The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[dan'l]

No reason to dismiss it, I'm not brand loyal to GS, nor do I have any emotional investment in them. I just like the aesthetic of many of their offerings, especially the (boring) SBGW231. I'd love to check out some better options, probably in the $4k-6k range or so, although any such purchase would probably be 3rd in line, at best, as to what my future watch plans are.

I think Grand Seiko makes a great 3-handed watch and went this this when looking for a simple watch for daily wear:

It‘s the SBGW008 in YG. Compared to my JLC Reverso, the winding action is smooth as butter. I get that the aesthetics might not be for all, but there are some wonderful pieces in the GS line-up and they are reasonably priced.

 

[NakedYoga]

Just a plug for Guarded Goods straps as well (@Deusis) . I have two of his shell cordovan "Single Pass" straps (NATO like) and they are great. Unfortunately, while they are 20mm and worked great on my Seamaster, they don't fit easily under the spring bars of my Rolex GMTII. I no longer own the Seamaster so they sit unused until I get another 20mm lug watch.

Single Pass Watch Strap (20mm) - Italian Yellow Veg Tan

Single Pass Watch Strap in 20mm Made from Italian Yellow Veg Tan with a shell cordovan keeper Edges are sanded, beveled and painted with beeswax Crafted in the USA Available for immediate shipment Final Sale

www.guardedgoods.com

Edited to add pics:

View attachment 1565742 View attachment 1565743 View attachment 1565744 View attachment 1565745

Will likely give @DavidLane a try at something for the new Speedy. It's 19mm so I don't have anything that will work other than the OEM strap. Will have to see what it looks like upon receipt. Seller says he wore the bracelet 99% of the time.

That thing looks like it can take a beating (TWSS?).

 

[FibroblastsMakeLeather]

My wife got to our new Explorer before me this morning and decided to wear it. So I retaliated and took her Tudor Black Bay 58 in blue...

 

[NakedYoga]

My wife got to our new Explorer before me this morning and decided to wear it. So I retaliated and took her Tudor Black Bay 58 in blue...
View attachment 1565788

Which color dial did you go with for the Explorer (assuming Explorer II)? My current lust is a white-dial 216750, which I can't justify putting down the cash for that right now (not like I'd be able to walk in and buy it out of the display case anyway).

And, regarding the BB58, how long have you had it and how do you like it? I'm looking at purchasing one with a black dial on a bracelet in the next couple of weeks, assuming the AD's estimate is accurate and I like the way it feels/looks on my wrist.

 

[FibroblastsMakeLeather]

Which color dial did you go with for the Explorer (assuming Explorer II)? My current lust is a white-dial 216750, which I can't justify putting down the cash for that right now (not like I'd be able to walk in and buy it out of the display case anyway).

And, regarding the BB58, how long have you had it and how do you like it? I'm looking at purchasing one with a black dial on a bracelet in the next couple of weeks, assuming the AD's estimate is accurate.

She took the Explorer 1 Mk2 dial today.

We've had the BB58 for about 4 months now. I thought after my 114060 that I'd try out the BB58 because it seems to be universally loved. We got the watch shipped to us and my wife opened it and she has pretty much worn it everyday up until today. I have to say that it is a pretty stellar watch and deserves all of the attention and accolades that it gets.

Regarding availability. I've been to 2 ADs in the last couple of months and both of them have had the BB58s in stock in various colors and configurations. I think that they became much more available around November of last year. So you can literally walk in and buy it, which seems weirdly amazing this day and age when considering what is going on with Rolex..

I also would say that it might be worth trying on the leather strap because it really changes vibe of the watch. If anything get both the bracelet and leather strap with the clasp/buckle. The wife and I liked the leather strap so much we ordered a second one for when the original wears out.

Hope to see pics in soon of yours!

 

[Neville Southall]

My wife got to our new Explorer before me this morning and decided to wear it. So I retaliated and took her Tudor Black Bay 58 in blue...
View attachment 1565788

So clean!

 

[Phileas Fogg]

My wife got to our new Explorer before me this morning and decided to wear it. So I retaliated and took her Tudor Black Bay 58 in blue...
View attachment 1565788

That’ll teach her!

 

[Nickd]

The Black Bay 58 looks so right. For those of us with smaller wrists it may even be a better choice than a Rolex Sub.

On this subject of straps, my first nice watch was a Tag Heuer Monaco that I bought lightly used about 10 years ago. The strap lasted about a year of fairly heavy use and Tag quoted £350 for a replacement, not including the clasp. I’ve gone for aftermarket straps that fit the existing clasp at around £60 a time ever since and never looked back. I don’t mind paying for quality, but the original was no better, and probably a little worse than the straps 6 x cheaper.

 

[am55]

Ouch:

 

[Scuppers]

Ouch:

The lower picture is stunning!

 

[chocomallo]

Ouch:

I am not a GS guy at all so I am pretty ignorant about the brand and its models. Notwithstanding the comparison, I would still go for the 231. I like the design better. And apart from this kind of macro, I doubt the difference is apparent. But this is certainly an enlightening post for GS enthusiasts.

Makes me think about Patek and ALS vis-a-vis GS. Patek is transparent about machine assisted finish on its normal models (i.e. they use a wood-disc lathe for finishing on lesser models) whereas ALS is reputed to finish every movement using the exact same methods. But I doubt this claim about ALS, and think ALS is more like GS in this case--pure speculation on my part as I have no interest in either brand to pursue the knowledge and no direct evidence. From a margin perspective, ALS would be doing bad business, but it is possible I suppose.

 

[NakedYoga]

Interesting GS comparison. I love the "boring" SBG231 as I noted in a couple of recent posts, but just yesterday I stumbled across the SBGA407 "blue snowflake" which I think is beautiful even with the power reserve indicator which I usually don't like:

The SBGY003 is very nice, too. If it came in a model with a dial like the 403, that would be perfect, with no date or power reserve indicator.

 

[am55]

Interesting GS comparison. I love the "boring" SBG231 as I noted in a couple of recent posts, but just yesterday I stumbled across the SBGA407 "blue snowflake" which I think is beautiful even with the power reserve indicator which I usually don't like:

View attachment 1566396

The SBGY003 is very nice, too. If it came in a model with a dial like the 403, that would be perfect, with no date or power reserve indicator.

Strongly recommend seeing this one in person. The colour is... unique. Not necessarily in a good way.

 

[NakedYoga]

Strongly recommend seeing this one in person. The colour is... unique. Not necessarily in a good way.

Which one? The blue snowflake? If so that's disappointing. I imagined it as a very delicate sky blue, which, combined with the snowflake dial texture would be very nice. Sucks if it's not so nice in person.

 

[am55]

It's a violent ice blue, if that makes sense. Like food colouring used for slushies. At least that was my impression under artificial lighting. It comes out well in photos because photo life is always more colourful and contrast is king. It's like "cream" trousers that look warm and soft toned on the photo and when they arrive, are a brutal, unwearable yellow.

Also, the texture is a bit *too* high contrast, giving a real sense of "this dial is made of plastic" (not helped by the colour). Again, great for photos (as is Seiko's design language in general, being simple, sharp and contrasting).

Funnily enough I had the opposite impression with the Cocktail Time (the original, not the new version). A brutal blue in the (terrible) stock photos which kept me from buying for a couple of years, then saw it in the flesh and bought it. It turned out to be much more of a shimmering silver with hints of blue, including working really well with the texture, but you had to be in evening low lighting (bars, restaurants?). At lunchtime in the tropics it just does not work, the blue washed out giving just a big dull metallic plate of a dial, the texture utterly without contrast and about as interesting as the corrugated roofing sheet it imitates.