No 163 - Certina DS Podium Titanium Multifunction

I’m not going to torture you with this one. Honestly, what was going on here? Enough with the cheap Certina’s! But I bought it and now it has to be revealed. OK, it’s a superquartz and it’s made of titanium. So far so good. Good beater qualities. But don’t be mistaken, this is no Breitling Aerospace. I don’t know, it just gave of a crappy vibe. The bracelet rattled and the finish of the beat up titanium just looked terrible. Ugly hands as well. If you’re looking for a multifunction watch I’d pay up a little more and try to find a used Aerospace instead. Much cooler. I’ve tried Certina’s newer Multi-8 as well but they are just too big.

#163 - The Certina DS Podium Titanium Multifunction, ref. C193.7129.12.66.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 161 & 283 - Seiko SBBN015

OK, so most of you know by now that the SBBN015 and SBBN017 basically are the same watch with the exception of bezel insert and bracelet vs. rubber; the SBBN015 being the little more expensive of the two. I love Tuna’s, no news really (and I even have one incoming as I write this), and the 015 and 017 are great but when I recently had my latest 015, just a couple of months ago, I realized what detail it was that bothered me. The domed crystal. To me a seriously domed crystal was one of the features that really defined a true dive watch and I used to dig it so much. Not anymore. The thing is it’s impossible to take a good photograph of a watch with a domed crystal. OK, perhaps if you have a professional setup and high-tech cameras but with my obsolete iPhone, which is the only camera I use, it’s freaking impossible taking a decent picture if the conditions are not perfect. Anyhow, replacing the crystal is an easy fix so it really isn’t that much of an issue if I really would have want to keep the watch and get rid of the problem.

I did actually wear my first one on the bracelet even though I already knew I hated it. Bought it back in mid-January 2013. On my second one, which I had just two months ago in early February 2016, I replaced the bracelet at once with a 22mm Bonetto 284 rubber. Much better! I really can't put my finger on what it is that bothers me so much about the bracelet. It just feels wrong somehow. But Christ, my second one only stayed for a day and then I had actually been looking for one for a while. It was that bloody crystal that did it! But also I had one person being interested in it which made me let it go even quicker than expected.

#161 - The Seiko SBBN015.

Bright lume even in daylight.

Irresistible lume! But why the hell am I wearing the watch on my right hand?

#283 - The second one.

As I mentioned when I wrote about the 017 both models have now been discontinued and replaced by SBBN031 and SBBN033 but goddamn I can’t get over those ugly new hands. My incoming Tuna is one of the older references and one I haven’t had before so that’s exciting. I like them so much more and I really look forward receiving it!

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 158 - Certina DS Podium Titanium Chronograph

This is really not my kind of watch. Or at least it didn’t used to be. Found this one really cheap and just had to see what quality it represented. Titanium watches really doesn’t age well and neither had this one. But it was a totally fine quartz beater. Didn’t pay more than $100. Newer Certina’s is nothing that turns me on. They express nothing about its wearer. Still, the brand has got a lot of history and has a whole line of sought-after vintage dive watches. Even though Certina are mass-produced by the millions today they still uphold a high quality in their segment of watches. Hadn’t this one been made of titanium it’s most likely I wouldn’t have bothered giving it a try and even though titanium looks terrible it still is a cool material that suits a tool watch. 

#158 - The Certina DS Podium Titanium Chronograph. Not sure about the ref. but I think it's a C536.7129.12.66. Please let me know if this is wrong.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 157 - Scubapro Quartz 30atm

Honestly, I didn’t even know what this watch was when I was offered to buy it. I just recognized the Scubapro logo and knew it had to do with diving. I paid less than $200 for it. Head only. Considered it to be quite cool but nothing special. What I liked most about it was the chapter ring. I might have worn it outside the home once or twice. Otherwise it was just sitting in the drawer until I finally sold it in January 2013 to the well-known watch profile S.L. I let it go for the same price I paid and even included two nato straps and an oyster bracelet. It has since made many appearances on his Instagram. Check it out!

#157 - The Scubapro Quartz 30atm.

