The Watches Thread

[PreacherCain]

Their initial offer on the Super Avenger 2 was between £2.2k and £2.4k, which seemed good compared to Goldsmith's £2k when the latter saw it in the store. Then got into the whole 'need to post it' discussion with Watchfinder, thinking about the costs, potential issues and in the end decided the likely 200 to 300 quid gain wasn't worth the potential aggro and flogged it to Goldsmiths.

WF have a pretty crappy reputation for high initial offers which are then heavily revised downwards "on inspection", presumably in the belief that people will decide it's not worth the hassle of getting the watch back, and accept the low-ball instead. Personally I wouldn't bother trying to sell to WF, I've read too many stories about their behaviour.

@Ste - correct, lots of lovely things to be had in the Arcade. I'd been expecting punchy prices but not necessarily multiples of market!

[Alex_]

I recently purchased an Aqua Compressor Hecla from Farer, who are an independent British company. The Hecla caught my eye due to the gorgeous wavey blue dial and I really like the overall look of the compressor case. For a relatively new company, the watch and packaging combination is simply amazing. The presentation box is really well done and the Farer logo-shaped springbar tool is a nice touch. The watch comes on a rubber strap, arguably the most comfortable strap I've tried on, buckle looks and feels solid as f*&k, and you also get a high quality stainless steel bracelet. The dial is as stunning as shown in the pictures but there's just one problem: the glare. Because the sapphire is domed and there's no anti-reflective coating, I keep seeing my face and surrounding objects reflected off the crystal. It's not something I've noticed before with my other watches but it's very distracting and sadly a deal-breaker. I had it for a couple of days but couldn't get over the reflections so I returned it (30 day free returns policy) Shame, it's such a nice watch and divers are my thing. A bit pricey at £1095 but you do get a top-grade ETA and an unique design from British company.

[DaveE]

That Aqua Compressor Hecla reminds me of a Seiko "turtle" in the case design...

[PreacherCain]

Yeah - it's like the '60s and '70s never left. I always rather liked the Supercompressor case design, it's nice to see a modern revival. The only other one I can think of offhand is the Longines Legend Diver, and the hands on that give me hives.

[Rich B]

Yeah - it's like the '60s and '70s never left. I always rather liked the Supercompressor case design, it's nice to see a modern revival. The only other one I can think of offhand is the Longines Legend Diver, and the hands on that give me hives.

i Googled that - it looks nothing like it?

[PreacherCain]

Back in the ‘60s, a case maker whose name I can’t remember made a new waterproof case design, marketed as “Supercompressor”. The schtick was that the design of the case and caseback would actually tighten the seal as more and more water pressure was applied (actually pretty neat piece of engineering which I don’t begin to understand). The case came with two crown tubes, one at c. 2 o’ clock and the other at c. 4 o’ clock. Like the microbrand watch above, one crown operated an internal timing bezel under the crystal and the other operated the movement.

The LLD case is a pretty faithful (aesthetic) recreation, the Hecla less so, but to me that’s obviously what they’re referencing.

[Carlos]

I quite fancy the Seiko Turtle PADI which is the same shape as the above . They feel bombproof for a £300 automatic watch.

[duncs500]

First time I looked at that picture of the Farer on a wrist Alex ( I'm assuming yours), I was thinking 'woah, wtf is up with your wrist'. Then I realised you were wearing it on your right wrist.

I wear a Seiko Sportura SNA65 (apparently), I don't know if it's supposedly a pile of crap but I like the way it looks and it's never done anything other than keep perfect time.

[Rich B]

i don’t know anything about watches, but can’t see the aesthetic similarity? The first two have VERY similar shape case/lugs, the LLD doesn’t have much in common with either? The lugs are the complete opposite in terms of the way they curve?

Hecla

Seiko Turtle


Longines legend diver

[Jobbo]

I think you’ve just found the wrong model Rich.

Always amazes me that watch makers use such similar names for quite different watches.

4D42F811-1D66-4CD7-8D4A-3D5A0204EF0C.jpeg (35.78 KiB) Viewed 3703 times

That’s a newer reissue harking back to the original, too. But you get the point.

[Rich B]

I thought there must be something major - that does make more sense!

[duncs500]

BTW JL, your IWC looks very nice, I could see myself wearing that. Alas there's a lot of other things I could see myself doing with that kind of money.

[PreacherCain]

JIC. Though the plainer LLD is very close to the original 1960s Supercompressor case shape.

I really like those old-school “barrel” case shapes.

[JLv3.0]

BTW JL, your IWC looks very nice, I could see myself wearing that. Alas there's a lot of other things I could see myself doing with that kind of money.

Thanks Duncs, very kind of you to say. I'm really taken with it, I must admit.

[Alex_]

BTW JL, your IWC looks very nice, I could see myself wearing that. Alas there's a lot of other things I could see myself doing with that kind of money.

Thanks Duncs, very kind of you to say. I'm really taken with it, I must admit.

How wide is the IWC?

[JLv3.0]

43mm.

[Alex_]

43mm.

Nice. Smaller than I expected.

[PreacherCain]

43mm.

Nice. Smaller than I expected.

Indeed - it's about my "maximum acceptable diameter"; I don't think I've kept anything bigger than that for more than a few weeks.

[JLv3.0]

It's a chunky number but let's face it, the chunkier the watch the more expensive it is and the more women I have trying to do sex with me, in theory.

[Richard]

If you like watches AND YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/watchfinder

Alan Davies talking watches, watch history, and comparisons

(Not actually Alan Davies)