The Watches Thread

[mik]

Ignore - it’s PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT sold already.

[mik]

Sharing info that is likely to be of interest only to @SSO - who may be one of the recipients for all I know

25-piece limited edition commission based on the (already limited to 150 pieces) Christopher Ward C7 Hornet. The Hornet was part of the C7 Rapide collection - @John on here owns one of them - noted earlier in this thread. The Hornet was £900 when first released - a COSC certified chronometer. No idea how much these commission pieces were, but they won’t come close to the price of a humdrum piece from one of the bigger brands.

Each watch is engraved with x/25 and a ref to the vehicle chassis number, so very personalised.

I think it is a superb choice of base watch, and the use of a British watchmaker is very well aligned. A job well executed.

Not my pics obvs...

[John]

My Rapide is still getting plenty of use and I'm still really impressed with the quality.

Do we have any Bulova fans on here? H Samuel have the Oceangrapher "devil diver" reduced from £499 to £249 plus use the code SAVE40 to bring it down to £209. EDIT - code doesn't seem to be working today https://www.hsamuel.co.uk/webstore/d/97 ... let+watch/

[SSO]

Sharing info that is likely to be of interest only to @SSO - who may be one of the recipients for all I know

25-piece limited edition commission based on the (already limited to 150 pieces) Christopher Ward C7 Hornet. The Hornet was part of the C7 Rapide collection - @John on here owns one of them - noted earlier in this thread. The Hornet was £900 when first released - a COSC certified chronometer. No idea how much these commission pieces were, but they won’t come close to the price of a humdrum piece from one of the bigger brands.

Very interesting, I hadn't heard of it until I saw your post.

While I do have a few watches, none of them have any direct ties to specific cars or car events.

[DaveE]

I've done it again.

I've bought another new watch.

This time another Seiko (a Seiko 5 model SRPE61K1)

It's one I really liked when it came out earlier this year, but I missed out.

Found one in stock again just now, and with a 20% discount too (which was nice).

Given that it's nearly 7pm on NYE, I'm confident this will be the last watch purchase of the year.

Maybe...

[John]

Christopher Ward sale, surprised to see the Super Compressor reduced so soon.

https://www.christopherward.com/sale?start=0&sz=192

[Jobbo]

Christopher Ward sale, surprised to see the Super Compressor reduced so soon.

https://www.christopherward.com/sale?start=0&sz=192

It's never surprising that Chr Ward discount watches

Interesting to see there is a C60 Trident COSC limited edition: https://www.christopherward.com/sale/c6 ... K0-B0.html - states 'no COSC certificate will be supplied'. Well it's not COSC then is it

[duncs500]

Where do you guys buy straps from? Any recommended websites?

[Jobbo]

Lovely, bargain hand-made leather straps here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/lawr389/m.ht ... pg=&_from= - I've got about a dozen now. The edges are unfinished so they're not 'formal' but they're made of really nice soft leather which looks great as it wears and are very comfy. Need to be a bit lucky to find the colour you're after.

[Alex_]

Where do you guys buy straps from? Any recommended websites?

From my experience:

If you're looking for a standard leather strap, I recommend Molequin (https://molequin.com/). They have some lovely straps, pricey but you get what you pay for. Based on Belgium and normally super fast delivery via UPS but there might be delays now due to covid and brexit.

If you want something custom- and hand- made, I recommend David from The Strap Tailor (https://thestraptailor.com/). Really nice straps and well priced but can take a while. Good way to support a small UK business.

If you want nato straps (JL is shivering), I think Adrian from Bark&Jack (https://barkandjack.shop/) does the best but his selection is limited.

[mik]

Other options for straps and bracelets
https://www.strapcode.com/

Or for straps only only (all hand made in Ingerland)
https://www.steveostraps.com/

[mik]

Christopher Ward sale, surprised to see the Super Compressor reduced so soon.

https://www.christopherward.com/sale?start=0&sz=192

I think these are first-batch with the “SuperCompressor” text slightly offset - nothing wrong with them but some found it aesthetically displeasing.

[Jobbo]

Duncs, make sure you look at the prices on my link before you start considering paying those sums for a strap! Amazingly, some sellers think that the fact that they make straps which fit the pricier Swiss watch brands mean they can ask a similarly ludicrous figure but straps are pretty universal fitment and 6 inches of leather is not expensive.

[Pete_]

Quite a good review video here looking at three different levels of watch strap and what you get for your money (obviously there will be variation within price points but I think this is quite good as a rough idea). I treated myself to a fairly high quality JPM made strap by Bulang and Sons but tbh not really sure if I can justify the expense, especially if you want several different straps.

[duncs500]

Yeah, I just want something that will mean I wear my watch again, the one I've got is a bit knackered and has become uncomfortable. Don't think I need to spend £100 on one, as nice as they look!

Maybe one day when I have a watch nice enough to justify it.

[Jobbo]

Quite a good review video here looking at three different levels of watch strap and what you get for your money (obviously there will be variation within price points but I think this is quite good as a rough idea). I treated myself to a fairly high quality JPM made strap by Bulang and Sons but tbh not really sure if I can justify the expense, especially if you want several different straps.

I'll watch that later, but being a bit of a strap fetishist I can confidently confirm that price is by no means an indicator of quality. Perhaps within one manufacturer's range, yes, but I have plenty of (not NATO) sub-£20 straps that are way nicer than the £60+ ones which almost always disappoint.

ETA: now I've watched it, none of them are worth the asking price. The lawr389 ones I linked on eBay are a full piece of leather each side, the stitching is smooth underneath (not roughly glued like the B&J strap) and they're utter bargains. Well worth getting one, or a few in fact at his prices, just to see how nice they are.

[Alex_]

The ones I've listed are all quality from my own personal experience. Of course, no point in getting a 100 quid strap for a Seiko 5.

[Alex_]

Picked up a BB58 blue a few days ago. Always thought they're a bit small for my 6.75" wrists, prefer bigger watches, but it wears so well, I can see why they are so popular. Never liked the original black and gilt version, the latest blue one is killer, a close homage to the Marine Nationale Submariners for the French navy.



If you want one, just call an AD and wait for it, don't pay over retail for one. Long story short, this is my third one (first one had a misaligned bezel so returned it and the second one was damaged during shipping). I didn't have to wait that long either for it.

[dinny_g]

I guess you’re left handed???

On first glance, I thought “Jesus Alex has weird fat forearms...”

[Rich B]

Picked up a BB58 blue a few days ago. Always thought they're a bit small for my 6.75" wrists, prefer bigger watches, but it wears so well, I can see why they are so popular. Never liked the original black and gilt version, the latest blue one is killer, a close homage to the Marine Nationale Submariners for the French navy.



If you want one, just call an AD and wait for it, don't pay over retail for one. Long story short, this is my third one (first one had a misaligned bezel so returned it and the second one was damaged during shipping). I didn't have to wait that long either for it.

The whole of that post was Accidental Partridge.