okat mate, I need to get this reply out of the way first...
I definitely agree that lug to lug is kinda like wheelbase, less emphasized but perhaps more significant.
Sinn 556 is sick! blue or black? Oris Aquis is dope too, the diver 65 is one of my favourites and possibly something I will shell out for at some point the 40mm one with the 6 oclock date window. Worse specs than the aquis but I'm a big fan of the look, how thin it is and the domed sapphire crystal. In my head it would look sick on a jubilee but not sure how I could make that work.
A Black bay 36 with a black dial would be sick, I'm a big fan of round indices though the way the triangle markers are super pointy on the lorier neptune makes the round indices look slightly out of place imo, but still a great piece with great specs.
I feel like I'm slowly climbing out of this rabbithole, having sold my hamilton and being satisfied with a modded skx and casio a168w (which I've been wearing 90% of the time lately because I'm skating a good amount). There haven't been any mid ranged or affordable pieces that have really caught my eye tbh.
I've thought about getting a silver metal gshock square, essentially a beefed up casio but could skate in too, but not really worth the price tag. And if I'm going to spend proper money on it then it best be damn near perfect, and the only ones that I'm really really into are the 40mm oris diver 65, the Rolex 116000 (definitely my favourite Rolex, essentially the explorer 3 6 9 but blue dial and smaller without mercedes hands), and the iwate grand seiko that hodinkee did a video on, that thing is crazy sick.
yes, you get it! lug to lug is nearly the most important dimension there is!
I'll post my Sinn later because, well because it's literally that epic!
65 diver is a great watch, don't get me wrong, I even owned one at one point. My beef with them is that for retail they go the same as an Aquis and I couldn't justify that when the Aquis goes down to 300m, has a ceramic bezel and the finishing/ bracelet that is pretty close to what Omega is doing. I also got my Aquis for 50% off retail + $200 cash back in points that I can use for online shopping. Look at this fucking thing will you:
6 o'clock date windows rock and that was a cool thing about the 65 too. Imho though, the bezels the 65 is a tad too thin and makes the dial look big, if they made it in 38mm (the 36 is too small), it would be easier to twist my arm. The bracelet is the bomb though and it absolutely nails it in the looks dept. Oris imho is one of the better brands out there and I think they are heavily underrated. Oris big crown date pointer is another beautiful watch that I'd probably own if Aquis' weren't such a good value proposition.
I want the BB36 in blue actually but either color would be great. the lorier, funnily enough, is what got me sparked on it because it was my first non-date and it was just so clean. I can see what you mean about the indices, it's a minor thing for me, kinda makes it look like crosshairs! either way, great watch for $400, the finishing punches way above its weight!
funny you mention the Rollie 14000, I was just drolling over this the other day:
https://arbitro.shop/shop/rolex/rolex-air-king-14000-blue-dial/ thinking that I should just sell all my watches bar a g-shock/ diver and be a one watch guy .... LOL like that'll ever happen!
I quite like the salmon version too!
I have a blacked out g-shock I skate in, couldn't bring myself to pay for the metal one, too many other good watches out there in that price range.