[devilwearsprada]

My current watch collection.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

For those of you buying from a foreign retailer like Longislandwatch, what's your preferred payment and shipping option?

Safe to use Indian credit cards (as two factor authentication doesn't apply to international transactions)?

I see they have generic Duty Unpaid shipping, and a more expensive FedEx option (where I'm assuming they'll take care of everything door-to-door?).

I use PayPal. I find that to be the most convenient. As for shipping, I have always had my watches shipped to a friend or relative in USA through normal shipping (not Fedex), who bring it down for me when they come down to India. Saves me a tidy packet in customs. I would say its safe enough to use Indian credit cards if you are directly having it shipped here.

Only downside? the wait after ordering to actually get the watch in my hands, but then that is a small enough price to pay.

[RedRaider]

I have recently bought the Alpinist and am on the lookout for the strapcode bracelet. Currently it is out of stock. Let's see when it is available again.

Regarding the strapcode, did you get the bracelet shipped to you here directly or to the U.S. to be carried here by hand ?

Also got a Presage with a Seiko bracelet.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by RedRaider

I have recently bought the Alpinist and am on the lookout for the strapcode bracelet. Currently it is out of stock. Let's see when it is available again.

Regarding the strapcode, did you get the bracelet shipped to you here directly or to the U.S. to be carried here by hand ?

Also got a Presage with a Seiko bracelet.

Congrats, do post pics of both the beauties. Which Presage model did you end up buying?

The Strapcode was bought directly from HongKong (the main strapcode website). Took a couple of weeks in reaching Bangalore.

[RedRaider]

I bought the Presage with the power reserve indicator. The green date, power reserve indicator and seconds hand one. Don't recollect the model no. I think it is SARY079.

Any issues with customs for the strapcode ?

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by RedRaider

I bought the Presage with the power reserve indicator. The green date, power reserve indicator and seconds hand one. Don't recollect the model no. I think it is SARY079.

Any issues with customs for the strapcode ?

No issues with customs. It s a relatively low value item so they didnt bother to impose any customs duties.

[RedRaider]

Here is the Seiko SARY079 and the Alpinist SARB017.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

I have ordered the Parnis Asia 6497. This will be my first try at a cheap Chinese mechanical watch. But at around 3.5k INR I dont see it as a risk.

Finally got this delivered and am using it as my daily watch for the past 2 weeks. I totally love the dial which unexpectedly at this price point has a very nice AR coat (No not as good as my Planet Ocean) and the no brand name dial makes it a pretty attractive watch atleast to me. Bonus is that it is fairly accurate too. It has the loudest tik tik of all my mechanical watches so far which I kind of like a lot.
Only down side is that it needs atleast 2 winds per day to keep it working till the next day. Over all the best 3.5K spent on any watch by me

PS:Pardon the images they are quick snap shots from my phone.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

Finally got this delivered and am using it as my daily watch for the past 2 weeks. I totally love the dial which unexpectedly at this price point has a very nice AR coat (No not as good as my Planet Ocean) and the no brand name dial makes it a pretty attractive watch atleast to me. Bonus is that it is fairly accurate too. It has the loudest tik tik of all my mechanical watches so far which I kind of like a lot.
Only down side is that it needs atleast 2 winds per day to keep it working till the next day. Over all the best 3.5K spent on any watch by me

PS:Pardon the images they are quick snap shots from my phone.

Nice Flieger, though looks a little large for my wrist. Could you shed some light on where you ordered this from and what the process was? Any customs paid?

2 winds a day seems pretty frequent. Whats the power reserve on this? Is this a non-automatic (meaning, can only be powered through hand winding)?

[Chetan_Rao]

Spare parts question.

Is there a reliable source to get some decent-to-good quality resin/silicone straps? I'm partial to those over canvas/leather/metal, but most stuff I can see online seems either pretty poor quality or absurdly priced, sometimes both.

[RedRaider]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Nice Flieger, though looks a little large for my wrist. Could you shed some light on where you ordered this from and what the process was? Any customs paid?

2 winds a day seems pretty frequent. Whats the power reserve on this? Is this a non-automatic (meaning, can only be powered through hand winding)?

This seems to be a manual winding watch. No rotor in the movement for automatic winding.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Spare parts question.

Is there a reliable source to get some decent-to-good quality resin/silicone straps? I'm partial to those over canvas/leather/metal, but most stuff I can see online seems either pretty poor quality or absurdly priced, sometimes both.

Look no further than Barton watch straps:
https://www.bartonwatchbands.com/col...elite-silicone

While they have a good variety of offerings (silicone, premium silicone, canvas, leather, natos etc), I have used only their silicone straps myself, and find the pros to be as follows:

1. Great quality of silicone. Perfect for summer wear, and general / casual wear. Soft and supple, and wraps around the wrist very well.
2. Great value for money. While you will certainly find higher end straps such as Bonetto Cinturini, Crafter Blue etc. which are several times the price (and possibly higher in longevity?), I feel Barton straps are very good value for money, without burning a big hole in your pocket. Their silicone offerings are between 13 USD to 20 USD
3. Customer service is excellent. Provides good feedback and replies if asked
questions.
4. Shipping costs from US are a mere USD 2. Downside is that it takes about three weeks to get to India. Quite well packaged, though.

Here is a pic of my Orient Mako on the blue silicone strap. I changed over from the metal bracelet which comes as stock on the Mako. Find the silicone to be perfect for summer wear, and complements the sunburst blue of the watch perfectly. I am a happy customer and will shortly be ordering one of their premium silicone straps soon. This is a recent line that they seem to have released, a bit thicker and possibly better quality of silicone than their normal silicone straps.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Look no further than Barton watch straps...

Thanks! I've ordered one from their regular silicone collection to try out.

I'm inclined to think customs won't be an issue due to the low price tag?

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I'm inclined to think customs won't be an issue due to the low price tag?

None whatsoever. It was direct delivery from Barton USA to my work desk in Bangalore, with no customs payable in between.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

PS:Pardon the images they are quick snap shots from my phone.

Blatant copy of the IWC Mark XVIII Pilot and I mean line to line including the curves of the strap.

Two windings a day is way too much, a minimum power reserve of 40++ hours is required in case of a manual wind, this seems to wind out at about 6-8. They couldn't get the onion crown right though, it needs to be larger and taper more as it meets the case.