Sinn 556 or Christopher Ward Makaira Pro 500
Discussion
CardShark said:
My GMT had a wonky crown, it wouldn't screw down flush to the case, though the gap was on the underside so you couldn't see it and it was only slight. I bought and sold it through TZ's sales corner, even though I declared the crown issue it still sold within hours. As you've said, the PRS-22 gets some great reviews and it compares very well compared to the IWC that it's a homage to (non-GMT).
Drop Eddie, Timefactors' proprietor, an email through his site. I'd be surprised if all of them had misaligned crowns.
Yes I may well do that. It's a shame an otherwise great watch is spoilt by something which really looks like either a quality control issue, bad design or a some sort of weakness.Drop Eddie, Timefactors' proprietor, an email through his site. I'd be surprised if all of them had misaligned crowns.
Edited by CardShark on Monday 23 February 21:38
MarkS3 said:
Yes I may well do that. It's a shame an otherwise great watch is spoilt by something which really looks like either a quality control issue, bad design or a some sort of weakness.
I was very surprised to read that there have been issues with the crown on the PRS22. I had a look at my (non-GMT) one last night and the crown sits perfectly straight, no problems at all. As has been said, it's probably worth sending Eddie a mail if you have questions on anything - I've always found him helpful.TheJimi said:
Sinn, without question - I'd sooner wear a casio taliban special than buy anything from CW 
I'd avoid anything from Timefactors too; it'll get incredibly tiresome pausing after every glance at the watch, to quietly say "Thanks to Eddie for the facility!"
And don't get a Rolex unless you own a used car lot... I'd avoid anything from Timefactors too; it'll get incredibly tiresome pausing after every glance at the watch, to quietly say "Thanks to Eddie for the facility!"
M.
MarkS3 said:
Thanks for the views and opinions everyone, great pics Pastrana, the 556 really is a lovely watch and I think its the one I'm leaning towards at the moment. Also considering the Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT but I'm a bit put off by the lack of anti-reflective crystal but for the money the spec is really good....
http://www.chisholmhunter.co.uk/hamilton-khaki-nav...
Have a look at Creation for Hamiltons - much cheaper than the UK high street.http://www.chisholmhunter.co.uk/hamilton-khaki-nav...
TheJimi said:
Sinn, without question - I'd sooner wear a casio taliban special than buy anything from CW
I'd avoid anything from Timefactors too; it'll get incredibly tiresome pausing after every glance at the watch, to quietly say "Thanks to Eddie for the facility!"
Explain both those points.... CW get some good reviews, well made, fair prices and excellent service. ....I'd avoid anything from Timefactors too; it'll get incredibly tiresome pausing after every glance at the watch, to quietly say "Thanks to Eddie for the facility!"
And what's the issue with Timefactors/ Eddie?
MarkS3 said:
TheJimi said:
Sinn, without question - I'd sooner wear a casio taliban special than buy anything from CW
I'd avoid anything from Timefactors too; it'll get incredibly tiresome pausing after every glance at the watch, to quietly say "Thanks to Eddie for the facility!"
Explain both those points.... CW get some good reviews, well made, fair prices and excellent service. ....I'd avoid anything from Timefactors too; it'll get incredibly tiresome pausing after every glance at the watch, to quietly say "Thanks to Eddie for the facility!"
And what's the issue with Timefactors/ Eddie?
"Hey, nice Seama..... oh..... what watch is that then?"
For this reason, I am VERY wary when looking at new watches from CW. Take their new maroon/ red bezel C60, it's blatantly trying to pass off as a Tudor BB.... and it's not alone, there are MANY watches in their line-up that fit into the "homage" category.
Don't get me wrong, CW make a fine watch for the price you pay, but, I feel if they made their designs a bit more unique then they would be more in favour with most watch lovers.
I do believe, however, the Makaira is a unique design (please correct me if I am wrong) and did contemplate making a purchase until my eyes were cast towards a nice GMT II
Edited by SickFish on Thursday 26th February 14:32
As per Sickfish, and speaking as a relatively-early-adopter CW owner, I don't think I would buy anything else from them now. For me they have sailed far too close to the edge in terms of blatantly copying other marques (not looking for another half-dozen pages on that subject, I think we've done it to death now, we'll agree to disagree!) but that, and their significant price hikes, have killed them off for me. I still have the CW, it's a C8 Pilot Mk II, which ironically might even be something which would fit your requirements, it's a nice watch and well-made but, just but…..
