Bought a couple of things from Creation. Worked well for me.

I was recommended on here Orient watches and was just wondering if Creation Watches are ok to buy from or should I stick to the dreaded Amazon.

Creation are fine to buy from but you may have to pay duty so factor that in to your decision, and returns (for whatever reason) will be a good deal easier with a UK based outfit. Shop around, Amazon were nowhere near the best deal when I bought a Kamasu a couple of years ago.

I’ve bought several Orients from Creation and never had an issue, great service. I’ve also never had to pay duty on any of them as far as I can remember.

@somafunk yeah they were £48 at the beginning of the year. That’s some inflation!

Nicko GS do dressy very well, personally I don’t like some of the coloured dials but watches like the Snowflake or white birch are beautiful.

Kato : yeah they were £48 at the beginning of the year. That’s some inflation!

At £48 I may have considered a new strap but ive since found an old n’ frayed nato strap in a drawer from years ago so that’ll do me.

Love the Pelageos a couple of pages back! 😍

@Kryton57 If you were local, or it was the old days where I was in London 2 or 3 times a week, I’d jump at the opportunity of a borrow, but given it would need posting there and back I’ll pause for a bit.

Many thanks though (in a wouldn’t want it lost or damaged in transit sort of way).

Appreciated.

Re: watch straps.
I’ve bought loads of straps from cheapestnatostraps.com, at $6 a pop with bulk discounts you can try a few styles and colours quite easily. Their RAF straps are nice, but only come in limited colours.

The best strap I’ve bought in a while though is a bicolour strap from Underthecuff.com, the quality is in a different league. I saw it on Insta, on “my” watch and was sold…:-)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZUBjfmrB3W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Seatbelt NATO like that look great and feel great. Is it just me though that found they stretch loads when wet, and aren’t as strong around the buckle holes?

@Beanum – I’ve got one of those, it frayed from day one.

I guess I’ve been lucky, mine seems fine. I am between sizes though, so I tend to use the strap on two different buckle holes depending on what I’m doing….

PSA : Christopher Ward sale has gone public. Typically some very healthy savings if they have something to your taste.

https://www.christopherward.com/sale

The holes are fine, no issues there – it’s the end of the strap itself which has frayed to the point you can’t pass it back through the hardware. I suspect it hadn’t had the edge fully sealed from new.

PSA : Christopher Ward sale has gone public. Typically some very healthy savings if they have something to your taste.

https://www.christopherward.com/sale

Nice heads up. Not totally sure it can be called a sale though since most of them appear to be second hand/returns.

The Crown and Buckle single pass nato straps are excellent quality. I’ve got a few of the Cheapestnatostraps ones, too. Variable quality, but very cheap.

Nice heads up. Not totally sure it can be called a sale though since most of them appear to be second hand/returns.

Ah, I didn’t dig very deep in the details. Its always a mix of new and returns – I guess the new stuff got heavily shopped before it went public. Now, where is DPD with my C65 😎

New 39mm Tudor Ranger is a lovely thing

https://www.tudorwatch.com/en/watches/ranger/m79950-0001

Sorry about the crap pick, image of the back of my 80th Anniversary Parachute Regiment Pelagos that I posted earlier.

@inbred, very impressive. Is it a standard black dial? Also, and no insult intended whatsoever, why would Paras go for a diving watch?

I got an Orient Mako from Amazon in the end as we needed it before Tuesday. Very pleased with it, hopefully son is happy with it.

I thought of a tag line Tudor should use.

‘our new Ranger, more explorer than the new Rolex’

@neilnevill, I’ve seen the new Explorer a few times. I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I’ve got the 39mm version.

I went into Rolex to enquire about an Explorer 1 to find they only do it in 36mm now.  Put my name down for an Air King instead but this is 3500 cheaper

@gaidong, aye standard black dial, no reason in particular, works the same at 600 feet up or down😁. Previous other watches have been, Brietling, Bremonts, etc.
Most military units will have limited edition watches commissioned. I’ve got another from Bremont, limited edition of 50.

yeah i dont understand either but sooo many watch fanatics hated the 39mm explorer and craved the return of 36mm, rolex just didas asked.

