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For £500 it’s worth a look at Timefactors.

Steinhart, Laco & Stowa also make some nice watches and used to be in that sort of price bracket though I’ve not looked recently.

I’m old enough to remember when it was so exciting to be able to buy digital watches from petrol stations, total reliability for £1.99!

<blockquoteIf you like Presages the new Presage Skybar SRPE43J is apparently a bit smaller and has a distinct Grand Seiko vibe to it.

@IvanDobski that’s lovely! I like the green SRPD37J1 as well

Yeah, when I saw it I did think it looked really smart!

Had a look at the Presage’s in a shop yesterday. Tried on a SRPB43J1

And a SRPC99J1

Both loads smaller than I thought and I really liked them, the SRPC99J1 particaully wasn’t something I thought I’d like but I did.

I have the SRPB43J1. The ice blue face is mesmerising. A really beautiful watch to own and enjoy.

So, am I the first of the Watch Swappers to post my watch-swap watch? I think I may be. So, here goes…

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<drum roll>

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Ta-da!

A G-Shock 3263, with World Time feature. Not only that, but also:

Everything, and I mean everything, this thing came out of the shop with. Box, tin, warranty card, instruction book, even the little tag. By any objective measure this is cracker of a buy for £30. It’s got to be a 10/10 for value.

However, watches aren’t about objectivity are they, really? They’re about looking at something and thinking ‘ooh, I like that’. So, do I like it?

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Well, do I?

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My watch swap buddy said they’d done a bit of mild watch stalking of my posting history and couldn’t see that I had a G-Shock. In that, they were correct. The reason being, and it pains me to say this, I really cannot stand G-Shocks 🙁

Sorry watch buddy, in the stupid subjective world of personal taste, this is just not me. But, obviously, no hard feelings, that’s kinda the fun and the gamble of the game, innit? 🙂 Life would be boring if we all liked the same things.

^^^^ A packaged G-Shock is quite a good result to be honest – shame you’re not a fan.

So after my “which new outdoorsy/bikepacking watch?” post the other day it’s new watch day here and the winner turned out to be…

…an orange Garmin Instinct Solar.

Looks ok, bit more cheap plastic and g-shocky than I was expecting and the menu system etc isn’t in any way intuitive but that’s to be expected for Garmin I suppose. On the plus side it’s light and comfy so we’ll see how it goes.

(Samsung Galaxy smartwatch for sale in the classifieds if anyone’s interested by the way!)

A packaged G-Shock is quite a good result to be honest – shame you’re not a fan.

Oh, absolutely, this is very definitely “it’s not you, it’s me” scenario, and the buying-blind and not knowing what the other person will like, or what you’r going to get, is all part of the fun of the game. You may get something you love, you may get something you’re indifferent to, or, worst case, you may get a G-Shock 😉

Which brings me on nicely to an idea my watch buddy and I have been discussing. Once all the watch-swappers have received and reviewed their watches, we thought we could have a final ‘all-in’ watch-swap round, where we have the oppurtunity to trade the ‘first round’ swapped watches between ourselves (if we want to, obvs). Whaddyathink, watch swappers?

Err, are we meant to have contacted our watch swappers? I ask as I just put my purchase in the post with no correspondence!
So if you randomly received a watch at the back end of last week it may, may have been from me…!

I stuck a note in mine, basically saying “I hope you like it”, and my watch-swapper did the same, but that’s all

My new watch

So if you randomly received a watch at the back end of last week it may, may have been from me…!

I’m sure he’ll guess – and hopefully post some photo’s up soon! As will I now.

Was waiting for me when I got home from work today! A quick bit of internet research suggests it’s French from the 70’s. Mayerling was a range of watches named after a 1930’s film, (random) and it’s in terrific condition, there’s not a mark on the plastic crystal or case and the watchtimer app says it’s running about -15 to 20 seconds.

I do like the way the sunburst dial continues onto the bezel.

And it fits my skinny wrist nicely.
Probably not a daily wearer, it’s not water resistant and would be a shame to damage it as it’s lived this long without. I really like it, which in some way is a little disappointing as the I manged to do a direct swap with IHN and supplied the G-Shock. Maybe he will be able to punt it off in the suggested final round.

