Watches

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

@artskool you’d love the CWC, such a great little tool watch with a deep history to boot!

***
Here’s my new Seiko:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj1qHe2LvR9/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
If I’m being honest the SKX still beats it, but it’s a great cheap alternative especially considering how much Skx013s for these days…

[Andrefosho]

Tried on the Astron... it's too nice. Pardon the hairy wrist.


Meanwhile, a nice nato strap will suffice on my daily driver.

[doctorkickflip]

Dude I love that dial type, not sure what it's called but the omega globemaster has a similar one and I can't stop thinking about it

[artskool]

This thread is harsh. I thought it was bad that the slap board always has me wanting new shoes and decks, but watches are actual adult money. At least most of the people on the guitar thread like cheap guitars.

I keep looking at blue air kings, no date, but I think they're still way too much dough to blow.

Totally different vibe, but I like the green Seiko alpinist SPB121J1 lately too.

Will probably skip it and buy a plane ticket someplace instead though.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

@Andrefosho the astron looks good on you, size doesn’t look overbearing!

@artskool tell me about it! I really want a 14000 blue airking too, but I’ll have to bounce both the Tudor and my Seamaster which is a big hit to my collection. Cathedral hands are dope on the alpinist, I like the newer smaller prospect verisons though with the fume-style dials and no 2nd pusher.

[breezer]

Heading overseas and I have picked my Moonswatch as a fun travel watch. The Tudor Sub did pass its pressure test, but at this stage I would rather not wear it in the water......or leave it on the beach.

And the good news is that where I'm headed, Western Australia, has bunch of great new & old parks to hit....Freemantle, Busselton, Bunbury, Albany etc....

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

@breezer the moonswatch will serve you well, have fun down under!

***
tried on a 37mm longines spirit in blue and a blancpain 38mm bathyschaph on the weekend.
Really liked the spirit in blue, the blancpain is WAY outside of my budget but the 100 hour power reserve and the look of the movement itself is so dreamy, possible exit watch? I kinda feel like it shoulda been 37mm though...
The guy at the watchshop gave me props on my 90s SMP so I knew he had a clue

[doctorkickflip]

@breezer the moonswatch will serve you well, have fun down under!

***
tried on a 37mm longines spirit in blue and a blancpain 38mm bathyschaph on the weekend.
Really liked the spirit in blue, the blancpain is WAY outside of my budget but the 100 hour power reserve and the look of the movement itself is so dreamy, possible exit watch? I kinda feel like it shoulda been 37mm though...
The guy at the watchshop gave me props on my 90s SMP so I knew he had a clue

Always thought the 50 fathoms was a really cool watch but yeah.... the price. Oof. Do think it's pretty amazing that they treat the solid gold rotor in such a way that it becomes black/gunmetal. But again the instant I hear the words "solid gold rotor" I come to the understanding that I will always be appreciating it from afar lol. 

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Expand Quote

@breezer the moonswatch will serve you well, have fun down under!

***
tried on a 37mm longines spirit in blue and a blancpain 38mm bathyschaph on the weekend.
Really liked the spirit in blue, the blancpain is WAY outside of my budget but the 100 hour power reserve and the look of the movement itself is so dreamy, possible exit watch? I kinda feel like it shoulda been 37mm though...
The guy at the watchshop gave me props on my 90s SMP so I knew he had a clue

[close]

Always thought the 50 fathoms was a really cool watch but yeah.... the price. Oof. Do think it's pretty amazing that they treat the solid gold rotor in such a way that it becomes black/gunmetal. But again the instant I hear the words "solid gold rotor" I come to the understanding that I will always be appreciating it from afar lol. 

yeah, that movement is a true work of art but I doubt 99.9% of the population could appreciate the level that BP are on. Their marketing dept. certainly needs a revamp. I honestly doubt I'll ever be able to cop any of their product so I too will appreciate from afar, but I also feel like they should have just made a mid-size fifty fathoms instead because that design would appeal to a wider audience...  or they should have stuck with the OG bathyscaphe design which is very 62 mas-esque.
Also just found out that the movement in the bathyscaphe doesn’t hack lol

[breezer]

Also just found out that the movement in the bathyscaphe doesn’t hack lol

Yeh it seems weird on a high end time piece……I really like the Zenith El Primero Shadow Revival……but again, it don’t hack! 

