Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
I bought 4 figure redialled 1960's Omega Constellation that I had to return to a shop swiftly due to it being sold as 100% original. I was jumpy so say the least. It's a minefield out there and you are not the first or last to be caught out.
What I should have said was I can't believe it's worth taking a seiko and putting what looks like a correct movement in it. I don't think I've seen a new 7s26 movement for £20 so the china watches must use some knock off movement, I'd guess.
Yeah I doubt the £20 fake has a Seiko movement, probably a Seagull or unbranded Chinese movement. 7S26's were around £30 before they were discontinued and the 4R36 that replaced it is the same price.
The 4R36 ships with a day wheel for a 3 o'clock crown and you have to change the wheel for a case with a 4 o'clock crown, otherwise the day doesn't line up in the window. I've seen plenty of fake Turtles where they've used a genuine movement but haven't bothered to swap the day wheel so it's easy to spot from a distance that all is not correct.
I think I'll keep an eye out for a spares or repair one on eBay, or I wonder if the professional modding companies have a stash of spares they'd sell cheap.
Just about on topic... can anyone recommend a watch repairer / modded I can go to online?
I dug an Animal watch out of the drawer to finally change the battery and it’s working again except for the date indicator which is getting stuck part way through changing.
It’s not a valuable watch of course but it’d be nice to get it running again so I’d like to send it away for a new mechanism but don’t really know where to start as there are so many places which come up online.
The local jewellers in town stopped doing watch repairs when the last owner retired so even post-lockdown aren’t an option.
And the staying on the Animal watch theme, does anyone here own an Elliot Brown? I’ve got a Tyneham on my used watch shortlist after deciding that a Canford is probably too big for my average side wrist.
Before they took their site down (but after they closed their own service department) Animal were directing customer to these guys for repairs
https://www.lockerhullthornton.com/
I’ve not had to use them myself and the movements in them are fairly generic so I’m sure other places could help.
The Elliot brown watches are lovely(although expensive at RRP for what you get) I’ve got a canford that I picked up off eBay (and smallish wrists) it’s a nice well made watch with some lovely features. I’ve got my eye on a thynham aswell as a more day to day watch due to the smaller size but can’t face paying rrp.
I've got a Canford on a rubber strap and small wrists - works fine for me, the lug sweep down so it feels smaller than it looks
I've got a Canford, it's a really nicely built watch and whilst it's easy to think it's expensive because it's £350 for "just a quartz" I think the value is definitely there when you actually look at the watch and not just whether it's quartz or automatic.
Thanks all.
It’s unfortunate what’s happened to Animal, I’ve used their watch repairs before and that would have been ideal of course.
I initially settled on the Canford and there are some deals about. The Tyneham is only an option S/H as at full price I’d be looking to spend some more for something completely different.
If however Timefactors ordering reopens any time soon then the next watch could well be a Baby Dreadnought.
What're the most tell tale signs of a Tudor Pelagos being a fake?
Some images here (If it works)
The date window is in the wrong place (should be closer to the edge of the dial) and the clasp is completely wrong. Snide AF.
Quite often you don't even need to see them, just hear the dubious backstory about how it was found in a great uncle's clearout etc and that'll tell you pretty much everything you need to know.
Cheers for the input. On price alone I assumed it was fake. Handy to have some advice and know where to look for the errors compared to the real thing though
Long time lurker, first time caller.
My daily - a Tudor North Flag. Not to everyone's taste but to me it has the vibe of an Explorer but is (was) actually available to buy (without selling an organ). Three years on it's aging well and I still enjoy it.
I like that!
There seems to be a few watches sold on here recently so I've stuck a few of mine rthat aren't getting word much anymore on the Classifieds if anyone's interested.
Nice North Flag there geolog. I can never decide if I really like them or not though, but at least they are interesting and not so derivative.
The market at the moment is all heritage inspired (which I like) but it does make more modern sports / divers seem a bit unusual.