My jaw dropped when I recently saw what these watches sell for today. Crazy stuff! Should have hung on to it for sure. The automatics are even more expensive so my only advice is to let them sit tight if you already own one.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 156 & 314 - Doxa SUB 1000T Professional

We’ve reached one of my most beloved watches I’ve ever owned. Ok, so what is it that makes this certain Doxa so special compared to the others, you might ask yourself? You know I talk a lot about proportions. To me proportions are extremely important and the 1000T is the one of all the SUB re-issues that I find to be the most well-proportioned of them all. But apart from that it was special to me because it had a rather unique appearance. It had been through some rough stuff. For one the rumors said it had been beadblasted back in the days and then someone had tried to restore it back to normal. The final result gave it an extremely used and worn look. I think it looked fantastic. 

#156 - The Doxa SUB 1000T Professional.

A very special finish on the case.

Magnus's vintage 300T to the left, my 1000T in the middle and Magnus's new 1200T to the right. Various Seiko's on the table.

It used to belong to my dear friend Magnus and I was nagging at him all the time trying to convince him to let it go. Then one day he said he might be interested in parting with it if he could find a newer 1200T. So what else could I do than to localize one and offer it to him as a trade? It took a long time for me to realize that the 1000T was finally mine. I loved it so much. This was in the end of 2012 and I had it for over six months. Then the one thing happened that wasn’t supposed to happen. I was asked if I wanted to sell it and the buyer told me to name my price. I really didn’t want to let it go so I returned to him with a quite a high proposal hoping he would reject it. He didn’t and I felt I couldn’t back out. I felt so bad about selling and I even felt worse towards Magnus so I let him have half of what I had earned in the deal. It then went off to switch owners a couple of times before I was offered to buy it back, which I did. But I was then on the hunt for a 600T and sold it again becuase I thought the 600T was going to be better. Now it seems to be stuck with a collector which it really does deserve. I’ve tried to retrieve it but without any luck.

Together with my Victorinox Rescue Tool in the background.

Taken during a fishing trip with my dad. Terrible focus on the watch though.

A better close-up.

This watch got to go on plenty of adventures. It really was my main watch for quite some time and even though many other watches came and went during this period they only got to stay on for a day or two. It was great and its rough finish made it very easy to wear without having to be worried about it getting scratched. In fact, new scuffs and marks just made it look better.

Relaxing at Sturebadet Spa in Stockholm just before my wife and I was about to leave for our wedding in June 2013.

Taken sitting in the same chair as in the picture above.

I didn’t know back then but now I know that the 1000T really was the best. I’ve since owned the 600T as well and even if that one also was really really good I still feel that the 1000T is the one I’ve been most happy with. I think I’m pretty done with Doxa now. The only one that I could still be interested in would be a 1000T Sharkhunter with all white hands and preferably it would be the COSC-version.

UPDATE - September 8th 2016.

I recently managed to get a hold of a beautiful specimen of the 1000T Professional. I'm not kidding when I say it wasn't far from being NOS. I actually took it as a part trade for a Sharkhunter 1000T COSC (Yes I know! I finally got one! But that's another story). Even though the Sharkie was awesome I figured that if I'm only going to have one Doxa, what should it look like? It should be orange. No doubt about that. But then all of a sudden all these pictures of the new 50th anniversary SUB 300T started to pop up everywhere and I just couldn't think straight. The new 300T truly does look fantastic and I'm pretty much 100% sure I will buy one. But will it be better than the 1000T? Well, I guess I just have to find out the hard way.

#314 - The second one resting on top of a Aqualung patch for a little vintage vibe.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 154 & 155 - Citizen BN0000-04H & EP6000-07H

”Yeah, matching watches are super cool! Let’s order some for Christmas. My girlfriend will be super happy! I’m sure it will be the perfect gift.” 

At least that’s what I told myself in late December 2102. Turned out to be a double fail. First of all they didn’t arrive in time for Christmas and second they turned out to look ugly as f**k. Neither the Mrs or I found them to be something we wanted to wear. On paper they seemed perfect. 300m solar dive watches to a really affordable price. Perfect vacation beaters was my initial thought. Perhaps they actually were good watches but the product pictures I'd seen before ordering them must have been really deceiving. Didn’t look nearly as good in reality. We didn’t even try them on and I let them go as a package deal and hopefully they ended up in a better home.

