The Watch Thread - Part 16

[cichlid]

Checking out the cool Vario Versa Reversible Dual Time Watch.

 

[Thai_Rak_Thai]

2 lies and a truth

- I love Rollie
- 1 Rollie is mine
- 2 Rollie is mine

 

[arc13]

Happy Sunday

 

[edchys]

 

[Kyo_kusanagi86]

Monday Lunchtime with the Patek

Read HWZ Forum Rules!

 

[peaceheart]

Monday Lunchtime with the Patek

Read HWZ Forum Rules!

Where's your ah girl?

 

[arc13]

 

[arc13]

 

[edchys]

 

[arc13]

 

[cichlid]

 

[arc13]

 

[edchys]

 

[cyrenic]

Been busy

 

[edchys]

 

[wahjohreno]

Watch for helping a friend move house:

Just for fun, let me tell the story of how I ended up with this one. I really enjoyed the process.

I've been wearing my steel bracelet watches to the gym/water activities/move house for a decade or so. Mostly my Daytona, Pepsi, Overseas and Nautilus. Heck sometimes I even wear the Lange 1 to the gym. In that time, I kept thinking to myself: I NEED to find myself a rough-use watch, something that I can truly trash around and not really care that much.

Side note: who really NEEDS a watch anyway? Boys and their toys...

The problem is, I have zero interest in wearing a smart watch or G shock. In fact, I want something that's horologically interesting, but for cheap, so that I can not care about thrashing it while at the same time, genuinely enjoying the watch.

So the parameters I set for myself were:
1) In-house movement or something horologically significant
2) Non mainstream, if you know you know type
3) Rubber strap (water and whack resistant)
4) At least 100m water resistance
5) < $6k

As you can see, with these parameters in place, it excludes many watches. No Rolex/50 Fathoms/Omega/Tudor/Oris/Longines... (boring), no micro brands (100m water resistant micro brand watches are even more boring). Maybe a Blancpain Aqualung, but I hate the name (it's printed on the dial!) and I can’t find one below $6k. Not so easy.

One day, I was perusing watch articles on the internet as usual and came across a quote from Walt Odets: "probably the finest automatic movement being produced in Switzerland today". He was referring to the Chopard L.U.C. calibre 1.96 found in the reference 16/1860.

Eh? Chopard? Don't they make those watches with diamonds that float around the dial that women seem to like? Oh, and the ETA based chronographs with the car tyre rubber straps.

Turns out, Chopard has a serious watchmaking arm with a separate line called L.U.C. (Louis-Ulysse Chopard, the founder's name). As I looked through the LUC references, I figured out why they aren't the most popular and lose a lot of value from new. The designs are all over the place. Their designs range from ultra conservative to bordering on outrageous. I guess you could say their identity isn't coherent across the range. But I can't fault them for outright quality. Which means great news for people buying them used (me)!

Back to the movement. This particular movement debuted in 1996 and was developed for Chopard by Michel Parmigiani, whom I'm a fan of.

Parmigiani took 3 years to fulfill the brief: “make a thin, modern, and highly decorated automatic calibre that would cement Chopard’s place among other top-tier watchmakers in Switzerland.”

As I dug in, I came to appreciate LUC more and more, especially the x.96 movement:
1) 65-70 hour power reserve from twin barrels
2) Micro rotor
3) Certified chronometer
4) 3.3mm thickness

There are a few iterations of the x.96 movement. 1/2/3/4.96, of which 1.96 is the most well-finished (often compared with Patek's calibre 240 but finished to a higher degree) and the 4.96 is the least (but still well) finished. But they have the same architecture.

Side note #2: Chopard, being a jeweller, do their own gold casting, which very few watchmakers can boast about.

So I searched for LUC watches that were <$6k on the secondary market, is at least 100m water resistant and had a x.96 movement. I found the LUC Pro One Diver. It ticks all the boxes! 300m water resistant, cheap (there's one on Carousell now for $3.8k), rubber strap, in-house calibre 4.96.

One problem: it’s fugly.

I find that many divers suffer this problem, which is an unbalanced bezel to dial ratio. The bezel is too thick making the dial seem small in comparison. Add the 43mm size on my 16.5cm wrist (too big). Also, the 20mm lugs which I find too small for the watch.

I really tried to like it. I gave it time, almost pulled the trigger a few times because technically, it's a great watch. I just couldn't come to terms with the looks.

Then I found the LUC Sport. This one is like the bad boy younger brother of the reference 16/1860. 40mm steel case, 100m water resistant, 10mm thick with see-through case back, rubber strap, 20mm lug width (strap monster), classically handsome looks. It doesn't dive as deep at the Pro One Diver but everything else looks better to me.

I found a few on Chrono24. The cheapest ones are not in the best condition or don't have B&P. The best ones are > $6k. I bookmarked some and waited.

One day, in my inbox came an email titled "price alert". A LUC Sport I have bookmarked for a few months went from $6k+ to $5100. I pulled the trigger.

And here it is. Perfectly sized, slim profile (10mm), a significant & beautifully finished calibre, multi-pattern guilloché dial (must be stamped at this price), faceted white gold indices & hands, COSC certified, > 3-day power reserve, cheap, anonymous, rugged but refined. Not bad for a 22 year old watch.

Only thing is, the seconds don't hack. But if I can live with my Patek being non-hacking for the last decade, I certainly live with this.

