This one looks pretty good. Not sure if I like the name Skymaster.
https://www.maenwatches.com/collections/skymaster
More temptation from Maen, I like the look of the black on black Speedy-ish one, and I liked the look of their diver too. Agreed that 'Skymaster' is the least convincing part, something a bit Rolex meets Star Wars going on there...
38mm too, round of applause!
I like that a lot.
Just needs a date function.
Edit: hadn't seen the 38mm. Even better!
Double edit: display back! Even betterer
Last edited by hughtrimble; 22nd May 2019 at 14:47.
No date? Hurrah! It’s what has put me off many a otherwise lovely piece. Time for some reading up on that. Thanks for pointing it out.
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Looks really good.
I have one of their divers it's very nice for the price paid around 360€ on Kickstarter.
I like the look of them but after buying one of their Hudson divers I'd be in two minds over buying one.
While the watch itself is quite nice the lume on the hands is dreadful (looked like something vintage from the seventies) , the company to their credit finally got round to sorting this but wanted €25 to supply replacements and didn't think they needed to make any to go with the white faced model they produced ...offering white hands from the black dialled model instead.
The finish on the bezel isn't great either making it really hard to grip, coupled to how stiff it is making it best left unturned.
It has put me off kickstarter, at least for untried companies, I've got a watch I like but get a bit frustrated by every time I wear it and the back up from Maen is frankly crap.
I just remembered, they made lots of claims about having the watches adjusted for accuracy but many people have found theirs to run well outside their claims.
Last edited by kace; 22nd May 2019 at 15:40.
Looks really nice, love the lugs.
Odd choice to have mismatched pushers though?
Cheers..
Jase
Is anyone else getting a bit bored of panda chronographs? This one looks interesting though:
I think it's a reflection on one of the pushers maybe?Originally Posted by JasonM
Isn't the apparent knurling on the top pusher just a reflection of the bezel's edge?
Thank you for sharing your previous experiences - that's definitely not encouraging
Could well be!
Cheers..
Jase
#
No - I don't think so, the knurling appears to be fully around the circumference of the pusher.
I had a Hudson and thought it was pretty good for the £350 I paid. The accuracy was about +6 per day, the lume was pants, but the watch as a whole was a decent package.
I like the look of the Skymaster but I know for a fact if I buy it I will flip it for a silly loss after a month, so I'm not going to buy it.
It's reflections - bezel edge, crown, lug.
I had a Hudson and thought it was pretty good for the £350 I paid. The accuracy was about +6 per day, the lume was pants, but the watch as a whole was a decent package.
I largely feel the same, mine runs to about +6 too so its only the crap lume (which I've considered having someone look at) and bezel action that lets it down which is why I wouldn't completely rule out buying the chrono.
Its just the after sales that would worry me. Not producing the improved hands for the white dialled model seems a really odd decision. And they weren't terribly helpful to people with concerns on the kickstater comment page.
I'm really drawn to the version lampoc has posted though, something a bit different, nice size not crazy pricing and unlike a lot of KS stuff shipped from europe so nothing more to pay.
And now I've talked myself into signing up for updates.
I like this one.
The 2894 is a respectable movement as well. If it is less than£1k it will be an attractive proposition
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Price for this has been released. €799 and available from 1st September.
Any one else order the 'free' replacement hands? The hands on my Hudson had no working lume (should have returned on warranty I guess). Maen recently advertised 'free' replacement hands for those affected for a payment of well over £20 to cover sending costs. I went with it thinking it a little expensive bearing in mind the cost of a set of hands … but well at leats they were rectifying the problem. Hands arrived today and they are tiny! Much smaller than the original hands and those shown on the second batch currently on the website for sale - and the postage on the envelope was 21 KR - under £3 (for an envelope and a tiny plastic box!!! Now I'm all for firms sorting their issues and a firm should be respected for doing this - but what has been delivered and the cost....(well Maen must be profiting from it and supplying a rubbish replacement which would detract from the watch - nothing short of a slap in the face for customers.
Ooft. My interest is now gone.
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I reckon if you don’t have decent Lume just don’t do it. Plenty of dauphin handed beautiful chrono’s survived without it.
But if you want to use other then whack it on. I wonder what the additional costs are? as I’ve heard Helson watches are excellent for it and are in the bargain territory. Obviously Seiko as well though I suspect they have their own swimming pool sized tank of Lume bubbling away .
Nothing worse than disappointing Lume in my book.
I didn't bother with the replacement hands, I might have done if they'd made some for the white dialled Hudson but they didn't bother.
This does put me off the chrono they're releasing, I think it looks great but it's a gamble I'm not sure I'm willing to take based on experience.
Hi from down the road.
My replacement hands arrived--I think I paid about EUR 8 for the shipping with no tracking, which is fine. And seeing your post I had a look. Yes, they seem small, but I measured and they're in fact exactly the same size. The people on the comments section of the Kickstarter page have a lot to say about everything, but no one's mentioned a problem with the size. But not doing the new hands for the white version is a bit nasty to those who bought that model.
And I really don't know what to do. I love the design and the size of the watch (all black with a proper lume pip), and the build quality is OK. But the crown seemed misaligned from the beginning and then just came off. To their credit, Maen have offered to book a DHL pickup for return and repair, but that's quite a faff. But better I suppose than the thing just sitting in the watch box. They suggested having someone local sort it out (and they implied they'd pay toward that), but my watch guy wasn't keen, as it's probably need a new crown and tube, and it'd be hard to match the original. I'll probably end up sending it back to Sweden or Switzerland for repair and ask them to put on the new hands. We'll see.
