exactly as the concept design and i have to admit that it looks and feels quite good. How good well you'll have to read the rest of this review to find out.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Josh Chadwick wrist watch by Cadence arrived inside a long orange box which is sold separately (gift box).

As you can see the watch is placed in a horizontal position and is secured in place with two rubber ties.

Aside the watch itself you will also get a large instruction manual paper (quite thorough but lacks the steps you need to take in order to change the length of the wrist band).

THE JOSH CHADWICK WATCH

Size-wise the Josh Chadwick watch is rather small and measures just 39mm in diameter and 10mm in thickness while weighing a total of 88g.

To see just how large it is i placed it right next to two of my watches, the Diesel DZ7164 and the Tag Heuer Aquaracer.

Now although the wrist band is quite long (especially due to the way you can adjust the size) i would like the main watch to be slightly larger than it is.

The wrist band is made from 100% hypoallergenic stainless steel and has a somewhat retro feeling to it.

There are two function buttons placed on each side (light, mode - start/stop, reset).

The entire watch is made from stainless steel and is water resistant up to 3ATM (30m/100ft).

The locking mechanism is very easy to use and feels quite sturdy (compared to even the locking mechanism of my Sector watch).

USING THE JOSH CHADWICK WATCH

By default the watch displays the analog time (large surrounding spots indicate the hour while the smaller ones indicate the minutes), digital time, AM/PM, date and day. Since the digital time is not connected to the analog one (and vice versa) the watch actually can be used with 2 different time zones.

However that is adjustable so you can remove the digital time, replace the AM/PM indicator with a second indicator and/or keep the digital time (hour, minutes) and have the second indicator instead of the AM/PM one.

The Josh Chadwick watch also features a nice backlight which although not too bright makes it extremely easy to read the time in the dark.

Other features include an Alarm mode, Chronograph mode and a Timer mode.

Adjusting the length of the band is easy just unlock the strap as seen above (using a screwdriver or a small key).

Then place it wherever you want on the band and push it back inwards (to lock it once again).

CONCLUSION

   At first glance you will either like or hate the Josh Chadwick watch since it's somewhat unique design doesn't leave much room for anything else. You see the people over at Cadence seem to think that if you like classic watches that you will also like the Josh Chadwick one, however that's not really the case since the watch may indeed have an analog indicator but it's nothing like a classic analog (hands) wrist watch. I do love analog watches in general and i do like the Josh Chadwick watch but not so much because of its analog time indicator but rather due to its uniqueness. On the other hand if you like digital watches then yes chances are that you will probably enjoy the entire concept behind the Josh Chadwick watch and will want to add it to your collection. Still the somewhat small size of the watch may not appeal to some people (perhaps not the ones who like large digital watches like the G-Shock line by Casio). Finally the extra modes (alarm, chrono, and timer) along with the backlight and the adjustable wrist band can be very useful and add to the value of the watch.

   Currently the only way you can purchase the Josh Chadwick wrist watch is directly from Cadence for a price tag of USD145 plus shipping but since you know how much we like giving back to all of you (we know people may not afford everything they want) we paired with Cadence to offer a 40% discount on it by using the NIKK40 coupon code when you place your order. That's correct, you can get your own Josh Chadwick wrist watch for just USD87 plus shipping which is what i call a bargain price for such a unique watch. It is true however that alhough overall the Josh Chadwick is a good wrist watch it could get a lot better (perhaps not at the same price tag but it certainly could) and that's pretty much the only reason as to why we are not awarding it with our Platinum award.

PROS

- Unique Design
- Analog/Digital
- 12/24h Mode
- Two Time Zones
- 1/100th Chronograph
- Timer
- Alarm
- Backlight
- Easy Wrist Band Adjustment
- Price

CONS

- Somewhat Small
- Top Metal Quality Could Be Better