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Oh yes! Great watch.
Better than the de Luca? Let the debate begin ;)
Or perhaps Turchino - because this is not azure, it is a deep French Navy blue.
Anyway, regardless of the technicalities of which Italian blue this is -
I have been looking for one of these for a while, in black or blue with a preference for blue. I have hovered over many listings on Ebay Italy's Annunci (Classified Ads) section, and contacted many sellers, with no success whatsoever, as they were unwilling to sell overseas, seemed to be nutcases, or just plain ignored the e-mail. After finding nothing for about 2 years, like buses, a few have recently surfaced. I am still following another one up with some help.
In the mean time, when I spotted this on an Ebay from a reputable seller who offered sales outside Italy, and assured postage, it was definitely worth a punt.
And I got it, a fair distance below my maximum bid, which is always nice.
It arrived early in the week via UPS in double-quick time, and I am delighted.
It is almost everything you would ever need - smart and capable (200m WR).
Lorenz subs are a personal favourite (see here), but I always hankered for the restraint of a monochrome dial, to reduce the dressiness just a little more.
It works
The blue is attractively dark. The tachy ring steeply angled and therefore minimised, reducing its "fussiness". The reduced and centred signature next to the date very restrained.
And yet it still has a few dressy elements. Silver sub-dial surrounds. Polished edges
Like the sub this is so clearly inspired by, it will do suit or jeans, wetsuit or restaurant.
This is one of the later ones (model code 16856), and it is remarkable unscathed. I was prepared to be a little disappointed with elements of this, because some views on Italian forums seemed to indicate that these later ones were poorly put together by comparison to early ones.
I don't think so. The bracelet is lovely (and properly tapered, well done Lorenz). The dive extension is very nice. It is all taut and well executed. I am interested that the lume indices are not exceptionally evenly applied, but this is a very minor point.
I moderate the Lemania forum on ATG, and these Lorenz's are a forum favourite there, at least 5 regular posters have one, and now 3 of us have 2 of them. We are not alone, I have corresponded with at least 2 other members here about acquiring them.
For me, there is nothing out there that can deliver so much for so little outlay. However, I am very pleased to say that for me, this is the one, it just appeals to me a tiny bit more than the others. Love it.
Dave
Oh yes! Great watch.
Better than the de Luca? Let the debate begin ;)
Very nice indeed Dave - seems to tick all your boxes!
So I've gotta ask... What is ballpark for one assuming it can be found?
Rob
Ooh now that's proper lovely, well done Dave. Blue is definitely your colour these days.
I'm around this weekend if you've got the time and fancy a catch up and coffee, I'd love to see this in the metal.
Cheers,
Gary
I usually track Lemania 5100s on Ebay and Lorenz chronos appear on a semi-regular basis. There's something to be said for the "unknown" marque.
I've had a variety of watches both new and old that I just plain liked, not because of their label.
That, Dave, is very nice. Like you I prefer the monochrome dials; and the blue makes a change from the legion of black dialled Lemania's out there.
First dibs when you sell...?
Thanks gents.
It is exactly what I hoped. Having taken so long to get one, it is satisfying that it is as good as I hoped it would be. The other Lorenz will be leaving to make room for this as a result.
As good as the DeLuca? No. The dial quality, movement heritage and overall feel of the Zenith is in another league.
More usable? Defintiely. Because....
... the Ballpark? Let's say less than 25% of the cost of a DeLuca. Which is whrer it wins in the comparison by a mile. However, it is unserviced, which adds considerably. And I was lucky on this one, there was no mention of Lemania or the model code in the listing, so the price stayed low.
Sorry Gary, I am not about this w/e, I am spending the weekend almost where you work during the week, near Maidenhead. We do need to cath up soon.
And you're right, I have a lot of blue now. 3 blue Tudors, a Lorenz, Lemania and Bremont. I think I will try and do a collected post, as all the blues are distinct and different, and I think the comparison is interesting.
Lorenz are interesting. They certainly made some tat. But, there is something very good about these chrono-subs. It is fun handing one of these over to someone at a GTG, you can see the appreciation build while they look it over. Sure, it is not a known brand and it will never set the world on fire, but there is something very compelling about these which bears comparison with a lot of watches that are "worth" a lot more.
As for first dibs? Sure, but don't hold your breath....
D
Complimenti Dave - a lovely one, very clean and fresh looking. I feel myself leaning....
To my mind these are some of the best value watches out there, superb performance with the L5100 of course, and although a little 'Rolex' derived, they've executed it really well I think. Only the dial name keeps them cheap I feel; there is little in terms of quality to complain about for a working mans watch, so to speak.
Mine are early and late production, and there's nothing between them that I can see -
...But the blue is a lovely change, and works well without the contrasting subdials.
Andy
All you need in a watch, and a Lemania 5100 thrown in as a bonus!
Lovely "under the radar" piece.
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Nice one Dave.. I too was made aware of these over on ATG, and have been keeping half an eye out for an all-black one. Like many have said above, it's a great watch, especially for the cost. I didn't even know there was a blue variant. Just goes to show that you can have yourself a real piece of quality metal for not a lot.. Lemania 5100 movement, sub-esk looks - brilliant.
I'm surprised that there aren't other manufacturers that have gone for this exact look - I know there are similar, but strangely, there aren't many watches out there running a L5100 with 'regular' lugs (that are good looking).
Sorry, I hadn't realised this had got any more replies.
Yes, 5100s in a "traditional" watch case, stainless, lugged with no funny accents or differing materials are fairly rare.
Almost all of the movements, for some reason, ended up in mil-style, shrouded lug cases.
The original Fortis Cosmonaut is an exception, or maybe the DPW/North Eagles variants, but they usually had contrasting sub-dials. Eberhard Champion, perhaps.
But the Lorenz is the stand-out. Usually better value, and slightly larger than all of the above.
D
EDIT - lets add the Sinn 156, and quite a few Hamiltons
Last edited by sweets; 28th June 2013 at 12:25.
That's lovely, nice to see something I've never seen before. May I ask the size?
Sure, bezel diameter is bang on 40mm, lug to lug 48.5mm. 16.3mm from caseback to top of acrylic, and 20mm lugs.Originally Posted by Itsguy
D
Thanks! Perfect proportions.
My favourite movement.
“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
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