I the decided I already had a sub alike in my sea urchin

You think? Not that similar IMO, starting with 42mm instead of 40, no Mercedes hands, a raised minute track and what I’d regard as a very different case shape. C’mon man, just drop the £60-odd quid on the Pagani (or other Chinese lookalike) FFS and if you’re appalled by it when it arrives shove it on ebay and you’ll probably end up £20 down on the deal at worst.

I like that Rado, it’s a classic design and really suits the smaller size.

tthew, yes and no. very few watches hold their rrp or what you can get if you hunt a good discount, (rolex, Patek and such are the oddballs and that’s only on some models). However some brands do worse than others. I’ve been reading various bits about the rado captain cook this evening though, it seems well received.

Have to agree with the comments about the Rado not holding its RRP value. But I very rarely sell watches, I buy one’s I like and tend to keep them. I still have a Heur 2000 I bought in the early 80’s. I’ll wear it as it should be worn, and enjoy it. My son can worry about value if he wants to sell it when I’m gone 😉

Quite right taxi25! You wear it and enjoy it, and don’t listen to idiots like me. 😁 Jelousy you see.

I’m really not sure what I think about this – Seiko have released a 5 Series tribute watch to Queen’s Brian May and his homemade Red Special guitar. 9000 run, and £500!
That’s a lot of money for a 5 Series, which no longer has dive watch classification.
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/watches/article/seiko-5-sports-watch-brian-may

But I very rarely sell watches, I buy one’s I like and tend to keep them. I still have a Heur 2000 I bought in the early 80’s. I’ll wear it as it should be worn, and enjoy it. My son can worry about value if he wants to sell it when I’m gone

Agree, I’ve never sold a watch, I’m a bit of a magpie and hold onto stuff, so any appreciation in value of any watches I own is wonderful, but it’s purely academic because I’ve no plan to sell any, they’re mine, I like them, and I’d only feel a deep sense of regret if I did part with them. I don’t wear the valuable ones much now, certainly not to work, that’s what the Heimdallr’s are for!
Speaking of which, the new one has passed through UK customs at Heathrow and is with Royal Mail, on its way to Swindon, then on to me in Chippenham, so I’ll probably have it a bit later this week. 😎

It’s now in Swindon. 😁

That BM Seiko 5 is hilarious 🤩

I’m really not sure what I think about this – Seiko have released a 5 Series tribute watch to Queen’s Brian May and his homemade Red Special guitar. 9000 run, and £500!

The whole 5 Sports series launched last year was Seiko’s attempt to widen their appeal as a fashion brand, there’s a lot of money in that part of the market. The price hike in the 5 Sports range is galling if you view them (as I confess I do to an extent) as a down-specced SKX in fancy dress. But to someone new to Seiko who doesn’t know you could until recently get a lot more watch for less money they’re an attractive offering. I think that Brian May thing is ridiculously overpriced but Seiko have a history of doing OK with their limited editions.

I’ve never sold a watch, I’m a bit of a magpie and hold onto stuff

Same here, though I’m firmly at the budget end of the market where what I’d realise from a sale wouldn’t be worth the hassle in most cases. Speaking of budget, and inspired by one of Jody’s recent videos I’ve speculated £7.98 on one of SKMEI’s Casio lookalikes. Not quite sure what Casio it’s supposed to be but it’s got big writing on the front saying it’s “SLOAR POWERED” so I’ll be looking to get my hands on some SLOARs when it arrives!

Speaking of which, the new one has passed through UK customs

Sorry CZ but I forget – was this the 62mas?

Sloar. That’s awesome!

As some have said above I’ve also never sold a watch, I’ve got a 1947 Omega sub second I’ll never let go of but after having a couple of months off recovering from a hernia op and being self employed, the coffers are looking somewhat light, so I’m going to let my Tudor Ranger go, which saddens me greatly, pretty much the perfect every day watch for me too, grrr.

The back story behind the Brian May is that he’s always worn a Seiko since 1970 something.  It comes in a miniature music instrument looking tour case with a commemorative six pence, which May uses as a pick.

I agree, buy watches to enjoy. only watch I’ve sold is the sub i bought last year, bought purely with the intention of flipping on for a few quid before christmas. I don’t buy/own many watches, it was just one until last year, but 3 now, all regularly worn

the rado, it doesn’t have a screw down crown!? that seems a flaw to me.

