All About Watches

[prince nez]

No, you won't. This is an absurd statement.

I actually live in London.

So I don’t need a foreigner to advise me on crime in the capital, thank you very much :-

Lol Johnny Foreigner... you must be the only born and bred Londoner living in ‘the capital’ these days habibi.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

 

[formby]

Lol Johnny Foreigner... you must be the only born and bred Londoner living in ‘the capital’ these days habibi.

London is:

***OPEN FOR BUSINESS***

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

London is:

***OPEN FOR BUSINESS***

Especially if you're in a machete gang.

Me likey pricey, me selly to soft John Englishman on the forums:

https://www.chrono24.nl/seiko/sarb065-cocktail-time-discontinued-model--id9850948.htm

 

[Grand Potentate]

of all the watches i had the one i regret selling the most was the iwc panda. after that it was the stowa marine. that watch was perfect. they've more than doubled in price as well. fucking euro inflation.

 

[Kingstonian]

of all the watches i had the one i regret selling the most was the iwc panda. after that it was the stowa marine. that watch was perfect. they've more than doubled in price as well. fucking euro inflation.

Which begs the question ‘if the watch was perfect why did you sell it?’

Older posters will remember the days when people bought one watch and kept it until maybe it was beyond repair. One watch per person. No automatic wrist watch winders required.

 

[Grand Potentate]

Which begs the question ‘if the watch was perfect why did you sell it?’

Older posters will remember the days when people bought one watch and kept it until maybe it was beyond repair. One watch per person. No automatic wrist watch winders required.

At the time i was leaving to travel the world and selling all my shit. Looking back on it now i realize how stupid it was.

 

[formby]

of all the watches i had the one i regret selling the most was the iwc panda. after that it was the stowa marine. that watch was perfect. they've more than doubled in price as well. fucking euro inflation.

Well under the coming Euro-communism you will be able to buy as many as you want for not much more than the price of 5lb of spuds state side.

 

[Kingstonian]

The watch pundits are nearly as interesting as the watches themselves. TGV, Archie Luxury, the American chap with very strong New York accent etc.

TGV seems very consumerist. He just likes lots of new stuff. Not sure most of his watches will hold value if you are looking on them as an investment though.

 

[Kingstonian]

Nick Shabbaz. I have never heard this accent apart from movies such as Goodfellas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMMOxK-pTm8

I have this watch on a different strap. Lose the day window and have arms with lume all the way down and it would be better. No complaints though; cheap as chips - available from ‘upscale’ UK retailer, Argos, along with Elizabeth Duke Sovereign rings.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

of all the watches i had the one i regret selling the most was the iwc panda. after that it was the stowa marine. that watch was perfect. they've more than doubled in price as well. fucking euro inflation.

At least the Stowa Marine is still comparatively affordable. And then there's always this Steinhart Marine:

https://www.steinhartwatches.de/de/marine-uhren/marine-chronometer-44-roemisch.html

 

[Dropbear]

MkII just released an American service watch homage:

 

[Dropbear]

back on the hunt for the speedy. i've found a few used models for around $3200. one purchased in 2016 which seemed not too bad. kind of hard to make out the condition of the hesalite in the photos though.

lowest retail i can find is around $3750. which isn't bad i guess.

The app WatchPatrol is a useful international watch forum sale aggregator, if you are willing to buy used from the Internet.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

MkII just released an American service watch homage:

View attachment 31372

Not overly impressed. You must know of Marathon, what's your verdict on them, been tempted to pull the trigger a couple of times.

 

[Dropbear]

Not overly impressed. You must know of Marathon, what's your verdict on them, been tempted to pull the trigger a couple of times.

Yeh looks ok, but not much different to a dozen other homage watches.

I looked at a Marathon up close once and wasn’t that impressed with the crispness of the numerals. Very nice leather straps. They do seem like good value at that price point. Better then the ubiquitous Hamiltons and Seikos.

I decided to pass on the Smiths/Speedbird/Hawkinge/Sinn this year and hold out for an IWC XV sometime in the future.

For anyone interested, there’s a cheap ($150 shipped) Timefactors Precista diver in the US now and the Speedbird 1 on eBay is still at $400.

 

[Rushmore]

I got talking to a colleague last night, who turned out to be a real watch "aficionado". He had a gold Patek moon phase - don't ask me the exact model I have no idea, except he said he bought it with a generous redundancy in the early 2000s. It was also caked in so much dirt and dead skin you could hardly open the officer's case back.

Must have been a 5015 or 5054, in my knowledge the only PPs with a moon phase AND an officer case back.

 

[Rushmore]

QUESTION

Looking for under-the-radar daily beater which easily fits under the (double) cuff, in white metal.

Short-list so far:

1990ies Rolex Explorer 1 (14270 ref.) (36mm)
Patek Philippe 96 ref. in stainless steel (very rare, 31mm)
Some neutral unsuspicious 1960ies PP or VC manual wind in WG on a new black matte croc strap
IWC Mark XII, ca. 1998

THOUGHTS?!

 

[prince nez]

Must have been a 5015 or 5054, in my knowledge the only PPs with a moon phase AND an officer case back.

There’s also the 5059 and maybe a couple others. I could ask this chap of course what his is but he’s a Yorkshireman and hasn’t worn it in a while. I remember him complaining that it wasn’t keeping good time and suspect he’s too cheap to have it fixed.

 

[formby]

^
Proper tyke that.

