Company: Lum-Tec

From the Lum-Tec website:

We are a family run, USA based company devoted to bringing you the best quality watches on the market. Our parent company Wiegand Custom Watch, LLC. has built watches for thousands of customers around the world as well as designed, improved, and built watches for many other well known brands. The LÜM-TEC brand is the showcase brand for Wiegand Custom Watch, LLC, demonstrating what we are capable of producing. LÜM-TEC watches are made with only the best available materials and components and are all hand crafted by our team of professional watchmakers.

Chris Wiegand – President, takes extreme pride in every watch we produce. He is always available to answer questions, and help the customers out with anything he can. He can be emailed directly at chris@lum-tec.com.
We take pride in our service. With service points around the globe, you can be assured that for any repair you will have an unheard of fast turnaround time, so you can get your watch back on your wrist fast and enjoy it.

LÜM-TEC® takes watch manufacturing and design to a personal level. We freely communicate with our customers through email, phone, and on web forums daily about design input, suggestions, and any way to constantly improve our business and final product. Our customers make LÜM-TEC what we are. Without you, we would be just another watch company.

Overview:

Combat B23 featuring the all new carbon composite case with a titanium core and caseback. Super precision 28,800 BPH Miyota 9015 movement visible through a sapphire caseback. Includes a top grade leather strap and a premium molded rubber strap. 200 meters/660 ft. water resistance.
Product Description
Specs:

43mm width excluding crown
22mm lug width
12.5mm thick
Weight on leather strap: 74 gram/2.61oz
Carbon composite case with a titanium core and caseback
200 meters/660 ft. water resistance
LUM-TEC MDV Technology®
Ultra precision tuned 28,800 BPH Miyota 9015 Japan automatic movement with hand winding and hack feature
Calendar
Thick sapphire crystal
Clear anti-reflective coating
Threaded sapphire caseback
Screw-lock crown with double diamond sealing system
High tech Viton® gaskets
Top grade studded leather strap included
Molded rubber strap included
1 year limited warranty
Limited numbered series of 199
Free lifetime timing adjustments and pressure testing

Packaging:

The straight forward packaging is well done and simple with a hidden surprise that took me about a week to discover. The B-23 comes in a white Lum-Tec outter cardboard box which is labeled with the Lum-Tec name and inside the cardboard box is a nice blonde wood box. The wood box is nicely done with thick wood and a extremely smooth finish.  The wood box has a small metal Lum-Tec sign on the hinged lid. Inside the boxes is the B-23 watch, the papers, warranty card and the hidden surprise that was an awesome surprise I had no idea about. On either side of the watch is two hidden departments that are designed to hold extra straps, and inside the one is an extra rubber strap. I was really blown away by this small, but amazing detail.

The Watch:

Case speciations:

43mm width excluding crown
22mm lug width
12.5mm thick
Weight on leather strap: 74 gram/2.61oz
Carbon composite case with a titanium core and caseback
200 meters/660 ft. water resistance

The first thing you will notice when handling the B-23 is how light it is. The outter part of the case is a gun metal carbon composite material and the carbon almost has a stone look to it. It is a very cool case that has to be seen in person to truly appreciate. I really like the color of the case and how smooth the carbon is. It gives the watch a great military feel to it. Underneath the carbon shell is a titanium case which adds to the overall durability of this tool watch. The signed crown features Screw-lock with double diamond sealing system which is very easy to grip and operate with the gear like edges, and makes setting the time and date very easy. The coin edged bezel is fixed which means no rotation. I personally would have liked to see a lumed triangle at the 12 o’clock position on the bezel and had the bezel itself unilaterally rotating. I use timing things quite a bit in my everyday work and personal life so that always comes in handy. The lugs are curved to perfection allowing the watch to hug the wrist very comfortably. The exhibition case back allows you to view the automatic movement inside the case and features the text Lum-Tec, Carbon Titanium, Sapphire, the production number, 200m.

