u/rhenderson64

In Las Vegas for my 62nd birthday and no luck at the tabes but scored this luck find at the HOROLOGIO store at the Venetian. Not on display. Only one they had because another client didn’t pick it up. 39mm on 7.3” wrist. I think I could do either 42 or 39mm but this was in the moment, lol. Not bad. Taking it swimming today.

IMO, Longines is really knocking it out of the park. Beautiful, well finished watches that offer tremendous value and quality for the price. Every time i put one on wrist, I’m like Wow!!

The Spirit Pilot, Zulu Time (both 39mm), and now Conquest are awesome. Conquest is 41mm and feels like a dream on my 7.33” wrist.

Thinking very hard now about Hydroconquest (who isn’t right), Legend Diver, and Avigation Big Eye. All I’d love to have.

Picked up my first premium Seiko Marine Master 200 over the Father’s Day weekend. Really love the look of this blue dial and metallic bezel insert. Had a choice between the black SJE101 and this blue. Hard decision because I do love black but I also have an SPB453 and I felt like they were too similar. As is I think they compliment each other. Happy I went with the blue. It is really a pretty nice watch. Very impressed with the accuracy. So far I’m observing +2 seconds a day. Performing much better than the stated specs. The bracelet feels premium although the clasp seems typical much like the clasp on my SPB453. Overall, I’m very happy. I have a 7.33 inch wrist for reference. I’m starting to gravitate more toward 39mm to 40mm watches where I usually would wear something in the 42 to 44 mm range. Thoughts?

Just picked up the D4 Meridian in 39 mm and wanted to ask opinions regarding size on my 7.33” wrist. I had a hard time deciding between 39 mm and 42 mm. They were out of the 42 mm in black and was just restocked in the 39 mm size. Thought I would give it a try since it seems a very popular size. Thoughts? Does it look too small?

With the 2026 release of the Longines Hydroconquest, has anyone noticed the similarities with the MIDO Ocean Star Captain? Looking specifically at the 42mm versions for comparison. The MIDO was originally released in 2016 and has the following specifications:

Case Size=42.5mm
Case Height =11.7mm
22mm lug width
L2L of 48.5 mm
200m water resistance
ETA C07.651 automatic movement
Sapphire crystal with AR coating
Stainless Steel bracelet secured with screws and on the fly dive extension
80 hours power reserve
Signed Screw down crown

The Hydroconquest comes in at:

Case Size=42mm
Case Height = 11.7mm
21mm lug width
L2L of 51.2mm
300m water resistance
L888.5 (ETA) movement
Sapphire crystal with double AR coating
Stainless steal bracelet with micro adjust
72 hours power reserve
Signed Screw down crown

Neither are COSC certified. Given the similar case height and dimensions (with exception of Longines being a bit longer in the L2L), I expect these to wear very similar.

The MIDO is half the retail of the Longines at $1,100 USD and can be had on the grey market for under $700 new.

Did Longines just “cut and paste” MIDO with a few updates? Is the quality comparable? I own the MIDO and have been considering the Longines but wondering if it’s worth the cost for basically the same watch (or not).

Interested to hear others thoughts. Below are some pictures of my MIDO Ocean Star and a few stock pics of the Longines for reference.

Wrist size is 7.33” for reference.

Current collection including some older Seiko Kinetic models from the 90’s. New additions featuring Longines Spirit Pilot, Tudor Bb54 Lagoon Blue, Seiko SSC961 Speedtimer, SPB453 62MAS, and Vaer Dirty Dozen 40mm. Also trying some Bond style NATO straps.