 

[Rushmore]

The story is not good

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

QUESTION

Looking for under-the-radar daily beater which easily fits under the (double) cuff, in white metal.

Short-list so far:

1990ies Rolex Explorer 1 (14270 ref.) (36mm)
Patek Philippe 96 ref. in stainless steel (very rare, 31mm)
Some neutral unsuspicious 1960ies PP or VC manual wind in WG on a new black matte croc strap
IWC Mark XII, ca. 1998

THOUGHTS?!

Interesting taste in under-the-radar beaters, but surely 6,7,8,9, 10 grand plus watches fall into the demi-luxury category?

May I suggest these Seiko alternatives that fulfil the beater criteria with added longevity:

 

[Dropbear]

^
What model is the top pic? Looks nice.

 

[Grand Potentate]

Interesting taste in under-the-radar beaters, but surely 6,7,8,9, 10 grand plus watches fall into the demi-luxury category?

May I suggest these Seiko alternatives that fulfil the beater criteria with added longevity:

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dolce?

^
What model is the top pic? Looks nice.

looks like a Tissot LeLocole

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

dolce?

looks like a Tissot LeLocole

The Dolce because it's 33mm and ties into the Patek Philippe 96 in 31mm. Another good option if you going into the smaller wristwatch is the Ole Mathiesen classic mens size at 35mm or even the 33mm.

The top one is a domestic market one. It's on the Seiya webshop.

 

[Grand Potentate]

The Dolce because it's 33mm and ties into the Patek Philippe 96 in 31mm. Another good option if you going into the smaller wristwatch is the Ole Mathiesen classic mens size at 35mm or even the 33mm.

The top one is a domestic market one. It's on the Seiya webshop.

sorry should have elaborated - what's the significance of the name/word 'dolce' there? seems odd for a japanese brand to be using that on a watch.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

sorry should have elaborated - what's the significance of the name/word 'dolce' there? seems odd for a japanese brand to be using that on a watch.

I dunno', Dolce of course is sweet in Italian. I suppose it's a bit of exotic wording from a Japanese perspective.

 

[Dropbear]

The Speedbird III is back in stock after an absence of more than a year. The reason it's been out of stock is because ETA has restricted the supply of ETA2824-2 "Top" version so I've had to go for the Sellita SW200-1 "Top" and there was quite a wait for that also.

To celebrate the 18th anniversary of the introduction of the first speedbird, there will be 100 pieces of the Speedbird III with the Speedbird 1 dial (no date).

Spoiler: Speedy III

 

[Grand Potentate]

Spoiler: Speedy III

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Meh. Face without the text is ok but that braclet is awful looking.

 

[Journeyman]

Meh. Face without the text is ok but that braclet is awful looking.

The whole thing is basically a rip-off of an IWC Pilot's watch, such as the IWC Mark XII or Mark XV.

Of course, the IWC watches are based on classic pilot's watches, but the font, the cut-off hand and the bracelet are very, very similar to IWC's design.

 

[Dropbear]

Yep, poor man’s XV and I’m fine with that.

Speedbird was the old BOAC callsign - looking for some manufacturered 50s aviation provenance there.

I wish they had just gone all-in on being a homage watch: date window at 3, Black numerals on white, no text on face except the Made in Britain, IWC bracelet. That said, the Timefactors clasp looks nice.

I’m keeping an eye out for a date Hawkinge, but I’d really like an XV some day.

In the meantime, I bought 5 cheap and cheerful nato straps for my Hamilton.

 

[doghouse]

XII all the way man.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

This is the one:

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

What about this then, the Precista Aerotimer, a homage to Blancpain's Air Command:

 

[Great White Snark]

Can someone please explain to me the point of a 24 hour subdial that just mirrors the main hands?
I mean if you could set it to a second time zone (and it’s big enough to be readable) that could be useful but I think that’s a movement I’ve seen before and all it does is mirror the main time display.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Can someone please explain to me the point of a 24 hour subdial that just mirrors the main hands?
I mean if you could set it to a second time zone (and it’s big enough to be readable) that could be useful but I think that’s a movement I’ve seen before and all it does is mirror the main time display.

It's the Seiko meca-quartz V64 which means the 24hour is only an AM/PM indicator. You can't set it independently for a second timezone. Still an attractive price at GBP 310 with the steel bracelet or GBP265 for the deployment strap. I had the Precista Blancpain Fifty-Fathoms homage, the PRS-50B, I got rid as a tiny speck of Tritium was on the glass and regretted it as it was a good homage:

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Seiko Sarb033 vs Patek 5227g

 

[prince nez]

Seiko Sarb033 vs Patek 5227g
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Possibly the ugliest Patek. You would only buy that watch for the name on the dial.

Mafoofan has one and loves it.

 

[doghouse]

Mafoofan has one and loves it.

Say no more fam.

 

[Great White Snark]

Possibly the ugliest Patek. You would only buy that watch for the name on the dial.

Mafoofan has one and loves it.

His is different - flatter bezel IIRC.
Funny how now he’s bought a (name brand, overpriced) watch he’s overnight become an expert in watches.

I think he’s recently got himself a 911 so of course has overnight become an expert on cars!

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

His is different - flatter bezel IIRC.
Funny how now he’s bought a (name brand, overpriced) watch he’s overnight become an expert in watches.

I think he’s recently got himself a 911 so of course has overnight become an expert on cars!

If he was an expert on cars he wouldn't have purchased a 911.