Damasko watches are well known in the German watch community since 1994, and became popular with watch communities around the world shortly thereafter. Damasko has always been recognized for their technical research and development.
Damasko had been in co-operation with Sinn for few years. In the end of 2002 they discontinued their joint venture. Sinn then co-operated with the SUG in Glashuette, and Damasko went its own way.
DA 46 is a pretty well-made watch. The perfect dark-silver case is a complete in-house product and is the one of the highlights of this watch. Case, crown and bezel are designed, worked out, and at least produced by Damasko, hence the watch states “Made in Germany”. The case is made of bead-blasted stainless steel which is nickel-free. It is a brilliant case wear and admire. The case is 40mm in diameter, but approximately 42mm with bezel. It wears small on my average 6.5-inch wrist. The height of the case is 12.4mm, therefore it easily fits under the shirt cuff.
The corrugated screw-in crown with the “D” engraving on it sits perfectly between the guards, is easy to grip and operates very smooth. Out of the box you will feel a little bit of friction due to the threading, but over time the screw-in process will become smoother and smoother, you will always feel when the crown is completely tight. Damasko has a patent for the crown system of the DC 46. All gaskets are made of Viton.
The solid case back is screwed in and marked “Made in Germany”. The case is rated water resistant up to 100m /10 bar.
The DA 46 is ultra legible. The dial is typical for military style watches and appears matt black with white numerals which are larger than those on the Damasko chronographs. Same is true for the luminous triangle. It is huge on the DA 46.
The crosshair has become kind of a “trade mark” of Damasko watches, however it is purely decorative. Some find it redundant, and others not. All hour markers as well as the triangle at 12 are coated with luminous compound which is Luminova C1 (white). Luminova C 1 provides a sufficient readability at night.
The day date wheels are bi-lingual (German, then English alternate). You need to set it to the language of your choice. During the date-change at midnight, the wheels will skip over the other language.
The hour and minute hands are identical to those on the DA 36. They are proportionate in length and width. The yellow second hand contrasts perfectly to the white hour and minute hands. All hands are fully coated with Luminova.
The crystal is a flat sapphire crystal. It is AR-coated on both sides (optional you can choose to get AR-coating on the inside only). Due to the anti-reflective coating it sometimes gives you the impression of a “dark blue” effect.
DA 46 came with a well-made, water resistant, white stitched, black 20 mm leather strap and a bead-blasted steel pin buckle to match the case.
The back of the leather strap is “sealed” with a thin silicone layer. This thin layer provides comfort and moisture/sweat can’t damage the leather.
D A46 is powered by an automatic ETA 2836-2 with day-date indication. This movement is known to provide a power reserve of +/- 40 hours and is commonly known as a reliable workhorse.
It would be too early to give a full report on the accuracy because I am not wearing the DA 46 everyday. However, I am satisfied with its performance since mine was about +2/+4 per day.
Price for DA 46 is 1400 Euro (including VAT). For the price, I do believe that this watch does not have to fear its equals. It´s a well manufactured and military inspired high-quality wrist watch. Damasko has done another excellent job in the field of tool watches.
Author: Mike Stuffler
Editor: Bhanu Chopra
Photo Credit: Mike Stuffler