Reply With QuoteIf I was buying a Nav-B I'd go for a Laco. I like the look of the Racetimer, but I'd still look for a more mainstream chrono first.
Hi all,
Toying with the idea of buying a Steinhart, I would like to know peoples perceptions and experiences before I spend all my saved pennies... I am interested in the Nav B Chrono and the Racetimer and would be interested to hear from any owners what they think of them. Briefly had an ocean one in green last year, felt really solid and looked nice but was taken in part ex and was a catch and release, never really got to know it. Cheers in advance for the pearls of wisdom.
James
If I was buying a Nav-B I'd go for a Laco. I like the look of the Racetimer, but I'd still look for a more mainstream chrono first.
isn't there a race timer on SC atm?
I had a Vintage Military (MilSub) a while back and while it looked great and felt good quality (for the money) I couldn't get over the 'homagenous' (sic) of it. The bezel on mine didn't quite line up to the dial either but that's just me being a bit OCD.
I know a couple of people with 3/4 Steinharts between them (pilot chrono and a couple a subs) and they love them. They all look great on the wrist but I just wouldn't personally go back to owning one.
Last edited by Fuser; 5th October 2013 at 20:15.
Personally I find they are 2mm too big for my liking.
The quality of Steinhart watches is totally amazing. Buy one and see.
Me too. Otherwise I might be tempted.Originally Posted by Caruso
Decent quality. Not outstanding. Average lume. Have read complaints about customer service. Some are outright Rolex copies.
Never owned one but my perception is great value for money; I'd steer clear of the homage models on the whole though, they're slightly cringeworthy...
Except the Ocean Vintage GMT McQueen Exp II copy... That's actually pretty great for the money and how many people know the original anyway.
Mixed views regarding customer service.. However personally I've had no problems.
I'm not a fan of the 'homage' style watches (sub & explorer a-likes) but their flieger range has always interested me.. I've had my JG74 for a few months and though it doesn't get worn often, I do admire the quality when it's on the wrist. I certainly won't be getting rid of it anytime soon.
- Ian
Have never owned one, but you do seem to get a lot of watch for your money.
I have an O1 Green (LV) and the McQueen Exp II O1 Vintage GMT, and delighted with both. Also had a Vintage Red a while ago (regret letting it go).
Mine have had no problems at all, bezels line up, and the quality is great for the coin.
The O1s are a pretty much straight Sub homage, but if you like the original but don't have the cash, these offer a good quality alternative, with a proper Swiss movement.
They come up regularly on sales corner here and elsewhere for a very reasonable price generally. Bear in mind, buy sensibly and you should be able to move it on without losing any cash, so what's to lose?
I have an O1 Ceramic and it stands up incredibly well in a 1on1 with my friend's 16660 in terms or build, that wasn't just my view, but that of most of the people in the room at the time. Hard to beat for the money and I would need something very good indeed to come up on SC for me to want to swap it out for anything else at the £250 mark that I paid for it.
I can't speak for the rest of the range, but if the O1 is anything to go by, it's a thumbs up from me. If you find a watch of theirs in a style that suits you, you have nothing to lose (especially used).
From my experience they represent good value for money at the lower end of the range anyhow. Customer service is patchy in the sense that if you have an issue it could take up to a week to get an email answered. Once they have you though they will deal quickly and efficiently with your problem. I would have no problem buying another watch at the lower end of their range but wouldnt spend more than £400 on a Steinhart.
Thanks for all the responses guys. sounds encouraging indeed.. I think that 44mm is my limit..although I do have one 45mm watches most of mine are 38-42mm, the movements look very nice for the money too...can't go wrong with a 7750
I've owned a few Steinharts over the years and have always been pleased and impressed with the build quality and finish. I like the Hommage versions, and they are astounding quality for the money. Swiss Movements, 300m WR, Sapphire Crystals, Decent lume...whats not to like??
I currently own a Vintage Red which is gorgeous with its high domed sapphire crystal, and their famed Nav B Chrono which has got to be the best Bang for Bucks Flieger Chrono out there!!
Have fun with Steinhart
They are great watches, especially if you consider what you get for the price. I prefer their original designs but they also do many homages, I also had a vintage red at some point in time. Don't make the mistake of comparing quality to the higher end brand they are borrowing designs from.