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My new watch

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Not being too knowledgeable about Roli, is that a genuine ‘factory’ Explorer? or some sort of mod? It looks nice, especially on the orange strap

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Murray
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My new watch

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Not being too knowledgeable about Roli, is that a genuine ‘factory’ Explorer? or some sort of mod? It looks nice, especially on the orange strap

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As that didn’t work, I assume cb200 is referring to Murray’s little photo from last night.

It’s a smart watch with a Rolex screen I think. 😁 (at least I really hope it is or he’s going to be mighty offended)

I liked this when I saw one online:

However, it was a limited edition and the £100 watches are now all on eBay for £400.

I do like the blackout version of the square g-shock though:

Have seen it for around £55 here, which is less than second hand ones: https://www.getgoods.com/products/706404/Quartz-Wristwatch-DW-5600BB-1ER-L-x-W-x-H-48.9-x-42.8-x-13.4-mm-Black-Enclosure-materialResin-Material-watch-strap-Resin.html?ref=39&utm_source=affilinet&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=C646071&dciso=AT&PublisherID=246555&awc=17430_1598892420_bb22c04e2dc38aa7803541ae578b1078

Bit suspicious of the site though

It’s a Galaxy 3, my first smart watch. The orange strap is a homage to a TAG that I had in the eighties. Makes a nice change from my 70s Bulova Accutron

I really like it

Whoop!

Probably not a daily wearer, it’s not water resistant and would be a shame to damage it as it’s lived this long without.

Nonsense man, watches were made to be worn, it’ll be fine as long as you’re not, I dunno, scuba diving or bricklaying. I think a brown leather strap will really finish it off and bring out the red of the second hand (and the existing strap is actually the wrong size, I don’t know if you noticed, it’s a 22 and should be a 20).

Well I have it on at work today. 👍 I noticed it said 22mm on the strap, and thought it seems wide for a vintage watch, hadn’t noticed it was squashed into the lugs though. I think you are right about a new strap, I’ll have a look later.

@yourguitarhero, you know what they say about a deal that seems too good to be true?

Edit – I looked at that website, it doesn’t look too dodgy to me, but I’m no expert. You can pay by PayPal, so if you are sure you actually get directed to PayPal site and not some dodgy copy, I think it’d be fairly safe.

Have we done the new Rolex Sub and OP41 yet?

I’m really into the sub, I think the lugs are so much better than the maxi case.

Interesting, I personally like G-shocks, but not all G-shocks, there’s so many that at least some are going to be duffers…
My swapper picked up on the fact that I like a nice Casio and popped in a little, anonymous, note saying so.

I was gifted what appears to be a brand new Casio Black and grey AQ-S810 (boxed with all papers and tags), which is a pretty good score if it was under £30. it’s Not a G-shock, but it sort of Apes the looks of certain Gs, it reminds me of the GA 800.

It’s a Tough solar, Ani-digi watch with pretty much all the functions you’d expect from a G-shock (World time, 5 alarms, Stop watch and the first watch I’ve had with 2 timers). It has a chunky appearance at 46mm diameter with a few case protrusions that seem to help protect the Acrylic crystal, 100m water resistance is plenty for this sort of watch.

I received the watch Mid-August and decided to wear it exclusively for next week, as we were away for a mini-break in the New Forrest and then back at home for a bit of general purpose knocking about.
I see it as being a good candidate as a general purpose quartz “beater” type watch, however my current favourite beater watch is a Square G G5600E (also tough solar, but a wee bit more compact and with a posher finish).

Size wise I don’t normally get along with larger watches, my wrists are about 6.75″ so a 42mm is normally about the limit for me, but the AQ-S810 doesn’t wear quite as big as it is. That’s probably due to being made mostly from plastics making it quite light.

The strap is G-shock style with a braced connection to the body and little shock absorbing convolutions that also serve to hold the strap away from your skin a bit and allow some air underneath, for me this seems to help comfort wise.
Relative to the diameter the watch isn’t too thick, and so doesn’t tend to catch on things and will happily slide under a sleeve.