Just been looking at a Formex Reef which looks really good, but kinda out of place in the current market as it's really modern - That said, I think their Essence 39 is going to be a purchase at some point in the future. Outside of the Rolex Explorer 1 I think it's one of my favourite sports watches, and looks great value too.
If you're posting a watch within the UK, which service is best to use? Look like Royal Mail Special Delivery would cover up to £500
So my 2006 Aquaracer Chrono has gotten stiff to wind in the mornings. It seems to run ok, but does this mean I need to fork out for servicing? It’s never been serviced...
So my 2006 Aquaracer Chrono has gotten stiff to wind in the mornings. It seems to run ok, but does this mean I need to fork out for servicing? It’s never been serviced…
Think you've answered your own question there.
If it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't & won't fix itself - so sounds like a service is due, especially as it is 15 years old & never previously serviced.
If you’re posting a watch within the UK, which service is best to use? Look like Royal Mail Special Delivery would cover up to £500
RMSD covers up to £500 as standard with the option to insure up to 2.5k.
For higher value watches, people generally seem to use RM Special Delivery + Securus insurance.
That may be only for items over the £2.5k limit, or perhaps the Securus cover is just better / easier.
On a side note, I always thought RMSD was RM signed delivery until just now and so used it for sales adverts.... ooops.
If you’re posting a watch within the UK, which service is best to use? Look like Royal Mail Special Delivery would cover up to £500
I recently posted a Bell & Ross that I sold, insured up to 2.5k; was about £25/30. Arrived next day.
Slight thread hijack, sorry- has anyone regulated their automatic watch themselves? It's a Certina with an ETA 2824 moveent, if that helps. It's losing about 3 -4 minutes a week, I'd loike to think it could be a wee bit better than that. It was serviced about 12 months ago.
I've done my cheaper watches, there are plenty of YouTube clips to show how it's done. Does that movement have the cam with the Y shaped fork adjuster? Should make it fairly easy, the ones with just a stick can be difficult, really sensative to the tiniest movement. Recommend the Clock Tuner app to make the task easier.
the ones with just a stick can be difficult, really sensitive to the tiniest movement.
Like the adjuster on Seiko movements? I can attest to their sensitivity, when I wanted to regulate my SPORK! Took several goes, the final adjustment was an almost unmeasurable nudge, which took it from losing a minute a week, to gaining a minute a month, which I felt was acceptable.
The new movement which I had fitted to my Heimdallr Tuna, and which I set when I got it back on the 9 of January is currently exactly 1’30” slow, which isn’t bad for a cheap Seiko movement!
I’m certainly not going to fiddle with it, too little margin for a large error.
I took a couple more photos in daylight yesterday, to show the little Torx screws I had made, and a better pic with the new face, hands and lumed ceramic bezel.
Like the adjuster on Seiko movements? I can attest to their sensitivity,
Breath on the adjuster, watch gains a minute more a day.
They are a pain. There was a guy that made an adjuster. IIRC, basically a dowel with a slot that goes over the shaft of the adjuster 'arrow'. The dowel was inside a tube. The tube had a cardboard circle on the top the dowel had a needle through it. You hold the tube, turn the dowel, the needle shows the degree of movement. Something along those lines. Still took him a few times to get it right. Now you know why they come out of the factory at + 30s a day.
"has anyone regulated their automatic watch themselves? "
Yes. Regulated two Vostoks. Both from being 40-50s a day fast to under +10-15s.
I moved the adjuster the absolutely smallest amount I could. Got it down to acceptable under 15s a day first time on one watch. Overdid it and needed a tiny push back with the other one.
I only wear the same watch for a couple of days in a row so accuracy isn't a big deal. In fact as he Vostoks second hand doesn't stop when adjusting the time I only set them approximately anyway.
ETA movements with the micro adjust regulator are easy to do, but if it hasn't been serviced in over 12 years it'll need more than just regulating.
