Watches N+1...

[gives up trying to post photo]

My bargain square G turned up this morning and I am quite taken with it, not too stealthy, or too blingy and the negative display is actually pretty legible...

It might just displace my F-91w as my default bike riding watch and makes a nice general purpose knock-about watch too. I'm not super keen on setting a watch up using an app, but it does work quite well so maybe the whole Bluetooth thing is OK.

Contrived garden centre cafe wrist shot:

I like that. It's understated.

Why do garden centres have cafes?

They have cafés to act as a sort of crèche for exasperated middle aged men and their tired offspring, who no longer wish to peruse the random collection of overpriced Yankee candles, tote bags and grass seed on sale... Instead they can gawp at their new digital watch and drink bad coffee.

A friend of mine has given me a red stitched croc to go on my SNDA57, I think its elevated it a little:

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I quite like it, it matches the hands.

May I suggest that it's a good idea to have a pre-thought-out strategy for buying watches.

When I was interested in this sort of thing a few years ago it was on the basis that <£100, was fine for fun, impulse buys, and >£1k was fine for timeless classics/keepers/heirlooms (but limit to one or two). What was not fine was the £100-£1k in-between, no man's land which is a total waste of money.

I happen to think the mid-range is the poorest value, but the important thing is to think about your own values and hence strategy rather than taking a scattergun approach to what can be a very expensive interest (though maybe not so as expensive as MTBs).

What was not fine was the £100-£1k in-between, no man’s land which is a total waste of money.

I agree that <£100 watches can be a lot of fun, I couldn't disagree more with everything else you say though. There are a lot of interesting watches sub £500, above that you're into rapidly diminishing returns in what you get for your money and while I understand that some people aspire to own classic designs by one of the brands everyone's heard of it's never interested me. And the idea of purposefully setting out to buy an heirloom seems to me to miss the point of what an heirloom should be.

Sinn 556 I with rubber/silicone strap

I like those. Prefer the 556a with the 3/6/9 dial but both are handsome watches. 38mm case came up a bit small for me though

Mrs Kato bought me this a few years ago but I rarely wear it. Got it out today and I’d forgotten what a handsome thing it is. Lovely domed sapphire and a clean dial

Sinn 556 I with rubber/silicone strap

I like that, a nice size too, but I can't really see 170€+ value in the silicone strap. 50€ delivery within the EU is a bit of a piss-take too, not that I was considering buying one!

The in-laws want to buy my lad a watch for his birthday @£200-250. Seiko 007 looks ideal but maybe too big a watch for him - not looked at a 009 yet - anyone got a view on the watch gecko watches?

You don't say how old your lad is, but there is a mini SKX007, the SKX013K1

It's 37mm diameter

Creation Watches have it

cheers - thats worth a look

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I've had this since August (from new) and it's developed a fault. Unusual IME for a Casio.

Despite several hours of exposure to light, the watch is showing LOW - i.e. low battery.
So there's either a problem with the solar panel, the internal capacitor or the connection between the two. I contacted the retailer and they said sorry to hear this but you'll have to send it to the Casio service centre. I checked the T&Cs and they (Watch Nation) have a 30 day returns policy.
So I'll now have to pay for insured / track carriage which will cost about £8.
Just thought it was a tad poor form to waft me (a recent customer) away.

I saw this yesterday except on a steel bracelet. Oh my it's lovely. But the shop had them for $750 and that's not even close what I'd pay for one. So a bit of Googling I found the one with the rubber (or silicon) band for $300 (AUD prices) and was SO tempted. It doesn't look much but in real life, with all the shop lights, shiny and clean it looked mint. I've not had a G-Shock since my Mudman G9000 fell to bits but I literally wore that every day for 10+ years.

I don't neeeeeed another watch......But if this comes down in the post Christmas sales, or I can grab one that was "an unwanted gift" I might be tempted. On an orange NATO would look purdy I finks.