Function wise it’s on a par with my preferred daily wearer G5600E matching it for multiple alarms/times/Stopwatches and having a dual timer (they seem to run consecutively and can be set in 5 second increments) which was a new one on me.

The Analogue hands are tied to the digital time setting, and the watch has a home city/time zone set, which once set or changed will spin the hands to the chosen time. Better yet if you travel to a new time zone you only need to select that new time zone and the watch will set itself to the new location, this probably makes it quite a good watch for traveling with, especially as you can leave the world time function set to your home time zone making it easy to know when to call the missus.
I happen to have an ani-digi G-shock, an AW-591 which actually requires the user to manually set the hands completely separate from the digital watch making it a relative ball ache and overall a less useful watch than the AQ-S810, which costs less than half as much…

Daylight legibility is good, obviously you always have the analogue hands displaying the time, the LCD display does quite a lot with a very small area and the constant seconds counter can get a little confusing in timekeeping mode (as you can have the LCD showing time, date or day) but it works.
It’s not so great for reading at night, that LCD lights up well enough but being so dinky (and occasionally obscured by the hands it’s a chore to read with tired eyes and while the hands have lume, the dial on this particular version (Black and Grey) doesn’t so they are quite hard to relate to anything, but that’s a minor niggle…
I’ve taken the watch swimming, walking and wandering about, out on a couple of bike rides and hammering away in the garage, it’s done the job nicely and I found it comfy enough to wear day and night for a week without needing to take it off

So has it displaced my favourite G-shock?
No, it’s a wee bit bigger/bulkier than I would have chosen, it’s less legible at night, overall doesn’t quite do anything extra to justify a reshuffling of preference, but it will have a place in rotation for a while yet and may get used if I want a reliable (don’t forget it’s a tough solar so should be maintenance free for ~15 odd years), inexpensive, traveling/knock about watch that can be merrily dunked in water. if I had been choosing I’d probably have gone for the smaller version (AQ-S800), possibly in black and orange to add a splash of colour.
But it was definitely a good purchase, cheers mystery swapper…

Looking to sell my mont B&R 123GMT If Anyone interested?

Which brings me on nicely to an idea my watch buddy and I have been discussing. Once all the watch-swappers have received and reviewed their watches, we thought we could have a final ‘all-in’ watch-swap round, where we have the oppurtunity to trade the ‘first round’ swapped watches between ourselves (if we want to, obvs). Whaddyathink, watch swappers?

I’d thought the point was not to identify ourselves to our recipients, leave a bit of mystery. So While I know who I sent to they don’t know who sent it and I don’t know who sent that casio to me…

As to your question, Stick or Twist? I’m actually not sure if we really should, maybe voluntary swaps? there’s nothing to stop people doing that once we’ve all posted up what we were sent and if we liked it…

As to your question, Stick or Twist? I’m actually not sure if we really should, maybe voluntary swaps? there’s nothing to stop people doing that once we’ve all posted up what we were sent and if we liked it…

Yeah, that’s what I meant (I think), I meant swap within the watch-swapping group, not straight back again with your watch buddy. I may not have explained myself very well:

1) Everyone gets their watches
2) Everyone posts the photos, review and whether they like it or not.
3) If anyone wants to swap the one they got for one someone else got, and the other person is agreeable, then they do so. No compulsion, if you like the one you get initially and want to keep it, crack on.

My own idea was, pending the outcomes of this current round, would people consider another watch swap in a few months time?
possibly in the run up to Christmas…

Maybe some additional (self enforced) rules?:
-You have to buy a different brand to last time (if you took part)
-you can’t just pass on the watch you were given last time
-You have to put an anonymous note in explaining why you picked what you picked
-You have to wrap it in Christmas themed paper

Just because…

Thoughts?

