Reply With QuoteI'll follow this with interest.
I have searched extensively and not found what I’m looking for, to the point of questioning whether the watch even exists, so am now asking the forum for suggestions here for a dive or diver style watch 40mm or under matching the following criteria:
Must haves
Diver or diver style.
40mm or under.
Date at 3 o’clock.
Auto.
Sapphire crystal.
Rubber strap.
Around £400 - £600 new.
Nice to haves
Day at 3 o’clock.
Drilled lugs.
Polished steel case.
Thin - under 12mm if possible.
What I don’t want
No Seikos.
No Mercedes hands or blatant Submariner homages (sorry Steinhart).
No used watches.
No fake patina.
No fixed springbars.
No PVD.
No arabic numerals.
No big triangles at 3, 6, and 9.
So far only the Marcello C Nettuno III with sword hands comes close.
I suppose I’m asking for any suggestions I might have missed, or clarification as to the true size without crown of some of the watches (Squale, Davosa, Certina, Lorenz) I’ve ruled out.
I'll follow this with interest.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Ooft. If the watch exists, it's Steinhart or Seiko who make it.
Glycine Combat Sub? Lots of variants of that.
Edit: no, a couple of hundred quid above budget. Discounts should be healthy though.
Last edited by Papa Hotel; 13th April 2020 at 12:19.
You could have a look at a Titoni Sea-Scoper. Older discontinued model, but I would think easy enough to hunt down with a bit of patience.
41mm I think, thinnish bezel with nice dials if I remember correctly. Good lesser known Swiss brand.
Their heritage models also look interesting.
Can't think of a new one. but if used is an option try to find one of these
other dial colours are available.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
That's quite a list of requirements for a bit of research. I have things to do today but I might do this instead.
The difficulty is finding a diver that's 12mm or under.. Rest of the requirements are easy enough.
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Christopher Ward have plenty of 38mm divers and a few at 40 I believe. A marmite brand on here but I bought a 38mm bronze trident a few months ago and you can't fault them on quality, there's usually a discount code floating around if you Google it too.
This. And a sale on at the moment if you can catch itOriginally Posted by edfuller
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Me too. This is definitely a more difficult challenge than I originally thought.....
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Another vote for Christopher Ward. I have two, and the quality is fantastic. You will be able to get a 38mm Trident Pro within your budget. Swiss made, sapphire, great lume, Sellita or ETA movement, a brilliant ceramic bezel, 600m WR, and a quality bracelet.
Just one roman numeral and perhaps a second hand black one?
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BUBI 0_0
+1 for the Baltic.
Had a black dial with faux patina lume. Great piece, but the faux patina lume didn’t do it for me....
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Maen Hudson Automatic 38? Sits nice and low.
I second this one, it fits all of your criteria and is probably the best value at only 399.30 euros, probably more with vat but not sure. The Baltic is a really nice watch, I had the blue gilt dial, but it has no date where the Maen can be had with a date at 3 and the movement in the Maen is the STP1-11 and it is a Swiss Made watch if that makes a difference.
This one or similar
https://www.steinhartwatches.de/en/d...-red-1018.html
Zodiac Siper Sea Wolf. There is a smaller model that is only just over budget.
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Scrap that - a little more expensive than I thought.
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Geckota G-02
Sorry .. no drilled lugs but all the rest is within the required. + ETA 2824 inside. Buy rubber strap .
And it's 449£.
I owned S02 diver and it's really really nice made watch.
Last edited by sinner77; 13th April 2020 at 15:47.
Some great suggestions thank you. The Maen, Geckota, and Titoni all look interesting.
The Glycine would be my preference but does the listed diameter include the crown?
That's very nice.Geckota G-02
Sorry .. no drilled lugs but all the rest is within the required. + ETA 2824 inside. Buy rubber strap .
And it's 449£.
I owned S02 diver and it's really really nice made watch.
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I concur. Now looking at geckota.com...
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
... anyone know why the orange bezel is £299 but the green (which I like a lot a lot) is £449?
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
ETA clone movement in that one
Thanks.
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
The new Ollech & Wajs offerings tick a lot of your boxes but I think they are about £250 over your budget...
https://ow-watch.ch/collections/main...cts/ow-p-101-s
If the budget is very firm I think the watch that best meets your criteria is the Glycine Combat as mentioned above.
I like the Glycine brand. If you import from the USA you should get in under budget even with delivery and duty etc.
Ashford seem to be in perpetual sale mode on Glycine.
These Lip reissues cover all the must-haves (and some nice to haves). I handled a few Lip reissues, including the Nautic Ski, when I was in France last year. They're nice watches with proper heritage.