@derek_starship

That's a bummer. Casio should sort it though. I bought one of the resin strap versions, then got a ss bracelet for it.:)

@derek_starship

A bummer indeed. I would think you've got a claim against the retailer in law if you push it but they'd only send it on to Casio anyway and you're probably liable for postage wherever it goes. As you say, not typical of Casio, I've one that's getting on for 30 years old and the module's still working. The pushers are a whole other story, mind, there's a daily alarm I can't change or cancel. Luckily my hearing's not what it was so if I'm not in the same room it doesn't bother me!

Any warranty issue goes through the retailer, surely? That's how the law works, as I understand it.

I have a bit of a thing for flieger and military inspired watches. My 12½ year wedding anniversary is coming up, and the wife has decided that me buying a new watch would mark the occasion nicely. I already have a few watches, such as the Citizen Ecozilla, Orca, Royal Marines, and so on. I also have a Hamilton Khaki King Automatic.

I have taken quite a shine to the Glycine brand, especially the Incursore models. Does anyone have some experience with these? Is there some other brands I should be looking at? I am looking in the £500 to 700 bracket...

G-shock Rangeman Solar digital face - worn for everything, survives all, last one lasted 20yrs still going strong, gave it to my dad. Other watches do more, or better looking, but these are tough and if I ever break it, I won't cry. I just don't see how any watch with moving parts can be as durable. I had the chance of buying a analogue face G-shock MT or MG , for the same price, looked way better, but at a glance you can not read the info as quick when running, cycling etc.

cookeaa I really like that watch, I almost purchased it a couple of months ago. I ended up buying a Garmin Instinct, so I’m trying to avoid this thread at the moment. Looks sweet though.

@elwoodblues - you could have a look at CWC if you like military watches.

@elwoodblues Have you seen the Hamilton Pilot Pioneer auto? I only came across it on the web a week or so ago - interesting shape and unusually small for a watch these days, but the RAF pilots the original was made for back in the 70s seem to have coped. Nicely textured dial and vintage style lume. Bit spendy for me at around the £700 mark but you're getting Swiss Made and a stonking 80 hour reserve for that.

Kato, I've been a fan of the visodate for years since a mate for one. I love the white dial

cookeaa, love that G-Shock. What's the Bluetooth for/ do?

Some good suggestios here, I will definately take them into consideration!

Somewhat annoyingly the winding mechanism on my Magrette has broken, this and the fact that it may have to go back to NZ to get fixed combined with alcohol led to me buying a Seiko tuna last night. Fortunately I had the brains to leave the Seiko at the shop to pick up later today rather than losing it in the pub.

What’s the Bluetooth for/ do?

You can set time, dual term, alarms, light settings etc from the phone app rather than use the watch.

The G-Shock GST-B200D looks really good. I'm not normally a G-Shock fan but that looks really cool.

So collected the Seiko, seems quite nice, fairly light and the strap is more comfortable than it looks.

Gave the beater a Christmas facelift. I know the colour scheme’s a bit naff but I think it works.

https://flic.kr/p/2i3gbv8

the colour scheme’s a bit naff

I wouldn't say that but it is pretty sombre. Sort your date out!

works very well nobby!

anyone want a brand new black sumo or a great white shark samurai? just seen 1 day old ones advertised on tz-uk for £510 and £350

cookeaa, love that G-Shock. What’s the Bluetooth for/ do?

Not a great deal (IMO) you can set time, select the 5 world time locations, set the timer/alarms/power save and back light settings via the G-shock app, almost all of which you can do on the watch itself using the buttons...

There's also a sort of location stamp feature apparently, where if you press and hold a button on the watch, it connects to the phone and the app makes a GPS/time stamp, which is about the only Bluetooth specific feature but I cannot fathom what use it really is.

I was close to buying the GW-M5610 (tough solar/multiband 6, no Bluetooth) but opted for the B5600 as it was a tenner less and the blue/black model looked quite nice, the one feature this watch is missing vs the M5610 is there's no power reserve displayed, you can only see that on a little graphic on the top, left of the apps home screen...

I may still keep track of the M5610 prices and buy one at a later date, for now I'm happy enough with it and got the B5600 for about 1/3rd less than its current amazon price so I doubt I'll loose much if I ebay it off in the next couple of years, used square Gs seem to hold some value...

