Opinions on U-Boat...

[Gio G]

So, her indoors birthday coming up (30th) and wanted to get her a watch. Rather then suprise her... I went into a local Jeweller with her and looked at some U-Boats. The Mrs likes a bigger face watch, however still not sure from a collectable perspective whether it is the right watch...

We narrowed it down to a Flightdeck CAS BE, (43mm) which is very nice indeed, looks like very good quality, however not sure how exclusive they are and how they will keep their value..

Any opinions out their?

[Mad Dave]

Gio G said:

So, her indoors birthday coming up (30th) and wanted to get her a watch. Rather then suprise her... I went into a local Jeweller with her and looked at some U-Boats. The Mrs likes a bigger face watch, however still not sure from a collectable perspective whether it is the right watch...

We narrowed it down to a Flightdeck CAS BE, (43mm) which is very nice indeed, looks like very good quality, however not sure how exclusive they are and how they will keep their value..

Any opinions out their?

If it's for her birthday and she likes it then surely it doesn't matter how exclusive or collectable it is?

[Slagathore]

Have you looked for 2nd hand vintage watches?

Could probably pick up something very nice for that price. Would probably be far better as a collector's piece.

The be U-Boat watches do absolutely nothing for me.

[deejuic]

I like big watches, but the U-Boats really aren't my thing. As far as exclusivity/resale/etc., I don't think of U-Boats as being that highly sought after. The resale market for Panerai is much larger when looking at larger bulky style watches.

[lowdrag]

Apart from the word Naff and that they should be depth charged, no. They seem to me to be a passing fad, not a collectors watch at all, certainly not one to retain its value. Looking at fleabay (a good barometer) they aren't expensive to buy.

[andy tims]

The whole U-boat brand seems a poorly thought-out Panerai knock-off to me.

Association with a Submarine piloted by 'baddies' - check
Huge case - check
Funny crown - check
Pretty uninspiring movement - check (ok, I know Panerai now has an in-house one....)
Every model is apparently a 'limited edition' - check
List prices rising rapidly - check

Sadly, Panerai did this first, and do it better, with a bit of history.

How is a U-boat watch better than the £150 jobs all over H Samuel or a TW Steel etc?

[deejuic]

andy tims said:

The whole U-boat brand seems a poorly thought-out Panerai knock-off to me.

Association with a Submarine piloted by 'baddies' - check
Huge case - check
Funny crown - check
Pretty uninspiring movement - check (ok, I know Panerai now has an in-house one....)
Every model is apparently a 'limited edition' - check
List prices rising rapidly - check

Sadly, Panerai did this first, and do it better, with a bit of history.

How is a U-boat watch better than the £150 jobs all over H Samuel or a TW Steel etc?

you sir are correct. and if you don't like Panerai, you can go w/ Anonimo which seems to be building a stronger following day by day.

[clonmult]

andy tims said:

The whole U-boat brand seems a poorly thought-out Panerai knock-off to me.

Association with a Submarine piloted by 'baddies' - check
Huge case - check
Funny crown - check
Pretty uninspiring movement - check (ok, I know Panerai now has an in-house one....)
Every model is apparently a 'limited edition' - check
List prices rising rapidly - check

Sadly, Panerai did this first, and do it better, with a bit of history.

How is a U-boat watch better than the £150 jobs all over H Samuel or a TW Steel etc?

I'd ask the same question ...

And a quick google search, one of the first matches :

http://www.idolreplicas.com/u-boat-replica-watches...

Is a company dealing in replicas!!!! With "Top quality Japanese Quartz Working Chronograph Movement"

Strangely, the wording on their website appears to be word-for-word identical to other (unrelated?) websites.

[CommanderJameson]

It's very, very hard for me to see the value in a U-Boat watch for a couple of grand when companies like Orsa will give you a Monstrum for 10% of that.

Looking at the Super-Zoom-O-Matic pictures on Jura Watches' website, the finish just doesn't seem that good, even on their £3K+ models.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, and they look and wear better in the flesh.

Edited by CommanderJameson on Thursday 4th June 21:04

[ShadownINja]

How about a Tauchmeister for £150?

[Gio G]

Thanks for the feedback.. I might go down the IWC route.. Looked at the ladies version of the Tag Monaco, however did not stand out... I think the U-Boat is a nice watch, however for the price, not worth it...