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AnthonyTsai
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An “On-the-wrist” Review of the St. Gallen PVD Disinfectable “Rescue” Watch

An “On-the-wrist” Review of the St. Gallen PVD Disinfectable “Rescue” Watch

By Anthony Tsai & Dr. Mitch Katz

© March 2008

In today’s world of watches, black watches seem to be the latest “hot” trend - Audemars Piguet recently released its all forged carbon Team Alinghi, IWC debuted its ceramic cased Pilot’s double chronograph last year, and the square Bell & Ross PVD BR01 is becoming a common watch to see at watch enthusiast events.  If you are hunting for a black watch and don’t have $5k, $15k, or $40k to spend, then you might want to take a look at the St. Gallen PVD Disinfectable “Rescue” watch.  Not only is it affordable and easy on the wallet, the “Rescue” is a rugged, entertaining, and functional timepiece.

St. Gallen PVD Disinfectable “Rescue” watch

BACKGROUND

Ever since the first outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2002, the world that we all live in has become more vigilant and ‘on guard’ against infectious diseases, germs, and bacteria.  St. Gallen is a Swiss company with international investors that produces Swiss Made watches.  It is known for a line of of “disinfectable” watches, referred to as “The World’s First Hygienic Watch” that can be immersed into the harsh cleansers used at hospitals for disinfecting and killing bacteria and germs.  

Many of today’s household products target sterilization and hygiene, and pretty much every home has antibacterial soap, Lysol spray, and even disinfectant wipes.  Furthermore, many of us even take multi-vitamins daily to give our bodies the essentials they need to ward off infection and keep our immune systems in tiptop shape.

The battle against germs, disease, and infection is a never-ending constant battle, whether or not we realize it. 

DISSECTION OF WATCH

Enough talk about disease and sterilization (I think I feel I have to go wash my hands now with antibacterial soap   ), let's take a look at St. Gallen's Disinfectable "Rescue" watch.  I will dissect the watch first, and then later on Dr. Mitch Katz will explain how one can measure your pulse and respiratory rates with this watch.  

Please take note that the “Rescue” watch we are dissecting today has been well worn for over a year so you may see signs of normal wear and tear.

The “Rescue” consists of 4 parts – the watchcase, 2 rubber straps, and buckle – as shown in the picture below. 

4-piece construction

Case

The “Rescue” 42mm PVD coated steel case houses an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement that has a power reserve of 38 hours.  The case is a seamless single block of 316L stainless steel, which has strong oxidation tolerance and is perfect to use as a daily beater watch even in medical sites.   The bezel is part of the watchcase, so there are no crevices or uneven surfaces that can hide germs.   The case is totally submersible and has the feel of, and is, a solidly constructed watch. 

Single block case construction including bezel & “Disinfectable” etched into left side of the case

The PVD coating of the case seems “abuse proof” and less likely to suffer the small dings that daily wear and tear seems to attract.  I’ve even advertently banged the bezel against my wood table several times with substantial force, and I can’t see any dings or scratches with my naked eye.  My wood table has some battle scars now, and I’m fairly positive that my stainless steel Panerai’s would share the same fate as well!

Dial

The dial is very attractive with a Carbon Fiber Weave Pattern, highly legible and easy to read.  The date window is between 4 and 5 o’clock; and if you look at the dial at an angle, you will notice that there is depth to the dial.  The Carbon Fiber Weave Pattern layer is beneath the printing on the dial creating an interesting 3-D / floating type of effect.

Carbon Fiber Weave Pattern of the “Rescue”

The second hand is quite clever with four hands at 90-degree angles with the main second hand accented in red.  Besides the functionality of the 4-second hands, there is a definite eye catching “cool/fun” factor.

Hands, dial, and hour markers are coated with superluminova giving the watch excellent luminescence in low light situations, and below is a video of the rotating seconds hand in pitch black conditions so you can see how unusual and captivating this watch is in the dark and unlike no other you’ve ever seen.