I still own a Steinhart Black Sea, GMT, domed saphire, ceramic lumed insert, decent ETA, I love it and the design is unique. Service was excellent, I had the insert realigned which they did without hassle. Some might argue it should have been correct in the first place but this is a small shop and I have seen worse QC issues on watches far more expensive. Not many brands you can mail directly.
As aboveMine have had no problems at all, bezels line up, and the quality is great for the coin.
The O1s are a pretty much straight Sub homage, but if you like the original but don't have the cash, these offer a good quality alternative, with a proper Swiss movement.
They come up regularly on sales corner here and elsewhere for a very reasonable price generally. Bear in mind, buy sensibly and you should be able to move it on without losing any cash, so what's to lose?
This is true also
I would agree with this too. Having owned a Red Sub for yrs and keeping it in the bank, when I sold it last year I bought a Vintage Red Steinhart which I still have{its a domed Sapphire Red, but hardly high domed TBH}, I keep it at home, not in the bank and even though I have plenty of other watches this still gets a lot of wrist time. Quality is excellent for the money, much like our hosts watches. I also have a McQueen Explorer Ocean GMT and a Vintage Ocean Military, and I am awaiting delivery of another Vintage Red so I have one on a Nato and one on its bracelet. Lume is good enough, not outstanding on the Ocean Range.
A word on size.........they do tend to be alittle larger than the originals they pay homage too, so 42mm for the Steinhart, not the 40mm of the original watch, and the bracelets in my opinion would be nicer if they tapered from 22mm to 20mm, not 22mm down to the clasp, but this is just personal taste. No dive extentions either, but for the money you can't really complain.........if you really need a diver extention, Time Factors, Eddies got this covered for you.........or a NATO .
The Nav B Chrono is also a cracking watch for the money, Lume on these is OUTSTANDING, again having owned the IWC watches they pay Homage too........i'd definitely buy a Steiny again......in fact......anyone ?
And the strap range they do, is also worth a look for the money.
I must say I am very fond of Steinhart watches, I have three, an Marine, an Ocean One and an OVM. Before buying the Ocean One my daily wear for some nine years was a Rolex GMT, but now it's the Steinhart. Well in all truth it was until I purchased the OVMThey are just so much watch for the money. I have several nice watches in the Rolex, IWC, Omega range but the lowly Steinhart stands their equal as far as enjoyment of wearing goes, and performance. Apart from the Marine which is too big for my 7.75" wrists.
Incidentally Roondog, got a moan. I set the time on the OVM on Tuesday, it's gained a whole second since. That's disgusting, my recently serviced GMT loses that a DAY.
Ocean One sans Cyclops bought from this forum for the princely sum of £215, what's not too like?
Last edited by BrianT; 6th October 2013 at 09:24.
Some very comprehensive replies, lots of love for the homage I see too, I must admit I love the ovm and the McQueen gmt myself, may have to get one eventually, many thanks and especially to diet coke man...very concise!
Steinhart offer fairly good quality, but brands such as Marcello C and Davosa offer that little bit extra.
I've owned & moved on 3 in the last couple years; a Nav B-Chrono II, a Ocean vintage GMT, and an OCEAN two.
While I love the brand (what Guenter has created) I've struggled to find one of his watches that's a keeper.
Very good quality for the price, well finished.... I probably miss the Nav B-Chrono II the most, but it was just to damn big.
Is this from experience of having owned a Steinhart or just what you've read?
this,
which leads to this
I had a ocean 1 ceramic. It was nice enough, the end link play was on the unacceptably lose side, the lume pip wasn't central, the bracelet is a bit tinny and the crown didn't screw down properly.
but it has to be said that these are relatively cheap watches.... that said for a few quid more I much preferred my davosa and my kemmner derived watch
I have only owned one ...
so I don't have as much experience of the brand as others. I thought the quality of this particular model was right up there with some of the "luxury" brands I have owned. I really liked the fact it was hand wind which is the only time I have had one, used to look forward to giving it a wind each morning. As I bought it via SC I don't have experience of any customer service issues but I have bought a few straps and buckles direct from Steinhart which have always been delivered promptly.
As others have commented for me also the watch is a couple of mm too big, for that reason if I was going to replace it (which is a possibility at some point) I would opt for Roland Kemmner's version.
Digger
Fair question given that you don't elucidate.
Digger
I have had a Triton for a few years. Doesn't get much wrist time as I went off large watches rather early on in my collecting, but to be fair it's the only big one I even consider wearing any more, which I suppose says something about the watch that it is my "exception". The build quality feels good and solid. It looks nice too. Only negative I can think of is the buckle on the leather strap. It's big and it looks great, but the edges are a little "sharp" and I find that it digs into the skin a bit when I wear it, which can be irritating.
