Lorus Pepsi RH941GX9 - review
- Cheap watches what a passion!
- Mar 4, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2024
Halfway between the Vagary Aqua39 and Orient Sp series
For all fans of cheap watches, this pepsi watch made by Lorus by Seiko is a really nice piece. Without too many pretensions, with all its limitations, if you have decided to buy it, remember that its originally cost was less than fifty dollars on Amazon (year of production 2011). But let's proceed step by step, and let's start with its size and strap. The Lorus RH941GX9 immediately appears as a massive watch, with its 44 mm case diameter, accentuated by the shape of the case itself and by the steel-colored knurling of the bezel. The thickness of the case is 10 mm and the total weight of the watch is just 140 grams. Very light, therefore, considering its size, lightness however due to its bracelet, the only real sore point of this watch. The problem with the bracelet isn't so much the fact that it has folded links and is fairly well made. In the end it is a stainless steel bracelet that we actually find on many watches, even much more expensive or noble than this one.
Unfortunately, however, it is a bracelet with odd links and, therefore, given the overall dimensions of the watch, it can only be comfortable on wrists of no less than 19 cm in circumference. More specifically, if you are forced to remove more than a few links to shorten the bracelet, the buckle can easily annoy the outside of your wrist.
In any case, the problem can be solved by replacing the bracelet with a strap, and since it is a pepsi, I would recommend a Nato fabric strap (with blue, red and white vertical bands, would be ideal). An element, on the other hand, does not represent a defect, but which I personally did not like, and I am sure many will not like it, is the rectangular date display at 3 o'clock. Lorus decided to position it by attaching it to the 3 o'clock notch , thus using a smaller rectangle than the rectangle marking the hours.
Within it we find the day. The effect you have (my personal opinion) is that of a retort of a hospital room or a barracks with the beds all spaced out in an orderly manner, and the date at the end is tiny compared to the size of the internal clock face, thus making it difficult to read the day and, sacrificing an element that could have been arranged in a better way (as in the case of the Vagary Aqua39 Solo Tempo series, and the Orient Sp).
Real strong points instead, and always in my opinion, for a quartz watch that originally cost just 50 euros, are, first of all, the screw-down crown. Believe me, it screws and unscrews excellently, making the waterproofness of the watch much safer and more effective than many small and cheap diver's that bear the wording WR 50/100 m. The Lorus RH941GX9 should be resistant up to 100 meters (10ATM), but of course all of us watchlovers know that even for expensive and professional watches, the declared values are always approximate and depend on certain conditions. The screw-down crown, however, together with the crystal glass and the fixed bezel, allowed me to use it at the beach for whole days in the water, and for swimming at depths of two or ten meters. Another element that left me pleasantly surprised is that of the remarkable luminosity in the dark thanks to the size of the elements of the dial, on which an excellent LumiBrite paint is applied.
Moreover, in my opinion, the fixed bezel is the best choice for a very economical watch because, if on the one hand it allows the parent company to use it to enrich the aesthetic elements of the watch, on the other hand it makes the case safer both in water and against shocks. Personally, I have never tolerated the choice of so many brands to equip a very cheap watch with a very poor bezel just to make the watch model appear more professional.
But let's get to the real reason that prompted me to buy this Lorus: its pepsi coloring. For me "they say" pepsi watch, this watch. As a collector of cheap watches I absolutely had to add a watch with the iconic color known as pepsi to my collection. Now, as you know, over the years every watch house has indulged in this type of coloring, arranging and combining the red and blue colors in the most disparate ways. But I was looking for a model that most of all recalled the original pepsi can from the 80s.
Dark blue dial, darker bezel than the dial with both colors with a metallic effect, the first quarter of the bezel in bright red, and the rest of the bezel in blue. I checked all the cheap watches from the quality brands, and sadly the only alternative to this Lorus by Seiko was the pespi version of the Orient RA-AA081. The latter however, as you well know, is mechanical, and not quartz, moreover, as a collector of Orient watches too, I prefer more particular and typical colors of the latter, another great brand.
In conclusion, and addressing those who have decided to buy this watch and know the Vagary Aqua39 and Orient Sp watches (the three in the photo on the handlebar of my MTB ;) to be clear) I can say that: I am personally very satisfied, as I have added a nice piece, very cheap and for every day (at sea), which has fully satisfied my desire to own at least one watch with this legendary colour.
I can confirm that this economic Lorus by Seiko is perfectly halfway between the Vagary Aqua39 and the Orient Sp. Very far from the latter despite having the screw crown, but better in terms of quality (except for the bracelet) than the Vagary's (basic) Aqua39 series.
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