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Also just found out that the movement in the bathyscaphe doesn’t hack lol

Yeh it seems weird on a high end time piece……I really like the Zenith El Primero Shadow Revival……but again, it don’t hack! 

seems strange to go to that much trouble to build an in-house movement only to have it not hack. Having said that the Blancpain is +/- 4 sec a day and keeps within those specs consistently over the 100 hours which is pretty impressive. I probably should have tried on zenith too, they have some 36mm models. We’re getting into ridiculous watch territory though, even if I sold everything I own, I wouldn’t be anywhere near blancpain budget, whereas at least I could get a second hand air king and still keep my Skx013 if I bounced my collection. Perhaps the blancpain will be a retirement watch, after I’ve given the other pieces to the kids …
Also, this needs to be in their regular catalog:
https://www.blancpain.com/ja/fifty-fathoms/bathyscaphe-limited-edition-hodinkee

[baggy spandex]

@Andrefosho the astron looks good on you, size doesn’t look overbearing!

@artskool tell me about it! I really want a 14000 blue airking too, but I’ll have to bounce both the Tudor and my Seamaster which is a big hit to my collection. Cathedral hands are dope on the alpinist, I like the newer smaller prospect verisons though with the fume-style dials and no 2nd pusher.

That’s the “baby alpinist” right? I keep looking at that one (I prefer the black/grey dial) and really dig the simplicity of it and the price seems decent. Didn’t know what that dial style was called but it’s nice!

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Expand Quote

@Andrefosho the astron looks good on you, size doesn’t look overbearing!

@artskool tell me about it! I really want a 14000 blue airking too, but I’ll have to bounce both the Tudor and my Seamaster which is a big hit to my collection. Cathedral hands are dope on the alpinist, I like the newer smaller prospect verisons though with the fume-style dials and no 2nd pusher.

[close]

That’s the “baby alpinist” right? I keep looking at that one (I prefer the black/grey dial) and really dig the simplicity of it and the price seems decent. Didn’t know what that dial style was called but it’s nice!

yes that’s the one, really really nice watch
For the price, I’ve tried one on! I’m a sucker for cathedral hands too btw!
Actual fume dials (and I’m not really well versed in them tbh) apparently are only reserved for super high-end watches, but for aesthetics purposes the “style” of the dial on the baby alpinist is called fume, gets used a lot recently, I dig the look personally.

[pica]

It‘s been a while since i posted here… in july i went to an AD and shared my interest in the upcoming tudor ranger. i tried it on a few weeks later and liked it but realized it would just be a substitute for the explorer 1 i‘ve been eying for years (even more since it downsized to 36mm) I had a great watch chat with the ad  for about 30min and also tried on the blackbay 36.
At the end to my surprise he asked
Me if he should put my name on the list for the explorer and told me to expect 1,5 to 2 Years waiting time.

I thought it was just a way to get rid of me.
Yet 3 months later he called me and told me how he really enjoyed the watch talk and offerd me to pick up my brand new 124270.

I never thought it could be that easy. I was checking prices and looking on chrono for a long time. Yet all it took was going to an official dealer and talking to them. They treatet me great although i have never been there and came in wearing cut off dickies and a vintage tshirt. 
So here it is: 


Actually it was a great experience. I wouldnt even
Have thought if going to a official rolex dealer with all the horror stories of extra purchases and people not even getting a foot in the door.
Maybe i was just lucky but i had a Great AD and could get the watch for regular retail as a first time client no strings attatched no extra buys, nothing.   
He even called me to pick it up 4 days before rolex raised their prices as the do every year in november.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

@pica was wondering what happened to you, did you flip your vintage Rolex too? Congrats on the explorer, it’s your exit watch right? How does it compare to the black bay 36 interns of fit/ finish?
Also, tried on a op 36 in green for shits and giggles (in a grey market shop that wanted to charge 20k for it!) and the thing that tripped me out was the new clasp, it’s like a fake doubled folded clasp that doesn’t double fold if that makes sense? What’s the clasp on the explorer like? You’re kinda inspiring me to flip me whole collection for one watch but there’s just so many other temptations out there…
Either way, you win this thread!!! Congrats once again

[pica]

Nah i keep everything also the vintage airking. I took one link out of the bracelet and now it fits my wife on the smallest and my wrist on the biggest quick adjust. With the increasing prices of rolex watches there was no point in selling the old one if i didn‘t have to(yet they dropped a little bit in the past few weeks).

