The under £200 watch thread!
Discussion
RSTurboPaul said:
I think the blue stuff on the crown will scrape off - I think it's just put on to prevent scratching the finish when the watch is laid on its side!
Unless it has a cabochon inset, like a Cartier Ballon Bleu... which I don't think is the case! lol
Doh so it is :-) when you have a new watch and dont want to scratch it :-) Its come off Unless it has a cabochon inset, like a Cartier Ballon Bleu... which I don't think is the case! lol
Excellent
fourfoldroot said:
£99.99 Steeldive because of this thread. Its timekeeping is better than any other mechanical watch I have. I’ve not adjusted it in 3 weeks and it is bob on with the pips. I’m not 100% sure I like the blue of the bezel. It is my current daily as my Sinn 356 has gone for service and plexi, £450, which is more than I paid for it.
A good choice sir, and welcome to our little corner of the tinternet!!Bit off-topic, but tales from the world of opera seem to be appreciated so here comes another one.
After a long stretch without work - the theatres all being shut may have had something to do with that - I have had a couple of unexpected jobs come in, back-to-back.
The first one is at La Monnaie, the opera house in Brussels. The view from my office:
Standard size for a euro theatre, about 1300 seats.
The piece is a world premiere, an adaptation of Richard Power‘s novel ‘The Time of our Singing’. Highly recommended, that book.
Anyway the music has a classical/jazz feel so we have a smallish orchestra and a jazz band in the pit too.
I play the father, a Jewish German emigre nuclear scientist. The action plays out from 1939 to 1989. I get to dance a bit (if you can call it that)
View from one of the boxes:
Post rehearsal notes and corrections took place in this rather nice crush bar. The house also laid on free drinks and supper boxes after every evening rehearsal which was an absolute f
king bonus and a half.
My digs are 5 minutes walk from Moeder Lambic, which is a pub worth the trip on its own:
I’m looking forward to returning to Brussels once this COVID nonsense is over. The town is absolutely rocking. I’ve been very cautious about eating/drinking out etc as I really didn’t want to bring the virus into the rehearsals. Fortunately (touch wood, 2 shows to go), we’ve gotten through it OK.
Last show Sunday, next job starts Monday in Stuttgart. Cheers all!
After a long stretch without work - the theatres all being shut may have had something to do with that - I have had a couple of unexpected jobs come in, back-to-back.
The first one is at La Monnaie, the opera house in Brussels. The view from my office:
Standard size for a euro theatre, about 1300 seats.
The piece is a world premiere, an adaptation of Richard Power‘s novel ‘The Time of our Singing’. Highly recommended, that book.
Anyway the music has a classical/jazz feel so we have a smallish orchestra and a jazz band in the pit too.
I play the father, a Jewish German emigre nuclear scientist. The action plays out from 1939 to 1989. I get to dance a bit (if you can call it that)
View from one of the boxes:
Post rehearsal notes and corrections took place in this rather nice crush bar. The house also laid on free drinks and supper boxes after every evening rehearsal which was an absolute f
king bonus and a half. My digs are 5 minutes walk from Moeder Lambic, which is a pub worth the trip on its own:
I’m looking forward to returning to Brussels once this COVID nonsense is over. The town is absolutely rocking. I’ve been very cautious about eating/drinking out etc as I really didn’t want to bring the virus into the rehearsals. Fortunately (touch wood, 2 shows to go), we’ve gotten through it OK.
Last show Sunday, next job starts Monday in Stuttgart. Cheers all!
21st Century Man said:
For me, you can be as O/T as you want with posts like that. Not many PHers share their world. Very interesting 
Absolutely agree!!!Love hearing from you about your Operas, where you are and what you're doing, I may even rename the next volume to include a reference to your Operatic exploits!!!
Kingdom35 said:
This Pagani though on the crown has a nice touch, a P logo with a blue tinge (hard to describe) i thought it was a protective film at first
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, it is a protective film. It’s incredibly deification to remove it if you try to, but it’ll just disappear without you even noticing. My new watch arrived yesterday and the film is gone without a trace. Wallace12R said:
Barchettaman said:
Bit off-topic, but tales from the world of opera seem to be appreciated so here comes another one
Wow! That’s fantastic, can’t wait to hear more. Not entirely serious, although I do want his advice on straps.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Calling Barchettaman. Any online sellers you can recommend for straps without import duties?
