OLEVS GW-G6617 Skeleton Watch Review: flashy automatic on a budget, with a few catches

I wore this OLEVS automatic skeleton watch (model GW-G6617, the all‑gold style) almost every day for a bit over two weeks. I’m not a watch collector, just a guy who likes mechanical watches and usually wears mid‑range stuff like Seiko 5 or Orient. I grabbed this one because I was curious: full skeleton dial, tourbillon style look, all gold, and way cheaper than anything that looks like this normally is.

First impression when I opened the box: it looks loud. Full gold, open dial, fake tourbillon style window, moon phase, day/date… it’s clearly made to stand out. If you like discreet watches, this is not it. But if you want something that catches the eye in a bar or at a party, it does that job instantly. A couple of friends noticed it right away and asked how much it cost, expecting a higher price than it really has.

In daily use, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The watch works, the automatic movement runs, and it kept roughly acceptable time for the price range, but it’s not super accurate and you definitely feel the budget side when you look closely at the finishing and the bracelet. Also, some of the brand promises feel a bit optimistic, especially the luminous function and the idea that it’s fine for swimming just because it says 30 m water resistance.

Overall, after wearing it in the office, on nights out, and at home, my feeling is simple: it’s a flashy fashion watch with a real mechanical movement. It looks more expensive from far away than it feels in the hand. If you go in with that mindset and don’t expect luxury‑level quality or precision, it can be fun. If you expect high‑end performance or perfect finishing because of the tourbillon look, you’ll probably be disappointed.

Value depends a lot on what you expect. For the price this OLEVS usually sells at, you’re mainly paying for the look: skeleton dial, gold color, tourbillon style window, and a busy, luxury‑inspired design. From a few meters away, it looks like something way more expensive. If you just want that flashy mechanical watch vibe for nights out, parties, or as a fun piece in your rotation, it’s hard to deny that it delivers that visual impact without costing a fortune.

On the other hand, if you care more about accuracy, clean finishing, strong lume, or real water resistance, the value is less convincing. A basic Seiko 5 or an Orient Bambino often costs not much more and gives you better timekeeping, better build, and more trust in the movement, but without the same flashy skeleton gold look. So it really comes down to priorities. This is a fashion‑first watch with a real mechanical heart, not a tool watch or a watch‑nerd piece.

Comparing it to cheap no‑name skeleton watches you see on random sites, this one feels a bit more solid and at least comes from a brand that exists and has reviews. The 4/5 average rating on Amazon matches my feeling: people who buy it for the look and don’t nitpick are mostly happy, and people who expected strong lume or easy bracelet adjustment are disappointed. If you go in with realistic expectations, the price is fair.

For me, the value is “pretty solid but with clear limits”. You get a lot of visual features (skeleton, multiple sub‑dials, gold finish) for not much money, but you trade off precision, lume, and long‑term confidence. I’d recommend it to someone who wants a flashy mechanical watch to wear occasionally, not to someone looking for their one and only everyday watch to rely on for years.

The design is where this watch tries to win you over. It’s full gold (case and dial), with a skeleton face and a lot of things going on: open heart at 6 o’clock, visible gears, Roman numerals on the bezel, sub‑dials, and crystal accents. From a distance, it looks like something much more expensive, especially under artificial light. If your goal is to have a watch that people see from across the room, this one does that easily.

Up close, the story changes a bit. The skeleton work is visually interesting but not very clean. Some of the edges on the cut‑outs look a bit rough if you look carefully. The printed Roman numerals on the bezel and the markings on the sub‑dials are fine, but not super crisp. It’s the kind of design that looks better at arm’s length than under a magnifying glass. Personally, I think it’s okay for the price, but if you’re used to mid‑range Swiss or Japanese brands, you’ll see the difference right away.

Legibility is not great. The gold hands on a gold skeleton background, plus the shiny reflections from the coated glass, make it a bit hard to read the time quickly, especially in dim light or if you’re in a hurry. The dial is very busy, with a lot of visual elements competing for attention. If you like clean, minimalist designs, this will probably annoy you. For me, it’s fine as a “fun” watch, but I wouldn’t pick it as my main daily watch if I needed to check the time at a glance all day long.

Design‑wise, I’d summarize it like this: flashy and fun, but not subtle and not very practical. It’s more jewelry than tool. If you want a watch that makes your wrist look expensive in photos or on a night out, it does that job. If you want something understated for business meetings or a conservative office, it’s probably too much gold and too much going on on the dial.

