u/Most-Construction-35

Do we call this a Seiko 62MAS Homage?

I haven’t been able to keep it on one strap since I got it a week back, each one looks great on it.

What are your best straps? Any suggestions / recommendations would be much appreciated.

Having owned the HC 39 for about 2 months, I am quite surprised that the L888.5 movement has been the most accurate one, at +2/3 secs, among much more expensive peers in my collection with in-house, METAS and COSC certified movements. All the other watches are relatively new and well within their service due periods.

This isn’t a lottery based one off as I owned the Heritage Conquest with a variant of the same movement and it was within +2/3 secs accuracy as well.

Personally, movement accuracy doesn’t matter too much to me as long as it is not +- 10/15 secs or above like the Seikos. The reason I mention this is I see way too many folks across undermining Longines’ ETA based movements because they may not be in-house or certified under METAS / COSC (especially in comparison to Tudors) but trust me you are getting a well regulated, reliable and serviceable movement with a 72 power reserve, silicon balance spring and brilliant accuracy. You just save money as you don’t pay for those certifications.

Majority of the ‘preference’ opinions about watches online are based off dimensions like dial size, lug to lug and thickness. Most of them are formed based on images and videos people ‘see’ online. These are often misleading considering:

1. Wrist shapes are not uniform: the diameter of your wrist compared to someone else’s you see online isn’t comparable, wrist shapes vary beyond diameter and how it fits on your wrist will be significantly different to how it fits on theirs.

2. Camera Lenses/ Angles Skew Reality: a 24/28/35 mm lense view on most iPhones and the distance from which the picture/ video is taken will skew how the watch looks so much that it’s not real.

3. Volumetric form vs L-H-W dimensions: Volumetric form cannot be expressed well enough based on Length, Height and Width. A slab sided watch like a Tudor Chrono at 14.5 mm is light and day apart from a curved and crafted watch like a Seamaster 300 M at 13.5 mm. Case shape defines how the watch looks and wears on the wrist and it can’t be captured with 3 measurements.

3. Lug to Lug measurements: Lug to Lug measurements do not capture aspects like curved / straight lugs, caseback style, bracelet endlink flexibility etc.

Essentially, I appreciate that most people do not have access to visit ADs / Boutiques of all brands within a 10 min radius of where they live but forming opinions based on videos/ pictures or articles and then being rigid about such opinions gives you a very inaccurate view.

Do not judge or disregard watches based on such opinions from YouTubers / Redditors / Instagram and try on the watch in person on your wrist, several times, few days apart. That’s only real way to know what suits you.

A Seamaster 300M at 42 mm isn’t too big for most people. A Sub wears much bigger than what the dimensions suggest. A Longines Zulu Time at 39 mm won’t fit most flat wrists perfectly owing to its long, straight and pointed lugs. etc.

Note: Pictures aren’t the best quality and aren’t perfect but they are based on my own collection

I have been changing up and experimenting with different strap combos on my Seamaster 300 M after taking it off the OEM bracelet after 3 years of ownership, just to change things up. After trying the typical fkm rubber and sailcloth combos, I put it on an alligator leather strap with an aftermarket deployant clasp and I think I like this the best. I would 100% wear this with a suit. The ceramic bezel and dial go well with the alligator leather in my opinion to dress it up.

I have been into watches for over 10 years and had the Cartier Santos on and off my shortlist over the period. I finally went for it a few weeks back and it’s been amazing. I get the hype and praise about this watch now. So thin, comfortable and elegant on the wrist and can be worn just as well with jeans as it can be with a suit.

I have bought a fair share of $150-$200 premium leather straps from aggressively marketed US/UK/ Singapore based companies like Anchor, Strap Tailor & Delugs. After initially feeling weird paying that amount of money for a strip of leather, I paid up thinking it’s the price for getting a strap befitting the quality of my +$5-10k watches.

Earlier this week, I ordered a bunch of cheap straps from reputed stores on Ali Express Straps from the following official stores:

1. Hemsut Official Store (Casual Leather)
2. Maikes Official Store (Dressy Leather)
3. Juelong Official Store (Fkm Rubber)
4. Tonjett Official Store (Delugs style CTS Rubber)

Initially I was pleasantly surprised by my latest purchase but then a bit bitter about how I was taken for a ride for 10x pricing by these premium brands that feed watch YouTubers.