Yeah the explorer was something i wanted for a a long time so as for now i dont habe the urge to aquire and other watch.

With the new more tapered bracelet it feels slightly slimmer than the black bay, also the snowflake hands made the small dial look so full. Also when i tried it on the watch seemed more polished and flashy if that makes sense Less of a tool warch vibe than the explorer. I still think its a great watch.

I like the new explorer clasp much more than the one on the previos model, yet it took me a minute to get used to it since its pretty much the same clasp as on the vintage oysters but with a savety buckle. It looks like a glidelock clasp but without the glidelock function.

Again i wouldnt have bought it for after/greymarket prices.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Thanks @pica looks like the explorer has a different clasp than the OPs then. Good to hear you are keeping your collection.
I could get why the BB36 looks a little more blingy, the bezel and sides of the cases are highly polished, I don’t find the dial to be too small or cluttered though, I actually find it wears a tad big for 36 (when say compared to my SMP) but that’s because the side of the case is so blocky, it’s just a big slab that gives it some more heft and makes it look thicker than it actually is. I’ve actually had mine up for sale but after wearing it for the last 3 days, I’ve kinda decided that it actually is a lot more watch than I give it credit for, some will say poor man’s explorer but it is more than that imho, esp with the blue dial. You can dress it down quite easily and it doesn’t look out of place in regular/ casual clothes. I think the 150m wr also gives it a slight edge over the explorer in terms of versatility. I don’t doubt you could dive in a explorer either though and let’s face it: our watches are lucky to see a swimming pool so it’s not like you’re ever gonna test it to its full capabilities.

Have you seen the new two-toned BB36 with jubilee bracelet? Looks like they upgraded the movement to in-house and gave it 70 hours power reserve too which seems cool on paper, but Tudor for me has always been attractive because they DON’T use in-house movements, in spite of that you get similar finishing to that of Rolex; best of both worlds. Either way, I think I’m going to spend some more time with BB36 because in years to come I think it might even be a classic. Funny thing is that you can’t even find any here on the second hand market at the moment and I went into a Tudor AD the other day and they had a tonne of 41s and 32s, but no 36s…

Okay, so I was out and about yesterday in a biggish city so I decided to drop into a few different watch places for shits and giggles, being in Japan I tried on a couple of grand seikos and while they do have some 36-37mm models, I just can’t really ever see myself rocking one because they are just too slick. Maybe if I needed a dedicated work watch it might work, but I don’t really see myself working somewhere where I’ll have to wear a suit every single day.
Anyway, here are the watches that I saw in the steel that impressed me:

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdZ15hsh8p4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Great looking dial, small case (although the cushion style around the dial pushes it out), ridics looking movement, solid horological history, retro vibes, this one nails it in the looks dept. Having said that, the bracelet felt like a joke for a 10k watch. There’s a blacked out titanium (or carbon) shadow version with no date that looks pretty badass!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf3jUgIBUTO/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNuAdSwrC1_/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Okay wow! This thing actually took my breath away and literally melted onto my wrist, I’m heavily thinking about flipping everything I own now to get one. THAT is how you do a tool watch, completely brushed and so unassuming. Unless you’re a watch head, you wouldn’t even know how much it costed, although there is a lot of subtitles when you start to look at it. If this had in house movement (the new mark 20 models do but no 36mm version yet) then I feel like this is a great contender when it comes to the explorer. That dial balance!!! I don’t think I’ve ever been that instantly blown away by a watch: to the top of my grail list you go IWC!

