quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
RogueJSK. That is a good score! I like the 6 o’clock day window. The day/date window at 3 o’clock on the original SKX is my favorite but that is a nice twist on a classic watch. With what the Seiko SKX now costs these Islander watches are the new SKX.

Interestingly enough, Seiko has recently discontinued a number of their reboot "5KX" line as well. So clones like these Islanders are getting to be the only way to get SKX-style watches.

These Islanders have some improved features over the original SKX anyway, like a better mechanism and sapphire crystal. Plus some different styling variations.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
RogueJSK. That is a good score! I like the 6 o’clock day window. The day/date window at 3 o’clock on the original SKX is my favorite but that is a nice twist on a classic watch. With what the Seiko SKX now costs these Islander watches are the new SKX.

Interestingly enough, Seiko has recently discontinued a number of their reboot "5KX" line as well. So clones like these Islanders are getting to be the only way to get SKX-style watches.

These Islanders have some improved features over the original SKX anyway, like a better mechanism and sapphire crystal. Plus some different styling variations.

It’s probably because they are introducing even more variants. Seiko seems to have gone wild with the 5KX line as far as variants.

I’m loving the latest 1960’s vintage reissue/ reimagined variants. Especially these two…

I'll be going on a very short cruise to Mexico in a few days and didn't want to bring any expensive (mechanical) watches with me. I noticed this newly introduced Casio "G-Steel" that is solar powered and pairs with my cellular phone. For $250.00, it looked like a nice option and I like the aesthetics. If I can convert the lugs to accept regular 22mm straps, it'll fill the bill nicely.

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:
pairs with my cellular phone

Good looking watch. What functions does the cell phone pairing bring you?

At this point, I have so many Islanders that I'm forming my own archipelago...

Grabbed a "bumblebee" black/yellow ISL-08 from their Memorial Day sale. A fun summertime color combo. (But the indoor lighting does a poor job of showing off the metallic flake in the yellow.)

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:
pairs with my cellular phone

Good looking watch. What functions does the cell phone pairing bring you?

I'm still working on the "How to..." parts, but so far I've been able to do time setting/correction and pair the alarm feature with the cellular's calendar (so the watch will alert when an event comes up). I think it'll also allow simpler utilization of the watch's alarm setting for hourly or wake up feature. Of course none of these really matter much to me as I'm perfectly happy to utilize a more simple mechanical watch for it's obvious complications.

One thing I did over the last day or so was to remove the bulky OEM strap and install "Ritchie" brand 22mm strap adapters, that allow me to use either nice custom leather straps or nylon NATO single pass straps. These improve the look as well as the comfort (IMHO) as well as providing a lot of versatility.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...tle_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Here I've used a nice leather option from The Strap Tailor.

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

Just got an email that the Vanuatu I forgot I got on the list for will be up for purchase in the next five days. I don’t have anything set aside for this one. Awesome lol. Now the question: spring for it anyways, despite the fact I’ve really fallen for the titanium watches I’ve picked up in the last year, or let it slide?

Their website seems to be broken on mobile. On Brave, it shows both to be white dial and on Safari, it shows both as black dial.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Just got an email that the Vanuatu I forgot I got on the list for will be up for purchase in the next five days. I don’t have anything set aside for this one. Awesome lol. Now the question: spring for it anyways, despite the fact I’ve really fallen for the titanium watches I’ve picked up in the last year, or let it slide?

Their website seems to be broken on mobile. On Brave, it shows both to be white dial and on Safari, it shows both as black dial.

I had a technical issue last month and could not access the purchase section of their site. I missed out on the Ti Vanuatu for that batch. From what Matt told me after I shot him an email Apple devices can have an issue accessing the purchase section of the website. This is an issue they are working on and should be resolved very soon if it is not already fixed. Did you try on a windows computer or apple laptop?

This last round when I came up in cue again I had just purchased a new race bike so I emailed Matt and kept my spot for the next batch which I think will be in July, hopefully in time for some fun at the beach.

Yeah, I was going to check from my PC when I get home. May email him and ask him to keep my spot for the next round, that’s a good call. It’s not exactly what I’m looking for at this point, but I also hate to give up a spot for a Helm. Hell of a business strategy - built-in pressure to buy.

