New Helberg CH8 Arrives

[DEMO]

The Helberg CH8 arrived the end of last week and it's been getting constant wrist time over the weekend. There are so many nice design details about this watch, this one is very well executed. IMO this is one of the best watches so far from Helberg as far as build quality. Yes it is a large watch, but I like large divers. Dimensions are 44mm dia, 15mm thick (19 with dome), 52mm lug to lug. It wears very well on my 7 1/4" wrist due to the flat caseback.

My order was for the SS version with the super dome sapphire crystal. The crystal has eight layers of AR coating on the interior which makes the crystal amazingly clear. The watch is powered by a Miyota 9015 automatic movement and the watch is WR to 1000m.

Finishing on this watch is incredible, every surface of the watch is beautifully finished with brushed and polished surfaces. Under close examination this watch looks and feels much nicer than the average micro brand watch. IMO it is finished at a level of German watches. Yes, that is right. There are no sharp edges as you run your fingers over the case surface. The crown at 4:00 screws down extremely smoothly. The satin finished dial printing and finishing is executed very nicely. The fine bezel teeth are machined perfectly without any flaws. The Sapphire bezel insert is crisply printed second surface. The Super-LumiNova BGW9 is bright, well applied and lasts all night. And the beautiful Manta Ray design on the caseback is beautifully etched and then polished to remove any rough edge. The watch comes in a Black Pelican waterproof case and is supplied with black ostrich leather strap, black canvas strap, warranty card and screwdriver. As a returning customer I also received a gorgeous brown leather Horween strap. I added the optional Isofrane to my order as well. New for Helberg / H2O is a custom CNC machined stainless steel buckle. It fits perfectly on the Isofrane strap. Overall I am exremely please with this new addition to the collection.

And of course we need pics.

Cheers

[Danny_T]

Your photos are fantastic Dave! I echo the sentiments Dave has posted and have also done a mini review after wearing it this weekend. In my usual custome, I always go overboard with my pics...LOL







-The Ch8 looks like a true vintage watch and the style is awesome. Love the black orange bezel and matte dial give that old school vintage feel. I think a glossy black dial would look crazy good too. The case back is fantastic! Perfect mirror polish and the engraved manta ray looks super cool. I love the case back!


-Fit and finish is fantastic. The brushed surfaces and polished edges are super. H20/Helberg is very consistent in this area and really sets this brand apart from other micro brands.


-the crown at 4 o'clock is great and zero wrist interference. There will be people who may complain that it is hard to operate, but that is the design of the watch, my Squale 50 Atmos is even harder because the crown is much smaller. I found the crown good to operate and winding is very easy as you could grip the crown well from the case back side. But of course you can´t compare with a standard crown at the 3 o'clock position.


-The size is good. I did a side by side with my Squale 50 Atmos which is shown below in my photos. The cases are similar in design and it shows the size difference between the two. The Squale wears much smaller (some say it's a bit small, some say it's just right). For me on my 7 1/4" wrist, The CH8 has more wrist presence than the Squale, yet it still wears very well so I'm a happy camper.


-The bezel action is firm and crisp. There is some bezel back play that those who are very picky may/will notice. It is a "firm back play" meaning that if you hold the bezel tightly it will move back and forth with firm movement, it is NOT loose. But once set it's fine. This may be in part to not have it too tight so it can allow owners to be able to remove the bezel more easily when they want to do bezel swaps (when the bezels available for purchase later on). Bezel removal is done by using your fingernail and lifting the bezel while turning it at the same time to disengage it from the click wire. The coin-edge finishing on the bezel is really nice. I took up close macro shots and it shows how smooth the cuts in the bezel edge are. I know Clemens mentioned a more precise and expensive process was decided on to step up the finish quality with no extra cost to the customer (each bezel was made individually on a CNC machine, with 180x cutting step process)


-The straps - The ostrich leather is gorgeous!! I love the 24/22 taper and helps help make the watch feel lighter on the wrist. The horween strap is also fantastic and should be a keeper for many. All are perfectly flexible. The buckle is great, The H20/Helberg machined buckles are probably one of, if not, the nicest in the market of all micros. I did discover one minor thing. The buckle screw pin on the Helberg buckle is thicker than the OEM Isofrane one and therefore is a tight fit in the Isofrane, so it needs a little lube/Vaseline will do the trick and allow it to go in smoothly. The screws have a diameter difference of 0.20mm. I also tried my Helberg Mesh bracelet on this watch and it really looks great. But for me the Isofrane is meant for this watch and is most comfy. Another killer combo and what is going to be riding on my watch currently, is the nicely padded 24/22mm Rios1931 W/R "Just" model sailcoth strap. The aggressive padding looks fabulous on this style watch! Strap changes are easy for me since I use the Bergeon 6767F fine tipped spring bar tool, not to mention that I REGULARLY perform strap swaps more than the average person lol. Drilled lugs would have been good for the general public but again, it's a trade off for clean lines. Another note/plus is that there is sufficient space between lug spring pin and case for straps that are thick at the lugs.


For the price of admission name another brand that delivers this much for so relatively little $$ - multiple watch configuration options available (2 case finishes), SS, bronze or sapphire bezels, sapphire crystal (flat or domed), reliable movement (9015), great quality straps, very well finished case and bezel details, and all backed by top shelf customer service. Another fabulous watch from Clemens.


Enjoy the slideshow!


Danny

[mikeylacroix]

wow..sweet pics

[GlennO]

Fantastic stuff, those watches look great. Congrats!

Btw..was there a photography course here that I missed? I'm feeling very inadequate.

[iyonk]

Amazing pictorial Guys!

[Perseus]

Terrific pics! The new H20 buckle is legit!

[meijlinder]

Wow, you certainly weren't joking on the going overboard on pics.

Love it.

[Chase]

Since when did this come with a Miyota movement???

Great pics guys. Thanks

[DEMO]

Caseback

[DEMO]

Brown Leather Horween strap with custom Helberg Buckle. Incredible craftsmanship on these straps.