A8134.1231QF Adriatica Moon Phases Men's Watch

Everything is in order.

I bought the watch in 2013 to wear with a suit to work and with more elegant evening attire. I only considered watches with sapphire crystal, because from my own experience I know that with mineral glass, scratches will appear sooner or later, which doesn’t look nice, neat, or aesthetically pleasing.

If someone has high standards but a very limited budget, I think it’s hard to find anything better, and they should definitely at least consider buying this watch (or the same model in a different case and hand color—it’s just as nice; I chose the warm gold color).

If you have high aesthetic standards regarding the elegance of the case, dial, hands, and hour markers, plus something extra—like the beautiful blue-yellow moon phase on a white dial, as well as high build quality, and wants the crystal to maintain its pristine appearance without scratches during use (without having to replace it at a watchmaker’s every so often), yet has a very limited budget, then for up to 1,000 PLN, this watch is certainly among the best to recommend. In my opinion, even at a price of up to 2,000 PLN, this watch is probably better than 90% of the competition.

Suffice it to say that an almost identical model with a gold case and moon phases, the EDOX LES BEMONTS 40002 37R AR (there is also a completely identical EDOX model corresponding to the Adriatica with a silver case) costs over 3,000 PLN. After looking at several thousand watches, I’ve concluded that there are quite a few similar dial styles and designs—which manufacturers copy from one another—and the watches differ mainly in price due to the manufacturer’s brand reputation.

Appearance — very good — five stars
Build quality — case, dial, and hands — very good — five stars. The only downside is the poor quality of the date-change buttons—one button has jammed about three times over the past 8 years (it would get stuck in the pressed position, even though they don’t normally protrude), and only a watchmaker was able to get it working again.
Glass quality—sapphire—not a single scratch after 8 years of use.
As for the strap quality—normal/average—very stiff at first.
Originally, in 2013, I bought the watch with a black lacquered strap. The strap was very stiff at first, and after about 3 years, it had visible areas in various places where the lacquer was starting to wear off due to friction, and the strap was slightly delaminating in some spots — specifically at the edges of the strap near the clasp, where it simply sees the most wear when putting the watch on and taking it off. It was still wearable for another 2–3 years, though signs of wear were visible upon closer inspection. After about 6 years, I bought an almost identical original Adriatica strap at a watch store (they ordered it for me—there are quite a few similar ones on the market—but I insisted on an identical one)—exactly the same dimensions and pattern on the strap. The only difference is that in 2013, the Adriatica strap was lacquered, while now it’s matte—without any lacquer. It looks just as good, and after years of use, there shouldn’t be any visible signs of wear—differences in the shade of black in some places due to the lacquer wearing off. So, in my opinion, the original lacquered strap from 2013 was of normal or average quality, quite similar to what you find in watches priced around 2,000 PLN.
If someone buys a watch with a leather strap and plans to use it for many years, they simply have to expect that sooner or later, after about 3–5 years (depending on frequency and method of use), they will need to replace the leather strap with a new one — just like with any other watch. After a similar period of about 6–7 years, I replaced the leather strap on my second Tissot watch, where the strap was also in good condition for 3–4 years and still usable for 2–3 years. According to the salespeople I spoke with, 3–5 years of use for a leather strap is the standard lifespan (it all depends on how often someone uses it, how it is used, and the level of visual wear that is acceptable to the individual).

The watch itself is top-notch, but the strap...