Reply With QuoteThat's no Mk II Kingston, but it's actually not bad looking. Love the Bond homage photo!
Does it suffer from the dreaded "Miyota stutter"?
Hello all,
So after reading some good things about the wallet friendly homages from Tiger Concept I though I'd give one a shot. After a helpful back and forth with William regarding dial and hand swaps I settled on a 7924 homage...and then immediately re-watched Goldfinger for the 6538Great communication and surprisingly speedy international delivery get Tiger top marks so far, but what about the watch? Well I've had it on my wrist for a week now and I've got to say that I'm thoroughly impressed...my big-crown itch has certainly been scratched! Anyway, here is what I make of the Tiger so far with a few pics for good measure...
So size wise this is 38.7mm diameter (42.7mm including crown) with 20mm lug width and 47.5mm lug-to-lug (although this wears smaller than the lug-to-lug suggests due to the lugs' downward curve). Fitted with the Miyota 8215 it weighs approx 63.64g without a strap/bracelet.
Here it is on my 6.75'' wrist next to some friends for comparison (clockwise from top left: 38mm Tiger 7924, 40mm PRS-82, 37mm Seiko SNK, 39mm PRS-18Q)...
As mentioned above I ordered this with the 21,600 BPH Miyota 8215 as I have the 8215's 6-eater cousin, the 8245, in my Maratac Mid-Pilot and that is still going strong and accurate two years on. So far the 8215 in my Tiger has been a very respectable and consistent +12 secs per day, which I'm very pleased with as Citizen list the 8215 with an accuracy of -20 to +40 per day on these with a power reserve of around 40 hours.
In terms of fit and finish I've been just as pleased with this as with the timekeeping. Admittedly I ordered this expecting the friction bezel to be loose, as from what I've read Tiger's friction bezels on the big-crowns all seem to range from loose to free-spinning. Mine did indeed arrive a little looser than I'd like, but it was literally a 30 second fix to get it set at a nice functional resistance using a strand of dental floss. No need to pop the bezel off or anything, just pull the strand tightly into the gap between case and bezel and pass it around a couple of times until you reach the desired friction, then chop of the excess and tuck the ends under with a razor blade. No signs its even there...
...other than this little bezel tension gripe the case is pretty lovely. Nicely brushed top, well polished sides, smart bezel insert with a nice tidy lume pip at 12 o'clock and a nice smooth case back, well polished with no markings.
I was always going to replace the crystal with a nice high-domed acrylic for that vintage feel, but the domed mineral crystal actually has a very nice profile so I've decided to leave it as it is until it picks up the inevitable first few scratches and then I'll swap it out for the easily polished acrylic. Here are some shots trying to capture the domed shape of the crystal...
...The case has drilled lugs and I swapped out the stock springbars for shoulderless ones. In this next shot you can see that the case finishing here between the lugs is a bit less refined. The brushing is a bit rougher with a couple of small dings and the edges inside the lugs are just a little sharp. Not 'ouch!' sharp, just not completely smooth like the rest of the case. None of this is noticeable with a strap/bracelet fitted but I though it worth mentioning for anyone as nit-picky as I am
The crown feels reassuringly solid and screws down nicely...
And here it is unscrewed with the thread revealed...
Here is the dial head-on...
...other than a little bit of lume overlap on the hour markers it is really nicely finished with the gilt minute track and dial text absolutely spot-on. Here it is under the unforgiving gaze of my macro-lens...
...apparently a Jiao is an aquatic dragon in Chinese mythology...
The mineral crystal doesn't have any AR coating so I really struggled to capture the glitter of the hands whilst keeping the reflections at bay so this will have to do...
...note that the gilt dial markings don't shine as the hands do, although I think the whole package still looks lovely together...
Tiger don't recommend taking this for a dip despite the 200m water resistance printed on the dial, but it seems this may be erring on the side of caution as a few owners have had their Tigers pressure tested with some success, passing to 100m and 200m. I imagine this will be a luck-of-the-draw type thing so I wouldn't go swimming in one without a test first. I'll report back once I've had mine tested, although that won't be until I've fitted the new acrylic crystal and had a good shufty at all the seals and gaskets.
Whilst we're talking about the dial, in the dark the lume on this is pretty pants. It looks nice immediately after charging and is evenly applied, but it becomes almost illegible after only 30 minutes. Here is a shot showing the lume over time compared with the C3 Superluminova of my PRS-82...I stopped shooting after 30 minutes as the dial was unreadable past 1 foot:
...so a re-lume is definitely in order then! Maybe when I eventually change the crystal. Here is a lume shot on the wrist anyway immediately after charging...
Speaking of 'on the wrist' it sits nicely and including the dome of the crystal is about 14mm tall...
No issues wearing under a shirt cuff...
Now even though this is really a 7924 homage not a 6538 I don't think this would be complete without a shot on a Bond NATO...
...or one of these for a bit more Goldfinger-esque accuracy...
...yes I know, my wrist is about half the size of Connery's in that shot but hey ho, I tried
Bond pattern or not I do like a good NATO so here is a bit of a medley...