Seiko can be an absolute pita to regulate, even with a timegrapher. If your watch is 20s/d out and you see the arm move then you've moved it too far. Trying to get it from 5s/d to 0s/d is done more on feel than vision as the required movement is so small. It is possible to do it without a timegrapher by making a single adjustment, observe after 24h, adjust again and repeat for a few weeks until it's acceptable but life's too short for that. Much easier to hand it over to a watchmaker or spend £150 on a timegrapher and then you'll also know that the beat error has been adjusted correctly.
@geolog I’ve got a North Flag too and really like it. It just feels robust and doesn’t need any sort of kid gloves or care taken with it. Mine has a few scrapes and nicks along the edges of the case.
It is possible to do it without a timegrapher by making a single adjustment, observe after 24h, adjust again and repeat for a few weeks until it’s acceptable but life’s too short for that.
Ha! Amen to that! TBH, with a hackable movement, which my SPORK hasn’t got, it’s just so easy to reset the time once a week, or month or whatever, takes literally a few seconds to do.
I’ve been very tempted to get a better quality hackable movement for my SPORK, it was the first to use the 4R15 calibre, now replaced by the 4R35/36. I guess that just putting a 4R36 in would be perfectly ok, but it’s such a nice watch, and relatively rare and long discontinued, that a better calibre is tempting, but I’m not sure what’s available and reasonable with hacking and hand-winding.
Suggestions, please, from the more knowledgeable here. 😁
Now THIS is cool (hot) watch.
https://www.fesaaides.com/products/nixie-watch?fbclid=IwAR340osi91_b6njMJjKsUQqgvzgmzhLc37YHLhuRGa7_bX_j-PKDWCdtwrM
Ha! Amen to that! TBH, with a hackable movement, which my SPORK hasn’t got, it’s just so easy to reset the time once a week, or month or whatever, takes literally a few seconds to do.
I’ve been very tempted to get a better quality hackable movement for my SPORK, it was the first to use the 4R15 calibre, now replaced by the 4R35/36. I guess that just putting a 4R36 in would be perfectly ok, but it’s such a nice watch, and relatively rare and long discontinued, that a better calibre is tempting, but I’m not sure what’s available and reasonable with hacking and hand-winding.
Suggestions, please, from the more knowledgeable here. 😁
The 6R15 is an upgraded 4R36/NH36 and will work, but I personally wouldn't pay the extra for one. Cousins have the NH36 for £30 plus vat and the 6R15 for £255 plus vat and the only difference between them is the 6r uses a different steel for the hairspring and mainspring, so the 6r is slightly more resistant to magnetism and has a few hours extra power reserve. Hardly worth it for almost 9x the cost.
'ETA movements with the micro adjust regulator are easy to do, but if it hasn’t been serviced in over 12 years it’ll need more than just regulating'
It was serviced about 2 years ago - but the accuracy didn't improve. So do I just gently nudge the adjuster towards the '+' symbol?
Have a look at a YouTube video because there are two adjusters, one does the speed and the other the beat error. It has got the micro adjust so difficult to get it wrong, (move the screw head not the stick bit and yes, towards + to increase) but worth 10 mins of your time to be sure.
Tiny movements and as I suggested above get Clock Tuner on your phone so you're not having to resort to multiple days of adjust/wear cycles. It works like a basic timegrapher that Fudd recommended but the free version should be OK for your purposes rather than spend £150. Hold the microphone on your phone as close to the watch as possible in a quiet room for best performance.
the only difference between them is the 6r uses a different steel for the hairspring and mainspring
That, and a Seiko service will cost you more than twice as much! I've an Alpinist with a 6r15 and if anything goes seriously amiss with the movement I'll be happily downgrading to an NH36 rather than pay the 6r premium.
Ive made the mistake of counting my watches. 10.
Its not good is it...
Ive made the mistake of counting my watches. 10.
Its not good is it…
No, not good news at all. You're going to need some finger implants.
I know.
Its a comedy watch but there must be the odd occasion you could wear it. Maybe a Back To The Future convention.
Not before I’ve ebayed most of them tomorrow.
Very similar number as well Kryton, but due to The pandemic I’ve not seen or had access to two of my watches since December 2019, one of them I really like as well. They’re locked in a safe I don’t have access to!!