MarkS3 said:
Explain both those points.... CW get some good reviews, well made, fair prices and excellent service. ....?
There's plenty of evidence to support what you've said, and to the man-on-the-street looking for a decent watch then CW are a brand to be considered IMO. They do suffer from a couple of issues amongst those of us who (think they) know something about watches, namely that some models resemble popular "premium" brands (highly subjective, as has already been stated by CAPPO) and that they're suffering from perceived price creep. This has, in part, lead to a slight image problem though you'll find lovers and haters of more brands than just CW; Rolex vs Seiko, anyone? CW's 60 day (IIRC) no quibble returns policy is something that isn't offered by anyone else, that I'm aware of anyway.I previously commented on this thread stating that I'd pick the Sinn over the CW "any day of the week". To expand upon that the comment was 90% down to the individual aesthetics rather than the quality of the watches, though I'd bet that the Sinn would better the CW there as well.
MarkS3 said:
And what's the issue with Timefactors/ Eddie?
There's no issue with the quality and VFM here (despite the PRS-22 comments), the general opinion being that TF offers some great watches though there's little doubt that TF are even more guilty than CW if homages aren't your thing. As with watch brands some people think highly of Eddie and others don't, though it's probably not much more than a personality clash over anything else for those that fall into the latter camp. The previous "thanking Eddie and his facilty" is a mickey take about sycophantic sounding comments that people leave on sales posts on the forum that Eddie runs (Timezone aka TZ). Edited by CardShark on Thursday 26th February 22:47
CardShark said:
The previous "thanking Eddie and his facilty" is a mickey take about sycophantic sounding comments that people leave on sales posts on the forum that Eddie runs (Timezone aka TZ).
Run an online forum, do you? I know a few people who have and it usually costs them time, money and abuse.You might argue Eddie does it to promote his business, but I suspect he doesn't really, he's not big enough scale to really worry about that, but if people on every forum had a bit more consideration for the people running them, they might not be so transitory.
I can recall a forum I used a lot where people often moaned about the 'moderators', but when they announced they'd had enough of spending their money and time running a forum for people who did little but gripe about them, they were pilloried for not doing enough for their 'community'.
Most forums are run by enthusiasts (taking TZ and Eddie out of this), but get little thanks for the time and money they invest. The odd thanks for providing a sales outlet FOR FREE isn't sycophantic, it's just good manners...
M
Nope, wouldn't have a clue as to how to set one up let alone run a forum 
Perhaps it was poorly worded on my part but I wasn't personally having a dig at those that say thanks, and I understand and agree with your points raised. FWIW I think that TZ is a great asset to those who are WIS minded and I do genuinely appreciate the time and effort put in to running it.
The "thanks" could come across as a touch sycophantic though dependent on your starting viewpoint and there have been a good few people who have chosen to take the p out of it, however it's normally no more spiteful or intentionally confrontational than it is two good mates taking the p out of each other. I've had personal dealings with Eddie and, on one occasion, I was sent some spare wire lugs for my PRS-20 FOC (small parts, granted) when others may have charged, and for that I was thankful.
I didn't mean for my comment to sound out of hand, and I certainly don't think that the praise isn't deserved
Perhaps it was poorly worded on my part but I wasn't personally having a dig at those that say thanks, and I understand and agree with your points raised. FWIW I think that TZ is a great asset to those who are WIS minded and I do genuinely appreciate the time and effort put in to running it.
The "thanks" could come across as a touch sycophantic though dependent on your starting viewpoint and there have been a good few people who have chosen to take the p out of it, however it's normally no more spiteful or intentionally confrontational than it is two good mates taking the p out of each other. I've had personal dealings with Eddie and, on one occasion, I was sent some spare wire lugs for my PRS-20 FOC (small parts, granted) when others may have charged, and for that I was thankful.
I didn't mean for my comment to sound out of hand, and I certainly don't think that the praise isn't deserved
Edited by CardShark on Friday 27th February 19:35
SickFish said:
I have a CW C60 with Orange Bezel that I (used to) wear as a bit of a work watch, I wore it to a meeting once and the guy I was meeting, when seeing my watch said....