I appreciate all the responses actually, I have long thought of a davosa I very much like the pilot chrono that do and at 42mm is a good size for a chrono I feel.
Was this a new watch or bought second hand ?.......I have bought a number of Steinharts via S/C and new and never experience anything wrong, apart from the Ocean Vintage GMT hand issue, that was common. Bezels have always been spot on and the bracelets are very solid, better in a lot of respects than the originals they pay homage too and certainly not tinny. They have solid links, screwed links, solid end pieces, even the clasps are very good, though this is the weakest part of the bracelet.
Ref Kemmner.......I bought a number of watches from Roland a few years back, Octopus, Tonneau , and Bunds. All were excellent watches for the money, and represent another VFM brand........in the same bracket as Time Factors and Steinhart for the price point.
Paul, perhaps you could expand on this, having never owned a Marcello or Davosa its difficult to offer a factual point of view. I have seen and handled them both but not ever thought they were anything better than Steinharts offering, so I am interested as much as the OP on this.
In my experience, for the price point, Steinhart is hard to beat. Plus if you like a good Homage then this is your best option for the "Rolex " look IMO, Eddies PRS68 is another stunning example of quality and Homage put together in a reliable affordable package, Kemmners Bund again hits all the marks in my opinion. The Quality of all of these is probably more than you'll ever need, your unlikey to lose a lot money on any of them, they wont break the bank to buy, to service, or cause you insurance issues.
Last edited by BryanEbru1512; 6th October 2013 at 14:29.
It was a brand new one, I ended up returning it for a refund.
The bezel pip was off centre on a ceramic insert - the bezel was also lose in that it would move (a little) up and down and rattled if you tapped it with your finger
The crown didn't screw down correctly as the crown tube was slightly on the p*ss
The folding hinge of the bracelet had a lot of play in it
There was a piece of plastic padding stuck on the inner side of the end link - turns out this was to stop the end link moving back and forth (the other end link didn't need this)
Hard to explain why I felt the bracelet was tinny.... (it just did!) - I'd say the feeling was that it wasn't very dense....
Anyway, after some photographic evidence sent to Steinhart they agreed to refund all my money & pay for return shipping incl. courier collection from my door, which is good service imo
Not to answer the question you've directed at Paul (he can speak for himself!) but I've had 3 Davosas, 2 of them being the sub homage, compared to the Steinhart the Davosa is better proportioned (40mm) more faithful to the 'original' in shape and the Cyclops is the equal of Rolex, the Davosa I also found better finished, better bracelet (with diver's extension), the ceramic bezel has engraved numbers rather than printed which are found on a Steinhart ceramic
To be fair at watchshop prices the Davosa is considerably more than the Steinhart, but I found a German seller that got the difference down to about £70, which in my opinion is more than worth paying for the difference in quality
A Steinhart without issues is undoubtedly a very good thing at the price point, re their QC - I think they may be the victim of their own success - becoming forum darlings and experiencing more orders than their suppliers can manage to keep up with - which leads to pre-orders and a 'get it out of the door ASAP MO'
I would have another Steinhart based on the customer service alone (I don't mind if you take a week to answer my email as long as you make good in the end), and I think they're a good brand, offering a range of popularly styled watches that start many down the path to WISdom
Well I finally did it after numerous questions being asked.. Bought a blue racetimer, cheers everyone, sure we will get along just fine, my only issue with big watches is usually weight, this ones all titanium which is perfect... Can't wait to have a bit of 7750 rotor wobble back in my life
I know it's a beauty, although I have to say I got the emails from Steinhart, if I have one in bronze that nav b UHr hand winder looks gorgeous, I think the crown really pops for me in bronze, this could be an expensive month as I have a few things for sale elsewhere and now looks likely that I may have to re invest in another watch rather than save..doh
Last edited by Macca; 9th October 2013 at 06:31.
on my second steinhart, will flip soon, both had quite wobbling crown springs, which could be mistaken for a bent stem...
I own two Steinharts, an Ocean 2 (traded in SC a couple of months ago) as a beater and a Marne 38 as a dressy option.
The Marine 38 is a good option in terms of finish and quality. The crown operates perfectly and the movement is roughly +3, +4 secs a day (2824 Elabore).
