The (Less intimidating) Watch Thread
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The Fortis Aquatis Shoreliner Vik Beach is similar to the Unimatics. Watch Partners has this version for $1090 (Australian) for internal shoppers (just over $800 US), and a couple of others for a bit more.
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Fortis makes a very solid watch. They’ve had a few boring designs but their main line is pretty good.
I like that Tissot and I’m sure could be had for much, much cheaper. I found a lot of retailers doing discounts of 20%+ in the Caribbean. Even deeper occasionally online.
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The Unimatics look good, but they quote accuracy of -20 / +40 seconds per day, which is pretty horrible.
The Tissot Seastar 1000 Powermatic 80 (Who comes up with these names?) strikes me as a good buy. It's $695, has an ETA movement, so easy to service, robust, accurate, and has an 80 hour power reserve, it's water resistant to 300 metres / 1000 feet, and has a lovely blue dial.
Time and Tide have a review, along with this video.
$522 with a metal bracelet at Joma–that's a great deal, thanks for bringing this up.
I didn't look at the specs in detail on the Unimatics, was more interested in the looks--but eep, that level of reliability (from the Seiko movement I think that they use) is a huge problem.
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But Seiko movements are well known to “settle down” after a few weeks of wear. I’ve had a couple of Seiko autos that were pretty spot on.
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There's a review of the Marathon GPM at aBlogToWatch for the field watch fans.
I'm a fan of both manual winding and dateless watches, so both of those criticisms in the review would be a plus to me. But the weird 16.5 mm lug width is really awkward. They should have gone for 18 mm to open up more options for straps.
Oh, it's got an ETA movement, so it should run forever and be easy to repair, though the Swatch group is getting a bit awkward about supplying spares to third party companies.
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^ Just had a long old Google regarding that as I’m intrigued. I am field watch fan and this made me consider the date window/mechanical issues. I’d actually find a date window useful as I often need to check my phone for this but as has been mentioned numerous times ones smart phone makes all watches with the exception of smart watches anachronstic jewellery. At the end of the day I really, really like the face of this and the lack of a date window helps the aesthetic.
Equally, it seems to me that the fashionable preference and cultural caché of automatic watches is based on ease of use and old tech charm. There’s nothing more old tech than having to wind the twatting jewellery on your arm each day. The pointless routine of it seems quite charming in itself.
The odd lug dimensions rather spoil it for me, I suspect I’d enjoy chopping and changing straps, but the deal breaker is the shape of the case. From above it is attractive but I do not like the way the case curves upwards towards the bezel (?). There’s something deeply unattractive about that.
Thanks for posting @Graeme
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What were they thinking with those lug dimensions? Otherwise, it looks great and the upward curve of the case is pretty traditional for field watches. I think a quartz version would be an amazing EDC beater even though (as Graeme said), the ETA movements are plenty robust. Thanks Graeme for the write up.
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Well, here's a quartz Marathon, with tritium lum… $208
https://www.longislandwatch.com/Marathon_General_Purpose_Watch_p/ww194015.htm
34mm case, and 16mm lug width.
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@neph93 I figured that the review would appeal to your field watch fetish.
The Marathon's case shape is a bit odd. I'd have been tempted to slim it down slightly on the upward curve, you could shave off a millimetre or two's thickness and still retain the look. And cut the lugs for 18 mm straps, which would balance the look of the watch a bit better.
@UnTucked the quartz version looks good, though I'd go for the Timex x Cabourn watch instead.
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Otherwise, it looks great and the upward curve of the case is pretty traditional for field watches.
I don’t doubt it, but it seems a little too traditional for my tastes. I’d like a little less 1944 and a slightly more «modern version of a classic», but that is just me, and Hamilton do provide that, often with other slightly annoying stuff however.
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I guess I'm showing my ignorance here but I thought the concave shaping of the bezel was unusual for a field watch and made that design less rather than more traditional.
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I guess I'm showing my ignorance here but I thought the concave shaping of the bezel was unusual for a field watch and made that design less rather than more traditional.
I’m a complete noob at this, but I’ve seen period watches with that exaggerated curve and high rim. I think that generally more modern iterations tend to play it down. But don’t take my word for it. I’m sure one of our more enlightened brethren can school us.
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Neph beat me to it. It’s a very common feature of field watches from about 1980 onwards. The field watch by CWC is similar but not as dramatic.
@untucked those are cool but with a plastic case. A cool option though.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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while the rolex is away getting serviced…
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yes. and i'll continue to imagine having an imaginary crown at the top
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yes. and i'll continue to imagine having an imaginary crown at the top
Did you send your Rolex back to their service center? I need to have my Explorer I cleaned but I wanted to keep my original hand set and dial.
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