The Seiko NH35/4R35 is a solid movement, but am I right in thinking that apart from the Samurai and baby turtle (around the £400 mark) Seiko doesn't offer anything else currently with this movement in? With that in mind what out there is a good non Seiko brand watch that houses this movement? And given the price point of the Samurai, what is a decent price point for one of these non Seiko brands?
Helm make some excellent NH35 powered watches.
For the price (c.£300 delivered), I think they take some beating.
If you slapped a Sinn logo on it, I don't think people would be upset paying £1000 for it.
If you want to spend less (this one was under £150 delivered), take a look at some of the Steeldives.
M
Last edited by snowman; 4th March 2021 at 15:32.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Boldr offers some nice watches with the nh35, including the venture, a 200m Wr titanium field watch, with titanium bracelet as an option, quite decent!
I hadn't seen those - They do look good for the price.Originally Posted by Wandril
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Cheap movements, if this was in stock and i didnt mind buying grey from abroad then i could have bought this Seiko with a 4R35 for £110 ( plus shipping and any taxes )
https://www.creationwatches.com/prod...tch-12748.html
Steeldive!
i currently own three as well as three seikos (monster mark 4, samurai and turtle) using the same movement and to be honest the steeldives are arguably very close in quality.
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
They look good and the quality is very decent I think, I had a venture sand store, the white dial one.
Can't complain regarding the ratio price-specs.
If titanium is your cup of tea, worth considering.
I also think there is a new brand called Reise or Rze not too sure, using the nh35 in a titanium case for a fairly affordable price.
Yep, seen that one.
I've ordered a Dailos Waveform (another NH35 Titanium diver) - I liked the bezel (ceramic, but made to look like Titanium!) and the teal dial (and the colour matched date wheel!).
If you like Titanium divers, the Helm Vanuatu has just been announced in Titanium - I might get one and sell my Stainless one, but I do like the heft of that.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Just had a look, quite a nice titanium diver for the price!
Not too keen on the bezel insert design but the overall package is really appealing.
Curious to have a feedback on the feeling of quality when you receive it!
The bezel is probably a bit marmite, I think it's really original, what drew me to the watch initially.
Supposed to be coming April/May, but who knows...
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Hope for you it won't be delayed with covid etc...
It seems to be a good diver anyway, and it doesn't look too much like another watch so it's definitely a decent proposition anyway at this price point
Spinnaker watches do use the NH35 as well as Miyota 9015 and ETA I believe.
Seem to get mixed reviews, there's a thread on them in Watch Talk at the moment. Can't make my mind up whether they would be a good beater, or better than that.
https://spinnaker-watches.co.uk/collections/all
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Pretty much anything on Ali express has an nh35 and all offer v good value
You’ll be shocked
I’ve had a few with this movement, best I’ve come across is Zelos - original design, great build quality and customer service. If we’re talking the homage kind that you find on Ali Express, then in my experience San Martin are the best.
Spinnaker seems quite decent, careful though, I realized not all are fitted with sapphire crystal, I'm wondering if it's not some of the hull range that have mineral instead
The OceanX Sharkmaster 1000 uses the NH35. Its an incredibly high quality DSSD homage. I own the James Cameron version.
As for the movement, I don’t know how typical my experience is, but it’s unbelievably accurate. Whether it’s on the wrist, face up or face down, it loses 1.2 seconds per day. That’s more accurate than my actual Rolex DSSD, which loses 2 seconds per day.
Gratuitous photo of both of them:
https://i.imgur.com/ToW8RDg.jpg
Simon
Certainly true, although I find a lot do feature Chinese movements as well.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I think it varies depending on the model. Most I looked at had sapphire crystal in the description, but certainly not all.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
On closer examination I’ve realised that all 3 automatics I bought last year are powered by the NH35! The OceanX mentioned earlier, the Borealis Scout Sniper (possibly one of the butchest watch names ever!) and my Sharkey Tuna.
