Reply With QuoteLooks like it's had a £500 price bump, ouch.
I got the CWC news letter and the 1980 is is back in stock. Supposedly the last run with 300 in stock. Lovely watch, but too rich for me.
Looks like it's had a £500 price bump, ouch.
Wow!
That’s a chunky price rise
Not sure I would pay that for mine
That’s quite a price hike. Still a great watch mind you.
I think asking £2000 was too much a extra 25% is a money grab
I have been thinking about this.
The quality of the 80 reissue (whilst not bad) is nothing remarkable, I would say the PRS82 (which is fantastic for the money but was significantly cheaper) and the CWC 80 are comparable. When compared to other micro brand divers I own or have owed I would say the Synchron military diver is far superior, the quality of the case work, the dial print, the lume and sapphire bezel insert take it up a notch on the CWC 80. The Helson Sharkmaster 600 has a better bezel action (yes it’s different) it again has a sapphire insert, better lume and a totally unique case shape. Again I would say the Helson nudges ahead quality wise.
I have found quality issues on 2 modern CWCs as well, the bezel lume plot on my 80 is uneven as is the lume in the hour hand when looked at in daylight, this not reflective of the quality expected in a £1700 watch, let alone £2500 and my 2012 auto diver has the worst lume on a luminova dialed watch I have ever seen it’s atrocious.
I had reservations on paying £1700 for mine and I am still not sure it was worth it. Asking punters to pay £2500 is taking the urine.
This and the price of the recent chrono reissue means I am unlike you ever buy a new CWC again. I paid less than half what they are asking for the chrono of an original MOD issued version around a year before they released the reissue.
It’s truly a shame.
Last edited by Sinnlover; 5th November 2022 at 10:04.
Some very valid points here.Originally Posted by Sinnlover
As I’ve said before, the whole watch market is shifting north when it comes to prices, so in one sense CWC are no different, and maybe who can blame them.
I cannot help but think but it takes away from what the brand represents for a lot of watch enthusiasts, no-nonsense military watches that are function over form and all the more desirable for it, something of an inside club to those who “get it” and (in the past) great value.
But maybe the same could be said for (many) other brands too.
I certainly agree that I will not be buying a new CWC again.
Exactly the same re the chrono, which seems bonkers. I waited and waited for what must have been a couple of years for that chrono to finally release, but seeing the price I immediately bought the issued example I'd had my eye on for a while instead, at less than half the price it was a no brainer(also being birth year issued it was a nice bonus).
Also doubt I'll ever buy a new watch from them, although to be fair the Mellor and Fatboy reissue were brilliantly made and priced IMO, so much so that the Fatboy crashed the price of the original Fatboys which I've seen sell as low as £250 since the reissue released. Thankfully I never planned to sell my OG anyway otherwise I'd have been a bit gutted.
Agree ref the Fatboy reissue. I genuinely wonder why I own anything else.
Any excuse for a photo:
^when the photo is that good no excuse necessary
If I was forced to go down to just one watch, and sentiment/ value was taken out of the equation, it would be my G10 Fatboy that I would choose all day.
Have to agree with the Fatboy. Just trying mine on a Forstner Klip.
This needs an entire review, with plenty of pics!Have to agree with the Fatboy. Just trying mine on a Forstner Klip.
Completely agree. A lot of money for not a lot of watch. The standard CWC auto diver is less than half the price for essentially the same spec. I doubt that I'll buy another auto diver, but if I do it won't be a CWC. In fact, due to your post, I'm now investigating Helson and Synchron and going down the rabbit hole that is WatchCo.
Can’t go wrong on either brand although Synchron are few and far between as they have only ever produced 500 watches total
Re WatchCo their prices are now very high, so much so, that an all original SM300 can be bought for not much more if you shop around and are prepared to wait until the right one turns up. (I know I did last year)
I certainly agree about the overly ambitious pricing of the CWC '80 re-issue and given how long it took to sell the first batch I am doubly surprised at the £500 price hike. However, I have a '95 issued quartz and a friend has an '80 re-issue that I have had in hand, I felt that the case of '80 auto re-issue felt, and was of noticeably better quality than my '95 issued quartz. I know I am not setting a particularly high bar here with the comparison and am in no way justifying the silly pricing but thought it worth mentioning that the redesigned case for the auto is an improvement.
I agree with most of what’s been said here. The 80’s re-issue is a good watch. But it’s probably not a £2500 watch. There’s a lot of £2500 watches out there for punters to spend there money on so it will be interesting to see how well they do. As others have said, the rising prices are starting to hit the value for money of a CWC diver.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited by Bobbyf; 11th November 2022 at 12:45.
Posting Permissions