The quality and QC on the expensive ones is ‘slightly’ better but the 10x pricing is absurd.

Note: The brown leather strap is Strap Tailor’s Badalassi Wax Strap that is sold around $160 and the Black is from Hemsut on Aliexpress that I got for around $15. The brown one looks nicer / shiny primarily because it’s a year old and the leather has patina on it and absorbed mink oil over the period.

What are your thoughts?

Omega just released a new chronograph diver supposedly worn by the the spy in the new James Bond video game.

Oddly enough, it’s based on the ceramic dial platform. So is the main Seamaster 300M line (future launches) still Ceramic Dial + Ceramic Bezel?

Was the aluminium bezel retro Seamaster Omega launched just a one off?

I hope it is. 😁

I owned the SPB509J1 (Marine Master GMT) for over a year as my beater/travel watch before I sold it. I bought it for around $1,750.

It was a beautiful watch with a stunning dial and case. However, there were always few aspects that kept me from really accepting the watch.

Dial looked brilliant in the sun but in majority of other lighting (especially indoors) it looked grainy and plasticky
Bracelet! it was too bulky and Seiko for some reason just isn’t able to come up with a refined bracelet and adjustable clasp that can compete even with micro brands let alone Swiss brands. I tried the Seiko with several other options including a rubber strap and a mesh bracelet but couldn’t quite find a sweet spot.
Movement! The 6R54 is notorious for being a hit or a glaring miss. Unfortunately for me, it never ran more accurate than the mentioned +15-20secs per day.

Few weeks after I sold the Seiko, I ended up buying the new Longines Hydro Conquest 39 at $2,000 and that watch literally slaps the Seiko out of the same for not much more money.

Exceptional wearability, an extremely refined bracelet and clasp with micro adjustments, a robust L.888.5 ETA modified movement with a silicone spring and +3-4 secs accuracy.

I love Seiko but I feel the higher end watches don’t make sense for the price in comparison to some other watches

This is now my 3rd Longines in the last 12 months as I believe in putting my money where my mouth is.

I waited for the hype around the HC to pass before deciding if this will be my new beater / travel watch. I get it, I get all the hype.

I am not sure if there is any dive watch I could recommend to anyone below $6,000 (SMP 300M Ceramic). This checks all boxes on the spec sheet and is absolutely stunning in terms of looks and wearability.

I have owned this watch for over 3 years, love it to the core!

While it may not be the popular opinion, I love it best on the steel bracelet, I feel it compliments the look and weight balance of the watch perfectly.

However, I had a spare rubber strap (Horus) lying around and thought about taking the watch off the bracelet for the summer. I kind of like the result.

I was skeptical if the colour would compliment the black and red on the dial but I think it’s great.

I am now contemplating if it makes sense to get a OEM rubber strap with a deployant clasp, what do you folks think?

Context:
I have been collecting watches since I was 14-15 years old (currently in my mid-30s). Started out with Casios, Seikos, Citizens etc. and in the last 7-8 years I have had the good fortune/misfortune of moving up the ladder into nicer watches.

Lately, after having a volatile collection of over 15-20 watches over the last decade, I have come up with a more structured philosophy to instill some discipline and order to this madness.

Philosophy:

1. Number of Watches: The collection would need to be capped at 6 watches (no magic number, just allows me to wear all my watches often enough as I would like).
2. No Brand Overlap: There must be no more than 1 watch per brand. Allows for more diversity in technology, style and craft.
3. No Style Overlap: There must be no style overlap, at one point I had 70% of my collection as dive watches, over time I realised they all look the same on the wrist and thus I would like to limit this.

Current collection:

1. IWC Pilot Chronograph 41mm
2. Zenith Defy Skyline
3. Omega Seamaster 300M 210.30.42.20.01.001
4. Longines Avigation BigEye Titanium
5. Longines Heritage Conquest 40mm
6. Rolex GMT Master Batgirl

Future Shortlist:

1. Cartier Santos Medium (white dial) -> Replaces Longines Heritage Conquest as the ‘Dressy’ one

2. Grand Seiko SBGA025 Atera Valley -> Replaces Longines Avigation Chrono (Chrono pilot overlap with IWC)

What do you guys feel could be potential cases for entry into this collection (1 in 1 out policy)?