I wouldn’t say that but it is pretty sombre. Sort your date out!

It's the 'Bondness' of it rather than the actual colours. Date sorted now...

https://flic.kr/p/2i3jLm9

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/9CtCC9 E" alt="Watch and coffee" />

Aah, the anticipation of a new post, followed by the disappointment of failed link.

Wally, you can't link to images from mobile Imgur any more, you need to go to the full desktop site, pop out the image you want to share and post the Direct Link URL into the IMG tool on here.

Aphex, if you still have your g9000 body you can buy all the spares needed to fix it from Tiktix.com I've had a few straps from them and am now getting a new replacement surrounding bezel as the rubber covers on the stopwatch buttons have worn away through years of abuse.

Any new Christmas watches to share? Mrs Tthew received a Fitbit Versa 2, but you don't want a picture of a boring square smart watch do you?

Any new Christmas watches to share? Mrs Tthew received a Fitbit Versa 2, but you don’t want a picture of a boring square smart watch do you?

Omega Century 1967

This very watch. I fell in love with it. Arrived on Christmas Eve.

Cracking website - just lost an hour there.
Lovely watch too.

Mrs W got me this one for Xmas....
https://www.ernestjones.co.uk/webstore/d/5312892/seiko+prospex+save+the+ocean+blue+silicone+strap+watch/

I have a fair few watches including a 007 Seiko Divers, was fancying the non chrono save the ocean prospex (blue), but when she went into the shop she thought it was too similar to what I already have (the 007 and also I have an Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean). The seamaster is ceramic but I can see why she thought it was a bit “samey”. The new save the ocean is likely to become my new daily beater, time to give my Oris TT Chrono a rest. (Current favourite out of all my watches). Not decided on staying with the blue rubber strap or going for a nato. If NATO would need to be blue as don’t think the bond colours would work.

Loving the newly released unimatic...

According to Watchville Seiko is discontinuing the SKX007 now that they’ve brought out their new range of Seiko 5 Sport models, get em while you can kitty kats.

@neil_bolton - I can’t see the photos of your TAG Series 1000, so not sure what it’s like, but I’ve got the Series 1000 Night Diver, which I’ve mentioned previously; it’s the all black PVD case and bracelet with lumed face and hands.
There’s someone in the States who specialises in repair and refurbishment of Series 1000’s, which may be be of interest to anyone with a Series 1000 that needs fixing:
https://forums.calibre11.com/threads/heuer-and-tag-heuer-1000-restoration-parts-and-service.51697/

What was not fine was the £100-£1k in-between, no man’s land which is a total waste of money.

I happen to think the mid-range is the poorest value, but the important thing is to think about your own values and hence strategy rather than taking a scattergun approach to what can be a very expensive interest (though maybe not so as expensive as MTBs).

Bwaaaahahahahahahahaha! 🤣
I think I must needs a corset, for fear my sides should split!
My three most valuable watches are ones I never paid more than £300 for, one of them, a Yema Rallygraf (or an identical model), sold at auction in London last year for £3800, I paid £50 for it; I paid £250 for my TAG Heuer Series 1000, since it’s been shown that that model was worn in The Living Daylights by Tim Dalton, the Bond watch collectors are starting to push values up above $8-900, and my Seiko SPORK is starting to fetch similar amounts, I paid £300 NOS for mine.
Son, who died and made you an expert? The midrange is for those with limited resources, where interesting watches can be easily aquired, and where collectors look for unusual and uncommon watches to add to collections because the big name watches are becoming far too expensive except for speculators.

That's a bit harsh count. He merely expressed his view. Like you I disagree and think there are lots of brands that offer great value in that price bracket, I tend to think its one of the best bang for buck brackets and above this is diminishing returns (although I own a couple of more expensive watches), however I'll listen to the different views.

