The Under £200ish Watch and occasional Opera Thread! Vol2

[redrabbit]

RSTurboPaul said:

21st Century Man said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I had a mail that they'd had quality issues and to expect a delay.

I suppose that's good news.

I ought to raise a complaint and return mine, but the imperfections on the face aren't really noticeable to the naked eye and I am very fussy. There are some positives too, overall it's not bad really, just not up to expectations. The bezel action is really good, not a bit of play or wobble and the ceramic is spot on. It has a high end 28800 movement and it's holding +1 on the timegrapher. It's also a right hefty lump and a glitzy eyeful on the wrist, which is what I wanted for a change as most of my other watches are more tasteful.

We need pics and we don't care if it is a 'very close homage' lol

Agreed, stop being so coy!

[21st Century Man]

[21st Century Man]

And the PD, though it's not been unwrapped.

[RSTurboPaul]

21st Century Man said:

Looks good to me!

I hear you on the details side of things, but unless you're hanging out with Superman, no-one with normal vision will see any imperfections

Wear it and enjoy it! No-one really gives a hoot what you have on your wrist in the real world of normal people, so buy and wear whatever you want IMO

Well, unless you have a penchant for gaudy Invictas... in which case it's best to keep that to yourself lol

[21st Century Man]

Thanks Paul. You're quite right and I'm probably being hyper critical under a loupe, but at £300 it's just not worth the money compared to the much cheaper stuff that passes muster. Ultimately I can't be arsed with the faff of a return as it isn't really noticeable in the real world.

[redrabbit]

RSTurboPaul said:

21st Century Man said:

Looks good to me!

I hear you on the details side of things, but unless you're hanging out with Superman, no-one with normal vision will see any imperfections

Wear it and enjoy it! No-one really gives a hoot what you have on your wrist in the real world of normal people, so buy and wear whatever you want IMO

Well, unless you have a penchant for gaudy Invictas... in which case it's best to keep that to yourself lol

Nothing wrong with that. And I'm sure it will be more reliable than my Pearl movement-equipped Pagani version which has given up the ghost (it's now in the hands of a work colleague who reckons he could sort it, but I'd be surprised). Every other Pagani I've got is spot on for quality and reliability, including a couple of quartz chronographs, so I'm sure your friend will be delighted with your gift!

Nothing wrong with an Invicta either. Another excuse to post this...

[21st Century Man]

How do you tell the time? And is that a nose, a penis or a minute hand?

[RSTurboPaul]

lol

I guess it's not really dissimilar to some of the very high end 'novelty' stuff!

[CharlesdeGaulle]

A chap at Le Mans showed me his IWC Portugueser (sp?) copy which he bought in Turkey for £700, 10% of its retail cost.

Apparently very high quality but seemed an awful lot to me on something that will never be anything other than a fake. There are lots of watches at 700 quid that would feel to me to be a more 'genuine' purchase than a knock-off. An 'homage' at no more than thread budget feels different somehow.

[21st Century Man]

Agreed.

At £700 or thereabouts I'd be looking at spending a bit more on another Farer.

[Jimmm]

21CM’s gifted Pagani as mentioned earlier. Unpacked and on the wrist. Don’t think I’ll bother with an original now, thanks for saving me £15mil buddy!

[21st Century Man]

[CharlesdeGaulle]

21st Century Man said:

Agreed.

At £700 or thereabouts I'd be looking at spending a bit more on another Farer.

I have a Farer that's been delivered to my daughter. I'll see it when she visits at the end of the month.

[redrabbit]

RSTurboPaul said:

lol

I guess it's not really dissimilar to some of the very high end 'novelty' stuff!

Well quite. And luckily, despite its obvious desirability, I have never been mugged for it even whilst wearing it in central London.

[redrabbit]

Jimmm said:

21CM’s gifted Pagani as mentioned earlier. Unpacked and on the wrist. Don’t think I’ll bother with an original now, thanks for saving me £15mil buddy!

Nice!

[TVR-Stu]

redrabbit said:

Nothing wrong with that. And I'm sure it will be more reliable than my Pearl movement-equipped Pagani version which has given up the ghost (it's now in the hands of a work colleague who reckons he could sort it, but I'd be surprised). Every other Pagani I've got is spot on for quality and reliability, including a couple of quartz chronographs, so I'm sure your friend will be delighted with your gift!

I had this exact issue with my Pagani GMT with the Pearl movment. It worked perfectly for eighteen months or so and then stopped never to run again. I had read all the reviews saying the movement was the weakness but as usual the desire for a new shiny watch blinded me! Shame, as I loved it and the rest of the watch is excellent.

I wonder if a new Seiko NH34 would fit in the case?

[Macneil]

Barchettaman said:

Macneil said:

Delurking to ask about this...looks fantastic, anyone got one? £175 on San Martin website

https://www.sanmartin.watch/products/watchdives-x-...

If anyone is considering getting this from watchdives, apparently if you set up an account, put the watch in the shopping cart but just wait, they will send you a discount code that you can use on that purchase.

I ordered mine, and had an email purporting to be DHL asking for 3.99 euros customs duty does that sound right?

[Barchettaman]

Ignore! That’s a scam. It’s phishing for personal details.

[21st Century Man]

There isn't any import duty/tariff to pay and the amount doesn't fit with UK import vat of 20% on goods above £135 either.

Looking at the San Martin site you've ordered from it seems to be priced in USD and excluding duty/vat.

You might've ordered from their US site or you might have ordered from China. (San Martin have a despatch warehouse in Germany and a European website too).

My expectation would've been...

Importing a product classified with HS Code 9102.99.0000 to GB from CN with a value of 175 GBP results in the following:

Duty & Tax Charges

Duty: 0.35 GBP (Rate of 0.2 %)

VAT: 35.07 GBP (Rate of 20 %)

Total: 35.42 GBP

I would also expect perhaps not to pay anything either as stuff occasionally gets missed (depending upon codes and invoice values submitted). I've had a number of wins like that.

Edited by 21st Century Man on Sunday 11th June 08:43

[21st Century Man]

TVR-Stu said:

redrabbit said:

Nothing wrong with that. And I'm sure it will be more reliable than my Pearl movement-equipped Pagani version which has given up the ghost (it's now in the hands of a work colleague who reckons he could sort it, but I'd be surprised). Every other Pagani I've got is spot on for quality and reliability, including a couple of quartz chronographs, so I'm sure your friend will be delighted with your gift!

I had this exact issue with my Pagani GMT with the Pearl movment. It worked perfectly for eighteen months or so and then stopped never to run again. I had read all the reviews saying the movement was the weakness but as usual the desire for a new shiny watch blinded me! Shame, as I loved it and the rest of the watch is excellent.

I wonder if a new Seiko NH34 would fit in the case?

I initially ordered a PD Pepsi with the Pearl, then read about the issues with the movement and changed it to the Seiko version (PD offer both), but that nearly doubled the price and that's what pushed me to going the whole hog with the SM instead.

With hindsight I should've stuck with the PD/NH34.