The O2 is great but suffers from a very stiff 120 clicks bezel (hopefully will loose with use)... altogether both great VFM.
Great watches and great prices. I had the Pepsi GMT dive watch and I am after another but with the short supply of movements, the chances are slim at the moment. I am genuinely interested to know what they are going to do and how they are going to source a GMT movement outside of ETA?
I've the Ocean Vintage Military and at the price point, I think it is great.
And now I've hit the stage where I can finally post on Sales Corner, I suspect I'll sell it. Not because I don't like it. But because I've barely worn it.
Earlier this year I had three; the OVM, O1B and the 44mm NavB chrono but now I have non. I think they are great watches, particularly for the price.
I would buy them again if they were 40mm and 42mm respectively. They were just too large for my requirements.
I might be interested in that if you do, to flip my O1 Ceramic, depending on what you wanted for it and what the condition is like...
I think Steinhart`s look really nice, and are good value for money. Im currently on the look out for an Ocean Red, but they dont seem to come up very often on the 2nd hand market in the UK so I may have to get one in from either Germany or USA where they seem more common.
They must be doing something right as practically every popular model is on back order. No mean feat even if you take into account the movement shortage.
Mines a keeper for sure
I have owned a few good quality rubbish service (not a good as Eddie)
However now buy from Neil at Chronomaster when he has stock so no delay in delivery
Only had one fault and was fixed quickly
Very easy to sell for good prices
your comment might answer itself there!
I couldn't agree more, on the one hand having experienced both a long wait to receive a reply to my correspondence and brilliant customer service on the other; I sent an email asking them what size screwdriver I should use to resize the bracelet on my Ocean 1, their response was to send me the tool I needed...free of charge! OK so it's nothing special (Bergeon etc.) but that's besides the point.
Last edited by MST; 9th October 2013 at 21:12.
That's great service, a free tool, the gesture was great
I've just returned from a holiday by the Red Sea and took the Ocean One Ceramic as my holiday watch. All I can say is that it was the perfect watch.
It was equally happy snorkeling all day as it was gleaming away at night in the bar after a good scrubbing. Great lume so I could still read it early in the morning while the blackout curtains did their thing and not so expensive that I felt conscious about wearing it out etc etc. What more could I ask for?
You can say what you want about their designs - it's not always in line with my personal aesthetics - but, they offer excellent value for money and their service can't be faulted, they have been extremely helpful anytime I've contacted them.
Was this a new watch or bought second hand ?.......I have bought a number of Steinharts via S/C and new and never experience anything wrong, apart from the Ocean Vintage GMT hand issue, that was common. Bezels have always been spot on and the bracelets are very solid, better in a lot of respects than the originals they pay homage too and certainly not tinny. They have solid links, screwed links, solid end pieces, even the clasps are very good, though this is the weakest part of the bracelet.
Ref Kemmner.......I bought a number of watches from Roland a few years back, Octopus, Tonneau , and Bunds. All were excellent watches for the money, and represent another VFM brand........in the same bracket as Time Factors and Steinhart for the price point.
Paul, perhaps you could expand on this, having never owned a Marcello or Davosa its difficult to offer a factual point of view. I have seen and handled them both but not ever thought they were anything better than Steinharts offering, so I am interested as much as the OP on this.
In my experience, for the price point, Steinhart is hard to beat. Plus if you like a good Homage then this is your best option for the "Rolex " look IMO, Eddies PRS68 is another stunning example of quality and Homage put together in a reliable affordable package, Kemmners Bund again hits all the marks in my opinion. The Quality of all of these is probably more than you'll ever need, your unlikey to lose a lot money on any of them, they wont break the bank to buy, to service, or cause you insurance issues.
That's a very good post and I have just managed to get another GMT Pepsi whilst they have stock. Service and price is excellent and only took 10 days to arrive in Western Australia. I cannot believe how much watch you get at this price point. It might well be to much of a Rolex homage for some but it's still very enjoyable to own and wear and hasn't come close to impacting on my daily living costs.
Great fun!!!
I think one can only judge a hommage maker by looking at their own non hommage designs to grasp what's behing the brand
for me Steinhart have got many things right on paper: swiss made in jura (I believe the Grovana factory, which makes swiss watches for various fashion brands), good build and materials
but there is a lack of everything else intangible and romantic about the company or brand that makes me feel it is somewhat of an industrial derivative.
stuff like that
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