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I'm not really in the market for a new watch, but every so often I consider getting a Smiths Everest from Timefactors. Does no-one else think they look good? It's probably a bit too similar to my current Certina DS Podium, but I'm drawn to the Britishness of it .....
That c60 Trident on a black Cordura strap, wow. That’s good looking.
The Smith's Everest looks great value for money and nicely finished.
I've had several watches from Eddie and currently wearing a Zeno I bought at least 12 years ago and it's still a favourite.
I've been looking at the Voyager (still kicking myself for not buying the original Dreadnought) but can't justify it at the moment.
@woodster that C65 Anthropocene is a lovely looking watch. I like that a lot.
@Futureboy77 and @tthew thanks for the pointers. I like the look of the stock SK007, although I've now got a few more resources for potential mods! The accuracy of the Casio is of course great, but I grew up with various cheap watches (including my old favourite Pop Swatch!) so I'm used to checking the accuracy every now and then.
If I was to buy a stock SK007, do you have any tips for where to buy? I can of course do the usual Google shopping search for wherever is the cheapest, but if there are any particular reputable or reliable sellers I'd be interested to know.
Creation Watches is where I got SKX from.
@Pierre a second vote for Creation Watches. I've bought a few from there. Really quick shipping and I didn't get hit for import duty.
Any thoughts on a Oris Divers Sixty-Five?
I have a significant birthday not too far away and like the look of these.
Any views?
Any thoughts on a Oris Divers Sixty-Five?
I have a significant birthday not too far away and like the look of these.
Any views?I looked in to that watch when I had a significant birthday too as I like the look of it. Reviews questioned the finishing on the case, and I was surprised it was only 100m water resistant, not that that matters in the real world. I decided not to.
Lovely domed crystal on the Oris. I like them
I had an Oris Divers 65, good things were the look, comfort and vanilla rubber strap. Bad was the movement is a little basic (modded sellita 200 with red rotor) and mine went very badly out of step (25 spd) within 2 years, so I got it sent back to Oris and sold it pronto on return.
Thanks guys, I think I need to get my hands on one to have a closer look. I’ve seen non too flattering reviews of them to.
Have a look at the Rado Captain Cook. That's the best looking retro diver of the moment, (IMHO) and roughly in the same price bracket.
What size watch are you looking for = just waiting for one of these to turn up from the States in the next day oor two - £300 with all the import duties - Jura have them for £850. Automatic and handwinding. Enough change to get a nice Hirsh q/release strap for it out of your budget.
https://glycine-watch.ch/collection/combat/combat-classic
So, anyone see Antiques Roadshow last night? And the chap who bought an Omega Speedmaster at a jumble sale? And it turned out to be a pre-moon one? And it was worth £5000? And he'd paid a fiver for it?
Bastard!
I saw that £5 quid was a very good result. Any thoughts on these at all
https://pinionwatches.com/collection/axis-ii/
nearly bought a tudor black bay then cancelled my order as I have a desire for something with a british connection. Been looking at Bremont and came across these Pinion ones which look nice and run in very limited batches.
@pierre - an alternative to the SKX007 might be the Heimdallr Sharkey SKX007/MarineMaster 300 homage, which I’ve got, I posted a photo of it a while back. The case is identical to the original Seiko, (in fact there’s watch modders who’ve swapped bits between an actual Seiko and the Heimdallr with no issues), it has a sapphire crystal, instead of Hardlex, the face and hands are styled after the high spec Seiko MarineMaster 300, but the movement is a Seiko NH35, an unbranded version of one of Seikos slightly higher spec movements than is fitted to the SKX007, but intended for the open market, and which is hackable, meaning the watch can be hand-wound, and the second-hand paused for accuracy when setting the time. It’s a really lovely watch, and far cheaper than any SKX007 you’re likely to find now that it’s been discontinued.
These two are both Heimdallr’s, both mine, the one on the left is a Seiko Tuna homage, the one on the right the SKX007, with a 007 NATO strap.
It’s currently listed at $149
https://www.heimdallr.watch/dive-watches/29-skx007-marine-master.html
Look through their dive watch range, they’ve got a bunch of other options as well.