I am very fond of my Chinese Seagull 1963 but the pale brown strap looks too much like a wizened golfer's skin for my liking. I'm after a dark brown leather strap but don't want to pay a Brexit-surcharge.
Thanks old fruit.
Apologies. Completely missed this. I am very fond of my Chinese Seagull 1963 but the pale brown strap looks too much like a wizened golfer's skin for my liking. I'm after a dark brown leather strap but don't want to pay a Brexit-surcharge.
Thanks old fruit.
You’re in Luxemburg, amirite?
If so then https://www.uhrenarmbaender.de/ are good.
I generally buy from there, or random Chinese sellers on ebay.de. The Chinese stuff takes anything from a week to two months to arrive, it seems to be completely random.
Bear in mind that the lighter leather will darken over time.
What’s the lug width? I’ll send something to tide you over if it’s too ‘golfer’s arm’ to wear. I’m sure the ‘drawer of straps’ will yield something.
samdy said:
Newest chinese homage (my third now), turned up today. Corgeut Aqua Terra. The pic doesn't show the real blue-ness of the hands. Love the dial on this.
That is an absolute belter. Thanks chaps re the opera stuff. I don’t want it to come across as ‘look at me’ but as you seem genuinely interested I’ll keep them coming as and when
Barchettaman said:
Apologies. Completely missed this.
You’re in Luxemburg, amirite?
If so then https://www.uhrenarmbaender.de/ are good.
I generally buy from there, or random Chinese sellers on ebay.de. The Chinese stuff takes anything from a week to two months to arrive, it seems to be completely random.
Bear in mind that the lighter leather will darken over time.
What’s the lug width? I’ll send something to tide you over if it’s too ‘golfer’s arm’ to wear. I’m sure the ‘drawer of straps’ will yield something.
That's kind of you, thanks. Yes, in Lux so I'll take a look at that site. It's a thin strap at 18mm but it's fine for wear now and in any case I'm not exactly short of watch choices! You’re in Luxemburg, amirite?
If so then https://www.uhrenarmbaender.de/ are good.
I generally buy from there, or random Chinese sellers on ebay.de. The Chinese stuff takes anything from a week to two months to arrive, it seems to be completely random.
Bear in mind that the lighter leather will darken over time.
What’s the lug width? I’ll send something to tide you over if it’s too ‘golfer’s arm’ to wear. I’m sure the ‘drawer of straps’ will yield something.
I was stung by the wait for the watch and then the whammy of duty so am keen to avoid that with straps. Slightly o/t, but I'm waiting for some wheel centres for the Spider so am well-used to waiting for aliexpress s
te!Thanks again. I'm happy to post about my office job if anyone gets bored with singing stories.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Barchettaman said:
Apologies. Completely missed this.
You’re in Luxemburg, amirite?
If so then https://www.uhrenarmbaender.de/ are good.
I generally buy from there, or random Chinese sellers on ebay.de. The Chinese stuff takes anything from a week to two months to arrive, it seems to be completely random.
Bear in mind that the lighter leather will darken over time.
What’s the lug width? I’ll send something to tide you over if it’s too ‘golfer’s arm’ to wear. I’m sure the ‘drawer of straps’ will yield something.
That's kind of you, thanks. Yes, in Lux so I'll take a look at that site. It's a thin strap at 18mm but it's fine for wear now and in any case I'm not exactly short of watch choices! You’re in Luxemburg, amirite?
If so then https://www.uhrenarmbaender.de/ are good.
I generally buy from there, or random Chinese sellers on ebay.de. The Chinese stuff takes anything from a week to two months to arrive, it seems to be completely random.
Bear in mind that the lighter leather will darken over time.
What’s the lug width? I’ll send something to tide you over if it’s too ‘golfer’s arm’ to wear. I’m sure the ‘drawer of straps’ will yield something.
I was stung by the wait for the watch and then the whammy of duty so am keen to avoid that with straps. Slightly o/t, but I'm waiting for some wheel centres for the Spider so am well-used to waiting for aliexpress s
te!Thanks again. I'm happy to post about my office job if anyone gets bored with singing stories.
As for me, aerospace engineering, I press buttons and twiddle knobs all day, making fuelling systems for every commercial platform in flight, and some military stuff I can't talk about, running a variety of machines from a semi automatic lathe upto 5 and 7 axis machining centres.