I’m tempted with making a new purchase but would need to sell two watches.....only problem is the wife bought me one of the ones I’d off load....not overly sure I’d survive intact if I even mentioned it!!
Years ago an ex RAF friend of mine purchased a Bell & Ross (square face one resembling a WWII fighter “dashboard”?, anyway I was politely saying how I really liked it (I didn’t)...but the wife bought me a similar one. I feel really bad for wanting rid, but it’s sat there not getting used. She mentions it, but I call it my office watch and I’m working from home.
Chopard Mille Miglia Gran Turismo XL is my current favourite and tempting me.
Thinking of selling my green sumo (generation 3, current one with sapphire crystal and upgraded movement). Would anybody be interested, before I stick it on the classifieds?
Kryton - post up a link to your ebay antics. Neilnevill a pic says a 1000 words.
I have found classifieds on here an absolute delight.
I have found ebay to be 20% nutters who buy something from me and then pull out - I am waiting for the other 20% who want to return the item I have posted and then finally the 20% fee invoice.
Kryton, I'm disappointed. Only 10? Two years since you started this thread and poured petrol on my own addiction; much worse since lockdown with my Ebay watch list being mostly
watches...
Latest acquisition was a Chronologica carbon-cased diver which looked well cool in photos online but sadly looks like plastic in real life
Feel dirty, Sharkey orange monster arrived today.
I have found classifieds on here an absolute delight.
Aw, cheers Wally. 😍
I've ordered a nice new strap for it from Barton Bands.
@bungle lol, I’m sorry. I’ve pulled myself together now and although I shan’t be buying so easily in the future, I’ve kind of categorised my watches appropriately. Even I dont know how my head works sometimes but I had some kind of “MUST WEAR ALL OF THEM!” angst in my head.
Now I’m back to accepting if one gets shut in the box for six months well, so what. The 10th one hasn’t arrived yet, it’s a rather good looking piece coming from Meranom (eventually) which is of course a clue.
it’s a rather good looking piece coming from Meranom (eventually) which is of course a clue.
Vostoks! The Lada of the watch world. I've got 3.
The 6R15 is an upgraded 4R36/NH36 and will work, but I personally wouldn’t pay the extra for one. Cousins have the NH36 for £30 plus vat and the 6R15 for £255 plus vat and the only difference between them is the 6r uses a different steel for the hairspring and mainspring, so the 6r is slightly more resistant to magnetism and has a few hours extra power reserve. Hardly worth it for almost 9x the cost.
@Fudd - thank you, that’s actually the movement I was looking at, the 6R15, but I had no idea of the sort of price they go for. My thinking was to use a movement that’s actually marked Seiko, as the watch is a Seiko, but your point about the price difference is very well made! 😁
With all due respect I disagree about the movement recommendation by Fudd.
The 6R15 has an extra 10 hours power reserve (getting it over the 2 day, 48 hours magic mark) and the spec is to be 20 seconds a day less variable than a 4R36 you mentioned.
In addition, the 4r36 is a day and date movement whereas the 6r15 is just the date.
Personally, if on a budget I would go for the answer inadvertently touched on by referencing the NH36. Buy a NH15, sometimes called an NE15 movement. These are the same as the 6R15 movement, made by Seiko but unbranded to be fitted to other manufacturers watches (micro brands). Last time I looked they were about $70 USD.
Win, win.
Really? With the Seiko fans here I thought a great condition sumo would stir interest .... Look at that lovely sunburst green dial....no? I'm interested in another green dialed Seiko diver and want one out first.... Desperately trying not to buy a second new watch in a month!
Only your second?
I've bought 4 since Christmas but then I guess I've sold 2, and another soon so not really that bad numbers wise.
Planning to build up to 10 or so max, though wherever I look a see different ones I like so that may not happen.
I'm not in the market for that Seiko but I've always been a bit on the fence ref green dials until I got my green Pantor a few months ago and decided green looks much, much better in the flesh than it does on screen. So if there's anyone on the fence about the colour I'd take a punt on it.
