Watches - another OCD problem
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I was off window shopping on Monday. Richemont have a conjoined IWC, Panerai, and Jaeger LeCoultre boutique in the middle of Sydney, and I got waylaid by the brand manager of Panerai Australia on the way through. He forced me to look at a number of pieces, nothing as fancy as that tourbillion that @Giles was modelling, and here are some highlights.
This is the PAM01347 Radiomir Otto Giorni. It's got an eight-day hand-wound movement. The case had been finished with a DLC coating that looked as though it had been mostly worn off.
The PAM01243 Radiomir Eilean celebrates their historic racing yacht Eilean, which was designed by William Fife, and featured in the video for Duran Duran's song Rio. There's a subtle teak deck effect on the dial, which I consider more tastefully done than the stripes on the Omega Aqua Terra. It's got a three-day hand-wound movement, and a decorative case back.
The PAM01297 Luminor Chrono Flyback Zebra has a titanium case, which I told was 3D printed. The orange strap isn't standard, but it should be.
The Jaeger section of the boutique didn't have a passing brand manager, but it had the new Polaris Chronograph, which is quite pretty.
I saw the Reverso Chronograph back in April, but it was a pre-production sample, and I wasn't allowed to take a photo. This time there wasn't a problem. The main face resembles a standard model, whilst the back is a skeletonised. It's gorgeous, but reassuringly expensive.
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Wearing the Sinn 556 today. I have a job that deals with helicopters and I like that the handset is the same as those found in our cockpit clocks. Slim enough to slide under my IH flannel sleeves nicely as well...
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I love the 556! Loved the 656 as well and wished they still made it.
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They're great, love the monochrome simplicity and legibility. Probably the watch I get the most compliments on despite it not being the fanciest or most expensive watch I wear.
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The Damasko definitely occupies the same territory. I really like the quadrant design Damsko uses to break up the face, and their colored seconds hands are fun although I prefer the red seconds hand Sinn offers.
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Zenith defy classic paired with an Iron Heart thermal.. really difficult to get a decent pic of the dial on this.
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I love that Zenith….very well done piece.
Loved the light today
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@Mr-Linz I saw one of your Seamasters in the Melbourne Omega boutique yesterday. It was rather pretty, and I think that I prefer it to the one that @Anesthetist is sporting, though that's also a very nice piece.
Whilst in there, I took a look at the new ceramic Planet Ocean. It looks a lot better in reality than it does in the product renderings. The comments on the articles were obsessed by it being too thick, but it didn't seem too fat to me.
It was, however, very light. The movement is made of titanium, like the Aqua Terra Ultra Light that I adore (but not that model's price), and it weighed noticeably less than the Seamaster, above.
The downside is that it's really expensive, about twice as much as other Planet Ocean models. It's also likely to be rare; there are two in Australia at present, and they said that there was no news on when there would be a restock.
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I'll save @mclaincausey saying it....
Too much writing, too many fonts....
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@Graeme Mate! That looks lovely... Love the way you said "your seamaster". There's a very high chance I buy this piece, although maybe when the hype dies down a little. That dial is special.
I actually like a lot of the planet ocean designs the problem is size. I have a 6 and 3/4 inch wrist and anything about 40mm starts looking too big. And those fuckers are massive. Sometimes I can pull off 41mm or 42mm if it's slim, but like you said it's so think... I wanna say from memory it's 14mm and or thicker. I don't really know why Omega don't try to slim their watches a little more. Most every other brand is able to do it. I'm not sure the sapphire caseback or co-axial movement are that much bigger than any other watchmakers.
It's such a shame because the planet oceans tend to have more colorful or playful looks which are fun.
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PS I also love the blacked out Seamaster - forget what it's called - probably stealth. But that fucker is 44mm. Why? If it was 42mm, it would feel closer to 41mm because of the black which would be perfect for most peoples wrists...
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@Mr-Linz I think that any watch will work provided the lugs don't extend beyond the edges of the wrist. It might look a bit small or large for a few days, but you'll adjust.
And, yeah, it's a shame that Omegas are so chonky.
The none so black Seamaster is the Black Black. I like it too. Omega's ceramic cases are a couple of millimetres bigger than the steel ones, though.
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@Graeme what watch have you got your eye on next mate?
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I recently replaced the leather strap with a bracelet on my 15 year old Railmaster. It’s changed the whole look of the watch and I love it.
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@Mr-Linz if I'm being sensible, and if I can find one, I'd be tempted by an Omega CK-859.
If I'm not being sensible, I like the Omega Aqua Terra Ultra Light, but that's more expensive than a Nautilus. On a list of decreasing prices, I also like the Patek 5212 Weekly Calendar, the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Chronograph, and the Chopard Alpine Eagle Cadence. The LUC XPS and Alpine Eagle XPS would also be on the list around about that point.
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@Anesthetist I agree that the pricing is insane, and that's why I don't have one. The ceramic Planet Ocean is 40% of the price and has a similar titanium movement.
My guess is that the cost is in the movement, the only other brand that makes them out of titanium is Richard Mille, and they make insanely priced Omegas look reasonable.
