The Sun & Moon watch (other companies use the word “Moonphase”), one of the most collectable watches that watch aficionados want to have in their collection.
The history of featuring the sun and moon goes as far back to the earliest clocks made in the 1650s in Netherlands and pocket watches in the 1700s. This was considered quite innovative considering the first pocket watch was invented by German watchmaker Peter Heinlein back in 1510 (when watches were orb shaped and worn like a pendant).
While more of a decorative piece for a watch’s dial in which the sun is shown during daytime and the moon is shown during the night, it’s no doubt quite attractive feature which many watchmakers have some sort of sun & moon model in their collection.
I absolutely love moonphase/sun & moon watches.
Today’s watch review, it will be my first time reviewing watch brand, Pally Jane, and their automatic moonphase men’s watch.
Now details are a bit short on Pallyjane. There is a Pally Jane watch company, which was created back in 2010, MGH Group (Manufacture Generale Horlogere), owner of watchbrands “Lip” and “Regnier” and many other brands, launched the brand Pally Jane originally aimed for women and girls. But these watches are identified with a capital “PJ” on the dial or a seriff-based typeface
These do not.
As I looked online, I see it being marketed in Brazil and the UK, and while I am not sure which country this watch is made in, I am thinking it is a Chinese brand but at this time, I am not sure. In the US, Amazon shows as the brand SCAFATI, but even this name is obscure and I don’t know much of the company or the brand.
So, I will review as is.
This Pallyjane watch features a black dial and uses a guilloche pattern and features white roman numeral numerics are used for the hour markers (right above it are normal hour markers). There are no dates but you get the sun and moon on the top and an open heart skeleton design on bottom.
The minute hands are in Dauphine Style and features a blue second marker as well. I do like the utilization of the blue second and hour marks.
Of course, you have the moonphase segment with the sun and moon, so you know it’s day or night. But the added mark in blue to let you know if it’s am or pm is a nice touch.
The watch case is 40mm and features a 20mm joint. The watch is waterproof at 3ATM and the crown looks like a monarchy crown.
The automatic watch also has a power reserve up to 45 hours and the numerics 2678 do show on the clear caseback, so that tells me it’s an ETA Caliber 2678 (which was originated back in 1971) that utilizes 25 jewels and a reserve of 38-44, but this movement does have bi-directional automatic winding, central rotor and allows for hacking seconds.
I know that Swiss watch company Mido uses the ETA 2678 movement and I know many Chinese watches utilize Swiss movement and this movement was once used for women’s watches based on the 2671 movement.
Wind the crown about two or three dozen times (probably 30 times at the most) which will wind the spring fully and you will achieve full power reserve.
The watch features a rosegold case and a watch band that looks like cheap leather with rose gold clasps. I will definitely change out the 20mm strap.
Now, what makes this moonphase watch so different is that it retails for under $66. It may not have the date, it may not have a fancy buckle and it may not use a more recent movement but for the price and look, it’s actually pretty cool.
I have moonphase/sun & moon watches that are quite expensive and this one looks quite stylish for a cheaper moonphase watch. In fact, it looks better than some of the moonphase watches with an open heart. Granted, this open heart is partly obscured by a wider looking “fleur-de-lis” (for those not familiar with the flower, many are familiar with the symbol of the NFL football team, New Orleans Saints) or a bird with its wings out.
Now, going back to the 2678 movement, I feel its quite accurate with the 38-44 hour power reserve. It doesn’t last long, but it’s up there with the more modern F6B24 Japanese movement used other moonphase watches. So, if you don’t wear it for over a day or two, it is expected to stop until you wind and wear again.
So, for the most part, this is a pretty cool moonphase automatic watch for under $67.
It’s hard to complain about it because it’s a pretty cool watch and looks and works better than cheaper watches similar to it and it looks expensive as well.
Now what could be improved? Remove the fleur-de-lis and let the skeletal open heart show much better. The 2678 movement can utilize a date. I think the word Automatic takes too much space from the dial and is not needed.
But overall, for the price, I give this Pallyjane Moonphase Automatic Watch a thumbs up!
