r/HomageWatches

What's on your wrist today?

As a kid I celebrated our nation's Bicentennial in 1976 not far from Washington, DC, brimming with pride and hope for the future. The last 50 years have been a bumpy ride, but here is hoping for a better next 50 years. Happy Birthday, America!

Tl;dr: Beautiful, nicely done and really affordable 62GS homages with original dials. These guys are now one of my trusted brands that I’ll buy from regularly without thinking twice.

I’ve already reviewed some other brands with similar stone dials with our without GS style case and bracelets. I like them and wear them with pleasure. I’ve seen a short video of the Terra Gaia (the first one) in a sub and wanted to give those guys a try. It was the right decision.

The dials are really well made, exactly like in their videos. Not shelf watches, nothing eccentric or absurd. Perfect dailies. The markers and hands look amazing to the naked eye. At this point I don’t check mirror polished angles under a 20x microscope. The same applies for the generic sweep second VH31 movement. Makes the watch even more affordable and even if I haven’t faced any issues with a pt5000 yet, i still tend to pick vh31 if possible. The case is very similar to the Grand Seiko 62GS design, the most visible difference being the crown position. The bracelet is also nicely made and comfortable. No issues with the clasp at all. There’s not much to share in terms of quality and design as the photos speak for themselves so I want to share my experience with Aethelsohn.

Customer service: I asked a question about an out of stock watch and received an answer within a couple of hours. The responses were quick, professional and friendly.

Shipping: I ordered two watches. They shipped them as separate packages despite me paying for a single shipment. The reason? Customs duties in Europe. With this small, unasked for detail, they saved me around 20%. What a thoughtful gesture. Waiting time was 9 days which was also impressive.

My shopping cart isn’t empty yet. I just wanted to get a first impression before placing a complete order. I’m satisfied and will get the remaining soon. Out of hundreds, these have earned a spot in my current 100+ collection. They will stay for a long time and will be worn regularly.

Im rocking my SM BB58 (AKA) the rich man’s Tudor cause it leaves you with $4,300 in your pocket to focus on other things😅

This year on Father's Day, I was gifted this watch. I have always loved Damascus steel, and I have collected it for years. I recently began collecting Titanium Damascus (Timascus)/Damascus steel knives. Lately, a few watchmakers have explored wavy timascus cases, and they were almost compelling....

When Aethelsohn came out with their Horizon Forge Timascus Dial, I instantly fell in love with it. I knew I wanted the watch, even though I had never heard of Aethelsohn. Their obvious/blatant copy/homage of Seiko's GS reassured me that I would likely like the case design, which I do. It is well executed, compact, and well finished with a PT5000 movement nested inside. If you want to know its exact dimensions, I recommend you check out the Aethelson specification page.That's not the purpose of this photologue review.

The glorious dial is brushed titanium in the layered damascus style, acid washed to bring out the myriad colors. Then, it is sealed so it will maintain its current look. If it patinas in the future, I will be okay with it.

The watch case is intermitently brushed and polished, with chamfers on top and bottom of the side case. I think the case is well done, but the photos will allow you to make up your own mind.

The bracelet, though not perfect, aspires to a high quality standard. Its reticulation is buttery smooth (I do polish all my new bracelets to clean and deburr them before first wear). It is not noisy, though it does make some noise when jangled off wrist. The male endlinks protrude little and hang straight down. But there are both positives and negatives to it overall. On the positive side, the screw pins for the links are barrels that span the entire shaft (See photo 11). The bracelet's intermittent brushing and polishing continues in the GS tradition. The contact edges of the bracelet are somewhere between crisp and smooth, though there is nothing sharp that could scratch. Adjusting 3 of these bracelets has been a pleasure. The quality of the screw pins is most reassuring, guiding one through a basically foolproof process, as long as you remember which screw goes in which link.

The watch is well made with mostly good QC. As a new watchmaker with a specific budget, I understand not everything is going to be perfect, and there will be slip-ups and growth pains. Having said this, they really could have assigned better hands to this watch, especially since these hands go in almost everything they produce. Though the dial of this watch steals the show, it also carries hands that traverse it, yet do not match its glory. At first I thought they were 2 dimensional, but they are 3D. They are just nowhere on the level of a Cronos or SM. Fortunately, from a distance, you will not notice issues, but upon closer examination with the naked eye, you can clearly see the rough edges of the hands visible (See photos 16 and 17, which otherwise show off the beautiful dial). I will note here that the lume on this watch is exceptional, on the level with a my Cronos GS Silver Birch. I wish I had thought to put them side by side for the lume test (See photo 20). Photo 20 can not be posted because it is a hybrid video, which I did not know could not be added along with photos. I will try to add it inline.

As good as the bracelet is overall, there was a significant finishing issue with the otherwise solid OTF clasp on mine. The underside finish has a groove ground into it from over processing, which is creating a "hot spot" on the link beneath it (See photo 18). I will be able to sand this out without an issue, but it exists. Fortunately, neither of our other two Aethelsohns (Shard and Charoite) suffer from this spurious QC issue.

Overall, this watch is special. Sure, it's a well made GS clone, and that helps. But it is the unique dial on this one that makes it stand out and will make it my go-to watch for all appropriate occasions-- regardless of its hands and clasp faults. The dial from a distance looks to be a beautiful royal blue, which helps it fly somewhat under the radar until someone gets closer to you. Then, they will not help but notice the tigerlike stripes of the dial with its intermittent purples, blues and reds. I am sure it will be a great conversation starter.

When I say i will be wearing this watch for all appropriate occasions, I mean this watch is not meant for all occasions, i.e. heavy physical activity where it might get knocked around. Then again, neither is a Grand Seiko. The bezel does not allow for you to function in hard-surfaced areas without potential ding consequences, so don't wear it cleaning stainless steel like I did. 😅 I can beat this watch up though, because I will never get rid of it. And I will always wear it proudly as my Father's Day gift.

Please enjoy the views, and forgive me for making so many collages. I obviously don't know how to limit my posts to 20 photos. 😁

If you have any questions about something I may have left out, please feel free to ask. I have other photos I can still add as answers to Qs.

As always, thanks for looking.

Full disclosure: I recently made a video on the Addiesdive AD2054, and upon finishing it, I realized I still have a question I’m hoping the community can help me settle.

While the marketing for this model explicitly states that the case is 316L stainless steel, I’ve noticed that for the bracelet, they simply list it as "stainless steel." The bracelet actually feels solid and performs well, but after looking into the specs, I realized I still don’t know if this is truly 316L or a different alloy.

Has anyone here had theirs long enough to know if this bracelet holds up long-term, or does anyone have a more definitive spec source than the standard product listings? I’ve included my look at the watch here
if you're interested.

https://youtu.be/WVsdGWM2vcs

What is your experience with the stock AD2054 bracelet? Does it hold up to daily wear, or have you swapped it out?

That lume hits different… easily one of our favorite details on this release.

Fully applied Super‑LumiNova BGW9 for strong brightness and clean blue glow. Powered by Ronda 515GMT ⚙️

Like a legendary Seiko. And Seiko movement NH36.

Watchdives WD007 v4 titanium homage to the SMP300 with a generic AliExpress tri-color NATO strap.

Dial looks calm in some angles, then a lot more textured in others.
Trying to figure out where it lands for most people — daily or occasional piece?

I just got my new Eniton S1085S and it is really a beautiful watch. The finish is really nice. It is not thick but medium slim. It does have the curved case and glass. The MOP dial is very nice 👍. Overall a really well made watch.