I’ve already mentioned the extraordinary timekeeping of the OceanX - both the Borealis and the Sharkey are losing around 10 seconds per day.
Simon
My Undone has managed a constant +4 s/day since getting it out of the box just over a year ago.
My Seiko Samurai Save the Ocean with the NH35 loses 60seconds a day.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Something wrong there, mine is within +3 seconds daily, in fact all of my 7 nh35 powered watches are 5 secs or under up to now and I’ve had a couple over 2 years
Ocean x sharkmaster is one of the most accurate watches I have owned
The OceanX sounds good with that time keeping, the sharkmaster looks to come in around £300 ($410) not sure if that represents good value or not. The spinnaker thread will have to check out, as their name seems to pop up all over the place these days.
Yeah had it since 2018 but only noticed it getting slow since the start of this year.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Phoibos Proteus
Phenomenal value imo, the quality has to be seen to be believed - and like several other members on the forum I own a DSSD.
Simon
This is my NH35 powered Unimatic U1-FM. Not exactly a value proposition at twice the cost of the Helm with no bracelet, and a lot more than Seiko’s own Turtle. But love is blind!
D
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah the unimatics look interesting. But struggle with the price tag. Also can’t decide if the Rolex with a twist (flipped markers) is a cool look or if I’d prefer something a little more classic.
Another brand making decent NH3* Divers is Signum with their Cuda models.
I bought a couple, a 'dark pearl' dialed one with an NH35 movement and an Abalone dialed one with an NH38 (no date) movement.
I thought I'd like the Pearl one better, but in reality, I prefer the Abalone dial - it catches the light incredibly, almost looking like there are little bits of lume embedded in it.
Having a NH38, there is no 'ghost' position for the date on the Abalone no-date version, which shows a bit more attention to detail than you often find at this price point.
Both are well made (they're related to another brand, Stratton, who have a decent reputation) and keep good time.
Not for those looking for a Sub lookalike or wedded to a 'clean' look, but certainly different!
As you can tell, I have (or have had) a LOT of NH3* movement watches, which is why I'm such a fan of the movement - They are somewhat ubiquitous, but I tire of the snobbery against them as they just do the job and do it well, yet are cheap enough to throw away and replace.
I can't think of anyone making as good a movement at such a cheap price and that price is achieved through mass production, which is why so many are finding their way into microbrand and Chinese clone watches. It hacks, it handwinds and it keeps good time. Some say they're noisy, but I've never noticed any noise, it's certainly not as bad as some of the Miyota movements, which I have noticed.
The worst of mine clocks +20s/d (it's the MM300 clone, so the one that's almost impossible to home regulate!), but most are around +10s/d, some way down in the single digits (the Cudas are +5 and +10).
I've got another watch on order which was optionally available with an SW200 for an additional cost, but having had issues with my SW200 powered Schaffen, I saw no reason to pay extra for it!
M
Last edited by snowman; 5th March 2021 at 12:28.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
wow all i have to say is wow!!!Another brand making decent NH3* Divers is Signum with their Cuda models.
I bought a couple, a 'dark pearl' dialed one with an NH35 movement and an Abalone dialed one with an NH38 (no date) movement.
I thought I'd like the Pearl one better, but in reality, I prefer the Abalone dial - it catches the light incredibly, almost looking like there are little bits of lume embedded in it.
Having an NH38, there is no 'ghost' position for the date on the Abalone no-date version, which shows a bit more attention to detail than you often find at this price point.
Both are well made (they're related to another brand, Stratton, who have a decent reputation) and keep good time.
Not for those looking for a Sub lookalike or wedded to a 'clean' look, but certainly different!
M
Vostok Europe do a few big watches with the NH35, I've had quite a few.
Currently only got the Ghost Expedition "Ekranoplan" model but I have had loads of others and I'm looking at a North Pole model.
I know the brand doesn't have the biggest pull but I've never been disappointed.
This has the NH35 in it. Never had any problems and only at the £200 mark
I thought the three hand cocktail times also had the 4R35 in them aswell
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