[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by one-77

I’d love to hear what the gurus here think of Oris as a brand. Is it well regarded among watch affectionados?

But what about their Artix racing chronograph?

Oris is a very highly regarded independent Swiss manufacturer with solid build quality and some great designs. One of those entry level luxury brands that you can't go wrong with. Absolutely love their divers range especially the Aquis and the Divers 65 watches. Their products area solid and Ethos is running 30 percent discounts currently. Very good offers to be had. Great but for the festive season.

Who doesn't love unboxings, especially the watch geeks amongst us! Well, weekends which give a chance to unbox long awaited grail watches are much more special than any other weekends. After a lot of research and having read literally thousands of threads and reviews on this really special timepiece, it was time to take the plunge and order it from Gnomon watches, Singapore. This piece is a JDM (Japan Domestic model) watch and had to be ordered from Japan or authorised dealers in a few select other countries, unless one is willing to purchase grey market (which I was not). So, after corresponding with four dealers, I chose Gnomon since the owner, Mr Anders Tan, is a watch enthusiast himself and was very prompt and courteous in replying to my various and numerous questions. This is a relatively high end piece, at least for me, and when buying this level of watch sight -unseen, great customer service from Anders helped a lot.


Anyways, the watch arrived in Bangalore last week, within a day of ordering, and customs clearance etc took a week's time. This afternoon, there was a lovely yellow DHL package at my door and I savoured the unboxing on a rainy Saturday evening.


Presenting one of my grail watches, the Seiko Tuna Marinemaster 300 SBBN 033. It is famously said of this watch that hating it is the first step to loving it. It has a unique design, and is a tool watch to rival the very best. Like many other Tuna lovers, I started off many years back finding the design to be too unconventional, but as time went by, I started to love it more and more. Its rich history, high quality build , gorgeous double domed crystal, clean dial layout and that Seiko magic which makes larger watches wear diminutively on the wrist made me crave it more and more till I ended up puling the trigger on it. And oh - the lume on the dial and hands is absolutely nuclear in its intensity. One has to see it to believe it.

Seiko divers all have fantastic lume, but the Tuna has them all beat by many laps. It is just on another level altogether. My previous Seiko diver was a Pepsi Samurai, which I recently sold off to part fund the Tuna. While the Samurai was a great watch, the Tuna is leagues ahead in quality and build. Worthy upgrade, for sure I will post a lume shot soon, haven't been able to take one yet.


For now, will let some unboxing pictures do the talking. Haven't even taken off the plastic wrapping on the dial, preserving the new watch feel for some time .

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Presenting one of my grail watches, the Seiko Tuna Marinemaster 300 SBBN 033.
Haven't even taken off the plastic wrapping on the dial, preserving the new watch feel for some time .

Fantastic choice and an iconic watch - the ultimate beater..

Customs would've been eye watering I suppose..?

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by d_himan

Fantastic choice and an iconic watch - the ultimate beater..

Customs would've been eye watering I suppose..?

Thanks, the customs duty was pretty hefty, but I did factor that in when saving up for the watch over several months. This will be a permanent part in my collection (will not be selling this anytime soon, unlike a lot of my earlier pieces) so I'll look at it as a long term investment in fact, the Tunas with the "Marinemaster" text on the dial are rumoured to be discontinued in the near future, so it might just become more collectible than it already is.

Cannot help but marvel at the way in which Seiko divers always wear smaller on the wrist even though they are generally chunky pieces dimensions - wise. As Tuna enthusiasts say, this is the smallest - wearing large diver Seiko has ever made. Having handled the watch personally, I now know exactly what they mean.

Accuracy is dead on too, with with the hallowed 7C46 movement having a rating of +/- 15 seconds a month.

A few more pics taken today. The double domed crystal is just drop dead gorgeous in the way it distorts the dial and reflects light, photos certainly don't do it complete justice!

[sridhu]

New addition. Took the swap option for Tissot T-Touch and got the T-Touch II

Like this size better than the new one. So, I am a happy camper!

The watch:

[RohanDheman]

New addition. Rolex Datejust 41



Rohan

[AVR]

Finally got my hands on this one a few months ago. I was thinking about this or the Blue Submariner but those don't ever get in stock so went with the blue DJ41.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by AVR

Finally got my hands on this one a few months ago. I was thinking about this or the Blue Submariner but those don't ever get in stock so went with the blue DJ41.

Attachment 2055260

Nice dial colour.

Massive challenge to get a steel sports model anywhere in the world, and even more in India. I am on the waitlist for the Explorer 1, but that is going to take time. Did not want to settle for the Datejust in the meantime, because I definitely am more interested in a proper sports model, either the Explorer or the Submariner.

Maintenance and service costs are just a complete rip off though. Really makes one question the purchase of a Rolex, given the many other better value alternatives in the market today.