With the Seiko fans here I thought a great condition sumo would stir interest …. Look at that lovely sunburst green dial….no?
I'm usually an absolute sucker for a green dial but FedEx just turned up today with a 40mm Swordfish in emerald green so I'm less interested than I'd usually be. Jody JOMW just posted a review of a Sumo today, rather a conservative black model though.
On a similar theme the other day I watched Jody’s Samurai review so have a new appreciation for mine.
🙂 I bought it after i decided I wanted a green dial, didn't have a Seiko, didn't want to pay loads but was content with something quality and the new sumo had been getting lots of reviews as it had been out only 6 months or so. I thought it might be comically large on my slim wrists but it is the most comfortable watch I own despite its 45 mm size. the hugely chamfered case and lug shape make it great. The dial and bezel are a great colour, nice sunburst to the dial, and the colour changes from almost black in some lights to really vibrant in sunlight. The reason I'm thinking of changing is I have seen another watch with a brighter green dial though that just made me go, ' wow!'
Had some money to spend as a retirement gift from work so just bought one of these. Fancied something with a bit of colour as all my watches have black faces. Really pleased with the weighty feel and look, makes a nice change to have some colour! The brushed finish to the stainless steel is almost titanium in appearance which again is a nice contrast to my other steel bracelet watches.
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/gx0bkbxm/boldr-Odssey-freediver.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/gx0bkbxm/boldr-Odssey-freediver.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Neil how much are you looking for the sumo?
I'll pm you
@Saccades - thank you for that, that’s useful info. There are two reasons for considering the 6R15, first there’s the improved power reserve, along with it being hackable, the second is that the watch is one I bought with money left me by my mum, so it has a sentimental value, but also the value of the SRP045K1 is going up due to the scarcity of the watch - it was only produced for about 20 months, wasn’t really a big hit, but collectors are now starting to appreciate it, and so is the value starting to appreciate, so I felt it might be worth spending a bit on a good Seiko calibre, I only paid about £250 for the watch, NOS, but they seem to be going for two to three times that.
It’s a very solid watch, if it’s got the original bracelet, it’s certainly noticeable on the wrist!
I know all about the spork (Inc yours from this and the original thread), it's been an appreciated model for quite some time, yobokies even did an skx007 mod version.
The NH15 is the same seiko movement as you have without the "SEIKO" branding on the rotor.
What you do, depends on your budget and sentimentality tbh.
At £220 for a new 6r15 it's worth getting your movement serviced rather than a new movement. This would by my option if it was from my mum.
If you want the same performance on a bit of a budget, £70 quid without the Seiko name (the spork doesn't have a display case back so only you would know) but made by Seiko gets a NH15 dropped in and have the original movement to get serviced in the future. This would be my option funds are tight at the mo. You could swap the rotors over (it's easy, even I did it once to sputter coat a rotor in gold) but as there is no display back there is no point.
If you are on a budget, get a nh35 dropped in. I'd rather not wear the watch and save up than do this tbh as jewellers costs are probably the greater chunk of the bill.
Or leave it 20 years like my dad's skx031 and then do something when it's ground to a paste.
Must have £25k of watches upstairs and am currently kicking about in a Citizen Eco Drive lol.
Plain military style watch and it really rocks.
Cost me £60 on the plane back from Gran Canaria haha.
@bullet you’ve been sucked in haven’t you? Isn’t that the 3rd in recent times? 😀
The reason I’m thinking of changing is I have seen another watch with a brighter green dial though that just made me go, ‘ wow!’
Do tell...
I think green dialled watches are my current favourite, with the Minase Horizon being at the top of the list.
But others I really like are the Hanhart Pioneer II limited edition, Seiko Presage SARX071, Millecheon Monarch and then right at the relative budget end of the scale, the Geckota G-01 green dial.
There's a few others too, mostly divers and infact the Boldr above comes in a nice green too.
