Valusis Lysium Black Automatic Watch, Miyota 8215

The Valusis Lysium Black Automatic is the mechanical evolution of the Lysium: a self-winding Miyota 8215 visible through an exhibition caseback, in a 40 mm 316L steel case with a black sunray dial. It arrives gift-ready in a wooden case with a travel bag. One unit in stock.

Why It Stands Out

• No battery, ever. It runs off your wrist, and after a night off it holds 42 hours of reserve before it needs winding or wearing again.
• The caseback is open, so the rotor spinning at 21,600 vph is part of the watch rather than hidden behind a steel disc.
• Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. The sapphire keeps it scratch-free, and the AR coating is what lets you read the dial in sunlight instead of seeing yourself.
• 316L steel throughout the case and bracelet, with polished center links against brushed outer links, which is a finishing job most watches at this price skip.
• 40 mm is the size that suits the widest range of wrists, and 11 mm of thickness on an automatic with a display back is genuinely slim.
• Manufacturer-rated to 100 m, so rain, a sink and a swim are all fine.

Watch Details

• Case: 40 mm 316L stainless steel
• Thickness: 11 mm
• Weight: 145 g
• Movement: Miyota 8215 automatic (self-winding), 21,600 vph
• Power reserve: 42 hours
• Caseback: Exhibition (open)
• Crystal: Sapphire with AR coating
• Water resistance: 100 m (10 ATM), manufacturer-rated — swimming and snorkelling, not scuba
• Dial: Black sunray
• Lume: Phosphorescent hands
• Bracelet: 316L steel, polished center links, brushed outer links, butterfly clasp
• Included: Wooden presentation case and travel bag

Fit and Wear

40 mm and 11 mm is the combination that gets a watch worn rather than admired. It sits flat, it clears a cuff, and it is neither a small watch nor a statement one. The 145 g weight comes from the full steel bracelet, so it has some heft on the wrist, which most people read as quality rather than burden. A black sunray dial changes with the light, going near-flat matte indoors and picking up a sheen when you turn it outside, and that plus the steel bracelet makes it a watch you can wear to work, to dinner and into a pool without changing anything. The butterfly clasp keeps the bracelet looking continuous when it is off the wrist.

Colin's Take

This is the Lysium that earns its keep. The quartz version is a fine watch, but you are buying the open caseback and the rotor here, and once you have owned an automatic that you can see working, the sealed version stops being interesting. Everything expensive on this watch is the right thing to have spent money on: sapphire, AR coating, 316L, a movement any watchmaker can service. Buy it if you want one good automatic that covers everything. There is one, and when it goes it is gone.