Caseback

The screw-in caseback is PVD’ed as well like the case, and the circle surrounding “St. Gallen Horology” is engraved rather than in relief.

Screw-in caseback of “Rescue”

Crown

The screw-down crown, nicely sized for easy handling, protects the inner movement from any fluid including the disinfectant solution that might be used.  The crown is also PVD’ed and accented with the St. Gallen cross.

PVD crown accented w/ St. Gallen cross

Lugs and Strap

The watch lies comfortably on the wrist, even on Mitch’s small 6.25” wrist, thanks to the lugs that slope at an angle that sends the strap downwards, not outwards.

Downward sloping angle of lug for a better fit on the wrist

The medical grade silicon rubber strap is 22mm and non-tapering in width, but it does taper in thickness from 5mm at the lugs down to 2mm (strap at 6 o’clock) and 5mm to 3mm (strap at 12 o’clock).  I presume the strap at 12 o’clock is thicker due to the buckle.  And for comparison’s sake, the rubber strap on the “Rescue” is more pliable and soft when compared to the standard Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore rubber strap.

The rubber strap slips on and off by way of the grooves in the lugs and can be easily removed for the, as advertised, disinfectability of the watch.

Grooves in the lugs of the “Rescue”

The strap is certainly supple enough to wrap around Mitch’s small wrist but it did not have enough holes in it and so it sat somewhat loosely on his wrist.  My wrist at 6.75” is slightly larger than Mitch’s, and therefore I use the first hole.  If you’re interested in purchasing this watch and have a smaller wrist than mine, you might want to consider ordering a short strap (I presume they make a short strap).

At the end of the rubber strap at 6 o’clock, there is an oversized hole to be used for suspending the watch with a hook-like device for dipping into disinfectant.

Picture of hole and fixed keeper

The keeper on the strap is fixed which is very unusual.  All the rubber straps I’ve seen and used have mobile keepers.  Mitch notes that the end of the strap at 6 o’clock, also known as the “strap tail,” annoyingly sticks out and sometimes catches his sleeve cuff, which bothers his obsessive/compulsive side.  I don’t have the same problem as my wrist is larger, hence my sleeve cuffs are wider, and so the strap tail doesn’t catch on my sleeve cuff.

Buckle

The buckle also slides out from the strap for easy maintenance and cleaning just like the straps; however, both Mitch and I found that securing the buckle tooth into the strap hole can sometimes be very frustrating.

Removable buckle of the “Rescue”

You cannot just pull on the strap tail to get the buckle tooth to slide closer to the strap hole due to the friction of the rubber straps.  Mitch says he frequently has to lean his wrist and watch against something to steady it in order to get the tooth into and through the appropriate hole.  I found the best method is to slide the top of the buckle with your thumb towards the direction of the lugs while simultaneously sliding your index finger on the top of the rubber strap near the lugs toward your buckle.  It’s very difficult to explain but you’ll understand once you see this watch in person.

Either way, strapping on the watch can be an annoyance and may take a couple more seconds longer than when you strap on a watch w/ a normal tang buckle.

THE WATCH FROM DR. KATZ'S POINT-OF-VIEW, AS IN INSTRUMENT FOR THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
I work in the medical profession where there is a constant battle against “germs,” bacteria, viruses and fungi.  It is a constant struggle to prevent the spread of these agents from one patient to another.  Personal accessories, such as jewelry and watches, can serve as the means of transmission by virtue of their ability to harbor these germs in crevices.  Not only is the St. Gallen’s Disinfectable “Rescue” watch well designed to address these concerns, the watch is also constructed to allow the wearer to take both a pulse and respiratory rate.