And squarely in that price bracket... My Seiko sumo, Hulk. finally my bracelet pin pusher tool arrived so I resized the bracelet yesterday and have been wearing since. I'm impressed, very! It's huge in theory at 45mm but it wears very very comfortably! It's more comfy then my 41.5mm PO.... But then that is a huge lump. Quality of finish on the head, very good, bracelet is comfy and decent, I think I prefer screwed to pinned and the clasp is bent tin not milled steel but the links are solid and it's comfy. Case is very curved so it hugs my wrist, and the bracelet pivots on the spring bars which helps. The clasp is long, very long and the divers extension is stuck out the end, this seems to help as it balances the head. 6R35 movement should be decent, hand winds and hacks, mahooosive 70 hour power reserve. I'm guessing it won't be as accurate as my po or pelagos though but we shall see in a few days. Green is lovely! In some lights it's black, in bright light it's vivid with a sunburst to the dial. Overall, for the money is superb!

Damasko DA38

DA30 blue

the DA36/38 in black is similar, in many ways, to the Sinn 856. The Sinn has a nicer silicone strap though (IMO) although I have seen Damaskos fitted with the Sinn strap.

These might be of interest to anyone looking for something a bit unusual and with a bit of history behind the name. Nice looking watches, too
https://ow-watch.ch/

Squared off hands. No!

I quite like them, the 'beads of rice' bracelet looks good. And the

Squared off hands.

Think they look better than some of the MASSIVE arrow styles I see.😁

Ollech and wajs.... Didn't they have something to do with the navitimer? Either something to do with the original development of the watch or, like Sinn, something about buying bits or rights when Breitling went breasts up.

Baton hands are fine for me.

Squared off hands. No!

I love a squared off hand, so much so that my most recent purchase is a homage of the most beautiful diver ever made the Seiko 62mas IMO.

I agree with tthew about arrow hands. I think they make watch look like it is wearing foam gloves. Some modern Seiko divers look like this, accentuated by a really stumpy length of hour hand. No!

Looks like my sumo is running at -8 to 9 sec/day. I guess that's ok. Not seen much variation which is good.

Long time lurker on the thread.
My dad died new year's eve, and the last thing we spoke about (he was doolally on morphine and sadly thought he'd be leaving hospital) was that he wanted to buy a watch with big numbers for his failing sight.
So here I am. I'm not a massive watch wearer but I'd like one with big numbers. Obvs not comically big... Might just remind me of him.
Rubber or NATO strap, don't really have a preference of movement (current watch is either a Seiko 5 or an Instinct). Dad was a windsurfer into his 70s so that might be a theme to pursue. No idea about budget, just keen on suggestions. Anyone?

Bob_Summers, sorry for your loss. It's hard.

I was lucky (😔) that I bought a Seamaster for me, gave it to my Dad, then inherited it back when he passed.

I hope you find a watch that makes you smile when you think of your Dad.

Now I’ve been wearing my Heimdallr Tuna homage for a while I checked it’s timekeeping across last month, and it gained four minutes, which I worked out at +8secs/day which seems within spec for the NH35A movement. Just checked:
“ In the technical documentation, Time Module claims that the NH35A accuracy range is within -20~+40 seconds per day under normal conditions.”
So yes, I think it’s well within spec. 😁

@bob_summers

If you fancy something pretty unique you could look for a Raketa Big Zero. It'll fit the bill but also a lot of watch geeks would find it quite interesting.

Annnnd it here, the new Omega Speedmaster 321!

https://www.omegawatches.com/en-gb/watches/speedmaster/moonwatch/calibre-321/product

Expensive for a steel Omega, but damn it's pretty.

The more I think about it, the more I can't get on board with that price...damn. There is so much competition at £11k. I'm not sure it would be the watch i'd buy if I ever had that to spend on a watch.

I wish Omega all the luck competing with Rolex, though.

Bob Summers, maybe a Magrette?

If you fancy something pretty unique you could look for a Raketa Big Zero. It’ll fit the bill but also a lot of watch geeks would find it quite interesting.

I have one in my collection. Did quite a bit of research to make sure I got an un-modified one. Some are redials or are in the wrong case or have different hands.

The design is cool and the numbers at 12,3,6 and 9 are huge. (It gets its name for the 0 rather than 12 at the 12 oclock position.) The triangular indices are also big. You get some great distortion from the big acrylic domed crystal.