Bobberoo said:
Genuinely interested in what you do CdeG, for some reason I think you're attached to the army in some way or form!!!
As for me, aerospace engineering, I press buttons and twiddle knobs all day, making fuelling systems for every commercial platform in flight, and some military stuff I can't talk about, running a variety of machines from a semi automatic lathe upto 5 and 7 axis machining centres.
Aerospace engineering sounds cool, especially to a bloke who regards a hammer as a precision tool. As for me, aerospace engineering, I press buttons and twiddle knobs all day, making fuelling systems for every commercial platform in flight, and some military stuff I can't talk about, running a variety of machines from a semi automatic lathe upto 5 and 7 axis machining centres.
I am ex-Army ...If I'm feeling mischievous I describe myself as an arms dealer when trying to chat up women; you'd be surprised how often that line actually works!
The reality is more prosaic, but I get to live in a nice place and don't pay tax, so no complaints. What I don't get to do is sing in public and waltz attractive young fillies around like dodgy-Fiat-boy (the jammy b
d).Edited to take stuff out.
Edited by CharlesdeGaulle on Thursday 23 September 19:37
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Bobberoo said:
Genuinely interested in what you do CdeG, for some reason I think you're attached to the army in some way or form!!!
As for me, aerospace engineering, I press buttons and twiddle knobs all day, making fuelling systems for every commercial platform in flight, and some military stuff I can't talk about, running a variety of machines from a semi automatic lathe upto 5 and 7 axis machining centres.
Aerospace engineering sounds cool, especially to a bloke who regards a hammer as a precision tool. As for me, aerospace engineering, I press buttons and twiddle knobs all day, making fuelling systems for every commercial platform in flight, and some military stuff I can't talk about, running a variety of machines from a semi automatic lathe upto 5 and 7 axis machining centres.
I am ex-Army ...If I'm feeling mischievous I describe myself as an arms dealer when trying to chat up women; you'd be surprised how often that line actually works!
The reality is more prosaic, but I get to live in a nice place and don't pay tax, so no complaints. What I don't get to do is sing in public and waltz attractive young fillies around like dodgy-Fiat-boy (the jammy b
d).Edited to take stuff out.
Edited by CharlesdeGaulle on Thursday 23 September 19:37
Fair play!!!Interesting insight into your world as ever B'man.
I've tried a couple of straps/bracelets on the Kano since it's been in my ownership but never really been happy with it. It came on an H link mesh which is nice and decent quality but never really floated my boat. Tried a vintage leather strap and a president bracelet but still the itch remained unscratched.
Decided to try it on a soft rubber waffle and think I may be there (for now at least). Bought from a seller on ebay called timestrapsuk who I've bought from before. They only seem to carry a few items in their store, mainly vintage rubber and nato style straps but come quite nicely packaged with a hand written thank you card. QR spring bars on this and the rubber is lovely and soft, very supple and comfy to wear. I've got a waffle strap on another watch but that one is quite thick and stiff by comparison. Recommend this seller.
samdy said:
Newest chinese homage (my third now), turned up today. Corgeut Aqua Terra. The pic doesn't show the real blue-ness of the hands. Love the dial on this.
I have one of these, it was the dial that sold me on it, a lovely subtle mix of colours and texture, I (like yourself) love the blue hands on this.I've tried a couple of straps/bracelets on the Kano since it's been in my ownership but never really been happy with it. It came on an H link mesh which is nice and decent quality but never really floated my boat. Tried a vintage leather strap and a president bracelet but still the itch remained unscratched.
Decided to try it on a soft rubber waffle and think I may be there (for now at least). Bought from a seller on ebay called timestrapsuk who I've bought from before. They only seem to carry a few items in their store, mainly vintage rubber and nato style straps but come quite nicely packaged with a hand written thank you card. QR spring bars on this and the rubber is lovely and soft, very supple and comfy to wear. I've got a waffle strap on another watch but that one is quite thick and stiff by comparison. Recommend this seller.
Wallace12R said:
Kingdom35 said:
This Pagani though on the crown has a nice touch, a P logo with a blue tinge (hard to describe) i thought it was a protective film at first
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, it is a protective film. It’s incredibly deification to remove it if you try to, but it’ll just disappear without you even noticing. My new watch arrived yesterday and the film is gone without a trace. 
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