As per the title really, as I'm not willing (or able) to shell out £16k+ for a Hulk but fancied a bit of green so I thought I'd give the £75 Steeldive option a go.
It's a bit different to my other watches and I quite like it. The quality, fit and finish is obviously nowhere near the same as the £16k+ version, but it's quite wearable. What it has informed me though is that the size and case shape works well for me, so it might be worth considering a 124060 at some point.
I did exactly the same thing albeit before buying the Seiko Willard, rather than drop a grand on the Seiko I tried the Steeldive for a shade over a hundred quid, gave me a good idea of how the case shape would wear, and lost very little on the resale.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Having owned - and never bonded with - a 16610LV as a daily wearer for about 7 years, I came to the conclusion that green is a nasty colour for a watch bezel. Tbh I don’t miss the sub at all, where a ‘normal’ Sub goes with everything the LV didn’t really ever go with anything! Ymmv of course - judging by the stratospheric prices I’m clearly in the minority!
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Looks nice. Enjoy it for what it is and hopefully copy/fake/replica brigade and snobs will leave you alone.
Perfect way to find out if an expensive outlay will satisfy you or not.
Wish there had been a similar "free trial" for marriage.Originally Posted by RAJEN
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It is a good way to try out a watch that might be a little different in looks, size or shape to decide if you want to splash out on the real thing. I did it with a Fifty Fathoms homage and then went on to buy a Blancpain a few years back and if you find it is not for you, nothing lost as such, just move it on and lose a few quid at most. Certainly better than blowing big bucks only to find you don't like it.
I'm sure Mrs Gyp will reward you for your shrewd saving of thousands of ££££££'s on the real thing.
What is this obsession with Steeldive on the forum recently? I see also several on the Sales Corner. To each its own of course, but to me those are just cheap replicas of popular watches. The only reason they are not outright fakes is because they have the Steeldive branding and not Seiko, Rolex, or Omega. But it is safe to assume they are produced in the same factories as the fakes.
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No obsessions chum, they're watches and this is a watch forum, some of us understand that they're not fakes because they don't claim to be anything other than a homage, but go ahead and knock yourself out.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
You're essentially correct but the key here is 'cheap', they fall into most heres 'beer money' category where traditional brands in this area (Seiko, orient, etc.) have moved up to, 'that's half the cost of something I actually want' territory. The only real competitors are the old school Vostoks but they have challenging looks and are on the small side for those with fat arms.
I have zero issue with homages or 'similar design', there is only so much you can do with 3 hands, a face and a rotating bezel and most that isn't willfully idiotic has been tried. As long as the logo isn't lying to me I'm OK. If you want totally original design there's the aforementioned Vostok just waiting if you can deal with their cold war aesthetic - or again pay more for their 'Vostok-Europe' line if you want something more contemporary.
I can completely understand how this might not be somes cup of tea but for trying out a style or having somethign fun to wear at the weekend that isn't going to break the bank (or cause too much grief if you bash them up) then they are great.
I tried a Steinhart with a green bezel with a view to buying a Kermit a few years ago and have to agree with Robdad above; it looked great on it's own but felt too loud on the wrist. I should have still bought it and stashed it away but I wouldn't have worn it!
OP, it looks great and hard to beat the cost: fun factor so I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Completely with you on this. I find it funny that this is deemed acceptable because it doesn’t have a fake logo, in every other way it’s a fake the next day a batch of fakes was probably made by the same kids in the same sweatshop hoping that they satisfy the owner enough to get their handful of rice at the end of the day. The name of this harmless watch that is in no way a fake? The “Submariner Hulk!”
Or possibly the Seiko made in the same factory, but then you'll pay three times the price to get the little Seiko badge and poorer QC, so that's OK then
I'm pretty sure, too, that Submariner is not a protected word and I know for a fact that Rolex don't call any of their watches 'The Hulk' (I wonder if Marvel would sue them, if they did?).
Lots of 'genuine' stuff is made in China these days.
'Fake' Rolexes don't hurt Rolex, proper fakes might hurt someone who buys one unknowingly, which is why a Steeldive, San Martin, Ultrawatch (I think I made that one up) is fine - It's not pretending to be a Rolex, Seiko or anything else, so no-one is being misled.