Sorry CZ but I forget – was this the 62mas?

It’s the SKX007/MM300 ‘sharkey’…

It’s what I was planning on converting an SKX007 to, then getting a Tiger shroud fitted, but the cost started to escalate, so when I discovered this watch, I abandoned the Seiko project, and ordered one of these, it’s got pretty much all I wanted, including an updated hackable movement.
Then the order got cancelled because they had run out of stock, so I bought the Tuna homage I’m wearing now.
But the lure of the MM300 just wouldn’t die, and when I found it was back in stock, magically my finger just, sort of, pressed buy me.

Just checked again, it’s been dispatched to Chippenham, so it may even arrive tomorrow! Whoop! 😬

It’s what I was planning on converting an SKX007

Don’t worry about that dude, I’m all over mod’ing your SKX. NH36, stem and crown ordered, and the tools to do the work myself. What could possibly go wrong?

I spotted a discounted Seiko 55 fathoms yesterday.  Am sorely tempted.  Yet, those Heimdallr with Sapphire, AR and the NH36 look a great package.

It’s the SKX007/MM300 ‘sharkey’

Ah right, I forgot you were diverted Tuna-wards from your original Heimdallr 007.

I’m all over mod’ing your SKX. NH36, stem and crown ordered, and the tools to do the work myself

I’m disappointed*, I was counting on you to vet that ebay movement swapping dude! Mind you, I’ve been using my 779 for daily wear over the past week and the timekeeping’s improved a fair bit in use so maybe it’s not as in need of a service as I thought. It’s now running at +21s per day from its initial +40 – not great, but well in spec for a (17 year old) 7s26.

*not really, be sure to let us know how you get on!

Oops, I’ve just taken a speculative punt on an old 4205 from fleabay to have a play at ‘restoration’, I’m now debating the virtues of original parts and ‘patina’ vs modz galore and whether to try and coax an old movement into reliability (potentially 30+ years old?) or just bunging a new one in…

Will report back once it’s all (inevitably) gone tits up 🙂

Thought this was the best place to ask – I have a Seiko 5, about 6 years old. I don´t wear it every day so it often winds down. Once restarted, it can gain 5 mins a day (seems always to gain, never seen it run slow). It’s easy enough to adjust but that’s not normal, right?

Once restarted, it can gain 5 mins a day (seems always to gain, never seen it run slow). It’s easy enough to adjust but that’s not normal, right?

It’s pretty poor for a 7S26 and well outside Seiko’s pretty undemanding -20 to +40 seconds per day specified accuracy. Have you actually measured it over time though? Since you can’t hand wind it you’ll have to be using it or doing something to keep it more or less fully wound over a week or more to get a real idea of its performance, it won’t be performing at its best if it’s nearly run down much of the time. Use something like the Watchcheck app and take a daily reading over at least a week to get a better idea of consistent performance. I wouldn’t adjust it before doing that.

Haven’t measured but it’s well out, five mins is probably underestimated as I’ve usually changed the time whenever I noticed it’s off.
Didn’t used to be bad at all. However I only wear a watch for work and I often run in these days so I’m wearing a Garmin and the Seiko gets a day or two’s use per week.
I adjusted it once and it was blob-on first shot, but I think I got lucky!

I adjusted it once and it was blob-on first shot, but I think I got lucky!

You shouldn’t need to adjust a mechanical watch repeatedly, and if it’s gone from “blob-on” (I’m assuming that’s good!) to +5 mins/day then I’d suspect it’s had a whack or something quite drastic.

I adjusted it once and it was blob-on first shot, but I think I got lucky!

Yes!

Since you can’t hand wind it

Not by the crown, no. Hold it face up in your hand and swing it in a small arc (a bit like you are throwing a frisbee only smaller). A couple of minutes of that a day or day and a half should keep in going. Wearing it will give a much better idea of how it’s running because of position differences.

That kind of change is often something like becoming magnetised.

May have had a whack, not ruling that out – just wondered if infrequently-worn automatics suffer from fast running. Can’t see why they should, or why they’d be worse than hand-wound.

Damn this thread. Always liked the Mondaine Swiss Railway Watch and after checking in on this thread I thought “sod it” and bought one. £160 on a watch I didn’t need but heck, hardly a life changing sum.
Not a dive watch, but a design I’d like to own.