One issue with it if it is for someone with failing eye sight though is that it does have very small hands for a watch its size. It can be difficult to be very accurate when the minute hand as between the 3 minute indices.

The Damasko above looks a favourite but pushing the budget really.
Raketa is indeed cool and would certainly remind me of him every time someone asked why my watch had enormous numbers! How rare are they?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.de%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F264574156727

20 mins of research later, this one seems to check the 'genuine' boxes right?

Another watch with real history that’s looking to reintroduce itself, that I hadn’t heard of before, and may interest some on here:
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/watches/article/doxa-sub-200-dive-watch-colour
The rubber strap is unusual, textured a bit like the steel ‘grains of rice’ bracelet.

@bob_summers

Worth a read if you haven't already come across it...

https://twobrokewatchsnobs.com/so-you-want-to-buy-a-raketa-big-zero/&ved=2ahUKEwiDkPT8vfLmAhU9RxUIHcssC1EQFjAAegQIBBAC&usg=AOvVaw1rQuBUR_yDcmI50DVF1dN c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Raketa 2nd hand guide

Kaz on the blog is usually happy to help out as well.

@ivandobski cheers, I'd had a man-read, but after reading again that one I linked is wrong. Second hand and no raised markers. Who knew! Clearly a minefield but I do like its weirdness. What's that feel/quality like? I've owned soviet cameras before and they were quite nice things, albeit not as nice as the Leicas they were based on.

Edit : this looks nearer https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.fr%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F264563020145

No idea to be honest, I've never seen one in the flesh but started having a look when I heard them getting quite a bit of attention. From what I've read/heard they're roughly Seiko 5 standard but with some Soviet charm.

Bob, the raised markers can be hard to tell in photos. On a big zero the markets are slightly glossy transfers type affairs so they dont really look raised. The dial in your link looks printed as if ink has bled into the white but that could be a bad photo. None of the photos were taken close up which would have helped.

You are right about the second hand counterweight shape not being right.

Also, if you are after original then I would definitely want to see a photo of the movement. The big zeros have a 2609 movement which is clearly stamped on one of the bridges. Soviet watches generally use a very small selection of movements all produced from either 1 factory of just a few.

Soviet watches are generally inexpensive so you should not really get badly burned, but parts are easily interchanged between watches. I have tinkered with a few of my own. I imagine in the past people have had replacement movements fitted from other watches and they may not quite match up if you are seeking original.

I would add that the big zero has a lot of wrist presence but it is not a big watch by today's standards, having a case diameter of 40mm.

Raketa Big Zero

Bob, this look legitimate to my eye. Description in Italian though so do a quick Google translate to determine condition. There seems to be a lot of "franken" big zeros on ebay at the minute.

plyphon

Member
The more I think about it, the more I can’t get on board with that price…damn. There is so much competition at £11k. I’m not sure it would be the watch i’d buy if I ever had that to spend on a watch.

I wish Omega all the luck competing with Rolex, though.

Can you imagine if Rolex were to remake the Valjoux 72 movement, announce it would be restricted to 2000 units per year with one watchmaker overseeing each watch produced, then fit the 'new' movements into a modern yet faithful interpretation of the Paul Newman Daytona?

There's no way the first one that appears on Watchfinder is going to be under retail.

Heimdallr

The Viking hereditary in me got me interested in that, I’m getting very tempted for the dark blue 62 MAS Homage...   I really could.....

The Sub Homage on there is quite good from a distance as well.

Can you imagine if Rolex were to remake the Valjoux 72 movement, announce it would be restricted to 2000 units per year with one watchmaker overseeing each watch produced, then fit the ‘new’ movements into a modern yet faithful interpretation of the Paul Newman Daytona?

There’s no way the first one that appears on Watchfinder is going to be under retail.

Indeed. I had not realised initially that these would be 2000 units a year. This will be an incredibly exclusive watch that will sell like absolute hotcakes I'm sure.

It just stings paying 11k for a movement that isn't COSC. But as you say, a lot of fan service here that will be incredibly popular with those who are into that kind of thing.

BTW, I have TW Steel.
Don't open it up - you will realise the poundland build quality!

New watch day, comrades

OMG my brain cannot compute that!