Most people who seem to hate these 'clomages' are people who are angry that some ill-informed person might mistake a £100 watch across a room for their £10,000 one...
I'm not sure who that says most about, really...
M
Last edited by snowman; 20th May 2021 at 15:38.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
If having a less expensive watch that looks rather like a more expensive watch is a crime, can I ask for my PRS-22 to be taken into consideration when it comes to sentencing, as on more than one occasion I've had to say that it's not an IWC.
Should come with a health warning.
There is a much bigger obsession with Rolex on here. Are the Rolex obsessionists feeling threatened by any chance? Its hardly surprising there are fakes when the originals are so vastly overpriced. At least Steeldive are honestly presenting their replicas.
If you pay £75 retail for any steel watch, be it fake, homage or OEM, you are buying something that left Asia costing a few quid. That watch was made in a sweat shop with exploited labour.
If you can live with that, then fine, go ahead and wear it.
Do you have evidence of that? Everyone who is employed is making money for somebody else.
I'd also be interested to see how Mick came by this information. Could you share that with us please Mick? Thanks!
Any professional purchasing manager is aware of this. We are paid to drive prices down and hence why we buy a lot of stuff from Asia. I left the Royal Mail in 2004 and a few years after that they set up a procurement division in China in an attempt to source products ethically. They also checked out supply chains was well as OEM. Hearing about sweat shops is one thing, seeing it with your own eyes is another. Evidently the conditions were not good.
This is a thread that appeared in this Forum just a couple of weeks ago.
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...tting-hammered
The fact that cameras were allowed in indicates it was a much above average place to work, however you can soon see for yourself the conditions that those people have to work under. Would you want to spend 50 years working like that?
At the end of the day, these goods are only made because we happily buy them.
I applaud your ability to live a 100% ethically correct lifestyle or your comfort with hypocrisy. I suspect the former is less likely than the latter
Mick oh bless most of what we buy thats us the Western consumer is made by slave labour in the far east and we put up with it for one reason and that’s COST and whether it’s a watch or a piece of “ designer” clothing we do not give a FF.
Is that right ? ask yourselves.
Last edited by mart broad; 20th May 2021 at 19:38.
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
I'll bet that Mick hasn't realised that his house, car, computer, phone, clothes, etc are all either made in or have components made in China. If not then it would be a remarkable feat these days. :)
Made in Switzerland. By Elves :)
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Interesting that there's no bezel pip. Even the cheapest replicas of these do have that. If they were made in one of the same factories I'd have thought they'd just use the same bezel insert.
Good point. This is where they improved the original. The whole bezel is luminous so a separate bezel pip is not needed.
They are obviously cloning a future Rolex.
Ethically I'm of the opinion that it's a grey area, an exploitative employer is not a good thing however if that employment is putting food on the table and a roof over the heads of your family then the alternative is worse. It's a very difficult situation to judge externally, especially from thousands of miles away through the lens of an exploitative media.
Given the obvious quality / value of brands such as steeldive, they aren't being made in a bamboo hut in a jungle somewhere by all but slaves with a whip wielding overseer looming over them which seems to be the impression some of the, shall we say, 'older' generation here.
The other thing that should perhaps be pointed out is that the proprietor of this establishment makes his living making and selling essentially similar products (although with an historical bent). Thin ice... thin ice.
If I can make a few points here.
Firstly, no one here has any evidence of a Steeldive association with fakes or labour malpractices. To make such connections without any evidence is unfair at best.
Secondly, people should bear in mind that entire cars can be (and are) designed, made and sold at retail for less than Rolex sells several of its models, so simply stating that "it is cheap therefore it must be dodgy" has no merit.
Manufacturing costs for relatively simple, repetetive items can, perfectly honestly, be very low.
I haven't found a Steeldive I want, but at present, I would have no problem buying one.
They offer products under their own name, this is simply not a fake, but a homage, with low cost and a lumed bezel to recommend it over the original.
Very good. Nicely summed up.
Blow up doll
Do you have any Apple products Mick?
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