One of my most pleasurable watch purchases ever. Way more enjoyable than any of my Rolex purchases. It looks really classy and smacks of money in person, which doesn’t translate in pictures. If you put it beside an Aquanaut, it measures up.

But as we all know, the fun is in the hunt. And so, on to the next hunt...

Lume and buckle shot for fun:

 

[arc13]

 

[cyrenic]

Just for fun, let me tell the story of how I ended up with this one. I really enjoyed the process.

Thanks for sharing, it was an enjoyable read.

 

[derkaiser94]

Watch for helping a friend move house:

Just for fun, let me tell the story of how I ended up with this one. I really enjoyed the process.

I've been wearing my steel bracelet watches to the gym/water activities/move house for a decade or so. Mostly my Daytona, Pepsi, Overseas and Nautilus. Heck sometimes I even wear the Lange 1 to the gym. In that time, I kept thinking to myself: I NEED to find myself a rough-use watch, something that I can truly trash around and not really care that much.

Side note: who really NEEDS a watch anyway? Boys and their toys...

The problem is, I have zero interest in wearing a smart watch or G shock. In fact, I want something that's horologically interesting, but for cheap, so that I can not care about thrashing it while at the same time, genuinely enjoying the watch.

So the parameters I set for myself were:
1) In-house movement or something horologically significant
2) Non mainstream, if you know you know type
3) Rubber strap (water and whack resistant)
4) At least 100m water resistance
5) < $6k

As you can see, with these parameters in place, it excludes many watches. No Rolex/50 Fathoms/Omega/Tudor/Oris/Longines... (boring), no micro brands (100m water resistant micro brand watches are even more boring). Maybe a Blancpain Aqualung, but I hate the name (it's printed on the dial!) and I can’t find one below $6k. Not so easy.

One day, I was perusing watch articles on the internet as usual and came across a quote from Walt Odets: "probably the finest automatic movement being produced in Switzerland today". He was referring to the Chopard L.U.C. calibre 1.96 found in the reference 16/1860.

Eh? Chopard? Don't they make those watches with diamonds that float around the dial that women seem to like? Oh, and the ETA based chronographs with the car tyre rubber straps.

Turns out, Chopard has a serious watchmaking arm with a separate line called L.U.C. (Louis-Ulysse Chopard, the founder's name). As I looked through the LUC references, I figured out why they aren't the most popular and lose a lot of value from new. The designs are all over the place. Their designs range from ultra conservative to bordering on outrageous. I guess you could say their identity isn't coherent across the range. But I can't fault them for outright quality. Which means great news for people buying them used (me)!

Back to the movement. This particular movement debuted in 1996 and was developed for Chopard by Michel Parmigiani, whom I'm a fan of.

Parmigiani took 3 years to fulfill the brief: “make a thin, modern, and highly decorated automatic calibre that would cement Chopard’s place among other top-tier watchmakers in Switzerland.”

As I dug in, I came to appreciate LUC more and more, especially the x.96 movement:
1) 65-70 hour power reserve from twin barrels
2) Micro rotor
3) Certified chronometer
4) 3.3mm thickness

There are a few iterations of the x.96 movement. 1/2/3/4.96, of which 1.96 is the most well-finished (often compared with Patek's calibre 240 but finished to a higher degree) and the 4.96 is the least (but still well) finished. But they have the same architecture.

Side note #2: Chopard, being a jeweller, do their own gold casting, which very few watchmakers can boast about.

So I searched for LUC watches that were <$6k on the secondary market, is at least 100m water resistant and had a x.96 movement. I found the LUC Pro One Diver. It ticks all the boxes! 300m water resistant, cheap (there's one on Carousell now for $3.8k), rubber strap, in-house calibre 4.96.

One problem: it’s fugly.

I find that many divers suffer this problem, which is an unbalanced bezel to dial ratio. The bezel is too thick making the dial seem small in comparison. Add the 43mm size on my 16.5cm wrist (too big). Also, the 20mm lugs which I find too small for the watch.

I really tried to like it. I gave it time, almost pulled the trigger a few times because technically, it's a great watch. I just couldn't come to terms with the looks.

Then I found the LUC Sport. This one is like the bad boy younger brother of the reference 16/1860. 40mm steel case, 100m water resistant, 10mm thick with see-through case back, rubber strap, 20mm lug width (strap monster), classically handsome looks. It doesn't dive as deep at the Pro One Diver but everything else looks better to me.

I found a few on Chrono24. The cheapest ones are not in the best condition or don't have B&P. The best ones are > $6k. I bookmarked some and waited.

One day, in my inbox came an email titled "price alert". A LUC Sport I have bookmarked for a few months went from $6k+ to $5100. I pulled the trigger.

And here it is. Perfectly sized, slim profile (10mm), a significant & beautifully finished calibre, multi-pattern guilloché dial (must be stamped at this price), faceted white gold indices & hands, COSC certified, > 3-day power reserve, cheap, anonymous, rugged but refined. Not bad for a 22 year old watch.

Only thing is, the seconds don't hack. But if I can live with my Patek being non-hacking for the last decade, I certainly live with this.

One of my most pleasurable watch purchases ever. Way more enjoyable than any of my Rolex purchases. It looks really classy and smacks of money in person, which doesn’t translate in pictures. If you put it beside an Aquanaut, it measures up.

But as we all know, the fun is in the hunt. And so, on to the next hunt...

Lume and buckle shot for fun:

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting read into your purchase decision on this.

 

[gaoxing84]

nice matte blue dial, really light, full titanium case and bracelet