"Hey, nice Seama..... oh..... what watch is that then?"
For this reason, I am VERY wary when looking at new watches from CW. Take their new maroon/ red bezel C60, it's blatantly trying to pass off as a Tudor BB.... and it's not alone, there are MANY watches in their line-up that fit into the "homage" category.
Don't get me wrong, CW make a fine watch for the price you pay, but, I feel if they made their designs a bit more unique then they would be more in favour with most watch lovers.
I do believe, however, the Makaira is a unique design (please correct me if I am wrong) and did contemplate making a purchase until my eyes were cast towards a nice GMT II
Fair point. Yes I think the Makaira is fairly unique although it has similarities to the Bell & Ross but I think the Makaira looks better.
"Hey, nice Seama..... oh..... what watch is that then?"
For this reason, I am VERY wary when looking at new watches from CW. Take their new maroon/ red bezel C60, it's blatantly trying to pass off as a Tudor BB.... and it's not alone, there are MANY watches in their line-up that fit into the "homage" category.
Don't get me wrong, CW make a fine watch for the price you pay, but, I feel if they made their designs a bit more unique then they would be more in favour with most watch lovers.
I do believe, however, the Makaira is a unique design (please correct me if I am wrong) and did contemplate making a purchase until my eyes were cast towards a nice GMT II
Fair point. Yes I think the Makaira is fairly unique although it has similarities to the Bell & Ross but I think the Makaira looks better.
Edited by SickFish on Thursday 26th February 14:32
Hi, it's been a while so I thought I'd update you, I ended up getting the Christopher Ward C11 MSL at a bargain £250 in their sale. I'm very pleased with it, it's a lovely looking watch, very nicely made and great value at the price I paid.
Then........ About 2months later for a 30th wedding anniversary present I got the Stowa Flieger no logo, no date a type dial. This is a lovely watch, very understated, great quality and very accurate timekeeping. The more I wear it the more I love it, especially the blued steel hands. Seemed small compared to most of my other watches at first but very quickly realised its actually a perfect sized watch in every way. The detailing on the movement is nice too especially the blued screws and the engraved rotor. Great quality riveted leather strap too and additional straps cost an amazing €20, less than £15!!
Here's a couple of quick iPad photos, hope you like.
Then........ About 2months later for a 30th wedding anniversary present I got the Stowa Flieger no logo, no date a type dial. This is a lovely watch, very understated, great quality and very accurate timekeeping. The more I wear it the more I love it, especially the blued steel hands. Seemed small compared to most of my other watches at first but very quickly realised its actually a perfect sized watch in every way. The detailing on the movement is nice too especially the blued screws and the engraved rotor. Great quality riveted leather strap too and additional straps cost an amazing €20, less than £15!!
Here's a couple of quick iPad photos, hope you like.
Funnily enough I too picked up a Makaira in the 50% off sale.
Mine was a diver's variant and I have to say, whilst it does pay a bit of homage to a rather obscure B&R model (Well, I'd never seen or heard of it, but I never really look at B&R watches, so maybe it's not that obscure), it's a cracking watch for the bargain price of £250!
Truth be known I like it a lot better than the C60 I bought from them around Christmas and it was EVEN cheaper!
Anyway, no doubting Sinn make great quality watches, I just don't like the 556 design (or a number of their others, although the 103/203 and 144 are big favourites of mine and I have a strange desire for an EZM7!), but they're a fair bit more expensive, model for model than a CW, so perhaps the comparison is a little false.
M
Mine was a diver's variant and I have to say, whilst it does pay a bit of homage to a rather obscure B&R model (Well, I'd never seen or heard of it, but I never really look at B&R watches, so maybe it's not that obscure), it's a cracking watch for the bargain price of £250!
Truth be known I like it a lot better than the C60 I bought from them around Christmas and it was EVEN cheaper!
Anyway, no doubting Sinn make great quality watches, I just don't like the 556 design (or a number of their others, although the 103/203 and 144 are big favourites of mine and I have a strange desire for an EZM7!), but they're a fair bit more expensive, model for model than a CW, so perhaps the comparison is a little false.
M
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