Ingersoll Bison No. 25

Watches Information

 - Stainless steel case.

 - Black leather strap with red stitching.

 - Black dial.

 - Date display.

 - Dual time.

 - Scratch resistant mineral crystal.

 - Power reserve.

 - Automatic movement.

 - Automatic watches recharge through any motion including natural movement of ones wrist.

 - Never requires battery or battery replacement.

 - Caliber 848.

 - Water resistant up to 300 meters/ 990 Feet.

 - Case size: 52mm.

It’s time for us to have another dip into the Ingersoll catalog – and this time, I’ve come up with something that’s one of the biggest (if not the biggest) watch I’ve ever strapped on to my wrist.

The mondo watch is part of their Bison line, model number 25.   So, let’s get one thing out of the way – this watch measures in at a hefty 52mm in diameter – and being as it’s made from stainless steel, this is not a watch you’ll forget that you have on your wrist.

When I first opened up the box, I saw some details that I immediately liked – that being the prominent power reserve indicator up at the 12 o’clock position (I don’t know why, but I like seeing that complication in action), and the large date display down at 6 o’clock (it’s fun to set that one, just watching the digits flip).

Then I noticed the two sub-dials, and thought that maybe we somehow had a triple time tracker on our hands.  That thought was quickly amended, however, when I realized that the main dial was only tracking seconds.  The “sub” dials are actually what you’re recording the time with.

They can be independently set, though that behavior is a bit tricky.  You wind in one direction, and it starts moving them both forward in lockstep; turn the crown in the opposite direction, and only one of them goes back.  So, in this way, you can set two timezones; but if you make a mistake setting the “home” one, you’re going around another 24 hours since you can’t back it up.

For me, the time display was the biggest let-down.  Given the massive case, it’s unfortunate (in my opinion) that the timekeeping functions are as hard to read as they are – it just seems that there would have been room for some innovation here (that said, the layout is cleanly symmetrical, which I do appreciate).

As to what’s keeping track of the time, we have the Ingersoll 848 calibre automatic movement.  I believe this is another “in-house” movement, though it may be sourced like a commenter noted on the Apache review.  The movement itself has some interest, as it makes use of 36 jewels while handling dual time, as well as the power reserve and date displays.

There is one other comment I should make regarding the movement.  While reviewing this watch, I actually had the movement stop working while the watch was off my wrist (yes, yes, the it had been getting “charged” earlier in the day).  Now, as this was a review sample, it may not have been up to production quality levels.  And, as movements are mechanical in nature, issues like this can easily pop up.  That all said, I felt it would be unfair to our readership to not bring this up.

Ok, on to the rest of the watch.  Up front, you have a mineral crystal; around back is a steel case-back (no peeping at the moment here).  All together with the canteen-style crown protector, you’ve got a water resistance rating of 300 meters, though you wouldn’t want to expose the leather strap to that much water.

As to whether or not this is the watch for you – I’ll have to leave that up to the individual.  For me, I really don’t like watches that are large just for the sake of being large (ie, no additional innovation), which the Bison No 25 feels like to me.  That said, I realize other folks have different tastes – and if you want something that beats you over the head with wrist presence, then this may be a contender for your collection.  While retail on the piece is $515, I was able to find for under $300 on Amazon.

 

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