The watch is automatic, so it uses kinetic energy from your wrist instead of a battery. That’s nice in the sense that you don’t have to go to a watch shop every few years to replace a cell. But it also means you have to accept its quirks. If you’re used to quartz watches that you can toss in a drawer and grab weeks later still running, this will feel different.

In my use, if I wore it for a full workday (8–10 hours), it stayed running overnight and into the next morning without any problem. If I skipped a day or only wore it for a short evening, it would often stop sometime during the night or the next day. Then you need to hand‑wind it and reset the time, and possibly the date and day if it’s been off for longer. The manual’s suggestion of 30–40 turns of the crown is about right to get it going again.

The crown action is okay, but you can feel that this isn’t a super high‑end movement. It’s not buttery smooth, and when you set the time, there’s a tiny bit of play before the hands move. Not a disaster, but it reminds you that this is a budget automatic. Also, because this is a skeleton dial with more going on, setting the different complications (day, date, moon disc) is a bit fiddly, and you need to read the manual to avoid forcing anything around midnight.

So yes, no battery is nice in theory, but it comes with the usual mechanical watch maintenance: winding, setting, and living with less accuracy. If you like the charm of a mechanical movement and enjoy interacting with your watch, it’s part of the fun. If you just want something that tells time with zero effort, a simple quartz watch will be way more practical.

On the wrist, the watch definitely has some presence. With a 41 mm case and around 12.5 mm thickness, plus the weight of about 153 g, you feel it. On my average‑sized wrist (about 17 cm circumference), it sat okay and didn’t look oversized, but it’s not a lightweight piece you forget you’re wearing. If you’re used to slim quartz watches, you’ll feel the difference right away.

The bracelet is… fine, but nothing more. Once sized correctly, it sits relatively comfortably, but because the links are not super flexible and it’s a folded‑link design, it doesn’t hug the wrist as nicely as better bracelets do. After a full workday at a computer, I noticed the usual marks on the skin, but no real irritation. The edges aren’t razor‑sharp, which is good, but the inside finishing isn’t super smooth either. If you’re sensitive to metal bracelets, you might prefer putting this on a leather strap, though that would change the whole flashy gold look.

One thing to note: because it’s an automatic movement that depends on wrist motion, you kind of want to wear it for long stretches to keep it running. The brand suggests more than 8 hours a day, which is realistic if you use it as your main watch. On days where I wore it only 3–4 hours in the evening, it sometimes lost power by the next morning, so I had to hand‑wind it. That’s not a comfort issue in the physical sense, but it does affect the “put it on and forget it” feeling.

Comfort rating from me: acceptable but not great. It doesn’t hurt, doesn’t dig into the skin badly, and the weight is manageable, but it’s not as comfortable as a well‑designed bracelet from a more established brand. If you mainly wear it for nights out or short periods, you’ll be fine. For full 10–12 hour days, you’ll notice it more than a lighter, slimmer watch.

The watch uses a stainless steel case and bracelet, with a gold‑tone finish. In the hand, the watch has some weight (around 153 g), so it doesn’t feel toy‑like, which is good. The case itself feels solid enough and I didn’t notice any sharp edges on the lugs or around the crown. The gold coating looks decent out of the box, with a uniform color. After about two weeks of normal wear (office, driving, casual outings), I didn’t see any obvious fading or chipping on the case.

The bracelet is where the budget side shows more. It’s a standard folded‑link style bracelet, not solid links like on higher‑end watches. When you tap it on a table or handle it, it has that slightly rattly sound typical of cheaper bracelets. The clasp is a foldover type with a safety, it closes properly and didn’t pop open on me, but it doesn’t feel very refined. Also, adjusting the size can be a bit annoying if you’re not used to pushing out pins; one of the Amazon reviewers mentioned they couldn’t shorten it, and I can see how someone with no tools or patience might struggle.

The brand claims sapphire crystal in the specs. I can’t verify that 100%, but in daily use, I didn’t get any scratches on the glass, and I bumped it lightly against a desk and a door frame once or twice. So either it’s sapphire or a decent hardened mineral glass. The coating on the glass does reflect a fair bit, though, which doesn’t help with readability in bright light. The case back is not fully open like a true exhibition back; the skeleton effect is mostly from the front.

Overall, the materials are what I’d call “pretty solid for the price but clearly not premium”. It feels better than a super cheap market watch, but worse than a known entry‑level brand like Seiko or Citizen. If you treat it as a dress/fashion piece and don’t bash it around, it should hold up okay. If you’re rough on your watches, I wouldn’t expect miracles from the bracelet and the gold plating over several years.

