10 replies to this topic

[Ike2]

Hi.  As a longtime lurker and infrequent poster, I really respect the opinions of this group.  I hope to soon be in the market for an everyday beater appropriate for professional office wear.  I currently use my Pepsi Mako in this role, and I love the watch, but actually love it too much to be comfortable risking too many scratches over the long haul as I want it to be presentable when I give to one of my sons one day (the other one will get the orange one  ). I have a mid-90's Orient Star (model WZ0031EW I think) and some other more expensive dress watches, e.g. Stowa Airman,  which I wear on the more "important" days.  Sorry for the long intro, but wanted to give a sense of my tastes.  So, my criteria are:

- less than US $150 shipped, ideally even less

- new or a nice used one

- suitable for everyday dress wear, but should also work with a polo shirt

- SS case in 38 to 42 mm range, but my wrist is fairly small so it shouldn't wear large if it is 42mm

- open to Orients (probably the non-diver styles so no black Mako or sub homage), or other brands

- automatic or quartz

- must have a clean, classic look with uncluttered dial (no subdials please); I'm partial to flieger or military styles, among others

- with or without date window

- white or black dial ideally

Any thoughts? (By the way, a watch that hits all these marks (except it will cost $175-$200)is the newly announced Bernhardt Binnacle Anchor. But if I could pay closer to $100 for my beater watch I think my wife would be happier. The Alpha Explorer homage is also in the running but seems small at 35 mm case width.  Arggh, you see my dilemma   ). I hope some of you will find this a fun challenge. Thanks!

[newmannoggs]

Have you considered a Seiko 5? I'm sure your wife would approve of the sheer value for money! What about the SNKE63. Great hands and a clear mil style dial. Wonderful variation between the curves and angles of the case also. The SNKE59 has a nice green dial, but that might be a little too much for the office... I know there's always the trade off in regards the quality of the 5 bracelets, but the black-dialed SNKE63 looks to be an endearing everyday auto with a robust movement and simple, functional elegance. Case also brings to mind the new Bernhardt you metnioned...

Also have you seen pics of the Orient Classic Auto CEVOM001B? Astounding curves and dangerously sharp sword hands here (did they sub-contract to Sheffield??!!). I'm not certain of the price of these or if you'd approve of the window placement, but the watch certainly looks like it would wear flat and low for the office, and no doubt it would be great value - Orient after all!!!

[Ike2]

newmannoggs, on 01 June 2010 - 11:16 PM, said:

Have you considered a Seiko 5? I'm sure your wife would approve of the sheer value for money! What about the SNKE63. Great hands and a clear mil style dial. Wonderful variation between the curves and angles of the case also. The SNKE59 has a nice green dial, but that might be a little too much for the office... I know there's always the trade off in regards the quality of the 5 bracelets, but the black-dialed SNKE63 looks to be an endearing everyday auto with a robust movement and simple, functional elegance. Case also brings to mind the new Bernhardt you metnioned...

Also have you seen pics of the Orient Classic Auto CEVOM001B? Astounding curves and dangerously sharp sword hands here (did they sub-contract to Sheffield??!!). I'm not certain of the price of these or if you'd approve of the window placement, but the watch certainly looks like it would wear flat and low for the office, and no doubt it would be great value - Orient after all!!!

Good to have some help from a fellow newbie! Thanks - I had begun to think my post was off-putting. I am intrigued by the CEV0M001B.  I see it on Amazon for $180. Very interesting look and it seems to fit most of my needs.  Does anyone out there own one? The bracelet looks fairly shiny and I'm not a bling guy, so it would be great to see an actual pic.  If I replace with a Watchadoo it jacks up the price.  I think I still favor the new Bernhardt Binnacle for $185.  I agree the Seiko 5 SNKE63 is also a nice watch, but I fear the case is too shiny - seems to have a mirror finish.

A couple other Orients that are catching my eye are the CEV09002B ($99 from Long Island Watch) and CEX0R001B ($179 but very cool!).  Finally, there is a great Seiko-looking Orient quartz dive watch - CEV09002B for $135 from the official site that is making me re-think my exclusion of dive watches.  If anyone owns any of these or has insights on them I would be grateful.  Thanks again!

