So…. I did a thing.



Made the mistake of watching some of the utubes and then hit up eBay and amazon, and now I am enjoying a patience/steady hands check.

Bill R

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
I’ve been tempted by that model but my illogical obsession with screw down crowns has kept me from getting one.

If you aren't diving, a screw down crown isn't necessary. The Hamilton is 10 atmospheres with a non screw down crown. It's a pilot's watch. If you are a pilot 100m down, you are doing it wrong.

Besides, I have so many in rotation, it's actually irritating to unscrew the crown to wind and set, then put wear on the threads screwing it back again. I do keep silicone oil on the threads, but they all will eventually wear out like my Omega Aqua Terra did. It had to go in for service.

I'm in love with the oversized crown. IWC is on to something.

Mars, that Hamilton is totally classy! Simple and stylish!

My photos are so poor, that I think a video will do them better justice.

I like the Hamilton Pilot a lot

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
I’ve been tempted by that model but my illogical obsession with screw down crowns has kept me from getting one.

If you aren't diving, a screw down crown isn't necessary. The Hamilton is 10 atmospheres with a non screw down crown. It's a pilot's watch. If you are a pilot 100m down, you are doing it wrong.

Besides, I have so many in rotation, it's actually irritating to unscrew the crown to wind and set, then put wear on the threads screwing it back again. I do keep silicone oil on the threads, but they all will eventually wear out like my Omega Aqua Terra did. It had to go in for service.

I'm in love with the oversized crown. IWC is on to something.

I don’t wear divers because I’m a diver. I like automatic mechanical watches that are built like tanks. I am drawn to the aesthetic design of dive watches. Divers tend to be robust with an excellent ability to withstand hard knocks, falling off a tube behind a boat, surfing etc. The screw down crown does also keep the crown from accidentally getting pulled so there is an extra layer of protection built in that I like, especially if the crown is large.

On a vintage style watch the lack of a screw down crown won’t matter to many. To me it does.

Zee Germans recognize the utility and benefits of a diver chronograph with a flieger dial. That’s an interesting combo.

Sinn’s 203 Ar Ti blends the diver and flieger and Chronograph aesthetic and function brilliantly.

I LOVE that Zinn!

The new Seamaster isn’t affiliated with them as far as I know but it sure looks like it is sporting Petronas Racing colors.

Meh, too flashy for an Omega, to me.

I think the color combo is cool, but man... not on an Omega. That one has kind of a "I have eleven other 'serious' Omegas and wanted this one just for fun" feel to it.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I think the color combo is cool, but man... not on an Omega. That one has kind of a "I have eleven other 'serious' Omegas and wanted this one just for fun" feel to it.

That's a good way of putting it.
To me, Omega was always more of an understated wear. This definitely has more of a 'look at me' vibe to it.

If it were on a Seiko or something like that, I'd be more interested, but for what this [likely] costs, I'd go for a different Omega model.

Islander just reintroduced updated versions of a few of their older SKX clones, including the orange ISL-07.

https://longislandwatch.com/sh...TILs84cIBHMFDTRM6pBs

Primary differences on the new version appear to be the Islander name under the logo, the 6:00 date window, and the black (instead of silver) border on the indices.

Not a fan of "Islander" appearing on the dial. I preferred the almost sterile look of just the logo. If you know, you know. If you don't know, the kind of person who buys an Islander is going to love telling you about it and where you can get one if you ask. 6:00 date window is nice, but damn, that border is huge.

^^^ I'm eyeballing the yellow one

I prefer the orange SKX011J. I just looked at their prices and holy smokes. I’m glad I got two of em before they went north of $500!

The SKX is better IMO because it has a day/date windows and It’ll hold its value a hell of a lot better.

Though for the price of entry and the current prices of the SKX011J I totally understand why islander is making them.

The yellow dial SKX aka “bumblebee” is even more rare and its price reflects this. I’m glad I was able to scoop up two bumblebee dials on the fleabay. It allowed me to make a clone that is nearly indistinguishable for a fraction of the cost. The other dial will probably end up in a Seiko turtle case.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Not a fan of "Islander" appearing on the dial. I preferred the almost sterile look of just the logo. If you know, you know. If you don't know, the kind of person who buys an Islander is going to love telling you about it and where you can get one if you ask.

Agreed. Unfortunately, they've started doing that on all of their watches, even adding it to preexisting models that are still in production.

For example, I have two Islander Bayports, one older production and one newer production. The newer is identical in layout, other than the inclusion of the Islander name under the logo.

They appear to be deliberately attempting to increase their brand visibility.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
The SKX is better IMO because it has a day/date windows

The previous iteration of these Islander SKX clones had the same day/date as the Seiko SKX. But Islander seems to have adopted the 6:00 date (only) window as a hallmark on all their most recent watch model releases, so I'm not surprised they also incorporated that style of date into their rerelease/update of this SKX clone.

Here's the earlier version:

Can anyone recommend a place to get an omega Speedmaster overhauled in the Virginia area?

I would send it back to Omega. That is a very nice watch.

My local Roles/Omega AD was dishonest and didn’t follow my instructions when I had my Seamaster serviced. They essentially destroyed the watch in my eyes. I am 100% certain if had I gone with Omega for the service that would never have happened.

It won’t be the most affordable route but you will get a watch that performs as good if not better than it did when it was brand new.

You will also get paperwork showing the people who made your watch serviced it so if you ever want to sell it this will increase the value and desirability.

That was a VERY painful mistake to have to go through. But I learned something so I guess there is a little bit of good that came from that cluster.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
My second purchase came in today. I had a coupon to Jomashop on top of the sale.

I've been coveting an IWC Big Pilot forever and this Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pioneer fills the bill for 1/10th the price.

The specs says it's a 38mm, but it easily wears like my 40mm ExplorerII. Must be the long lugs.

The oversized diamond crown is super easy to grasp to wind and set.

The heavily textured tropical dial is super easy to read with the vintage cathedral hands.

The 60 click countdown bezel insert is sapphire instead of scratchable aluminum.

Hamilton knocked this one out of the park.

That Hamilton is beautiful!!! Is that the strap that came with it? Looks perfect!!!