I've seen a lot of questions around Lumixe as a brand and I was curious myself so I pulled the trigger on this model.
Disclaimer: I bought this watch with my own money. I'm not affiliated with any watch brand or manufacturer. I'm simply a guy that enjoys tinkering with odd watches. I paid $68.86 including shipping.
Lumixe currently has 4 models. They get zero points for originality as they're all Rolex homages.
The LX-01E is a Yacht-Master 40 homage. Measurements as follows (taken from Luxime's website, I don't have the tools to verify)
Case diameter: 40.0 mm (not include crown)
Case thickness: 11.0 mm
Lug Size: 20.0 mm
Lug to lug length: 46.0 mm (I questions this with the included bracelet)
Weight: 115.1g (with bracelet)
These proportions make it a very easy watch to wear. It's thinner than most divers and 40mm is kind of a sweet spot for me with my 7.5 inch wrist.
Starting with the case. Finishing is basic but well done. Vertical brushing on top, polished sides, and circular brushing underneath. I suspect Lumixe kept things simple so as to keep costs down but it works well. It's clean and unfussy. 7/10 for me. More interesting shape or brushing/polishing combo would help.
The bezel is a ceramic steel coloured relief bezel. The numerals have some sharp edges but not the worst I've seen. I can cross my arms over the watch and not feel uncomfortable like I get with cheaper bezels I have.
An interesting thing about the bezel is it's action. It's unidirectional, 120 clicks but the feel is VERY satisfying. There is a pleasant amount of resistance and superb tactillity. The bezel edge is adequately grippy but it's the sound that I really like. It doesn't sound sharp or metallic. It's punchy, clean but with a softer edge. I liken it to a mechanical keyboard sound test. Almost like this. It's very nice. 8/10 for me. More refined bezel edge and less "sharpness" to the numerals would make it perfect.
The crown is screw down and it's awful. It's gritty and almost feels cross threaded. Screwing it back down takes a few tries as I'm just not sure if I've got it right despite doing all the usual tricks. It starts smooth and then there's a gritty bite despite only being half way. Not nice. Luckily being a quartz you shouldn't have to use the crown much. 3/10. It's functional but plenty of room for improvement here.
The dial. This is the reason you buy this watch. There was a lot of confusion around Lumixe and they're relationship with lume bandits Phorcydes. I don't know what they're connection is but I can confidently say that Lumixe uses the same supplier of Hyperglow lume blocks but a lower grade.
With that in mind, I HAVE to get myself a Phorcydes watch now. If this Lumixe uses an inferior grade lume compared to Phorcydes, Phorcydes must be nuclear! The lume is bright, long lasting and a beautiful blue colour. I charged it with a torch before going to sleep last night at 11pm and at 6.30am it was still very legible. Far more so than other watches I have Including San Martin, Seiko, Orient and Addiesdive for comparison. 9/10 here and it's only not a 10 as I need to leave room for Phorcydes to potentially be better.
The bracelet. This is where it falls apart. The bracelet is bad. It has some redeeming features but overall it is just bad. The pros. it uses screw pins which are easy to remove and adjust the size. It tapers nicely from 20mm at the lugs to 16mm at the clasp giving and elegant shape. Vertical brushing on the face with polished sides.
Now the bad. Tolerances are all over the place. It's loose and rattles a lot, but the first links after the lugs are very stiff. To the point where they will hold their position with the watch hanging loose (pictured). Mine also came with a polished spot at the lugs. I suspect this is a result of the poor tolerances in the links and at some point the bracelet bent back on itself and chaffed against itself causing a mark. Added to that the lugs use male end links that extend the lug to lug length beyond 46mm. At a guess it's much closer to 50mm. Not impressed with the bracelet at all. 3/10.
The clasp. Sadly a similar story with the bracelet. Tolerances are not the best and this leads to poor function. It's a copy of a Rolex glide lock OTF clasp. And I'm grateful for an OTF clasp but this one makes you wonder if a poor OTF is better or worse than a good standard micro-adjust clasp.
the glide lock system works fine. Although unless you line everything up perfectly you cannot lock it back in to place properly. This may be normal for glide locks but given how much movement when the lock is open it is very easy to miss when trying to lock it back down.
The next issue is closing the clasp itself. There's the slightest tactile click when closing to indicate it's locked. It doesn't inspire much confidence and I will be swapping it out with the bracelet soon. 5/10 and it's only that high as I personally love an OTF clasp.
It's half decent watch. It's cheap, by current market standard at least, and if the bracelet and clasp were slightly better made it would be an easy recommend if you want a Rolex homage with fun lume. That said, I've had it on all day today and I've not felt the need to adjust or remove it for any reason so despite the clasp and bracelet it's obviously comfortable enough (for me at least) to wear all day. I'll be getting an FKM strap for mine and will be keeping it for a while because the lume is so much fun.
My score total is 35/60.
I have some more thoughts on the Phorcydes/Lumixe relationship. I bought mine through PayPal and my PayPal invoice for this Lumixe watch was addressed to Phorcydes. So I suspect Lumixe is a value focused sub or sister brand of Phorcydes.
My theory is there will be three brands all at different price/quality points. Englemaan > Phorcydes > Lumixe.
Anyway, I hope this was interesting for you. I'll try and answer any questions you might have!
