Pugwash

As you may have seen, recently I reviewed the IWC Top Gun chrono and that review was sponsored by PureTime. What that means is that he sent me the watch for free and I wrote a review. As I hope you can see, the review was just one of my regular reviews with a thanks to Angus and mention of his price, which isn't out of place in a review. Nothing was requested by Angus and I just did what I thought was fair. The review itself was written the same as if I'd have bought the watch with my own money or been lent it for review by a friend. However, it has been brought to my attention that it may be considered in some way controversial. I would love your comments on this subject. Do you like the concept of sponsored reviews? Are they in some way biased and dishonest? Is the reputation of the reviewer (ie. me) damaged by accepting watches for review? Reviews are, and should always be, for members, not dealers. Does the concept of sponsored reviews in some way blur this line?

Nah, the Da Vinci range is the hideously ugly one, these are merely disappointing.

It snowed today ...

As I don't own any other PVD watches, I can't comment too accurately, but yes it's probably thin.

Today, unsurprisingly, it's this one. I took it out into the snow:

Ok, that's cool. Definitely number one then.

Great pics! The watch isn't too bad, apart from I don't like the cursive font on the bezel.

I voted for the first one. However, if I were doing it, I'd go with something a lot simpler. Maybe just one shark on its own or a plain diver's helmet. Less is still more in graphics.

The 46mm Ceramic one? I don't think they ever will.

Go read the review: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=66949&hl=

As always, click for the larger version.

First of all, I would like to thank PureTime for donating this watch for review; it's very much appreciated. Thanks, Angus. From here on in, I would like to stress that all photos in this review are straight off the camera, with no retouching at all. The watch was delivered pristine and any dirt and marks visible in the photo are my doing. Let's get one thing clear. This is a fantasy watch. It is not an actual model produced by IWC. It's based on the new IWC 3799 "Edition Top Gun" double-chronograph, but it differs in too many ways to list all of them. For instance, the 3799 is 4mm wider, is made of Ceramic and is a double-chrono. Comparison photos appear further in the article, but I wanted to make sure that we all started off knowing that we won't be able to compare accuracy with a real watch as much as we normally would. Also, the hour-subdial hand was at 1 when the watch arrived and remained there until today after it was photographed and I reset it with the button. I should have noticed, but didn't until I was examining the photos. Sorry about that, it's not a problem with the watch. As you can see, the unique design feature of this watch is the date window, spanning yesterday and today. This is available on a few brands, but looks really good on this black design. The case is identical in every way to that of the IWC-3717 apart from the stealthy black PVD covering and the faux-pusher at 10-o-clock. The strap is a faux-kevlar with what appears to be a slightly bulkier than usual buckle. The chrono pushers are polished stainless steel and the crown is another item from the 3717. The caseback, however, is very unique. It uses the same logo as can be found on the steel caseback of the ceramic 3799, which may or may not put people off the watch as it's the logo from the movie Top Gun, instead of the actual TOPGUN logo used by the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, to whom this watch is a homage. In further keeping with its 3717 roots, the case does not feature the Top Gun logo on the side of the case, unlike the 3799. You can see in this picture the quality of the PVD coating. It looks good to me. The sapphire crystal is advertised as having AR coating, and it does. However, it's heavily tinted, making for more blue than you should see. The blue tint looks good on a black strapped black watch, but I may be tempted to get the crystal AR coated in the future. While the 3799 has a Kevlar strap to add machoitude or something, the replica has a faux-kevlar strap that passes as Kevlar at a glance, but I can't help think how cool this watch would look on a NATO. The pusher at 10-o-clock on the 3799 activates the split-chrono feature. I won't go into it too much as on this replica, it acts as a stress-relief button instead. I find pressing it makes me feel good, but it doesn't actually do anything on the watch. Enjoy the button; think of it as a freebie. As you can see, the hands are the same as the 3717 and the lume is equally as poor. We buy reps, we get poor lume; it's the rules. However, Angus advertises this watch as waterproof to over 50m, which is why you won't see a movement shot in this review. I won't be swimming with it, but I had no problems walking in the snow and getting it splashed cleaning stuff today. It's a watch to wash your car in as opposed to pearl-diving. In a comparison with a 3717, you can see the blue tint of the sapphire much clearer than in any other pictures. You can also see how damned good it looks in PVD. The day and date wheels on the 3717 are ETA ones, so don't compare the two. Owing to the fantasy nature of this watch, I won't be considering a wheel change. Yes, this watch is a PVDed 3717 with a funky dial and a useless extra pusher. It's up to you if that's cool or not. I think it is, but that's just me. Angus sells this watch for $268 and it'a available in his section. Bonus Section: IWC Top Gun replica vs IWC 3799 Double-Chrono Here you can see the sheer size difference. Check the subdials on the picture of the 3799 and you can see the massive spacing round the outside. The ceramic watch is simply huge. Yes, even the genuine has the same movie logo slug in the centre of the caseback. Once more, I would like to extend my gratitude to Angus (PureTime) for supplying this watch for review.

Impossible to replicate. What's a Bucherer? Oh, that's why.

Works fine here on Firefox and Safari (MacOSX). Have you got elevated security? Cookie Management?

Is this a real group buy or just someone's wishful thinking? Has the dealer agreed to $500? More info!

For those interested, here is the song I mentioned earlier: ... and here are a couple of their other songs:

Nice stuff!

A huge cable was cut between Asia and Europe and the weather doesn't help.

Wait for the review... Here's Angus's stats on it: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=65417 ...and here's another practice photoshop:

This weekend will most likely be this one all weekend:

Coo, moonphase manual wind. What movement is that?

Well, I'd best get my lights set up properly then ...

Review due this weekend:

Sue? Damn, you really do want to be American, don't you.

I refunded the seller immediately and called the deal off. It looks like I dodged a bullet on the funds transferred to my bank.