Anyone here own a Tissot T-touch solar? It appeals to the inner geek in me, which, lets face it, is why watches hold such appeal anyway. Would be buying second hand, although they do seem to hold their value quite well. Worried it may look too big, and also it may go 'kaboom'. Anyone have any experience with one?
Thanks.
@Kryton57 - yep, proper watch geek now. Was the Speedmaster Moonwatch last year, the Steinhart for Xmas and now the Boldr 😀 Still get caught looking at Bremont's now but that may be a step too far!
I blame everyone on this thread 😉
Haha johnners! If you must know it's something rare that popped up on tz-uk sales corner and may be gone by now anyway. A limited edition JDM (one of 2018) modern 62mas. If it had been available when I first was hunting I may have got it then but it had sold out. It was a difficult choice anyway, although the 62mas has a brighter green dial that really appeals and is more my normal size then the 45 mm sumo, the sumo has a green bezel and the 6r35 movement. Hopefully Saccades will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the 6r35 is the same as the 6r15 in the 62mas, but with a 70 hour per reserve, so it'll go a weekend unworn. However any fear the sumo was too big was misplaced and it's my most comfortable watch to wear!
A limited edition JDM (one of 2018) modern 62mas
Ah, I think I know the one. SBDC059/SPB081, an absolute beauty. One a limited release of 1000 and JDM, the other an international release of 2018. Other than that I don't know what the difference is and I've seen neither in the flesh. Both 6r15 with 50 hour reserve.
Yep, except I think it's 2018 for the JDM .. Not sure though
@Saccades - thanks, I’ll probably go for the NH15 version, I’m not so sentimental about the movement, those can and do go wrong, and fixing one like my SPORK has is clearly a non-starter. I did fork out £460 to have my fifty year old Yema fixed and serviced, but that’s now worth close on £4k, so worth it.
Having the SPORK’s movement serviced wouldn’t fix my reasons for wanting to change it, the ability to hack it - you can, with a bit of effort, ‘hold’ the second-hand while resetting the time, but it’s such a faff, compared to the movements in my two Heimdallr watches. Having that facility would encourage me to start wearing it a lot more as well.
Having the SPORK’s movement serviced wouldn’t fix my reasons for wanting to change it, the ability to hack it
It's nice to have but tbh I don't really get the big deal with hacking unless you're dealing with a COSC certified watch. The worst you'll be setting it is 30 seconds out and that's no big deal for an ordinary mechanical. If it tends to lose a few seconds set it ahead, if it gains set it behind. I've an Orient that gains about 15 seconds a day, it's a waste of time worrying about setting that bugger to the second!
@johnners - yes, I know it’s a minor irritant, but being able to hand-wind is useful, and I found another irritating feature of the SPORK’s movement this morning when I dug it out to wear having not done so for over a year, and that’s the date change! With the more modern movements like in my Heimdallr watches, if the watch has been sat unused for a while, changing the date just involves pulling out the winder one click, then winding backwards, takes a few seconds; with the SPORK, it had stopped on the 17th, and you have to wind forwards continuously to change the date every twenty-four hours, which took several minutes.
But it’s not just that, honestly, the movement won’t be improved by an expensive service, and I’ve always felt that the watch is so well made, it’s under-served by the movement Seiko put in it, it really deserves a much better calibre, and if it can be done for £70, which is a lot less than a service, then I consider it worth every penny.
I may have cracked
Woah there Count Zero.
The NE15 is a direct like for like swap with the 6R15, it just doesn't have the Seiko branding
It does not have hacking.
To get a better movement with hacking you are looking at the (divers?) 8L35 and maybe Rob at monsterwatches can get you one but you'll pay through the nose.
I'm not familiar with the 6R35 to know if that has hacking, but again as a Seiko branded movement it's going to cost you.
I don't think you need hacking unless you can get the movement to cosc standards (and it stays there).
I've never really understood the fuss about hacking, likewise sapphire crystals and ceramic bezels. Not only am I not fussed if a watch doesn't have them, in some watches I'd specifically prefer them not to have them.
6r35 in my sumo hacks