How to measure pulse and respiratory rate with the "Rescue"

Rather than having to wait until the second hand reaches the 12 o’clock position or any other easily rememberable mark, the wearer only has to wait, at most, fourteen seconds for one of the four hands to the reach the 12 o’clock in order to make the desired measurements.  Usually, when someone wants to take the pulse, or respirations, the requirement is to count the number of heartbeats or respirations that occur in a 15 or 30 second time frame and then multiply by 4 or 2 respectively to get the pulse or respiratory rate.  St. Gallen has cleverly placed a scale on the bezel along the right side of the watch so that when a second hand reaches the twelve, the wearer then counts 15 pulsations and then reads on the scale the converted heart rate.

15 pulsations scale

Similarly, to count the respiratory rate, when one of the four seconds hand reaches 6 o’clock, the wearer counts 5 respirations then reads off the scale on the bezel along the left side of the watch the converted minute respiratory rate.  This is a very clever feature and works well for those of us in need of such information; however, the numbers for the pulse were small and my old eyes had trouble reading them even with relatively new prescription lenses in my glasses.  Also, the 11 on the respiratory rate scale is misaligned to the inner side of the bezel.

5 respirations scale

Lastly, as we often have to take vital signs in low light situations, it would be helpful if the two scales were luminescent.

ANTHONY TSAI’S FINAL WORDS

From a non-medical, watch enthusiast’s point-of-view, the Disinfectable “Rescue” watch is a fun watch.  It’s different, refreshing, and has this 4-handed seconds hand which is simply mesmerizing to watch.  Scroll up this report and take another look at the animated gif of the luminescent rotating 4-handed seconds hand in the dark.  Doesn’t the watch look like it’s “alive” and “beating” like a heart?  How cool is that!

I used to own a FP Journe Tourbillon and would always stare at the rotating tourbillon for a few seconds every time my eyes glanced at the dial.  I find myself doing the same thing with this 4-handed seconds watch!

The PVD coating is super tough and can easily withstand everyday wear and tear.  Obviously if you bang the watch against a metal railing or door, you’ll get a scrape and ding as shown in several of the above pictures of this well worn “Rescue” watch.

There are different colored rubber straps you can purchase so you can match your clothes or doctor scrubs if desired and perform strap changes on the instant in record time of a couple seconds.

The only times I would use this watch to calculate my pulse rate is after going out for a run (my Nike sneakers seems to be collecting cob webs though) so I can chuckle at how badly in shape I am nowadays.  I do need to exercise and run more, but until my wife says I’m starting to get love handles, I don’t think I’d be fully utilizing all the capabilities of this watch .  The 1/8 seconds counter in my Panerai PAM246 foudroyante is useless for me in real-life but who really cares?  Owning a watch that lets me calculate my pulse rate on the instant is just too damn cool to have, and any watch costing over $200 is a luxury item in my opinion.  I buy luxury goods to pamper myself and reward myself for my hard work, and the Disinfectable “Rescue” is a perfect watch to reward myself, buy for a fellow colleague in the medical field, or for any WIS (watch idiot savant) to own.

DR. MITCH KATZ’S FINAL WORDS

The St. Gallen Rescue is an interesting watch that did catch a number of eyes and comments from a number of my colleagues.  In truth, in this digital age, sophisticated electronic devices register pulses and respirations along with various other vital signs, but this watch provides a truly eye catching, fun alternative.  Besides, the reason we collect mechanical watches is not to combat the advancing surge of technology.  Rather, we appreciate the workmanship that lies behind the watch and the ability watchmakers have to make a mechanical watch provide useful functionality.

Tech specs

Movement:  automatic mechanical ETA 2824-2; Incabloc anti-shock device; power reserve 38 hours

Functions:  date; hours; minutes; seconds (cross shape); pulsations & respirations scale

Case:  diameter 42mm; seamless single block 316L stainless steel; screw-down crown

Bezel:  built into case

Back:  screw-in case back

Dial:  carbon fiber; super luminova display; date window between 4 & 5 o’clock

Crystal :  anti-reflective sapphire crystal

Water resistance:  10 ATM / 330 ft.

Strap:  medical grade silicon rubber

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© March 2008 – Anthony Tsai, Dr. Mitch Katz, and ThePuristS.com – all rights reserved

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