Suunto Elementum Terra comes in a good, hefty, coated cardboard box, which is perfectly lined. Inside the package is a manual, a plastic guarantee card, and a polishing/cleaning cloth.

My initial impression was that the watch was weightier, but small compared to my Suunto Vector and Suunto Core. It does feel a lttle bit thicker although. It’s actually an extremely nice, dressy watch. After getting it on, it doesn’t appear too weighty. It’s got a good weight to it.

Case and Crystal: The case is made of stainless steel, with a matte/satin finish to it. It appears quite properly built, and very robust. There are three buttons on the right hand side, which all move quite nicely. Firm, though no click. The top button is a scroll wheel, for scrolling through menus and making adjustments. I wish my Suunto Core had one. The scroller also actions easily, with confirmation clicks.The case is water resistant to 100m (~300 feet) and according to the manual, the buttons CAN be pushed underwater.The Terra face is really a flat, sapphire crystal, which also has an anti-glare finish onto it.The buttons seem to stick out a lttle bit, but in practice they don’t get in the way, or pressed accidentally.

Strap: It can come with several different bands, leather, metal, or rubber. Mine had a great black leather band. It’s some white sewing around the edge of it, which actually sets it off beautifully. The band is very thick and durable, but is still comfortable.

Display: The Terra I managed to get has a positive display, which i prefer It’s also provided with a negative display, for individuals who like that better.It uses a classical segment display for numbers, like the Suunto Vector. Thus, it will not plot out any charts/graphs of your elevation or air pressure like the Suunto Core does. The backlight is incredibly bright. A lot better than I have ever seen on any Suunto watch.

Functions: Suunto has not surprisingly kept the features to a minimum amount. I am confident that’s due to the fact it’s meant to be a luxury dress watch. It’s something to wear to the workplace or even a gathering, but will still perform out in the wild, although not as well as the Core. The Terra has only 2 modes, Time/Altimeter and Compass. The primary display of the Terra shows a lot of information. In the top row, you get the current height, the center row provides you with time, and the bottom row provides the date. Near the top of the screen, you have the pressure trend arrows, and around the perimeter you get the sea-level barometric pressure. The face area of the Terra doesn’t need a rotatable bezel such as the Vector or Core. As an alternative, a circular chart is present for reading the Sea-Level barometric pressure.

Steve Burgenson is a long time timepiece collector and understands few things about them, especially the outside/sport ones. So his opnion on SuuntoElementum.com and especially his favorite Suunto Elementum Aqua might be taken into account before purchasing one. For more info: http://suuntoelementum.com/

Compared to Swiss design, the Finnish have made a very competing watch. The case of the Suunto Elementum Ventus is quality with a “carved not stamped” experience to it. I value the sapphire crystal, but I am dissatisfied that it is neither glare-proofed neither domed. Therefore in a pinch, you can use it as a mirror to fix your hair.

The pushers run perfectly, although much lauded “twisting A pusher” appears somewhat less than “swiss rugged” to me.

The display…. fine, after years of Swiss watches which thoroughly pulled off legible negative displays, I don’t “get it” with this particular watch. Why can’t Suunto produce a negative display with enough clearness and contrast to contend with the likes of a Breitling, TAG or RADO? Through my own limited understanding of LCD technology, the real difference between a positive and a negative display will be the polarizing filter. There’s not much else into it. So I’m perplexed why this is so difficult to read.

I’m satisfied with the function of the watch. Suunto seems to have sought to make this particular watch as uncomplicated as possible! You can find essentially four modes.The particular main time display which could show either barometric pressure numerically or, in the same area, show the dat. The barometric log, which can be utilized by rotating the A pusher counter clockwise and scrolls the baro graph by hour increment. The compass, accessible via the C pusher in all modes except when the “race timer” is going; and the race timer itself.

The count down chronograph is rather… awkward. It resets to zero by keeping the C pusher after it has been ended by pushing the A pusher. As soon as zeroed, it assumes 5 minutes as the start time, though you are able to swivel the A pusher to modify this by minute steps. If set to zero, it functions like a modest chronograph. Why modest? It counts 10ths of seconds until 1 minute, and then changes to mins and seconds, and then to minutes only. When it comes to last mode, it’s impossible to detect it is still running without catching a digit change. In contrast to the “standard” convention of flashing the “:” to show a running chronograph, the “:” is static. In addition regrettable is that, when halted, the timepiece will not display the greater precise readings. Compare this to an Aerospace Watch, where when the chronograph is stopped, this wrist watch alternates in between showing the minutes and the seconds, to enable you to at least gain access to the degree of precision stored in the watch.

Mario Bosemon is a long time watch collector and knows few things about them, specially the outside/sport ones. So his opnion on SuuntoElementum and especially his favorite Suunto Elementum Ventus may be taken into account before buying one. For more info: http://suuntoelementum.com/