The Dial:

Dial specifications:

LUM-TEC MDV Technology®
Calendar
Thick sapphire crystal
Clear anti-reflective coating
High tech Viton® gaskets

The dial is beautifully executed in every detail, it is what really makes the B-23 stand out when on the wrist. Working from the top down, the first thing you will meet is the AR treated thick sapphire crystal. Not only is it nice and clear, but the thickness helps maintain the 200m water resistance. The dial itself is matte black with green tinted printed numersls that are extremely easy to read in the day and night as you can see by the lume shot.(which is not altered in anyway, it’s that bright) All the numbers are represented here 1-12 with a date window off to the side of the 4 o’clock position. I like this feature that they chose to keep the numeral 4 inplace and offset the date window. It really maintains the balance of the dial. The date is printed in white set on a black date wheel. The 12,3,6, and 9 are larger that the rest of the numerals a little added detail that really works here and gives that pilots instument feel to this watch. Works perfectly with the overall theme of the watch. Speaking of pilot instrument panel, the hands on the B-23 are the traditional pilot style shaped hands and when you set the time the seconds hand is hacking which allows a more precise time setting. The numerals, hands and numeral circle markers are all coated with lume. And with the name Lum-Tec, it surely does not disappoint. It’s bright, lasts a long time and is evenly coated with perfect application. The text on the dial is minimal and it doesn’t over crowd the dial, it includes the text Lum-tec MDV technology below the 12 o’clock marker and combat B just below the hands peg. The seconds hash marks align with the hands, and to note the hash marks are not lume coated. Which is a good thing, because I think it would be overkill with the hands, the numbers and the number circle markers being lumed. I charged the lume for about 10 minutes and it stayed pretty bright for 8 hours though the night.

The Straps:

Straps specifications:

Top grade studded leather strap
Molded rubber strap

Both of the included straps do not disappoint at all. I am all about custom watch straps, it is almost a sick obsession. But any case  I am very critical of the straps companies include with their watches. They are sometimes cheap feeling and fall apart pretty quickly, not very well constructed in the least bit. Lum-Tec doesn’t disappoint. The leather pilots strap with rivets is thick leather with even stitches throughout. The rivets and buckle color match the case color very nicely. Both straps are signed with Lum-Tec as are both the buckles. It’s nice to see that Lum-Tec included 2 buckles with the straps, therefore you don’t have to interchange the buckles at all. The rubber strap is smooth rubber and is also well done, seems to be pretty thick well molded rubber. Both straps are extremely comfortable and very easy to change out. The buckles both work as they should without any difficulty fitting into the holes. The holes are all cut even and are uniform in size throughout with no jagged edges.

The Movement:

Movement specifications:

Ultra precision tuned 28,800 BPH Miyota 9015 Japan automatic movement with hand winding

The movement inside the B-23 is very comparable to the ETA 2824 movement. The Miyota 9015 is very reliable movement and has a power reserve of 42 hours. It has a accuracy rate of -10 to plus 30 seconds per day. Lum-Tec does modify the movement which adds even more relaiability to the movement. The weighted rotar for the automatic winding moves very smooth, with very little noise. The above pictures(click on the picture to enlarge) gives all the technical details about the movement.

Closing Thoughts:

The B-23 LE is a very well done pilot themed watch with a nice vintage feel with all the modern technology that one looks for in a modern day watch. Everything about the watch is well thought out and well executed.  I absolutely love the design of this watch. From the dial layout to the carbon case, it’s all done with the percision one would hope for at a watch in the price point. I would only make one suggestion and that is to include a rotating bezel with a lume triangle. Speaking of price you get a lot of watch for under $1000 USD and its limited edition as well. I believe it’s a great value at what you get. Lum-Tec does the lume on many other watches besides their own, they are experts in the field. I love this watch as its my first experience with Lum-Tec. I want to personally thank Chris from Lum-Tec for allowing me to do this review. It was an absolute honor and I hope that I am able to do more reviews of Lum-Tec watches in the future. I’m hooked.

Wrist shots, wrist is 7 1/2″ for reference