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Someone stop me!


Nanuq

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Ok so I went a little overboard this month. But there are so many great dive watches out there! :Jumpy:

 

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Clockwise from top: 

SOXA Seiko SRP777 Turtle dressed up like a Doxa SUB300T Pro

Maranez Samui diver, microbrand with Seiko movement and Doxa-esque case

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms

SOXA Seiko SRP777 Turtle dressed up like a Doxa Poseidon

Zodiac Super Sea Wolf

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Thanks!   :tu:

 

Remember my old adage about "save your money and wait for the one you REALLY want to come along, instead of buying a crapload of watches that are almost good enough"?

 

Looks like I failed miserably.  I must need a genuine Doxa again.  All indications point to that.  But which one?  The SUB 300T or the Poseidon or the Project Aware?  I've recreated them all here.

 

The difference is, in my orange and yellow SOXA Seikos I've got maybe $1,100 tied up.  The blue Maranez was $350 including FedEx shipping.  So I have $9,000 worth of Doxas in $1,450 worth of modded gens with warranties and rock solid cases and movements.

 

I like the direction this is going.    :Jumpy:

 

I also need to do a review of that Maranez.  It's a microbrand and they're making PHENOMENAL cheap dive watches.

 

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"Remember my old adage about "save your money and wait for the one you REALLY want to come along, instead of buying a crapload of watches that are almost good enough?"

 

That is very good advice. 

I have just about stopped looking for 'grails' but will jump on one if the price is right.

A few examples:

 

Wanted an Aquadive 200M cushion case diver and did not want to pay the $$ for a reissue and could not find an original at a reasonable price so I put it on the back burner. 

A few months later I ran upon a genuine vintage example in very good condition...for $35 (thirty five bucks).  

 

Wanted a stainless 1970s Hamilton military issue watch.  None around here and too much $$ on eBay etc so I waited.  Found one later at the local flea market and traded into it for $0.  It came with a 7 jewel Durowe movement with plastic balance bearings (!) so I bought a $25 eBay watch with a 17 jewel Durowe movement and I'll end up with about $50 in it counting a new crystal and strap.

 

Wanted an all original Accutron 214 Astronaut but would not pay current prices and there is a lot of junk out there anyway so I waited...and waited.  I put a friend on an (unseen by me) pocket watch/wristwatch collection and it had a 90% condition 214 Astronaut with the original coffin bracelet mixed in with the others along with a '666' Accutron 218 'Devil Diver'.  He bought it all and gave me the Astro and '666'.

Believe me...it does not work out like this very often.

 

Otoh if I pay a lot of $$ for a 'grail' watch, it does not make it any more of a 'keeper' even after wanting one for a long time.  As soon as I get it...the 'gotta have it' feeling is gone and it is just another dumb watch.  

Why is that?

Because when I pay a high price for a 'useless' item it can tend to breed contempt for the item, especially if I find one later for two thirds the price or try to sell it and the prices have done a 100M Deep Dive. 

The four examples above are exceptions to the 'useless item theory' because I got what I wanted for very little $$. 

Imho and experience.   :pimp:   YMMV

 

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43 minutes ago, automatico said:

Because when I pay a high price for a 'useless' item it can tend to breed contempt for the item, especially if I find one later for two thirds the price or try to sell it and the prices have done a 100M Deep Dive. 

:rofl: so true. For every great bargain in my past, there are a several 'impatiently overpaids' and those watches never manage to stay long. It's all about learning to resist the initial must-have impulse; if the need exists a year later, it's less intense and you can wait for the proper deal.

 

Those are some nice chunky diving instruments up there, making me long for a fifty fathoms a little...

 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 8/14/2020 at 3:52 AM, automatico said:

Because when I pay a high price for a 'useless' item it can tend to breed contempt for the item

 

 

Are you a divorce lawyer?  :lol:

 

Joking.  The price of the watch has absolutely no bearing on how I feel about it after a few weeks.  Because objectively they're all watches that fit on my wrist, look good, and tell the time - so the gap between them is smaller than their price might suggest (that's not to ignore why some are better than others, just that the price itself isn't something that influences it).  I haven't worn my most expensive watch in ages.

 

That being said (to get a bit more back on topic), if you are actually about to dive 3800m and want to rely on a mechanical dive watch, I probably wouldn't cheap out on it :animal_rooster:

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Wow what a dial!!! Nice work! I just looked and Maranez are sold out in the Samui line, bummer. What is the diameter of that dial?&
Thanks buddy ... that exact one is 27.4mm large and dials feets are for an ETA 2783 movement ... it's made to be installed in a gen Doxa diver case ...
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On 10/26/2020 at 1:20 AM, Nanuq said:

Beautiful. Remember the flat top cases like the Samui are 300T and the curved thin plexi crystal cases are the 300 no “T”.

Thanks again ...

About the Samui ... I know they come with a flat sapphire but it will good enough as I'm not trying to build a perfect Rep

I started making some Doxa Sub dials on request for a collector but I liked those so much that I've decided to build more of the variants ... Divingstar, Searambler, etc ... and even to design some "hommage" dials and adapt all those for diver watches ...

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  • 6 months later...

Hi Rpropp, I built them. They’re stupid easy to put together.

Find a Turtle for sale used, then get your dial, hands, crystal, insert and beads of rice band from Yobokies. Get the bezel from One Second Closer. Then put ‘er together or have one of the modders here assemble it. It’s an hour’s work.

They come up for sale sporadically, almost never in the light blue though.

Good luck!

Here’s the light blue Maranez, it was cheaper than the parts will be for the Soxa, not including the donor Turtle.

afbe805c555170ff2708411b1fb07034.jpg

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Oh and I forgot to mention the Maranez runs the Seiko NH35 (?) movement that comes in the Turtle so the parts are a direct fit.

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