quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Do I have freakishly large wrists? I mean seriously, I’ve looked at expensive watches on and off for years. Forget about used watches, any of them that list wrist size are too small. I finally bought a new watch that was listed to have a 9 inch bracelet. Received it today and it’s too small. My wrist is 8”-8.25”. Strike one. The case size is supposed to be 41.5mm and my old Seiko is 42mm, so I figured the new watch would look good. Man it looks small. Strike two.

No pics because unless the dealer can send me links for the bracelet, I’m going to return it. I suspect being a gray market dealer, they won’t be able to.

My wrist is 8.25. But I think watches down to 39mm look just fine, and not at all too small. If someone gave a 36mm Rolex, I wouldn't snub it.

trapper189,

If you ever get the itch for a chronograph diver from Tissot their flagship Seastar Professional 1000 (Limited to 1000 watches total and individually numbered) might work for you.

Tissot claims it is 48mm but I don’t think they are counting the rather large crown or Helium release/ bezel lock down crown.

The watch has some incredibly innovative stuff going on. It has a quick release built into the bracelet that lets you swap back and forth between the SS bracelet or Tissot branded rubber straps. The lock down bezel/He valve is neat too.

Had Tissot made it smaller and used a titanium case to offset its hefty weight it would have been a MUCH better watch.

I am hoping Tissot puts these features onto future Seastar dive watches.

This oversized Tissot makes the Seiko Samurai look like a small watch, which it is not.

Speaking of small, a fresh haul of vintage for me.

Oh sweetness!! A vintage Mido Multifort! Very cool.

They are all gorgeous.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
46and2,

It’s a Miltat canvas strap. I got mine as a bonus strap that came with a watch that is now long. It has a neat distressed or well worn look to it. It’s a strap that looks especially good on brass or bronze case watches because of the rusty brown stitching.

Link to the strap seen with the Squale

Hopefully this link works, similar Miltat straps

There is a tan canvas version similar to mine that is quite tempting.

Thanks.

I’ve been researching micro brands, specifically Elshan Tang’s company Zelos and Alan Tsao’s Baltimore MD based brand Tsao Baltimore. They for obvious reasons keep their manufacturers names close to the chest. It seems from my research that most micro brands are sourcing their parts from China and Hong Kong.

In one of his interviews Elshan said most micro brands are probably made in one factory but didn’t name the factory. He then elaborated on his process of having various manufacturers make components for him so he could compare the various manufacturers quality.

I wonder how much money it would require to attempt to create a micro brand? Zelos’s founder said that because of crowdfunding he was able to offset a lot of the start up cost and as a bonus it provided confidence that there was a market for what he was creating.

Was it Movement (MVMT?) who did the crowdfunding thing not long ago? One of the guys on my team has one of their watches. It looks pretty good!

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Was it Movement (MVMT?) who did the crowdfunding thing not long ago? One of the guys on my team has one of their watches. It looks pretty good!

Revelot just finished a crowd-funding drive for a new watch and raise a a metric shit-ton of money including some of mine. I usually do not participate in such things, but the watch was very nice in my eyes.

RMD

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rduckwor,

Speaking of micro brands… I just received my Helm Titanium Vanuatu that I signed up for earlier this year. As always, I’m impressed with their overall quality. I wonder if Matt’s regulating them now (wouldn’t be surprised) as I’ve been wearing it since the beginning of the week and, as of today, it’s 5 seconds slow.

Here it is with its all stainless steel brother (on a NATO with a stainless bezel). Other than the Ti, the only difference is the date background went from white to black.



And, here is the whole Fam Damnily

R0gue, that Mido is very nice. I had a look at some on ebay, and none were anything close to that condition, it looks brad new. I think I have a new vintage watch I need to pick up at some point. There's a wartime black dial with small seconds and gilt arabics that really has me enamored.

Nice family of Helm watches Tooky13. I'm on the list for a Komodo.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
R0gue, that Mido is very nice. I had a look at some on ebay, and none were anything close to that condition, it looks brad new. I think I have a new vintage watch I need to pick up at some point. There's a wartime black dial with small seconds and gilt arabics that really has me enamored.

It really is quite pristine. I bought the set for the Breitling. I was just debating putting the Mido on eBay, or maybe the SF classifieds for a gift to someone's wife or something. It's only 28mm. Running wicked accurate for it's age.

I don't know what a Mido is, but it's the one that catches my eye as well because I like the font used for the numbers. Glashütte Original uses a similar font for their SeaQ dive watches.

I imagine the lume on the Mido is radium. What’s the consensus on that for safety? Not at all unsafe, as long as you don’t open the watch yourself? Meaning totally safe to wear?

Well. I guess it’s up to everyone, the risks they choose to take, but what I read about radium watches totally put me off anything from before 1970. Minor risk of irradiating the skin of the wrist with gammas rays, risks to the eyes with alpha rays from looking (!!!) at the dial, and 134 times the safe levels of radon in a bedroom sized room from the decay of radium. Those are just the things that come with owning and wearing one you don’t open up.

Probably, this isn’t a big deal, but I’m dying from cirrhosis already. I can’t afford to poison what’s left of my liver, and handing down an heirloom to my son that I know is radioactive sits wrong with my conscience. Besides, I know my wife wouldn’t allow it and I’ll have no say when I’m dead anyway. I’m thinking I’ll get my Heuer serviced and then walk it. R0gue, I’ll contact that guy you recommended and get a quote. Until then, it lives in my gun safe in the basement.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge: ...risks to the eyes with alpha rays from looking (!!!) at the dial...

There is no such thing as "alpha rays." There are alpha particles, but those will not penetrate a sheet of paper, let alone a watch crystal.

You could always spring for a newer Mido Multifort as it is a brand with a beautiful history that is still on going and (IMO) only improving in my eyes. The movement in the current Miltifort is a damn work of art and keeps +/- 1 second a day on my wrist. The Caliber 80 Si is for the money a superb movement that really surprised me with its accuracy.

I kinda like that this brand seems to fly under the radar even amongst watch enthusiasts. There are a few variants too if the Geneva striped dial doesn’t suit your fancy. Their divers are pretty neat too (especially the day/date vintage styled Ocean Star).

That Mido is beautiful, stickman!

quote:

Originally posted by BrianO:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge: ...risks to the eyes with alpha rays from looking (!!!) at the dial...

There is no such thing as "alpha rays." There are alpha particles, but those will not penetrate a sheet of paper, let alone a watch crystal.

Alpha, gamma, wabi sabi, whatever. The point is with my rotten liver, I don't need a potential source of radiation on my wrist and radon gas in my bedroom.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
You could always spring for a newer Mido Multifort as it is a brand with a beautiful history that is still on going and (IMO) only improving in my eyes.

Thanks, but what I was really liking the was 1920's styling, not the brand, per se. If I'm going to go with a modern Swiss piece, I'll get the Seamaster I've been wanting.

I hear ya on that! The silver dial Seamaster is one of the few watches I occasionally am tempted by. If I ever went down to only owning 8 or less watches it would be one of them.