Here’s the watch I received from the watch swatch….
https://photos.app.goo.gl/69F4BBaeQYLGAwcH6

I really need to learn how to show individual photos, but hoping the link takes to the correct folder.
I received a Swatch Irony. Got quite a retro look to it. With the date function reminds me of older Casio style day date. The watch size is small which I like, being a typical skinny roady I’ve only got small wrists. I’ve got a photo of the watch next to my BB which is 38mm, the swatch is a tad smaller.
It’s ultra lightweight as well. Strangely it’s not something I’d normally buy or wear but I really like it. I’ll be using it in my rotation as one of my daily beaters, and will be used for most road rides I do.
The negative, this morning when I woke up it had stopped. It’s battery operated so may just need a new battery. I reset the time earlier and it’s been working since.

That’s a smart, understated looking thing that, W00dster.

So that’s four watch-swap-watches posted I think, does that mean there’s another two waiting in the wings/post?

does that mean there’s another two waiting in the wings/post?

I’m pretty sure there’s at least yet to be received (he says having just checked the post box!), and at least one yet to be posted on here that has been received (he says checking Royal Mail Tracking!).

Seamaster is now on leather. Verdict?

@plyphon

I am a little disappointed at the OP going up in size. It was something I was giving serious consideration to at 39mm as it was like an old Air King before they ruined the dial

I’d thought the point was not to identify ourselves to our recipients, leave a bit of mystery.

Yeah, sorry about that but I tried to remedy the situation of the disliked G Shock.

Seems that most are pleased with their winnings though, which is good news, and there’s been some great bargains by the looks of it.

Seamaster on leather looks good!

Well then, my watch swap has now arrived and I have to say that I rather like it, mainly as I have nothing else like it.

It’s pretty small, maybe 35mm I guess, much smaller than anything else I own, and also much dressier. It’s also got a fresh leather strap on that works really well.

It’s clearly been worn, and there’s are a few scratches on it, but overall it’s very nice indeed.

Thanks to whoever sent it over.

That’s pretty cool that, Lunge, I do like a vintage watch.

Been on the hunt for one of these for a while. Not sure why I’m so taken with these old Hamilton Khaki watches. I’m obsessed with them.

Finally got lucky. Was waiting for the new Tudors in April but then but my name down for a black bay 58 when it everthing got cancelled. Waited a while then the blue one got announced, asked to get on the list for one but was laughed at mostly! Turned down two Black 58’s, passing them on to other internet WIS and it looks like the karma counted for something. Got called saturday from a place in Suffolk to say they had one. The had phoned 10 other people before getting to me!

I need a new g-shock. My youngest got his “adventurous” hands on mine and I’m convinced its buried in the garden. Digi only, does anyone know of any deals around by any chance?

Oh yes I also commissioned a pretty special Tudor; they did 59 of them for a group of us. I have issue 1, it’ll never be worn.

I think a brown leather strap will really finish it off and bring out the red of the second hand (and the existing strap is actually the wrong size, I don’t know if you noticed, it’s a 22 and should be a 20).

When I put a new leather strap with a deployment clasp onto my Yema, I went for black leather with red stitching which matched the face colours, (the original was brown leather with squarish tapered holes, sort of 60’s rallying-style), but I deliberately bought one slightly bigger, and cut notches in the shoulders so the strap butted up to the outside edge of the the watch pillars. It wasn’t that great a job, because the strap was thin leather with padding down the centre, so when I made up a new one, it worked much better because the leather was about 4mm thick, with a very thin goatskin liner on the back. If you can modify a leather strap this way, it haves the watch a rather more ‘solid’ appearance, to my mind. You do need a very sharp blade, a new Stanley blade, or a scalpel.
This is the first one, that I modified…

You can see how the thin leather sort of ‘flared’ out at the edges, this one I skived the leather down then trimmed it to the right size, then when I folded the end over, I enclosed a plastic tube, part of a ballpoint refill, inside and glued it, then did the stitching to make sure it all held together.

This photo shows the new strap in place, and just how grotty the old one had become, the thin soft lining had gone hard and cracked, no matter how much leather treatment I put on it; I don’t think my new one will go the same way, the goatskin is quite a hard surface, and seems to be a lot more sweat-resistant…