A batch of ten of these popped up the other day. They were listed at $500, not $599, and I seriously thought about it. When I came back a few hours later, they were gone. If they’d been 22mm lug width, I wouldn’t have hesitated:
https://countycomm.com/collect...ver-watch-by-maratac

While I've got a few other nice diver type watches, I saw this Tudor Black Bay "Harrod's Special Edition" and thought it was a bit classier than the others as well as very reasonably priced. Among other things in it's favor is the use of "SigForum" colors! Pending an additional link needed for the OEM bracelet, I'm trying out a few custom straps that I bought earlier and have to choose from anyway.

Very classy looking watch! I love the green Bezel insert. It looks good on that strap too!

Hey Pulicords, I like your style sir! love my Harrods Tudor.
Also, a Hamilton my sons had done for me from David Wade Harris, gets a lot of compliments.

Wow!

Wow! GCE61: That's an incredible amount of engraving! Beautiful work. Who did it?

VERY COOL Hamilton!!!!!

I used to wear a Seiko vintage reissue watch at work, and it did receive a compliment once but as a bike mechanic I found I was putting too many scratches into my watch crystal & bracelet that I eventually just started wearing my Garmin Instinct 2 Solar to work exclusively because it is expendable and has lots of scratches in the crystal already.


One of my co workers wears a nice Ball diver and I have the honor of being one of only three people in a few years to notice and properly identify his watch.

Thanks guys, David Wade Harris is an engraver out of Texas, here’s his website https://www.dwharris.net/david-harris.html

I highly recommend him. What a true gentleman to do business with, I’ve got a single Action army that I’m thinking about sending to him.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Just got an email that the Vanuatu I forgot I got on the list for will be up for purchase in the next five days. I don’t have anything set aside for this one. Awesome lol. Now the question: spring for it anyways, despite the fact I’ve really fallen for the titanium watches I’ve picked up in the last year, or let it slide?

Their website seems to be broken on mobile. On Brave, it shows both to be white dial and on Safari, it shows both as black dial.

I had a technical issue last month and could not access the purchase section of their site. I missed out on the Ti Vanuatu for that batch. From what Matt told me after I shot him an email Apple devices can have an issue accessing the purchase section of the website. This is an issue they are working on and should be resolved very soon if it is not already fixed. Did you try on a windows computer or apple laptop?

This last round when I came up in cue again I had just purchased a new race bike so I emailed Matt and kept my spot for the next batch which I think will be in July, hopefully in time for some fun at the beach.

I just looked!
I went from 1108 to 646 on the list for a Khuraburi Titanium!
Soon, real soon!

quote:

Originally posted by GCE61:
Thanks guys, David Wade Harris is an engraver out of Texas, here’s his website https://www.dwharris.net/david-harris.html

I highly recommend him. What a true gentleman to do business with, I’ve got a single Action army that I’m thinking about sending to him.

I'm a sucker for engraving like that! That is a beautiful job!
Looking at his website, WOW The man is a true craftsman! I hope he's able to pass on his knowledge, because it seems like that's a dying art.

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Just got an email that the Vanuatu I forgot I got on the list for will be up for purchase in the next five days. I don’t have anything set aside for this one. Awesome lol. Now the question: spring for it anyways, despite the fact I’ve really fallen for the titanium watches I’ve picked up in the last year, or let it slide?

Their website seems to be broken on mobile. On Brave, it shows both to be white dial and on Safari, it shows both as black dial.

I had a technical issue last month and could not access the purchase section of their site. I missed out on the Ti Vanuatu for that batch. From what Matt told me after I shot him an email Apple devices can have an issue accessing the purchase section of the website. This is an issue they are working on and should be resolved very soon if it is not already fixed. Did you try on a windows computer or apple laptop?

This last round when I came up in cue again I had just purchased a new race bike so I emailed Matt and kept my spot for the next batch which I think will be in July, hopefully in time for some fun at the beach.

I just looked!
I went from 1108 to 646 on the list for a Khuraburi Titanium!
Soon, real soon!

You’re gonna love it! Titanium is THE BEST material for a watch. Especially on an overbuilt tank of a watch with an equally substantial bracelet like Helm offers.

Stickman, I can’t wait!
I learned about Helms in this thread, did a little more research, and was thoroughly impressed by how much of a watch you get for that price! And I’m thinking it’s a great way to expand my collection by a Titanium. (Don’t worry, there’s still a Pelagos on the horizon )

I told one of my co-workers about them (another watch-guy and diver), he found one on “watch-you-seek” or “watch recon”… and snatched it up. He loves the watch!