The NH movements aren't higher spec than the standard 7S26. It's essentially the same movement with hacking and hand winding.
Some great deals on the Heimdallr website, shame all the watches they make are bloody massive, really like the turtle homage but its just far too big for my girly spindle wrists!
Good news for Seiko fans, albeit wealthy ones...
After the announcement of the new SPB149, a 62mas inspired watch limited to 5,500 pieces worldwide, the full range has now been announced with some non-limited colour alternatives...
Prices range from $1000 to $1350
Crikey @CountZero that's tempting, thank you! A tiny part of me wants a legit SK007 just because it's the actual thing, but I know I'd want to mod it with ceramic bezel, sapphire crystal, potentially hacking and a different bracelet... so the Heimdallr makes a _lot_ of sense. The only drawback, I think, if everything else is practically the same, is that the face wouldn't say Seiko. :/
I have bought 3 watches of Creation - but they now seem to have a very limited range of Seiko (and a lot of them are 5s).
Count Z — very curious about the Heimdallrs - a) how much duty did you have to pay? B) what is the quality like ?
A social network randomly served me some watch ads last night, so I spent a good 20 minutes or so trying to work out if the Seiko SSC667 looks good or not. On the one hand, there's this:
...but on the other, it looks a bit cheap in this: 
First thing that sprung to mind was : is that the Seiko Pyjama Watch?
I do like the case and face. It's very mid-70s.
I like the fact that the date is on a black disc.
£295 on Amazon. A bit steep for a quartz chrono?
Count zero. Those look great and very tempting, as about the same price as getting one of my Seiko divers serviced!
£295 on Amazon. A bit steep for a quartz chrono?
Agreed. Solar too, but still pricey - and a surprising amount of variation in the prices available online (I've seen it around £190 I think)
Any thoughts on Christopher Ward watches - C60 in particular?
I'll get shot down for this but when I held a CW in my hand I was totally underwhelmed and thought it was rubbish.
I haven’t got a Christopher Ward C60 but probably will soon. Like the look of them personally.
I have some good watches but always go on what I like the look of, the C60 fits the bill. I’ll probably get the C60 Trident Pro. (I’ve got to wait another month or so as just spent a fair chunk of cash on new wheels)
Brads, I’ve held other Christopher Ward watches and to be honest felt absolutely fine to me, similar feel to my Breitling. Have seen the C60 on eBay for £500 which seems decent.
I’ve got a CW (not a C60), it’s a lovely watch but it’s nothing special.
I bought mine when they were a much newer company and the prices were lower, I don’t see much value in them at current prices.
I like the black faced Dartmouth diver that they just released. Not keen on the 9 o’clock logo placement on most of the others
Are you looking at the new sapphire version of the C60? I like that one, not sure if I'd wear it myself, might be a bit brash.
Just considering a standard C60 black. The sapphires look a bit too bling for me.
Soon, these will all be burgers.
So fantasy watch buying.
£250-750 for a mechanical or automatic watch
I like the idea of brands like Christopher Ward and Magrette
I like clear faces and bright designs - not too busy.
40mm + in size
I'd like it to be something I could leave to my son.
Whilst I like a Seiko as much as the next person, I'd prefer something less mainstream.
I know some of this sounds a bit pretentious bolloxy, but humour me. Please.
🙂
If you take into account the exchange rate and the 15% discount you get offered when you visit the website, that upper limit gets you close to the Yema Superman Heritage. Nice looking watch from a manufacturer with heritage while still avoiding the obvious Seiko ranges.
Superman!
You could look at Hamilton or Laco, 2 brands I've been eyeing up recently. Hamilton's field watches always look good, as do Laco's fleigers but they both have loads of options.
Personally I wouldn't bother thinking about buying it as a "heirloom" piece, your tastes will differ, fashions will change etc etc and you're unlikely to be able to pick up something within that price range which will increase in value other than by blind luck.
Any sentimental attachment will come from the fact it's your watch, not because you spent a bit extra on a sapphire crystal or whatever. To that end I would get something you're going to wear otherwise it'll just be a thing that sits in a drawer that he doesn't associate with you.