Well I'm probably forgetting something but I think that's about it. All in all I'm really pleased, so much so that I've just ordered a Tiger Snowflake to see what their larger offerings are like. I had also considered trying to track down a MKII Kingston but now I've handled this Tiger I'm happy enough and will plod along with this for a while and spend the excess on taking the wife away for the weekend instead. In terms of value for money, direct from Tiger Concepts this was $145 (I paid $36 extra for the Miyota 8215 fitted) and $10 shipping, which came out at around £104. I'd happily pay more in the region of £150 for this if this came with better lume, correct bezel tension out of the box and already pressure tested, but as it stands these seem like a pretty good deal. Time will tell I guess! Also an option of acrylic or sapphire on these would be nice. I guess this just means I get to practice my modding skills though
I hope this has been useful to someone, sorry if I've rambled on a bit! Here are a last few pics to end on...
Cheers for now!
Uke.
Last edited by Uke1; 5th November 2017 at 04:14. Reason: Replacing broken Photobucket links
That's no Mk II Kingston, but it's actually not bad looking. Love the Bond homage photo!
Does it suffer from the dreaded "Miyota stutter"?
Great review, and nice photo's... thanks.
I really liked my Tiger that I had a while back.Originally Posted by workahol
Mine did have the stuttering second hand, although it didn't appear to affect the timekeeping at all, which was better than I expected. I'm not sure I had the Miyota movement in it though, I thought I got the cheaper alternative movement, which was prone to the stutter.
Still, fun watches for the money.
I have one as well, fantastic for the price. Mine's the "6538 Style Big Crown Watch V3" with bracelet. Apart from two niggles - the bezel tension problem that they're all prone to (and that I also fixed with dental floss) and a pin that keeps trying to creep out of the bracelet, there's not a lot in terms of quality of finish and construction, at least to all appearances, between it and my Kemmner 007.
Similarly accurate too, to 6 or 7 seconds a day. Haven't noticed a stutter and wear it quite often.
Haha, yeah the Bond homage pic took a bit of creative balancing to free up both my hands! Thank goodness for the Gorillapod
I haven't noticed it at all on this or my Maratac Mid-Pilot but just took a look at the Tiger on my wrist now to see if I could get it to happen. If I punch my watch hand violently into my other palm the second hand indeed does stutter. I also noted the Miyota's time against my Quartz PRS-18Q and waved my wrist frantically for 5 seconds...after this the second hand seemed to have stopped, started up again but weirdly no time had been lost! As I said I've worn this for over a week now, not being careful with it at all and the timekeeping has been a consistent +12 secs per day. I haven't noticed the stutter at all day-to-day so aesthetically its not an issue for me as long as the timekeeping continues to live up to the 8245 in my Maratac.
Last edited by Uke1; 18th March 2015 at 02:03.
Great pictures and a fantastic write up, I flipped mine as it just felt a bit too small for me.......kind of regret it now :(
Thanks.
Nice pics and a great review!
Great pics! Love the domed glass
Certainly can't grumble for the amount of sausage you paid for it. Well done.
What an excellent informative thread. Appreciate the time that has gone in to this review Uke. Might have a look at one myself if I decide to move on my SBDX012 as I'm partial to a bit of gilt in the watch box.
Very nice, have just been looking at the snowflake myself. Looks a lot of watch for the money
Steve
Great review, many thanks.
Excellent photos too!
Great write up and pictures!
These really are excellent watches. I am on my third now having foolishly flipped the first two.
A 6538
Lovely watch for the money, I was always put off by the no waterproof comment but given the price I might give it a go.
Super write up and pics. Feel I 'know' the watch now. Thanks.
I bought one a couple of weeks ago. I think it's bloody great for the money tbh.
Definitely a nice looking watch, just needs better lume really. Good price though.
Ian.
Many thanks for an absolutely fantastic and concise review, must have taken ages.
Pictures are great.
Paul
Just ordered one! 👍
That's a pretty little watch - look forward to the info on the pressure test, it'll be goog to know whether it could be used as intended.
Very nice watch, pics remind me I need a new camera...........
Great write up and lovely pics. I think I may find myself investigating one of these to replace the Alpha sub I have for occasional weekend duties
Thanks for great review and pics....
I'm tempted with one of these now too... I can't stretch to my omega yet so was putting away for Steinhart OVM yet unexpected car repairs and vet bills keep getting in the way of even that relatively modest amount ....
So even with the mods you didn't really pay any extra which is pretty good
Last edited by lordloz; 19th March 2015 at 19:37.
Great pics and excellent review, nice watch too. No intent on buying one of these but couldnt stop reading nor admiring the pics, well done that man.
Interested in the 16800 double red he has for sale, I'm confused about the site though....
I may be being stupid but the price is $99 with "case only and bracelet". Does this mean you don't get the movement?
My understanding is that the watches come with a basic movement that you can upgrade to something better or am I wrong?
The case only option is the item at the top of the drop down menu. Underneath you will see the DG2813 movement option:
The Miyota one is further down.
Ive just ordered a red bezel 7924 with the DG2813
Thanks for the reply Velorum.
So the base movement is the DG2813 then. Seems strange to buy just the case and bracelet only, but I guess if you want to put your own movement in then it's ideal.
great value for £100
Great fun for the money and I love your photos. I don't know how you do it, but they are so crisp and clean and allow the viewer to really see the watch with clarity.
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