Yes - to clarify I should have been clearer - the hands are about the same size (the seconds hand I got is much smaller) but the lume itself , instead of a broad line is a thin sliver inside a chrome border and the red (or pink!) highlight is also much smaller. These were the things I liked about the hands. I was charged over 20euros - think it was around £22/£23 pounds - why the difference?
Any owners of the Skymaster here, now having lived with it for a while? I see there is a Mk3 coming soon and used ones seem to be very thin on the ground.
I traded my Mk. II a few months ago. I liked its size, but the rest of the watch is cheaply made. Not badly, but several watches in the same relative price range are better made. The bezel was a bit loose, the dial is printed somewhat less than precisely, and the hands are inelegant. It is still a nice watch, but not quite as nice as the website makes it seem. My experience with Maen suggested it was being run by maybe two people who are not completely knowledgeable about watches and international shipping. Hopefully things have improved since then.
Out of interest, what made you say that?
I've received 3 or 4 shipments from then now (all by DHL) and all was ok. Well, DHL was a bit slow at times, but Maen were ok.
Thanks, interested to know what you would recommend instead, I am keen to get a Panda Chrono and at the price I have not found anything else which has that look.
ETA movement and reviews on youtube seem more positive than your take
Beautiful watch, new brand for me. Thanks for sharing
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The Skymaster is a nice watch, but I have gotten less expensive watches that were better made. The minute indices on the dial are a bit thick and not quite well-printed. Subdial printing was not exactly precise either, and the subdial hands would have been nicer if they have pointed ends.
I already mentioned the bezel. The main hands are a bit uninspiring in actual use. The thick ends might appeal to you, but I need clearly pointed ends to quickly read the time. The nicest thing about the Skymaster is its size (it is nicely thin), but the rest of the watch was... Meh. Having a Swiss-made movement inside means nothing to me. It is a good movement, but so is the newest Seagull—which has crisper action and is at least as accurate.
Perhaps a caveat: Maen did not complete the customs paperwork when shipping to me in the USA, so DHL held it for a day while they sorted things out. That cost me an additional two days and USD 60-something which could easily have been avoided. I also was one of those who waited many months for my watch to arrive, and after multiple emails finally got a wave of communication from Maen, suggesting that other unhappy customers were also wondering what was going on. Yes, it was in the midst of the pandemic, but most issues could have been avoided. I hope they got their collective act together.
Before the Skymaster arrived, I got a Lorier Gemini panda. It is still in my collection and will not leave. I knew about the Lorier before it was produced but did not like the small subdials set wide apart. For some reason, I went ahead and got one and found it much nicer on the wrist than in the photos. It is substantial but not too heavy. There are many thoughtful design touches that evidence quality. The Seagull movement is precise, smooth, and accurate. The bracelet, while nice, is ugly in my opinion. I like mine with a strap.
Unfortunately, they are not being produced at the moment, but used ones are available.
I recently got another inexpensive chronograph from Sugess:
It is similar in shape to my former Zenith A385 but smaller. That is why I got it. The original Zenith A385 wears wider across the wrist than it might seem , and I could not live with it. The Sugess is very impressive in many ways, especially the price. I liked it so much that I got the green dialled version and very much enjoy wearing it:
There is a regular panda version, too. It is not everyone's figurative cup of tea, but I like it. Seestern/Sugess shipped out of HK and the watches arrived in my fair country within ten days without issue. They have some sort of intermediary shipping arrangement across the globe, it seems.
HTH
I preordered a mk3 this spring and it arrived earlier than expected, this summer.
Let me start with the flaws:
The chrono seconds hand at reset point if off by 1/5th of a second.
I can actually live with that.
The pros:
Swiss made tri compax chrono
Very well finished case and bracelet
Small clasp has one adjustment hole more than seiko
Lume 8/10 (good glow but small dots)
distinctive lume at 12
Lovely domed sapphire
38mm wide 13mm high, super wearable
Timekeeping so far below cosc
The movement seems well finished, not decorated, but well finished.
Chrono pushers respond well
120click rotating sapphire bezel
Timeless design and understated elegance
Stuff I'd like to have but I'm not complaining about:
10atm wr
Screwdown crown
My other buy options were
Nivada grenchen for 38mm
C ward for screwdown crown and wr
But in the end I have no use for a bi compax as I record events longer than 30min...
Trivia:
Caseback is ar coated sapphire, which... whatever...
All that's left to do now is take a lume shot.
Ciao!
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That is indeed a massive help, really appreciate the time taken to post. I have looked at Sugess watches but not LorierHTH
I quite like the sky master, classic and easy in the eye
I have the one with the grey dial. Wanted something a bit different to the usual panda or reverse panda, got Zenith A384 Revival for that. After wearing it for a few weeks I decided to sell my Speedmaster FOIS.
The 38mm size is spot on for me. Build quality is perfectly fine for the price paid, no loose bezels or badly fitting parts. I use the bezel to track a second timezone, very handy.
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I have submitted an email request for a MK3, will see how I get on. Thanks for postingI have the one with the grey dial. Wanted something a bit different to the usual panda or reverse panda, got Zenith A384 Revival for that. After wearing it for a few weeks I decided to sell my Speedmaster FOIS.
The 38mm size is spot on for me. Build quality is perfectly fine for the price paid, no loose bezels or badly fitting parts. I use the bezel to track a second timezone, very handy.
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