Vestal Men's The Brig Watch

I've owned the Vestal surf watch for about 1 month. My intended purpose is to use as a tidal monitor for saltwater fishing, no surfing planned at this time. After evaluating several tide watches I decided to take a chance on this one based on price and good reviews, as I expected to be pretty rough on it. The "square" style has really grown on me, it's very different (and quite efficient - more below). I've not used the "heat" or "train" functions, so I cannot comment on them.Display: Vestal really achieved a fantastic balance of size and style with this one in my opinion. I tried on other tide watches that had smaller displays or the "ana-digi clock + tide graph" (Casio, Rip Curl, Reactor). After using the Vestal in its intended environment, I understand how useless trying to read tide info would've been on a smaller display or one primarily dedicated to "time". I've really come to appreciate the size balance of tide info vs. time info on this watch. You can understand everything going on in one quick glance - this is truly a tide-watch. The "light on black" display gives very good contrast in bright sun. The blue light is a nice touch and easy on the eyes.Tide Function: Decent amount of data included for my purposes and location, keeping in mind that it is designed for surfers. Tide functions are well thought out - graph is extremely useful. You can see 4 hours ago, "now", 12 hours into the future at once on the graph. Not only can you see "high / low", but also how much tidal displacement in feet - very good info for both fishing and surfing. Best of all - this is available at all times on the "time" and "tide" screens. Future tide lets you see past & future high / low times. You get to set 2 locations as your primaries - nice because in my area we have two distinct tidal periods within a 60 mile coastal region.Construction: This watch is built tough - I primarily fish offshore and so far it is holding up extremely well. The band is quite comfortable, soft enough not to chafe but also holds secure and does not twist around the wrist. No damage yet - it's made 3 all day trips (cast-netting bait, gaffing fish, pulling anchor). Yes, this is not a lifetime of abuse but so far it does what it says.Cons: I did not really get much out of the user manual - it took a bit of work to figure out how to program my custom locations. Really - this is my only gripe so far.The only recommendation I would make to Vestal is to consider the sportfishing market. Imagine the customers that would flock to this product if you included more traditional US fishing locations in your tide tables! Digital storage is extremely cheap - there would be virtually no cost to include more locations (please start with NE gulf of Mexico). How about a "fishing" model with time / tide / future tide / lunar phase information? 3 year warranty says a lot about Vestal's customer commitment - based on what I've seen so far I don't expect to need to use this, but it is very nice to have.

So I got this watch refurbished. Looked good and worked fine until I TOOK IT SURFING. Literally, by the time I paddled out, the watch was already filled with water and broken. Worst ever. These guys didn't fix anything, just resold a defective watch. I bet their customer service is just as bad, Don't buy! Put them out of business!

For those of you tired with checking daily surf reports, this watch is a must! Now I normally don't write reviews for things I have ordered on Amazon.. But this watch is an exception. It feels great being able to glance down at your wrist, fiddle with your watch for a minute, and know the tides. Hands down the best surfing/tide watch on the market. It is designed for the ASP World Tour and the Heat and Train modes are fully customizable and fun to use while out on the water. I was amped on the watch and could barely wait for it to arrive...When it came I was even more pleased with it than I expected to be! Make sure you get one with the new and improved oktogrip or whatever it's called, I tried both the old and the new and the new one is a little more comfortable. (Personally, I didn't even mind the old one that much...) I live on the Northern California coast and have used the custom beach feature to dial my watch for my area. The tides are accurate within a minute here on the mendo coast. Some have whined about the face of the watch being too large...ignore them. For those of you considering similar competing companies watches and trying to decide-Get the vestal, you will not be disappointed. Do I need to say more? I am heading to Australia and I plan on putting this watch to the test in another hemisphere. Couldn't be happier with my purchase. If you are a serious surfer, this watch is worth every single penny. Probably will rock a Vestal until the end. You're welcome Vestal.

I purchased this watch on March 19th, 2012. It appears now that with use in the water, or a bad production lot, it is now not functioning properly. I am having the exact same issues that the a reviewer posted in June 2012. It started with the tide location reverting back to Newport Beach when I would set it to San Onofre. Also, there is a ticking sound and the screen is blank. The ability to fine tune your specific tide location (with either a plus or minus "time" by hour and then minute) feature is awesome. You can get extremely close to your exact location, and as one reviewer noted, close to the Surfline or SolSpot tide information. The watch looks cool, setting it is simple and I receive many compliments. I am in the process of returning the watch to Vestal and I know the outcome will be fine reading other reviewers comments.

My husband absolutely loves this watch. I bought it for him because he would go surfing or bicycling and completely lose track of time and was starting to talk about wanting a good waterproof watch. I did a bit of research and this one has definitely turned out to be a winner. His favorite things about the watch are: 1. The bevelled edges slip smoothly under a wetsuit so you don't catch your wetsuit on it--this might be his favorite feature :) 2. It's super easy to use and set 3. You can set it for different tide locations all over the world, including different locations in the same state 4. It's very cool to be out in the ocean and to look at the watch to see what the tide is doing 5. The styling is nice--he's received multiple compliments from colleagues and friends 6. The band is very comfortable and secureOverall, this watch definitely gets five stars and is highly recommended!

just BEAUTIFUL !!!

Faulty within 5 months of ownership, going back to manufacturer for repair, so i cannot recommend this watch at all.

波乗りのときは必ずはめます。デザイン気に入ってますが、日本の各地の設定がもっと欲しいです。

There is NO warranty support for this product! Purchased the watch from Amazon in March. The FIRST time it got wet (from washing dishes!!) the inside of the watch completely fogged over, the waterproof seal failed NEW out of the box. The "Heat" button does not function, the "Light" button does not function. Vestal North America has closed their company and Vestal Australia will not honor repairs on watches not purchased directly from them.Extremely Disappointed. Amazon Canada will not honor the warranty either.