[adi.mariner]

How are Fossil Automatic Watches? Quite a few of them are on sale on Amazon. I have been wearing Quartz watches till now and was thinking of buying an Automatic one. Suggestions with respect to a start are welcome. Thank you.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

How are Fossil Automatic Watches? Quite a few of them are on sale on Amazon. I have been wearing Quartz watches till now and was thinking of buying an Automatic one. Suggestions with respect to a start are welcome. Thank you.

Fossil and others in that category (Diesel, Vincero, MVMT, Daniel Wellington etc) are all fashion brands which use 2-3 dollar cheap quartz movements and sell their watches at huge markups of USD 200 and above. Absolutely not worth it. Their automatics are also not great, in my experience. I have personally owned Fossil when I had no clue about what mechanical watches really are about. Sold mine long back.

When venturing into the world of mechanical watches, please look at brands with history and legacy, and good beginners brands will be Seiko (the Seiko 5 range is fantastic) and even better is Orient. Their watches provide excellent quality and reliability at very affordable prices. You will definitely find something you like within your budget in either of these brands. Seiko 5, Orient Mako/Ray/Kamasu, Orient Bambino would be three lines of watches you can consider, depending upon your budget and design preferences. Plenty of variety within these to suit any use and budget scenario.

[Tjax]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

.

A few more pics taken today. The double domed crystal is just drop dead gorgeous in the way it distorts the dial and reflects light, photos certainly don't do it complete justice!

Great photos Arindam! Watch looks great too. I've been trying to understand the difference between the 4R, 6R and 7R movements of Seiko but couldn't find any material online. Do you have any resources on that?

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by Tjax

Great photos Arindam! Watch looks great too. I've been trying to understand the difference between the 4R, 6R and 7R movements of Seiko but couldn't find any material online. Do you have any resources on that?

Quite a few articles on Seiko automatic movements. A few which you can read through are as follows:

https://www.strapcode.com/blogs/seik...movements-4r35

https://www.strapcode.com/pages/seik...-great-watches

https://wristocracy.com/seiko-movements-hierarchy/

https://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=Seiko_6R15

Plenty more if you search online. There is actually a wealth of information about Seiko movements which you can read about.

By the way, the Tuna comes with a high end high torque quartz movement called the 7C46, which was created and designed very specifically for the Tuna Marinemaster series only. Though there are various Tuna versions with automatic and Spring Drive movements, the one I purchased (SBBN033) is the "entry level" and simplest one with the 7C46 movement, which incidentally has a 5 year battery life!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

How are Fossil Automatic Watches? Quite a few of them are on sale on Amazon. I have been wearing Quartz watches till now and was thinking of buying an Automatic one. Suggestions with respect to a start are welcome. Thank you.

Not worth it at all. If you have to go for a Fossil (or it's sister brand Relic), opt for the normal battery based - the automatic options are no-where close to the accuracy of the automatic models from say, a Casio or Seiko or any global Jap/Swiss brand.

[AVR]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Nice dial colour.

Massive challenge to get a steel sports model anywhere in the world, and even more in India. I am on the waitlist for the Explorer 1, but that is going to take time. Did not want to settle for the Datejust in the meantime, because I definitely am more interested in a proper sports model, either the Explorer or the Submariner.

Maintenance and service costs are just a complete rip off though. Really makes one question the purchase of a Rolex, given the many other better value alternatives in the market today.

I love Blue dials so honestly couldn't resist this. Someone outside India offered me a Black Sub for 10L+ which didn't make sense given my fascination for Blue.

The DJ isn't really a compromise since its pretty much suitable for any occasion in our daily lives. Very few watches offer that capability.

Service etc are a few years away so will enjoy it for the while and am definitely looking forward to those costs given the money spent on the purchase!

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by AVR

I love Blue dials so honestly couldn't resist this. Someone outside India offered me a Black Sub for 10L+ which didn't make sense given my fascination for Blue.

The DJ isn't really a compromise since its pretty much suitable for any occasion in our daily lives. Very few watches offer that capability.

Service etc are a few years away so will enjoy it for the while and am definitely looking forward to those costs given the money spent on the purchase!

Blue dials are my absolute favourite too. Currently have the Orient Mako in that rich blue shade which I enjoy every time I see it in sunlight. It is my go to daily beater.

The Datejust is indeed a very versatile watch. I want to acquire a vintage Datejust 1601 blue dial in 36 mm size, when time and budget permit it. Once I have managed to buy the steel sports Rolex first, though.

And yes, I too was offered the Submariner at around INR 9.5 lakhs as recently as a month back, in India. Atrocious and eye watering pricing and not even remotely within my budget, so politely declined the offer.

[AVR]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Blue dials are my absolute favourite too. Currently have the Orient Mako in that rich blue shade which I enjoy every time I see it in sunlight. It is my go to daily beater.

That Orient is beautiful. You should also look at the Tudor 79190 in Blue. Absolutely breathtaking. Even the GS has some amazing Blues.
Glad to see blue-dial lovers on the forum!

Cheers,
Adi