New 39mm Tudor Ranger is a lovely thing

I was looking at that earlier – it is a thing of simple, unadorned beauty! Nothing there that shouldn’t be there, a proper tool watch.
#swoon

Had a play with the Ranger today. A lot nicer in the flesh than the photos. Used to wearing 40mm plus watches but it really was the perfect size. No rivets on the bracelet either!
Seen a lot of moaning on other forums that it was boring and a “£2500 Swiss homage of a Citizen”, but I was quite taken by it seeing as a 39mm Explorer is out of my reach

Oh and I picked up the black Omega rubber for my white Seamaster. Looks a lot nicer than the bracelet and certainly much more comfortable!

“£2500 Swiss homage of a Citizen”,

I was going to post exactly that but in the spirit of reducing negativity I decided not to.

Also, when Tudor decide to design things themselves they end with the handset on the BB series so I don’t mind too much when they stick to their role as an homage brand.

I like the snowflake hands which is why I’ve bought two Tudor’s, a BB and a GMT.  I think they are fantastic value for money in the current market so I think a “homage” brand is a little harsh.  That’s the thing about watches though, there’s something for everyone.

Ello from southern Thailand. I’ve only brought the 214270 with me, as I wasn’t planning to do any diving (I learnt here 24 years ago… and happily wore my Victorinox quartz field watch down to 20m or so). I’ve done a spot of snorkeling with the Explo, and have some lovely underwater shots. Just CBA to try and post them here but I’ll probably do a WUS post at the end of the trip – this is work but doesn’t mean I can’t have a nice time!

When we arrived in Bangkok I went to the Siam Centre and went in all the boutiques apart from Patek, trying the JLC and BP complete calendars in particular. I have photos of these too but…

Yesterday I wore the Explorer in a saline hot baths, the waters of which caused my rock solid 9 year old Olympus Tough camera to suddenly start falling apart – perhaps a coincidence. Then last night, during the aperitif, my AD messages me asking if I want a newly arrived Milgauss. I couldn’t see the dial clearly in the transport box but it transpired to be the black dial. No want… He said there might not be a Z-blue this year. Don’t care, even if it gets discontinued.

Wish I’d bitten the bullet and gone for a used Milgauss that was offered to me a few years ago. IIRC £5k was the asking, what are they now – £9k?

I just can’t seem to do the cost/benefit justification in my own head to make the final purchase of, (what I consider) a proper expensive watch.

@tthew, Euro retail is €8300 I think. No, I don’t think great value can be argued now but…. whatever! 😀

Tz-uk sales corner is in full on summer slump mode. This means I’ve had no luck yet selling, and it means more same more incredible watches piling up…. It’s torture and incredible at the same time.

I’ve tried to register on TZ-UK but the forums set up to not allow any new joiners for some reason

Odd. It won’t allow access to sales corner for ages. 6 months and something like 500 posts for full access. It’s a fairly effective way of keeping it as a community with trusted members.

“£2500 Swiss homage of a Citizen”,

Citation needed. Which Citizen, exactly?

The company was founded in 1930 by Japanese and Swiss investors. It took over Shokosha Watch Research Institute (founded in 1918) and some facilities of the assembly plant opened in Yokohama in 1912 by the Swiss watchmaker Rodolphe Schmid.

The brand Citizen was first registered in Switzerland by Schmid in 1918 for watches he sold in Japan.<sup id=”cite_ref-3″ class=”reference”>[3]</sup> The development of this brand was supported in the 1920s by Count Gotō Shinpei with his hope that watches could become affordable to the general public. The growth of Citizen until World War II relied on technology transfer from Switzerland.

The Ranger is an update of the watches issued to a British team sent to Greenland 70 years ago, 1952-54, and Tudor, don’t forget was set up by the gentleman who set up Rolex, so who is Tudor supposed to be an homage of? Especially as the model name dates back to 1929, three years after the company was established, so again, what is the Ranger an homage of?

On Glacial Watch: Tudor Releases New Ranger Timepiece (with Live Photos)

That was a quote I saw on Pistonheads.  It’s not attributed to me and I don’t consider Tudor to be a homage brand

Steinhart is homage.

This is a good looking piece. Are Yema well regarded?

Looks even better on a simple NATO noir:

This is a good looking piece. Are Yema well regarded?

Think it’s CountZero who’s still rocking a vintage one. Yeah, I think they are, (though not owned one myself) and getting better as they’re now making in house movements. I know that’s no guarantee of quality, but needs a level of sophistication above cases, dials and hands.