All this talk of watches made me get one. Seeing that Seiko Alpinist got me thinking of one of my favorite watches… the Alpina brand. Start looking around on Flea-Bay and lo and behold I find a factory refurbished w/a two year warranty Alpina Seastrong HSW in olive green and black. I will post pics when I get it.

Been thinking a little about smartwatches but, I cannot give up on my love of hands and dials.. so, I am going to try this.

Nice. Not my cup of tea, but it seems like a decent middle ground between a true smartwatch and an analog watch, if that's what you're looking for.

I was actually looking at those very Alpinas a few days ago. A couple of my Citizen fliegers came from by that same refurbishment facility (Citizen owns Alpina), so now I get emails when they run sales like their current one for those Alpina semi-smartwatches.

I’m not really sold on smartwatches but, for the price and still looks like a normal watch, to me that is, $160 including taxes and shipping w/ a 2 year warranty I thought “what the hell”.

The Gunmetal bracelet that matches the case on this CW C60 Abyss SH21 took a while for me to remove but eventually I swapped out the bracelet for a very nice PVD 22mm mesh bracelet. I also added a strap code DLC double buckle clasp that has around 15mm of micro adjust on each side of the clasp. It has proven to be a solid bracelet set up and is one I have taken surfing many times.

The PVD black bezel matches the mesh and makes for a hell of a comfortable and fun watch to wear on sunny warm days.

The way the dial changes depending on lighting never gets old. It’s one of my favorite dials ever.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
I wish Hamilton made something like this with an automatic.

Jazzmasters?

https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/...limited-edition.html

https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/...mer-auto-chrono.html


I have an original Ventura Automatic that's probably going out to MIMI's to see if Dave can do something with it. It needs a lot of TLC. I've been on the Hamilton site a lot the past few days thinking "Ehhh... Why not a newer one as well?!?"
Auto's, Chrono's.. kinda close.

While I've got two Hamilton watches and am very pleased with them, if one is looking for an extremely well designed and beautiful chronograph, you have to look at the Bulova Lunar Pilot! Quite a lot of watch for the money and an interesting history too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-bLDKaKK8

https://www.bulova.com/us/en/collection/lunar-pilot/

The Seiko SSC813 (Solar powered chronograph) is certainly a beautiful and economical alternative too.

https://www.seikowatches.com/u...ducts/prospex/ssc813

Yep. The Bulova Lunar Pilot is the affordable alternative to the Omega Moonwatch (if you don't want to go with an outright Omega clone like the abovementioned Specht & Sohne, or the plastic MoonSwatch).

Still a great quality chronometer with legitimate historical lineage to the Apollo missions, just a bit less in both regards than the Omega. But at about 15% of the price!

And personally, I think the Bulova looks better than the Omega. I especially like the "bumpers", instead of the stopwatch buttons.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep. The Bulova Lunar Pilot is the affordable alternative to the Omega Moonwatch (if you don't want to go with an outright Omega clone like the abovementioned Specht & Sohne).

Still a great quality chronometer with legitimate historical lineage to the Apollo missions, just a bit less in both regards than the Omega. But at about 15% of the price!

And personally, I think the Bulova looks better than the Omega.

Shopping around a bit and you'll find them at even better prices than 15% less!

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:
Shopping around a bit and you'll find them at even better prices than 15% less!

Not 15% less. 15% of the price. That is, 85% less.

(~$700 instead of ~$5000)

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Not 15% less. 15% of the price. 85% less.

(~$700 instead of ~$5500)

Yup! Check out the white and blue dial version! Gorgeous!!!

CPD SIG, Oh man! Thanks for the links! Hamilton makes a Jazzmaster chronograph called the “Seaview” I think that has a rotating/diver bezel and gorgeous layout but it’s only offered in quartz in that version.

I wasn’t aware of a new Hamilton face 2 face model. The original one was pretty damn cool but it’s shape was a bit odd.

The new Hamilton face 2 face or “face flipper” as I will call it is overall a much more aesthetically pleasing design. So much so that I would actually like to own one. (Shocking I know )

At first glance it just looks like an ordinary (but quite pretty) Chronograph. The colors of the subdials kinda has a Zenith El Primero vibe going to it which I quite like!!!


Hmmm…that’s odd, a hand on the back on top of the rotor!? What the?


Ahhh what a neat watch!

^^^
Let us know when you get it!

Probably soon I'll pick up a Hamilton Ventura.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Pretending to not see it....

Baaa-hahaha!

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Not 15% less. 15% of the price. 85% less.

(~$700 instead of ~$5500)

Yup! Check out the white and blue dial version! Gorgeous!!!

I'd probably opt for the white/blue & hold out for an Omega for the og Moonwatch.

Edit, it's [98K112 model] a quartz & not an auto. That $895 price tag seems steep in that regard.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Pretending to not see it....

Baaa-hahaha!

I have four watches that are on my radar for this year.

First,
The Bulova Lunar
The Omega / Swatch Moon or Mars watch.
and then the set:
Hamilton Murph, and Cooper watches.

The Hamilton's are pretty low on the list. The omega/swatch will happen as soon as I cand find one that isnt being scalped.

New watch day: Custom Seiko mod, combining a Seamaster-style bezel, with Sumo-style hands, and a Marine Master-style case.

So... a Seaumomaster?

Got to hang with Mars Attacks a bit last night and add this one to the collection. Proudly on my wrist today.

Stickman328k, email inbound with a question.

Johnny 3eagles, You have mail.


RogueJSK, very nice! Seiko mods are fun. They can be quite addictive too.


YellowJacket, Excellent score! Prices stayed firmly in the ridiculous range so I quit looking for them on eBay and decided to wait it out.