Suunto has been a leader in the world of computer wrist watches for several decades. Renown for their accurate heart rate monitor for athletes and outdoor enthusiast. It remains one of only a few watchmakers who produces watches with sophisticated instruments like (altimeter, barometer, compass).
I have personally owned several T-series watches made for fitness with heart monitor, which I wish was designed more for everyday use, style-wise of course. When it comes to functionality and form, nothing comes close. However, the form always leaned towards a more rugged appearance, which of course makes sense for the environment most of these watches were built for. Still after all these years, it didn't stop me for yearning for a more elegant looking watch with Suunto’s famous built-in functionality. After receiving my test watch from Suunto, I am convinced that my dream has been realized.
The new line of luxury watches by Suunto is called the Elementum. There are three flavors, Terra, Aqua and Ventus. The name representing the 3 elements of earth, water and wind.
I am currently testing the Ventus sailing timepiece. The watch features a sailing timer, barometer, and compass. The aqua colored LED backlight fills the digital numbers brightly and evenly. The outer-case is made from Stainless steel and has a sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating, it is water resistant to 328 ft. I can really appreciate the sapphire glass, since the watch will be spending most of its time in a hostile environment on a racing sailboat. The sapphire crystal keeps the watch looking sharp, even while knocking against wenches, and scrapping on the fiberglass hull, which I can personally attest to. The construction of the watch face is mostly glass with just a thin protruding stainless steel encasing it. After 2 months of use, I can see microscopic nicks in the metal, ( I tend to be tougher on my watch) but nothing very noticeable unless you look very very close. Unlike my dive watches which has painted blue dive-time markers on the outside, after wearing the watch for 6 years, it became undesirable and had to be serviced. The Ventus has very little surface area that can get too much wear, thus should look good longer even under extreme use.
The buttons are large and easy to use without getting in the way. Protruding out of the right side of the watch is a Suunto first, a scroll knob to navigate through the menu. It is a real pleasure to use, not having to constantly push buttons to set the different functions. It works fine even with sailing gloves on, since the knob is long and thick enough to manipulate. Also a pleasant surprise the knob doesn't dig into your backside of your left hand, since the watch is fairly thick from the bottom to glass. I found this to be an issue with my other watches that are more low profile, giving me a nasty spot of dry skin where the watch dials protrude, forcing me to wear the watch on my right hand, even though I am a righty.
The strap feels crayon smooth, very comfortable and form fitting, but I had problems with mine after 2 months of everyday use. During a dodgeball game, while throwing a fast ball, the watch came flying off , apparently the rubber strap broke away at the crown.
The Sailing timer is easy to use and set for countdown starts once you read the manual once, It wasn't as intuitive to use on the first try. The countdown beeps are loud enough even in 20 knots of wind. The watches built in compass seemed fairly accurate to the boats compass, considering all the up and down motion of the boat, and without locking the watch down to the boat. It might prove useful in small dinghies to look for headers and lifts. The digital numbers on the face is large and easy to follow, also has a digital marker that follows the built-in NESW compass readings.
The Barometer readout is always at hand, occupying the top half of the watch, the scroll knob easily helps you navigate back in time to see the overall changes in air-pressure guiding you to recognize bad weather patterns. I found this useful only when outdoors over a course of 24 hours, otherwise if you spend great deal of time indoors, the sensor will not accurately read the pressures properly. This would not be the fault of the watch of course.
Overall I believe Suunto hit it out of the park with the new elementum line, more often then not, when company's roll out new products, they tend to focus on the newer improvements and mess up or skimp on the thing that makes them popular. In the Ventus, Suunto improves greatly on styling and functionality that makes sense, while also keeping to the things they do best, which is offer no nonsense ABC sensors.
It doesnt come without faults of course, I am a bit concerned about the strap, since this watch is not cheap, and being in a water environment there is a good chance you can easily never see it again. I will have to follow up with Suunto to see if it is a construction issue. Which I believe must be the case, since area shows no sign of dirt or corrosion. Otherwise the watch is a real winner.
For more info check out the ventus website.
http://www.suuntocampaigns.com/Elementum/
http://www.suuntocampaigns.com/Elementum/
