Reply With QuoteMe too. Waiting for the GMT!Originally Posted by KavKav
Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!! Got one!
Thanks Eddie.
well done that man, sadly my wait may be longer for the GMT, maybe much longerYessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!! Got one!
Me too. Waiting for the GMT!Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!! Got one!
Thanks Eddie.
Woohoo! Ordered.
Can't complain too much about the price either.
Just put my order in. Really looking forward to receiving this!
That's my order placed as well
Hopefully special delivery includes delivering it whilst the wife is out!
Hi, being a chap who is more of an I than a WIS, what exactly is different about the 'top grade' 2824 movement?
Last edited by Rocket Man; 6th September 2013 at 21:04.
ohhhh another WIS, I feel right at home nowHi, being a chap who puts the I into WIS, what exactly is so good about the 2824 movement?
Although the price increase is quite hefty, the price of both the case and bracelet had increased and the 2824 "Top" is double the price of the standard. The increase is all cost, there's no profit on the increase so my margin has considerably decreased.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Is it easy to distinguish between the different versions of the SB3 or only via the serial no.?
Tried to order one today (Thurs 7.45am but) ordering closed? Have they all gone already?
My guess is that he got swamped by orders again, and has to pull the blinds down to get admin/dispatch done
Number 782, 783 and everything from 800 onwards have the "Top" movement.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
All things considered it is an excellent price for a watch that is basically a limited edition of a limited edition.
Any news on the GMT?
Also imminent.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
You are probably correct but in fact I hope Eddie has sold out! He deserves to, given the way he looks after us lot!
Last edited by KavKav; 17th September 2013 at 18:16.
Good news indeed.
I'll prepare for the decanting of the contents of my wallet.
Got the e-mail yesterday... Speedbird 3 looks great, well done Eddie! :-)
Any vacancies in your packing department? good to see things going so well.
paul.
Though I'm far from a WIS, the 2824 is a considered a rugged and reliable workhorse movement capable of excellent accuracy. As I understand it, the 'Top' grade movement differs from the Chronometer grade only cosmetically; though any grade of 2824 is capable of meeting the COSC spec, the 'Top' and Chronometer grades are easier to adjust to, and will stay longer within, the specification.Hi, being a chap who puts the I into WIS, what exactly is so good about the 2824 movement?
Despatched!
Struggling not to get over excited.
And not to spend too much time looking at straps for it...
Mine has dispatched too.
Just need to find a decent screwdriver to use for adjusting the bracelet.
2 screwdrivers
Also despatched and two screwdrivers ready to go!
Last edited by KavKav; 17th September 2013 at 18:16.
And it's arrived!
Thanks to Eddie for great service and an excellent watch.
Not sure I want to risk my cheap screwdrivers on it so may pop in to town at lunchtime and get the bracelet adjusted.
AND LANDED!!!
The watch is immaculate, as is the packaging, as is the service! (As per usual!)
Delighted with this Eddie, thank you very much!
Last edited by KavKav; 17th September 2013 at 18:19.
I believe the expression is :
"This thread is useless without pictures!"
M.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
You are quite correct, how remiss of me! I should know better by now!I believe the expression is :
"This thread is useless without pictures!"
M.
Here be Q&D's
Home from work early. But not early enough. The postman's already been and left his little red card. Bugger. It'll be sat in the local delivery office over night now.
Very nice.
Now, when's the Dreadnought GMT coming?
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Ask Eddie!Very nice.
Now, when's the Dreadnought GMT coming?
M
You know how he loves to keep us in suspenseAsk Eddie!
M.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Lucky You!
I have to wait until Monday ?!?
Think I'll go crazy.
Any tips on resizing the bracelet?
I managed to remove three links from one side of the bracelet with no issues but on the other side I only manage to get the small screw out and the bar remains.
I used two screwdrivers and it worked fine for the first couple.
Are you not able to push the bar out with the screwdriver you used to remove the screw? That's what I did when I removed the screwed links on a PRS-3 bracelet.
You can poke it out from the screw side - that's what I did. I did find resizing the bracelet quite awkward but got there in the end.
Much harder is getting the bracelet off - it would have helped if I'd had a third hand.
Couple of shots of mine... so keen to take pics I hadn't even set the time or date...
Swapped onto leather
Lume Shot
Congrats to the new owners, it's a great watch. Here's my well loved one of the first 50.
Thanks that seems to have done the trick. I initially tried a little bit or force but when that didn't work decided to check as I didn't want to break anything.
- - - Updated - - -
Thank you, an that's a great photo. And congrats on your 2000th post!
And here is my not quite so good photo:
Last edited by harrinp1; 6th September 2013 at 20:32.
Picked up this morning. Really pleased with the watch. It looks even better in the flesh. Looks good on the supplied NATO.
But it'll be living on the bracelet for the foreseeable future. Three links removed either side and it fits perfectly.
It's already drawing compliments. I've had it on this afternoon whilst we went to the Liverpool Food Festival with some friends. One of the stallholders enquired as to what my watch was and where I'd got it from. First time I've ever had a total stranger comment on a watch. He liked how clear and crisp the display is. How it is "just a watch". I directed him your way Eddie, you may well end up with another customer.
My only wish is that the case was 9mm.
