Luminox introduces a new line of watches. Named after the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the driest places on earth, the watch is an adventurer series, built to survive extreme conditions. Here is our hands-on review of the Luminox Atacama Adventurer 1767 in a brown/dirt dial and khaki green strap.
Luminox Atacama Adventurer 1760 Series
The series debuts with four models. all in a steel case, two in bracelet, one in a leather strap and the final one in a textile strap. Our review sample is the highest specification of the four, the Ref. 1767 is in a gun metal hue stainless steel case with a khaki green textile strap and a brown – dirt, textured dial. We used the watch as a daily beater for the best part of 2 weeks, and here is our honest review.
The case, hands and dial
The case is 42mm stainless steel in a gunmetal grey hue, which we understand is an anodized finish which has a lightly mottled loo, being non-homogeneous in the tone across the case surface. The matte finish allows a multi-colour reflective sheen across the surface, and provides additional visual interest to the case.
The case is a rather unusual shape, first seen on the Luminox ICE-SAR. The original case design for the ICE-SAR is in carbon, and for the Atacama, this is realised in stainless steel. The shape is unusual, and provides visual interest to the case side. From straight on, the lugs look like crab claws, but the entire lug and case middle is made from a single piece of steel. The case itself is in 3 parts, with the truncated conically shaped bezel and screwed in back making up the rest.
On the right side of the case, the crown is inset into the protuberance which now acts like a crown guard.
The dial is a three step dial, with the outermost step being the minute markers. Minutes are marked with sticks and the 5 minute markers are each identified by the Luminox trademark Luminox Lighting Technology LLT) which uses tritium gas discharge tubes with a life span of 25 years. Refer to our earlier articles on Luminox for more details on this.
The next layer is the hour markers shown in arabic numerals, with the 5 minutes also marked corresponding to each hour. In the center, another set of hour markers running from 13 to 23 are provided. The Luminox logo occupies the space below the 12, and a date aperture inside of the 3 hour marker.
The lume
The hour and minute hands are large, and each equipped with a LLT tube. The seconds hand is provided in a subsidiary seconds subdial at 6 – a first for Luminox. It replaces the traditional dial with a turning disk with two arrows, mimicking a compass.
As expected, the lume is quite beautiful in the dark, and the watch glows in two colours – orange for the hands and 12, and green for the other hour markers.
Shown below is the Ref. 1764 with a beautifully textured blue dial with red accents in a steel case and steel bracelet. The finishing on the steel is also matte, but sans gun metal effect. The overall effect is that the three SS references are more conventional and sober looking. And truth be told, this version in bracelet with a blue dial is much more legible as the contrast is excellent on the dial. Note also the small difference in the hour markers which only have the even numerals in Arabic.
The movement
The case is closed at the back with a screw down system to allow it to be rated to 200m water depth. On the case back are the usual brand and specifications markings as well as a compass which is embossed in relief.
The movement is quartz, and the rather standard Ronda 6004.D (small second), with date. We did not open the case to see the movement, but such is the nature of the rather standard quartz movement is that it not a sight to behold. It does not feature any level of hand finishing, and generally produced as a piece of engineering. A functional piece of electronics which is expected to be fully up to the task of the use case specified for by Luminox.
Concluding Thoughts
Is this an ultra tough watch? Perhaps not, though the namesake of the Atacama Dessert suggests some kind of heroic stature. But it is certainly a handsome watch, with very cool looks. And befits the image of the urban adventurer.
One for use as a daily beater as one goes about one’s stuff in the city, it is almost perfect. It blends into the urban wear easily, and the quartz movement is accurate and robust enough for daily use. And at about S$1,200, the Luminox Atacama Adventure perhaps need no more than just its cool looks and functional practicality to win hearts.