All that said, with that budget, I'd buy one of these...
...but that's because I'm an Orient fanboy.
In fact I ordered one of these...
...yesterday from Creation to go on a Geckota strap I originally ordered to go on a completely different Orient I haven't bought yet!
Oh, the Elliot Brown Tyneham automatic is also very nice - I've a Canford and the finishing and feel of the watch is great.
£250-750 for a mechanical or automatic watch
I like the idea of brands like Christopher Ward and Magrette
Very happy with my Magrette, since I put a Zulu strap on it I’ve been pretty much wearing it all the time. Much more unusual than CW watches which I personally find a bit meh.
Personally I wouldn’t bother thinking about buying it as a “heirloom” piece, your tastes will differ, fashions will change etc etc and you’re unlikely to be able to pick up something within that price range which will increase in value other than by blind luck.
Totally this - but if you do have the idea of passing it on I'd go for something classic rather than quirky, though it'll be that you've worn it for years that will (hopefully) make it special to your son so you'll obviously have to choose something you're actually going to wear. As Ivan suggests, Hamilton or Laco should fit the bill nicely if you get on with them and they'll always look classy. Unlike Ivan though I'd steer well clear of PVD - there's the patina that daily wear gives to a piece and then there's the battered AF look I anticipate PVD having in 10 or 20 years!
^^^^^^
The PVD thing is a fair point but I get around it by only wearing whatever my current smar****ch is - can't damage my actual watches if they're tucked away in a drawer...
Smith's Everest?
but if you do have the idea of passing it on I’d go for something classic rather than quirky, though it’ll be that you’ve worn it for years that will (hopefully) make it special to your son so you’ll obviously have to choose something you’re actually going to wear.
100% this - the watch doesn’t have to be fancy, or with lots of complications, there’s more to go wrong there, or be a sports watch, something like a military style, a Citizen for example, and preferably an automatic, just because electronics can fail, whereas a mechanical will go on for decades.
Wearing a watch for many years gives it a genuine patina that will be associated with you when worn by your son.
Regarding PVD coatings, they will wear, no matter how tough the manufacturer might say the coating is - this is my TAG Series 1000, which may be one of the earliest watches with a PVD coating, I bought it around 1985, and you can clearly see the wear on the case and bracelet from years of my wearing it. Collectors like to see that, getting a watch recoated will drop it’s value; ones like mine, which cost £250, are now going up around £1000, or thereabouts, but only because of a James Bond connection, and they’re cheaper than Rolex!
Count Z — very curious about the Heimdallrs – a) how much duty did you have to pay? B) what is the quality like ?
No duty at all. The quality is excellent, the machining of the case is easily on a par with Seiko, and I’ve got a couple of Seikos here at home, they use Seiko movements, so mechanically there’s no difference, they have sapphire crystals, instead of the Hardlex Seiko use, they have ceramic bezel inserts instead of alloy, the stainless bracelets have proper machined ends, and timekeeping is easily on a par with any equivalent Seiko - one of my Heimdallr’s gains roughly 10 seconds a day, the other loses about the same, but because the NH36 movement’s hackable, resetting the time literally takes a few seconds, I do mine about every couple of weeks, by which time they’ve about three or four minutes out, the last time I did one was after twenty days, and it was just shy of four minutes adrift, which really isn’t much to worry about.
The lume is very bright too, they use SuperLuminova.
I like the Heimdallr Shark logo, it doesn’t bother me that it doesn’t say Seiko on the face, some Heimdallr watches use different movements anyway, and customisations often have third-party faces with different logos anyway.
Dunno if anyone’s interested, even from a purely intellectual/being nosey point of view, but Watches of Knightsbridge are holding an online auction, these are the people who sold a Yema Rallygraf a couple of years ago, and they’ve got another very similar watch, a Lejour, which is basically a Rallygraf standard, and that’s valued at £1200-1500!
Worth a shufti just to see what watches are fetching at the moment.
https://watchesofknightsbridge.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/t/CFDB758C5E1EDE872540EF23F30FEDED/08963C6FB00C33DC20B193FBA00ED1DB