“This ISL-20 is the fourth Long Island watch I've purchased, the others being the ISL-54, ISL-36 and ISL-38. It is also the first one I'm not 100% satisfied with.
While the case, new "lighthouse" deeply carved caseback (beautiful), sapphire crystal and bracelet are all of excellent quality for this price point, the movement is at the hairy edge of accuracy for a Seiko NH36, losing 18-28 seconds a day, depending on how I lay it down at night. That is probably fixable to a degree by having the watch regulated, which it obviously never was. But it is disapponting.
The second rough edge is literally that: The ceramic bezel is not protected by an inner guard ring, the watch crystal sits below the level of the bezel and the chamfered edge of the crystal pulls it back from the bezel. This causes the ceramic bezel insert to overhang the crystal, leaving a significant gap between the two that debris can easily get into. In addition, the bezel feels sharp and will "catch" on a finger or fingernail if run acriss the watch face. I suspect the brittle bezel insert could be pulled off or broken if snagged on a the right surface or fabric. The fix might be to reduce the crystal chamfer or raise the crystal to close the gap. Either way, it's an annoying trait at the moment.
I selected the 38mm size as a trial return to a smaller sport watch size. I have plenty of 41-45 mm sport watches. The 38mm size is comfortable and wears a bit larger due to the case thickness, which does not shrink with diameter between the ISL-01 (43mm) and ISL-20 (38mm).
The bracelet is easy to size due to the screw pin links and I'm enjoying the watch despite the minor flaws above. At some point down the road I'll have it regulated to try and hit +/- 10 seconds per day accuracy, which my other Seiko NH35/36, 4R35/36 movements seem to achieve.”
