Reply With QuoteI have a similar one in black dial. Is a copy of/homage to Serica diver. Very nice.
Inspired by the AliExpress ‘cheap watch’ thread, I decided to have a browse and saw this great looking watch, the IX&DAO diver watch. It came with a decent box, strap changer and a warranty card that could double as a coaster. It has the name IPOSE on it but apparently this is the name of a group of Chinese watchmakers, this watch’s brand is IX&DAO.
The watch comes in various colourways but I got this white dial, dark blue bezel one. The dial is very attractive to my eyes and there aren’t that many white faced diver’s. The dial is actually a silvery white looking a bit like enamel but it is probably not. The hour markers are painted and lume filled and have an unusual configuration with the rectangular 3, 6, 9 and 12 markers on the dial edge and the round others towards the middle having a bit of a lollipop look. The 12 marker is unusual and won’t be to everyone’s taste.
The minute track matches the colour of the bezel and if you look closely, you can see the date is also the same colour, which is a nice touch and shows an attention to detail.
The hands are black and give a good contrast and legibility to the dial, the second is nice and long and reaches the minute track.
The dial sits beneath a domed sapphire crystal, which is AR coated, giving great legibility to what is not a large dial.
The dial printing on these have varied with different versions. The first version had the WR and ‘automatic’ as two lines of text with ‘FRIENDS OF IPOSE’ in tiny text at the bottom of the dial. The second version added a third line of text ‘IXDAO & IPOSE’ and changed the tiny text to ‘FABRIQUE EN CHINE’ (a bit pretentious I feel). I went for the first version but was actually delivered what appears to be a third version, this has the large text as version one but replaced the small text with ‘IXDAO DIVER’, I definitely prefer this version.
A stand out feature of the watch is its split bezel, allowing you to both time things and check another time zone. The outer bezel is ceramic and the inner of metal, the bezel pip has a sapphire cover.
The bezel is a 120 click uni-directional one and turns nicely, with good weight, using a coin edge, which has a slight slope to it, another nice detail giving more interest. The bezel aligns perfectly all the way round, which I was pleased with as some reviewers said that version 1 watches could be out of alignment. The bezel has zero slop it clicks into place and is totally solid.
I got the watch with a PT5000 movement, though it could have been ordered with a Sellita SW200-1 or ETA2824-2 instead. The PT500 is a high beat, 28,800 rate movement, which gives a smooth sweep. The movement has some good reviews behind it online, it is a 2824-2 clone and has been keeping good time with me, running at +5 seconds a day. The watch seems to keep almost perfect time when on the wrist and gains when off the wrist and left dial up.
The watch is fairly small for a modern day diver coming in at 40mm by 47mm and 12mm thick. The casework is very well done. The lugs are brushed on top and mirror polished below the sharp swage line. This slims the profile of the watch. The sides are quite nicely brushed, reading reviews of version 1 some said the sides were coarsely brushed but they aren’t on this one. The coin edge bezel side is highly polished giving some interest as the watch moves in the light.
Signed crown with good engraving. This must be new to this version as it did not appear on versions 1 & 2.
Another interesting thing with this watch is the bracelet.
The clasp is signed on this version and this was missing on the first version. The bracelet is a very well made Milanese but with an ordinary end link, which is then combined with an articulating first link, doing away with any gap to the case and yet still able to fully articulate on the wrist. The watch wears very comfortably with this setup.
It is really difficult to put on though and really needs two hands to do so and would you trust in water with a non locking clasp?
The lume is strong and plentiful C3 Super-LumiNova.
On reading up about the watch, it is clear that it is an ‘homage’ to the Serica 5303. It is slightly larger than that watch, has a date and is 200m WR instead of 300. The Serica seems to have suffered some problems with its Soprod movement, causing issues with its winding and time setting. It appears to have fully sold out though notwithstanding. No such problems with this movement, it hacks and winds smoothly. The screwdown crown doesn’t catch smoothly though and it needs a bit of force when tightening. The crown is of a decent size though for the size of the watch.
The watch wears very nicely on my small 6.25” wrist.
The bezel looks really good in natural light, as it changes from really dark blue to lighter shades as it moves in the light.
So really pleased with this one. The quality is fantastic for the price, I can see no compromises at all. The cherry on the cake was the price. I managed to pick it up for the lowest price I have seen anywhere, £168. I factored in £45-50 for customs and admin charges of course but the watch was delivered with no further charges, even though the customs label was filled out correctly by AliExpress, so a real result.
Mitch
Last edited by Mitch; 3rd June 2023 at 17:39.
I have a similar one in black dial. Is a copy of/homage to Serica diver. Very nice.
Very nice for £168. Yes, it's an homage to the Serica 5303
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/se...new-dive-watch
I received an email from Heimdallr selling this, and I assumed it was from that brand.
click for £209 on the Heimdallr website
It seems to be the same watch without a brand logo
I've got the white/blue version. Really pleased with it, first watch with this movement and the time keeping is excellent.
The quality of the finishing on the case and bracelet is brilliant for the price. Arrived quickly and they didn't even charge for postage.
Looks very nice, but the mixture of English and French spellings would bug me!
Not unusual TBH, ‘Swiss Made’ but other stuff in French.Originally Posted by PhilipK
Just to give some idea of the size, here is the watch with some of my smaller diver's.
The Seiko 'Grey Ghost' is 46mm to the crown, the next Seiko is 40mm to the crown, the IxDao is 42mm to the crown as is the Tag Heuer.
It shows that the lug to lug measurement is rather important in how a watch looks in reality, though most seem to concentrate on the width when considering watch purchases.
Mitch
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