Received my EXD SL3001 in titanium today in the mail, and was disappointed to find that it was dead on arrival. I’m no stranger to mechanical watches, and figured it just needed a wind. I gave the crown some turns and lightly tapped on the back. The second hand would run for a few seconds and then stop altogether. Opened up the case back to find a disturbing amount of dust and debris in the movement. I’m used to PT5000 movements, but this is my first Peacock SL3001. I’m not sure if this was just a QC oversight, but I’m very disappointed in the cleanliness of the movement. For what it’s worth, the watch itself is amazing. The AR is fantastic, the titanium is beautifully finished, and the lume blocks are incredibly bright. I reached out to WD to see what assistance they’ll offer, but wanted to post here in case anyone else runs into issues with this specific model. Also not sure what’s going on with the double lug holes in the last pic?

Tried this extended-end FKM strap on a few different Watchdives models.
It’s soft FKM rubber with a light textured finish, and it works with the original end links, so the fit looks a bit cleaner than a regular straight-end strap.
Gives the watch a sportier look without changing the overall feel too much.
A few people asked about this strap before, so just sharing some photos now that it’s available.
Which combo do you like best?

Got to say I’m impressed, very impressed. Watch arrived in immaculate condition, bezel action is great, everything lines up and works as it should. Clasp is great although no OTF is a bit meh nowadays, would rather pay extra an get that. Feels premium and fits my 7 3/4” wrist perfectly!

Watchdives please make bigger sizes on popular models! I would buy at least another 10 watches if there was a bigger option.

WD1863
WD0526
WD0006B
WD1016
WD1954
WD50Q

All of these warrant a larger size imo, 35% of men in the world have larger than average wrists. That’s 35% of sales you are losing out on.

I have a GOOD feeling this jubilee is going to be released soon!! I know I'm not the only one waiting patiently for this!

Is it just me, or is WatchDives the most responsive brand to their customers?

Today I was looking into the WD0017C (aka Baby Ploprof). As usual, I was combing through old reddit posts relevant to the watch, and I realized that the idea to make this homage/revival was directly suggested by a Redditor just over a year ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/watchdives/comments/1meb6in/omega_baby_ploprof_homage_proposal/

Within 6 months of that post, WD introduced V1 of the watch. I don't know if that was kismet (perhaps they were already developing this homage?), or they took that suggestion and literally sprinted with it to production.

Three months after the V1 release, they announce a V2 with updates that seem to be entirely sourced from customer suggestions, either from Reddit, or Youtube.

On the dial, "water resistance" became "water resistant" to appease the grammar nerds, and the central facets of the bracelet went from polished to brushed to reduce the bling factor. Also the taper of the bracelet went down from 18mm to 16mm, which better conforms to their overall tooling for accessories - now the V2 works with their OTF adjustable clasp. Then the most incredible thing happened 2 weeks ago - someone posted a complaint about how the included screw driver for resizing ended up stripping their screws, and guess what, WD responded with this:

>"Since you raised this issue, we took it seriously. Today, we returned all of the current screwdrivers in our warehouse to the factory and asked them to replace them with the highest-grade version available, with much better hardness and a stronger tip. This will increase our cost a little, but we think it’s worth it if it gives customers a safer and better experience when adjusting the bracelet."

Who does this...? 🤯

The next evolution of this reference will be a smaller automatic version around 37mm, and I see how eager folks are for that release - every post about the watch has comments asking for the ETA of the auto version.

Last thing I wanted touch on is the attention to detail of this homage. The images included will help to illustrate. It started when I noticed bezel on the Date version of the watch looked warmer than the other variants. At first I thought it was just an error in the photography. But as I dug deeper, I found a post from an owner that confirmed the numbers on the bezel of the date version are indeed warmer. This feature is only available on the date version. That was also when I found a photo of the actual Omega with a similar kind of patina on the bezel, which I can only imagine WD used as primary reference.

I also noticed that there are two different dial designs. The variant with the orange minute hand has a mono block at 12 o'clock and chunkier indicies, while the yellow hand variant had slimmer dual batons. This difference is pertinent because they echo Omega's actual variants, as you can see in the included photos.

All of this is to say, someone at WatchDives is utterly obsessed with this watch, and we the consumer are luckier for their passion and attentiveness. Can you imagine any established major brand caring this much about their customer's opinions, while operating this efficiently? I was also thinking the level of steel finishing WD is doing far exceeds that of the original 1970s Omega. As much as I adore the design language of that era, I am well aware how jangly watches from that time were. If you were to time travel back to 1974 wearing this watch to the Omega factory, they would loose their freaking minds.

If you've gotten this far, thanks so much for taking the time to go on this meandering journey with me. Have a lovely day!

I can't stop staring at the way the lights reflect off this watch