I tend to wear a watch I was bought for my 21st birthday and although it is a classic watch and I love it, I must admit it is a very "safe" watch and being a shopaholic I wanted a different style watch to add to my collection. When walking past the jewellers on my shopping trips I was drawn to the plastic looking ICE watches and the chunky colourful designs looked very appealing and were also very different to my classic silver watch. Although I knew high street stores such as River Island and Next were selling similar yet cheaper imitations I also had heard from close friends many bad reviews. So I decided to be impulsive one day when shopping online and purchased myself a White Unisex Ice Watch.


***Availability***
ICE Watches are available from a number of high street jewellers which include Beaverbrooks, H Samuels, Goldsmiths and a number of independent jewellers stock the brand. Online you can purchase direct from ICE and also from Amazon.

The watches are available in a number of colours and styles/ sizes. I purchased specifically from the Classic Solid Range in white and purchased in the unisex size (with a face size of 43mm). The watches within this range are bright bold solid colours. You can purchase watches in white, black, blue, red, green, orange, yellow and pink. There is also a Classic Fluo, and Classic Pastel. The Fluo colours are very similar to the classic colours but are brighter neon colours such as pink, orange, green and yellow with the pastel colours being softer colours including pink, blue, green and yellow.

The other sizes are small (38mm) and big (48mm).

The price of the watches vary and there is quite a difference from purchasing online to on the highstreet. When browsing on the highstreet at the Classic Solid White Watch in the Unisex size, H Samuels and Beaverbrooks were selling this for £82.00. I purchased this watch online from Amazon for £57.00. I still feel that for what essentially looks like a plastic watch this is quite expensive, however a similar imitation from River Island costs £35.00 therefore for slightly more money you are getting a branded watch with a 2 year guarantee.


***Ice Classic Solid***
When my watch arrived I was very impressed with the box the watch was packaged in. This was a square plastic box very much like a brick and was white coloured with a clear window so you could see the watch inside. The colour of the box depends on the colour of watch you have bought which will match the watch.

The ICE watches are probably not to everyone's taste and definitely are a "fashion" watch in my opinion especially if you purchase in the brighter bolder colours. The Unisex Classic White Watch from ICE does pretty much as it says in the description. The watch face is white and has silver pointers including a third hand which counts the seconds. There are numbers at the 3, 6 and 9 points but there are also markings to show minutes. The ICE logo is in the middle of the watch. There is also a rotating bezel with black numbers on. The unisex size is 43mm in diameter. The watch is a classic bracelet watch with the bracelet being made from links of white shiny plastic material (white solid polycarbonate) which is the same colour as the face and casing of the watch. The clasp of the watch is a fold over clasp which is what you find on most bracelet watches.

A benefit of the ICE watch is that it is very easy to tell the time. The face is large enough to quickly glance and clearly see where the pointers are, and because the time points are clearly shown you can also do so. Some "fashion" watches I have own have such patterned faces or such small pointers I have had to almost study my watch which is definitely not the case with this watch from ICE.

The watch is described to be water resistant to 50meters and comes with a 2 year guarantee. I have kept the watch on whilst showering and whilst washing up and the watch is still fully functional.

When I first purchased the watch the bracelet was far too large for me. Because this is a unisex size I did expect this. I took the watch to my local jewellers for 3 links to be removed although in the instruction there is a section explaining how to do this yourself.

Once the watch fitted I was quite excited to wear as the watch was so different to my old watch. Although the white colour I opted for is not so much of a statement as the brighter colours it is certainly quite a vibrant watch when it is on your wrist and the chunky face and block colour looked quite a statement on my wrist. The look of the watch is fun and in my opinion quite a casual watch which I tend to wear for day time as opposed for going out in. I chose this watch in white so it matches with most outfits therefore if you chose a colour it may limit what you wear the watch with. I did feel slightly conscious initially that this is essentially a plastic watch and looks no different to an imitation from the high street that would have cost £20. A friend bought a similar style watch for £20 and after 4 months of wear my ICE watch still looked shiny and new whereas the cheaper imitation had dulled particularly on the bracelet and had more chips from wear and tear.

The style of the watch has divided the opinions of friends and family. A number of friends have complimented me whilst wearing the watch and really like it (in fact my best friend has bought the same watch in pink) whereas my mum has stated she thinks it is "an awful looking watch". Therefore expect a mixture of opinions thrown at you whilst wearing an ICE watch.

Wear and tear wise I was impressed with the ICE watch. After 4 months of wearing regularly there are only two slight signs of wear. There is a very slight scuff near the clasp, and a very small scratch on the face which is only noticeable if you look under the light. This is very impressive in my opinion as I would say being a mother of twin toddlers, items on my wrist get quite a battering during everyday activities such as battling with a double pushchair in and out of the car and climbing/ chasing two boys around. With a darker coloured watch I do feel the shiny plastic may show up scruffs more easily so I would definitely advise to purchase in the lighter colours.

I was quite surprised at how comfortable the watch was to wear it didn't irritate when I got hot or wore for long periods. I did feel when fastening the clasp that it felt slightly loose and did not sound like it had clipped securely but the watch has never fallen off my wrist yet so this is not an issue.

The watch has quartz movement and comes with a watch battery. I have had my watch for 4 months now and the original battery is still working. In terms of time, the watch has displayed the correct time once set and has not needed to be reset. With some of the cheaper watches I have owned I have noticed that every month I seemed to lose around 5 minutes if I compared with the time on my phone. The only little criticism I have is that I find my ICE watch quite noisy if compared to my other watches and the ticking is more noticeable when in a silent room than other watches I own.


***Overall***
Even at £57.00 this is quite an expensive price to pay for a plastic "fashion" watch. The designs of the ICE watches are chunky and plastic looking and on quick glance look very similar to the imitations from the high street.

However the overall quality of these watches is better and they are definitely more durable which for someone who does not treat watches well, a good investment. In white the ICE Unisex Classic Solid Watch matches with a lot of outfits and the design of the face makes it very easy to glance and check the time. I personally love the look of the watch and the chunky shiny plastic watch even after 4 months of "tough love" looks as new and has not lost the shiny plastic look even on the bracelet section which has taken quite a battering.

This is definitely not a watch for everyone, but if you do want a quality, durable fashion watch ICE offers this in a variety of colours.