In two weeks, obviously I can’t destroy it, but I can at least see how it handles normal daily use. I wore it at the office, while driving, doing light chores at home, and a couple of nights out. No heavy sports, no drops on concrete, nothing extreme. Under that kind of use, the watch held up fine. No water inside, no condensation, no loose hands, no weird noises from the movement. It kept running as expected as long as I wore it enough.

The gold coating on the case and bracelet still looked good at the end of the test, but I did notice very light hairline scratches on the clasp and some links, which is normal for any metal bracelet. The shine is still there, nothing peeled or discolored. My guess is that if you wear it regularly, the clasp and edges will show more wear first, like on most gold‑tone watches. If you’re picky about scratches, you’ll probably baby it and take it off when working at a desk or near metal.

The bracelet felt secure, but I wouldn’t abuse the clasp. It locks, but it doesn’t inspire huge confidence if you’re doing heavy physical work. There’s a small bit of side‑to‑side play in some links, which is typical for folded bracelets. The pins held during my use, but I’d recommend having it sized by someone who knows what they’re doing, so you don’t damage anything trying to push out pins with random tools at home.

Mechanically, as long as you don’t drop it or expose it to strong shocks, I think it will last a few years without major issues, but it’s not the kind of watch I’d pay to service. If the movement dies after a while, the cost of a proper service might be close to or above the price of the watch itself. So I see it more as a fashion piece you enjoy until it wears out rather than a long‑term heirloom. Durability is decent for casual use, but I wouldn’t rely on it as a tough daily beater.

Let’s talk performance honestly. Timekeeping first: over my test period, the watch was gaining roughly 20–30 seconds per day on average. I checked it against my phone morning and evening. For a cheap automatic, that’s not shocking, but it’s far from precise. If you’re picky about accuracy, you’ll end up resetting it every few days. For casual use, it’s acceptable, but don’t use it as your only reference if you need exact timing for work.

The brand says it doesn’t need a battery and runs on wrist movement, which is true. If you wear it a full day, it keeps running through the night. If you leave it off the wrist for more than about 24–36 hours, it stops, and you have to hand‑wind it (30–40 turns of the crown, not pulled out). That part works as described. The winding action feels a bit rough compared to nicer movements, but nothing alarming.

Luminous function: this is where expectations and reality don’t fully match. They claim it’s luminous and show pictures that suggest strong glow. In practice, the lume is weak. If you blast it with a phone flashlight for 30–40 seconds, you get a faint glow that’s visible in complete darkness for a short while, then it fades quickly. In a normal low‑light situation (like a dim bar), it’s basically not helpful. The negative Amazon reviews about the night light not working line up with my experience: technically there is lume, but it’s so weak that it may as well not exist.

Water resistance: marked as 30 m. In watch language, that usually means splash resistant, not real swimming. They say it’s suitable for swimming but not scuba diving. Personally, I wouldn’t swim with a 30 m‑rated fashion watch from a budget brand. I washed my hands and got some light splashes on it with no issue, but I didn’t shower or swim with it. If you want a watch to actually swim with, I’d go for at least 100 m WR from a known brand. Here, I’d treat it as “okay in the rain, don’t submerge it on purpose”.

The presentation is pretty basic. The watch comes in a simple OLEVS box, nothing fancy. Inside: the watch wrapped in some protective plastic, a small tag, and a basic manual that explains how to wind it and set the time, date, and day. No extra straps, no tools, no polishing cloth, just the bare minimum. For the price, I didn’t expect more, but don’t imagine some premium unboxing experience.

The brand talks a lot in the description about Japanese movements and fashionable design. On the watch itself, you don’t see any clear movement branding through the skeleton dial, so it’s hard to confirm exactly what’s inside. It behaves like a typical low‑cost automatic movement: you can hand‑wind it, it has that visible balance wheel at the bottom (it looks like a tourbillon, but it’s just a standard open-heart style balance, not a real tourbillon), and you can see some gears moving when you tilt your wrist. For someone who’s never had a mechanical watch, that part is fun to look at.

They also push the idea of multiple complications: moon phase, week, calendar. In practice, these small sub‑dials and windows are there, but don’t expect ultra‑precise or super legible info. The date works, the day indicator is okay, but the “moon phase” is more of a cosmetic disc. It looks cool, but I wouldn’t use it for anything serious. It’s more about filling the dial than about real functionality.

Overall, the presentation matches what I’d call a budget fashion watch: basic box, simple documentation, and a watch that’s clearly designed to impress visually rather than to satisfy watch nerds who check every detail. If you’re buying it as a gift, the box is acceptable, but you might want to add your own little note or packaging if you want it to feel more special.