HKEd Emperor Review

Manufacturer: HKEd Watches | Price: $385 USD (£315 GBP, €345 EUR approx)

Anyone who likes watches and considers themselves to have even a hint of enthusiasm would have heard of WatchuSeek.com. There have been various limited edition watches over the years with input from WuS forum members, including this one from the affordables section. May I introduce you to the HKEd Emperor, available in 3 colour options.

Specifications

Dimensions: Case Diameter – 40.1mm, Thickness – 13.4mm, Lug to Lug – 46.6mm, Lug Width – 20mm
Movement: Seiko NH35 Automatic, 21,600vph (3Hz), Hackable, Self Winding, 41hr Power Reserve
Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Sides
Bracelet: Beads of Rice Stainless Steel, Solid End Links, 20mm Tapering to 18mm
Crystal: Domed Sapphire, Multilayered AR Coating
Bezel: 120 Click Unidirectional, Ceramic, Fully Lumed
Water Resistance: 20ATM / 200m / 660ft
Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® BGW9
Crown: Signed, Screw Down Caseback: Screw Down Stainless Steel, Etched Emperor Penguin Logo
Warranty: 1 Year Where to Buy: HKEd Watches
Options: Dial Colour: Black, Blue, Brown (Blue version has a date window & stainless steel bezel)

The Case

The case of the Emperor is 40.1mm. The lug to lug is 46.6mm and the overall thickness, including the sapphire crystal I measured at 13.4mm. The entire case, caseback and crown are all 316L stainless steel. The caseback itself has an etched emperor penguin logo with the basic specifications etched around the edge.

The HKEd Emperor has a water resistance rating of 200m / 20 ATM, thanks to the screw-down caseback & crown. The finish of the case is superb, with its entirely being brushed stainless steel with polished sides. The transition between the brushing and the polishing is spot on. The proportions of the watch are, in my opinion, perfect for my 7″ wrist with the sweet spot diameter of 40mm and a short lug to lug distance of just under 47mm.

Bracelet

The Emperor comes equipped with a beads of rice style stainless-steel bracelet. It is very nicely made with solid end links and flexible 7 part links. The finishing on the bracelet is brushed outer links with polished centre beads. The bracelet tapers from 20mm at the lugs to 18mm at the clasp. The thickness of the bracelet is bang on 3.5mm. The clasp itself is a nice solid milled example but does come across as an off-the-shelf item.

The whole bracelet is of great quality. Sized up for my 7-inch wrist I had to remove 5 links, which was easy enough to do with the screw pins for adjusting & re-sizing. I am however, not a fan of beads of rice bracelets and at the first available opportunity I replaced it with a spare tropic strap that I had in my strap box. Don’t worry though, if you do like beads of rice bracelets, this is one of the better ones that I’ve seen.

Movement

The chosen movement for the Emperor is the microbrand go-to movement of choice, the super-reliable Seiko NH35. A great workhorse that is a 21,600vph, 3Hz, 24 jewel movement with self winding and of course hacking. Checking the accuracy after running the Emperor for around a few weeks, mainly on my wrist and occasionally in my Barrington Watch Winder, I thought the accuracy was very good and well within tolerances with it showing an average of +7.2 spd.

Dial & Bezel

This HKEd Emperor has a 120 click unidirectional bezel which is fully lumed. It is of great quality and everything lines up perfectly. The bezel action is smooth with absolutely zero backplay. The dial has very neatly applied indices all round with the relevant hour markers at the 3, 6, 9 & 12 being a slightly more chunkier triangular shape than the rest. The logo is applied and the text above the 6 o’clock position is neatly printed, very legible with a great choice of font.

The hour and minute hands are perfectly in proportion to the dial and actually suit the watch extremely well. I also love the seconds hand with its fully lumed arrowhead shaped tip that reaches out all the way to the minute track. The lume used on the Emperor is Swiss Super Luminova® BGW9.

Conclusion

This version of the HKEd Emperor wouldn’t be my first choice as I’m not really a fan of the brown dial, however the execution, fit & finish of the watch overall is fantastic.

Option wise, if it was me personally, and my hard earned cash, I’d be all over the blue version with the date window and stainless steel bezel. I hope HKEd release more as unfortunately it’s currently sold it. If they do release more or maybe a v2 I’d be throwing my cash at them and be all over it like flies on sh*t!

HKEd – Excellent Job! An absolutely fantastic watch!

 9/10

9/10 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A huge thank you to Ed & Derek for sending out the Emperor so quickly. I apologise that the review has been delayed. This was due to setting up this new Zaltek Reviews website and the other time sensitive reviews that I’ve had to rush though. To view the HKEd website, or join their mailing list to be informed of new models etc, visit HKEd Watches.

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HKEd Emperor