No sale on the CW website.
Right. My suggestion is this:
https://www.maenwatches.com/collecti...-midnight-blue
Orange is with clone ETA.
EDIT: already answered. Carry on.
Every day - monday to friday at random times - the watches go basically instantly - this morning I believe they popped up at 7am...
https://www.christopherward.co.uk/ev...daily-specials
The Nautic reissue is a handsome watch
Might have to have a look at them.
That’s what I would be looking at with the OPs criteria.
I'm a fan of a Glycine but not at £900 for a Combat Sub! I paid less than £500 for mine brand new around five years ago.
That would be my choice of the Maen options too. Just worried it might be a bit too high / top heavy at 38mm, a bit like the old SBCM023. Has anyone here got a Maen?
Now that is just perfect, and something I never would have found, thank you JackW!These Lip reissues cover all the must-haves (and some nice to haves). I handled a few Lip reissues, including the Nautic Ski, when I was in France last year. They're nice watches with proper heritage.
A couple of internet pics. The bracelet puts me off a bit.
Amazon has one for £419 delivered.
I think I prefer the Maen.
Last edited by TaketheCannoli; 13th April 2020 at 22:03.
A bit of reading suggests the Miyota 820A in the Lip doesn’t hack, which is a shame at the Lip’s price.
The Maen has an ETA 2824 clone.
The Geckota has the ETA 2824.
MWC SUB/SS/24TA
Essentials: Diver, 40mm diameter, sapphire crystal, automatic, price-range, date at 3.
Bonuses: Tritium gas tubes, ceramic bezel.
Demerits: 15mm high; NATO not rubber (easily changed)
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HAMILTON KHAKI NAVY SCUBA
Essentials: Covers most of the bases
Bonuses: lots of colour options; that lovely 80hr movement
Demerits: date in the wrong spot
Totally forgot about this watch, but it looks amazing!Just one roman numeral and perhaps a second hand black one?
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BUBI 0_0
Cheers for posting the suggestion. Just ordered mine last night and can't wait to get it out in the sun B)
Stay classy
Blimey that was quick!
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BUBI 0_0
Hmmm, I didn't notice that. I seem to remember the Nautic Ski did hack, but looking at the website there's a different movement in that one. I agree that makes the Maen and Geckota better value for money, but somehow both are less appealing to me. That's entirely subjective of course.
I’ve been looking at the Watchgecko site a lot lately at their watches. They have some very nice looking watches. The P-01 at £139, the E-01 and the G-02 mentioned in this thread. But I’m sorry their branding and logo puts me off greatly. Who ever thought Geckota was a great name? Personally I think it’s horrible. So it’s a no from me, I couldn’t read Geckota every time I looked at the watch.
I completely agree, I prefer the look of the Lip too.
The Ventus Northstar ticks most of your boxes.
https://ventuswatches.com/collection...ches-northstar
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Their watches look like excellent value for money! Any real-world owner experiences?
I have not had that exact watch but have owned a MWC before and to be honest I thought it was a bit expensive for the quality, I think they may have upped their game since then. (By how much I do not know)
Some of the military watch collectors got their knickers in a twist with their spurious claims of being issued but they seem to have stopped that now and they no longer make those claims.
If you google reviews of them they are mixed but I would not buy another based on my experience.
Excellent thanks.
I've had their automatic Depthmaster diver and MIL-TEC Mk.IV quartz chrono both for about a year, and based on those I'm honestly puzzled why they're not more popular.
The Depthmaster in particular is in all ways a lot of watch for the money (I paid £380 new on ebay) - 1000m depth rated, tritium tubes, very bright superluminova ceramic bezel (best-executed bezel of anything I own, FWIW), drilled lugs with very solid threaded bars, and AR treated sapphire crystal. Sure, the NH35A movement is unexciting, but there's something to be said for a movement so cheap it can be binned and replaced with new for £less than most watches can be serviced...
I use the Depthmaster in particular as a beater for gardening, building and paddock work, and it's still looking almost new despite taking a fair few knocks and a lot grime.
As I see from the previous poster that they've marked their cards in the past, I guess that explains why they remain under the radar. I'd not let that put you off - I found their customer service very good when a couple of non-watch items needed exchanging.
Ordered a lip mariner last year. Big discount in a sale. One of the cheapest, nastiest feeling watches I've ever handled. Sent back without even sizing the thing.These Lip reissues cover all the must-haves (and some nice to haves). I handled a few Lip reissues, including the Nautic Ski, when I was in France last year. They're nice watches with proper heritage.
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