[OldeCrow]

I would suggest eBay, there are a lot of fun orients around 100.00 to be found there and a much bigger selection than you can find new in the US market too...

[Ike2]

OldeCrow, on 02 June 2010 - 02:44 AM, said:

I would suggest eBay, there are a lot of fun orients around 100.00 to be found there and a much bigger selection than you can find new in the US market too...

Thanks. That is good to know. I just re-read my last post and noticed a mistake: The quartz diver that looks good to me is the LUG15001B (white version too, it is hard to decide).  I just saw that Nathan posted a favorable "minireview" of the watch last year. It makes me lean more in that direction although the bracelet looks a little blingy as he pointed out.

[julia11]

You can try Rado, Titans,Rolex,Big Black Magic (Black Ceramic Carbon Rubber) Automatic Gents. When you choose the watch, you should compare the prices. You can try also Seiko and other quartz watch and bracelet watch.

[Ike2]

julia11, on 16 June 2010 - 07:33 PM, said:

You can try Rado, Titans,Rolex,Big Black Magic (Black Ceramic Carbon Rubber) Automatic Gents. When you choose the watch, you should compare the prices. You can try also Seiko and other quartz watch and bracelet watch.

Thanks.  I'm a little confused though.  Are you saying I should look for the homage watches that look like Rado, Rolex, etc. at the web store you linked to?  Because otherwise they are way outside my price range.  But I did like the look of some of the Sottomarino Italia and Hurlingham watches on that site.  I know nothing about their quality but the designs look good.  

It is academic for me at this point as I pulled the trigger on the Orient Quartz Diver LUG15001B.  But the wait is killing me - I ordered from Joey on June 7 and it looks like UPS won't be delivering until June 21. I thought it would be a little quicker than 2 weeks.

[ruzmidah]

Ike2, on 16 June 2010 - 10:43 PM, said:

Thanks.  I'm a little confused though.  Are you saying I should look for the homage watches that look like Rado, Rolex, etc. at the web store you linked to?  Because otherwise they are way outside my price range.  But I did like the look of some of the Sottomarino Italia and Hurlingham watches on that site.  I know nothing about their quality but the designs look good.  

It is academic for me at this point as I pulled the trigger on the Orient Quartz Diver LUG15001B.  But the wait is killing me - I ordered from Joey on June 7 and it looks like UPS won't be delivering until June 21. I thought it would be a little quicker than 2 weeks.

Hmm tt is strange.... Usually my watches which i order from Joey takes less than one week to arrive (but then i dont live in USA, I asked them to send it to my comgateway address)

U may want to contact Joey via his email address to see whether anything can be done. He is very helpful and usually answer within a few days,

[Ike2]

ruzmidah, on 17 June 2010 - 03:17 PM, said:

Hmm tt is strange.... Usually my watches which i order from Joey takes less than one week to arrive (but then i dont live in USA, I asked them to send it to my comgateway address)

U may want to contact Joey via his email address to see whether anything can be done. He is very helpful and usually answer within a few days,

Yeah, I was expecting more like 2 to 5 business days per the website.  He must be swamped.  I emailed him June 10 and still waiting for a response.

[Ike2]

As an update on my quest:  I received the LUG15001B and I liked it enough, except the bezel wasn't perfectly aligned with the 12 marker.  So I sent it back with a nice letter requesting it be replaced with one that has perfect alignment, or in the alternative, asking for a refund.  I will report how it works out.  In the meantime I see on the Wrist Check page that Chris has modded a 2ER in a way that in my view is a great improvement (makes it less of a blatant Rolex Sub homage and eliminates the date magnifier) and would definitely work as my daily dress beater:

http://www.orientalw...8359-july-2010/

Nice work Chris!  

Ike

[Ike2]

Final update (in case anyone out there is interested):  As noted in my previous post I sent the Orient Quartz back to Orient USA with a nice letter to Mark asking for either a replacement watch with the bezel perfectly aligned or a refund.  They gave me a refund, which I've decided to apply toward a modded black 2ER.  It seems it was meant to be!  Whenever that arrives I will post a (very amateur) pic.

Ike