Do you mean that you wish the height or thickness of the PRS-22 was a slimmer 9mm instead of its actual case thickness specification of 11.9mm?
I ask because you may not be aware that, unlike the usual homage or "replica" from other sources, the TF SBIII PRS-22 very closely duplicates the original and very highly regarded IWC Mark XV pilot's watch not only as to the cosmetical aesthetics or superficial appearance of it, but also as to the actual internal and unseen purpose dedicated premium grade technology that made the IWC both a classically superlative aviation tool and a great watch in the first place, and at about one-eighth the price.
The difference between 9mm and 11.9mm for this watch would be its full coverage soft iron "Faraday Cage" that deflects magnetic waves from compromising the accurate and consistent timing rate and function of the watch's mechanical movement. That is something at least I for one think extremely useful in the highly magnetized modern high-tech world and well worth a measly little 2.9mm in case thickness.
EwanW here did a great, and I think definitive, review of the PRS-22 when it came out years ago:
http://watcharoo.co.uk/speedbird3.htm
From the SBIII's original factory cross-section diagrams EwanW shows, you can see that this watch is no thicker than as required to nicely integrate the high specification technology that, I feel, makes it a great watch in its own right, and not just an empty look-a-like
My birdie finally landed this morning. Less than 24 hours from Sheffield to the local UPS facility, and then three days from there to my door (less than a mile).
For pictures see previous posts. (The pictures can't convey that beauty)
Once again, thank You very much Eddie.
Last edited by NenoS; 9th September 2013 at 20:15.
That sir was brilliant.
A first-class reply!
I know all that and i have also owned two Speedbirds, i still wish it was 9mm. All the same it is a great watch, i just like a slimmer watch.
Last edited by studly; 10th September 2013 at 08:15.
Certainly nothing wrong with slim. I thought Eddie's Sewills NOS "Carmania" and "Ark Royal" Marine Chronometer dress watches looked extremely nice and surprisingly thin at 9.5mm as spec'ed. Unfortunately these are gone now but I believe the mass watch market has a number of nice circa 9mm thick automatics, though perhaps not many as nice and well priced as those NOS Sewills.
Still, though, as I view it, the TF PRS-22 is in a completely different class as one of but a rare handful of highly and well engineered, and comprehensively good, purpose-built tool watches intended for those seeking a watch that can adapt to and "take" a wide range of the most extreme conditions and service it might ever be put to. In other words, it is a watch for which external appearance and ergonomics are important but secondary to the watch's purpose or mission while its capabilities in successfully serving toward that end are paramount. Eddie's SBIII is also, to my knowledge, very alone and unique to its price range in this regard.
Technically, maybe the design could be tweaked a bit slimmer using a thinner movement like the hard to get and more expensive ETA c.2892 movement or the likewise thin and more available and less expensive Miyota c.9015, but the 1.0mm difference in case thickness between using those and the current ETA c.2824 wouldn't be all that much, to me anyway.
It would also technically be possible to skip the "Faraday Cage" altogether while still maintaining the same or higher level of anti-magnetic protection of the movement by "simply" making the movement's critical components of un-magnetizable alternative materials like beryllium copper, IIRC. I think Rolex initially did it that way for the original versions of the Milgauss and I know IWC did so for a few special runs of their Ingenieur. However, I believe both companies ultimately dropped that strategy due the difficulty sourcing the very special movements and the expense involved — in other words, this proved impractical and non-cost effective at the time and I assume would prove to be so still even now.
However, if you were to arbitrarily slim down the SBIII’s case thickness by just removing the full coverage soft iron Faraday Cage that protects the movement from magnetic influence, the watch would start to be just another of a vast crowd of conventional construction watches shuffling around the world like people in the nightmarishly conformist future worlds of novelists like Orwell and Huxley.
It would almost be like dropping napalm on the nesting area of an endangered species of birds.
Well, kind of anyway
Last edited by Rollon; 11th September 2013 at 23:42. Reason: Second sentence of second paragraph slightly rephrased for clarity
Eddie used the same case for the sb gmt, so even if the latter or the japanese movement were used, i'd expect the same case to be used
1mm over 39mm changes the profile significantly (i own a royal ark, nicely under the 10mm threshold)
omega presented their 15000 gauss and will be available in november. it does use amagnetic components for the movement, so it does not need a faraday cage. non cheap and not thin, but again double barrel and coaxial
There is a 9mm-deep Hamilton "Thin-o-Matic" which has an ETA 2824 movement, but it certainly doesn't have a faraday cage. The Intra-matic is 10mm, but uses an ETA 2892 movement, which is a thinner movement than the 2824 - but some of that 10mm comes from the crystal. Why they didn't use the 2892 in the Thin-o-Matic, I don't know.
I don't think it's possible to get below 9mm with a 2824-powered watch, not if you want a good crystal, screw-in caseback etc.
FWIW the IWC Ingenieur is now available in a properly antimagnetic case, and that has a 2892 in it. It's 10mm top to bottom. It's not as anti-magnetic as the Speedbird (50,000 A/m vs 80,000), but it is at least a "proper" Ingenieur, being a lot more antimagnetic than your typical watch. However, it does cost £4,650, or approximately 11 times the price of a Speedbird.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
+1!!!
just seen the shop..... I know what I am doing tomorrow
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