I have not had a Lorus watch for many years, but always reckoned them as good value. Perhaps not as innovative as Pulsar, which at the time was also part of Seiko. Pulsar unfortunately is gone but Lorus is still going.  Looking at their current range, I spotted a model that for once does not have the ubiquitous large bezel and as I’m not about to go diving, the more conservative bezel look is fine.

This is the Blue Sunray solar (elegant Sports) model.

A nicely balanced dial layout in a stainless case with a single crown, it has a blue coloured dial with a horizontal texture background, luminous filled broad diver style hour, minute hand & markers, with a perimeter index 0-60 graduations with yellow highlights each 5. This is an applied sloped inner ring which, with the narrow and fixed bezel, maximises the face area – and being Solar powered, this aids light transmission efficiency. It has mineral glass, not sapphire which is OK as in my experience I can’t remember when I ever got scratches on any watch face I’ve owned.  I kid you not!

The centre seconds aluminium hand is in bright yellow contrast and the Date window is a decent size @3 (instant set date). And importantly for me the dial is uncluttered, so clarity is good. The good size well knurled crown is case protected and the watch is rated as 10bar or 100m Water Resistance. The stainless solid back plate appears to be screw down, though why being solar, I can’t imagine, unless for servicing, which must surely be unlikely.

However, the two main features that attracted me to this model look good – namely the 100m Water Resistance and being Solar powered.

The solar module is the Epson AS32A and is regarded as efficient and reliable – with a full charge power storage time of around 4 months. Charging time for steady operation in sunny weather, just 15 minutes is required and full charge is around 5 hours and for I day operation, just 2 minutes exposure in good sunlight.

All positive so far.

The stainless bracelet is a three-fold clasp with push button release and fits to a lug size of 22mm. It is adjustable using a two prong push link pin between segments and the clasp has a 2 x position micro adjustment, which is just OK.  And this is where the first slight negative comes on this model – for me at least.

I’m not really a fan of stainless steel bracelets (I much prefer Titanium ones) as I tend to find them heavy and a bit cumbersome unless of very good quality.
This one is just average, but knowing I already had a Detomaso Ocean strap which just happens to be a great match to the dial – I fitted that instead (see image).  It also drops the overall weight down to a neat 65gms which suits me better.  Incidentally the watch case dimensions are 42mm diameter & 11.2mm height, so not small, but just manageable with my medium wrists.

All up, I think it represents a decent looking model at a reasonable price of under £100 and I was quite pleased as I opened the box on arrival (always a good sign).

I’ll Post an update to this review once I’ve worn it for a bit. Then I can say with more certainty if it was worth it – being my first new buy for some time.

As always – Watch(this)Space . . . .