[doctorkickflip]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNuAdSwrC1_/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Okay wow! This thing actually took my breath away and literally melted onto my wrist, I’m heavily thinking about flipping everything I own now to get one. THAT is how you do a tool watch, completely brushed and so unassuming. Unless you’re a watch head, you wouldn’t even know how much it costed, although there is a lot of subtitles when you start to look at it. If this had in house movement (the new mark 20 models do but no 36mm version yet) then I feel like this is a great contender when it comes to the explorer. That dial balance!!! I don’t think I’ve ever been that instantly blown away by a watch: to the top of my grail list you go IWC!

Not a fan of the IWC logo but that bracelet looks SO nice.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

The bracelet is what did it for me, although they don’t have a 36 version, the spitfire comes on a nato that was pretty underwhelming tbh, but the bracelet on this thing is FIRE! Apparently it also has on the fly adjustment system but I didn’t get to try it out. IWC never did much for me either, but this particular model in the flesh won me over!

[pica]

Yeah i saw the bicolour BB 36. just as the bicolour explorer i don‘t feel the vibe. I just don‘t think it fits/suits a watch that still is a field/tool watch.

How much would you habe sold the tudor for?

I saw one recently for 1,9k euros. (Black dial)

I feel the blue dial is more sought after.

Also that IWC look sick.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Yeah i saw the bicolour BB 36. just as the bicolour explorer i don‘t feel the vibe. I just don‘t think it fits/suits a watch that still is a field/tool watch.

How much would you habe sold the tudor for?

I saw one recently for 1,9k euros. (Black dial)

I feel the blue dial is more sought after.

Also that IWC look sick.

fair enough regarding two-tone BB, I was kinda more surprised they upgraded the movement to in-house tbh.
I had my blue BB36 up on mercari with a Erika’s parachute strap, bracelet + boxes etc. for 300,000 yen and people were genuinely interested. 300,000 yen in my account without fees and I probably would have sold it, but as I said I’ve kinda fallen back in love. The blue almost feels enamel in its look. Not sure what overseas is like atm, but you hardly ever see them in Japan and they’ve also switched to selitta movement now if you care about that stuff (my one is an ETA that runs +1 sec a day)
The IWC is crazy comfortable. It has some downfalls (non-in-house movement and bad lume) but for the right price (not retail) I’d be interested to pick one up 2nd hand. “Is it worth 2k more than the BB36?” is a criticism I read about in a local review.  Personally I don’t think so, but it is a very sexy watch and the bracelet melts onto your wrist like a fabric strap.

[breezer]

Re the IWC, I would go vintage - look for a nice mark XII with tritium.

Back on the chrono discussion I would love an Orfina / Porsche design chrono - Ideally an NOS one coated in green pvd, but the black ones are nice too. You pay almost double for the ones with Military on the dial.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Vintage/ tritium IWC ain’t cheap either!
***
Tried on one of these:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck30tc_pFcb/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
Don’t hate the design, on the fly bracelet adjustment is fire , but the bezel play was a joke!

Thought this would wear well for a 36mm:
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChzkZYYriK4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Was tiny and that’s coming from someone who likes small watches 
The old superoceans look so much better imho:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQzAzmQrr8m/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

New watch alert:
https://www.instagram.com/p/ClACOLWha4c/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Pretty fucking clean design and the fabric strap is actually really good quality. Not labelled as Seiko 5, but it looks to be the predecessor of the snk series…

[breezer]

Looking good - here’s one for ya - new Nivada Grenchen super Antarctic

https://nivadagrenchenofficial.com/collections/antarctic/products/super-antarctic-3-6-9-tropical

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Looking good - here’s one for ya - new Nivada Grenchen super Antarctic

https://nivadagrenchenofficial.com/collections/antarctic/products/super-antarctic-3-6-9-tropical

nice, would have sized it 36mm for an explorer inspired watch. I’d really like to see one of their chronomaster divers in the flesh though, love how they have a tonne of options for dial configs and movement types!

[breezer]

What’s 2mm between friends? Smiths over at Timefactors do a nice explorer homage but I would go with their rendition of a Commando.

[PistachiYo]

If there's one thing I've learned from browsing through this thread, it's that GISM never wastes a chance to mention that most watches should be smaller.