Utterly pissed of with Rolex

Am now looking for a Seiko SARB 017 Alpinist. 🙂

They can stick their 10k watch up their arse.

@tthew did you buy the NH36 off the bay?

I have pretty much everything here to get modding (just waiting on a Dagaz bezel insert). New hands, chapter ring, bezel and crystal. I suppose I’d be as well doing the movement and crown/stem at the same time. I’m going to end up with triggers broom!

@Futureboy77

Yes, from eBay, this is the one I bought and here is the crown and stem. From separate shops, I didn’t see a combination of good prices for both from a single source. Got a ruck of cheap tools too, not normally a fan of cheap when it comes to tools but I hope not to be using them too often.

You’re doing quite the job! I might do a ceramic bezel insert and sapphire crystal in future, but they’ll definitely ape the original design rather than change the look so I may as well wait until they are looking a bit worn.

I’d get the Seiko BM watch.

I have a Seiko from the 80s and it works, also he will become leader of the known universe in time.

Oh and Kryton57 good to see you’ve stopped buying stuff you don’t need 😄

Im tempted by one of these

View post on imgur.com

Cheers tthew. That’s the same sellers that I was looking at. Will purchase soon.

penguinni – I had a Nite diver a few years ago (was given it as a Corporate gift). It wasn’t waterproof and it ended up full of condensation. Admittedly Nite were first class in dealing with it, but a non waterproof diver was a bit of a worry.

Well my Seiko 5 gained 7 mins in 24h so I´ll adjust it and try to keep it running to see if itˋs more accurate like that.

While it was on the naughty step, my new (to me) Big Zero arrived. Other than some light scratching on the bezel it’s in very good nick, no brass showing, acrylic dome is clean, milled corners are sharp etc, so it may be a bit of a Trigger’s broom.

I wasn’t that fussed about getting a 100% original one (saw a NOS in packet but it was closer to 200€) but the various parts seem to be correct to the original, ie no funky hands.
If the pics work, maybe someone on here knows. Pleased with it either way.
There was a bit of a back story to the comically big numbers which is a page or two back on here. Just tried using Dadˋs glasses and I don’t think he would have been able to tell the time on this either!

Seiko for size comparison (and showing the time it gained)

The Sharkey MM300 arrived on Monday! Not wearing it yet, the supplied steel bracelet is waaaaaay too long for my skinny little wrists, it’ll need four links removed at least, and I don’t have the specialist tools, and tbh I’m not too keen on the segmented bracelets, I can never get the fit just right. I’m not going to make a leather strap, when I took the steel bracelet off, the way the spring bars are set in the pillars leaves a smaller gap between the pillar and case than other watches, in fact a bit too narrow to fit the heavyweight ZULU Diver straps I have, so I’ve ordered a classic NATO James Bond strap, the three-colour dark blue/olive green/red style, but with matching nylon keepers instead of the alloy ones on later straps. Like the one in the photo above, in fact.
I’ve also found a rather tasty seatbelt weave NATO in blacks with thin scarlet edges, so I’ve got a couple of nice options to play with now.
Lovely watch, really well finished, the fit between the bracelet ends and the case is very fine, a friction fit, and it looks a lot more expensive than it actually is.
Should have one or both straps by the end of the week, so I’ll stick some photos up once it’s wearable.
Dead chuffed with it though.

That Big Zero is really nice. I like. A nice personal little back story too.

@brads ?? What steel sports watch are you after and unable to get on a wait list for then?

Just taken some photos with the bracelet off, and the bracelet itself.

The bracelet is easily as good quality as the one fitted to my SPORK, but I just don’t really get on with heavy bracelets like those, they’re just a bit too rigid, and either too tight or too loose, sadly.

Hey Neil
I gave them a choice of Daytona, GMT or Explorer 2.!

Bottom line is there is no waiting list it’s a fallacy.

You spend loads with them or you are lucky, pure and simple.

Spending nearly 20k with them is obviously not enough. I refuse to pay the stupid prices that are created by Rolex themselves.

Buying a Seiko SARB 017 instead lol, el cheapo but gorgeous.

Buying a Seiko SARB 017 instead lol, el cheapo but gorgeous

My Alpinist is probably the most expensive watch I own.