For him and her.

#154 - The Citizen Citizen BN0000-04H. 39mm excl. crown.

#155 - The Citizen EP6000-07H. 33mm excl. crown.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 153 - Sjöö Sandström Royal Steel Classic I

We have reached the middle of November 2012. The Landsort really got me turned on to the Sjöö Sandström brand and when I was given the opportunity to purchase a brand new Royal Steel Classic I, to a 50% discount, I couldn’t resist. My new favorite brand in the size of a Rolex Datejust. Perfect! What could go wrong?

#153 - The Sjöö Sandström Royal Steel Classic I.

Not much really. The 37mm Royal Steel was great! Fun design with the crown positioned at two o’clock. It wore well and the clean configuration I had with the silver dial was super easy to wear with every style of clothing. It had an ETA-based 2824-2 movement which ran great. Not much to complain about. However, there were a few details that bothered me. Some more and some less. First of all – push pull crown. That’s a deal breaker if something. Second – PCL. Not a huge fan of polished center links but I can live with it. Third – Non-tapering bracelet. The bracelet was quite thick and solid and when it didn’t taper towards the buckle I sometimes was given a feeling that I was wearing just a bracelet and not a watch. On such a small dresswatch I would have preferred it if the bracelet could have been a little skinnier and not as wide and thick. But honestly, now I'm being picky. Ok, not about the non-screw down crown, but regarding the other details.

Blurry wrist shot, I know, but these were the only pictures I took.

I could easily go for another Royal Steel Classic again. I would still choose the 37mm, and not the 41mm version which is too big for my 7' wrists, and I would want the black dial with rose gold indexes and hands and wear it on an ostrich leather strap. Killer combo! Being from Sweden I think it’s much funnier to wear a watch like this instead of a regular Datejust which seriously express nothing at all. I’d rather wear a Sjöö Sandström and feel proud of my heritage while at the same time looking great.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 152 - Glycine Airman Vintage 1953

My first Airman, the Airman 2000, really got me going and when Glycine presented this new model in 2012 I knew I just had to have it. A watch colleague had a good contact at a Glycine AD and could get me a really good price on a new one and I asked him to order one for me. It took quite a while for it to arrive. I was hoping I was going to receive it before I went to Florida for vacation in November but I wasn’t that lucky. It showed up a day or two after I’d left. Yeah yeah, whatever. I figured it might be nice to have something to look forward to when I was flying home; leaving the palm trees behind to soon be replaced by snow and ice. The thought of soon having a new watch on my wrist could perhaps ease the pain a little.

Product picture (borrowed from Glycine).

When I finally came home my acquaintance, who lived outside the city, had left the watch to another acquaintance, who lived pretty close to me. The thing was just that the this guy had recently become a father and I was not on his list of priorities at the moment. So I had to wait for the watch an extra couple of days after I’d come home to finally get a hold of it. But you know what they say - good things come to those who wait. And I can tell you, it was good alright!

#152 - The Glycine Airman Vintage 1953, ref. 3904.

See through case back with a nicely engraved rotor.

For starters I loved its small wooden box it was delivered in. So simple and nice. I loved the off white dial. I loved the fact that it was a three hand purist version and only available with the 24h configuration. The only downside, which I also mentioned regarding the Airman 2000, was its size. 42mm excl. crown. 40mm would have been perfect. Now it felt a little too wide and flat. I mostly wore it on a brown crocodile strap which I think enhanced its looks compared to the dull black nato strap. I honestly think I could have gone OWG with this one if it had been just a tad smaller. 

Resting on my Fender Custom Shop 50's Closet Classic Telecaster.

This is how I mostly wore it.

When Glycine re-launched their Airman No.1 I was ecstatic! It looked absolutely perfect. Unfortunately it turned out to be too small with its 36mm (didn’t stop me from trying it though! More about that one later). But when they released the Airman DC 4 the year after, I was praying and hoping that they finally had come to their senses and given us a 40mm version. But no. It was also 42mm. Damn. The DC 4 really looked fantastic.

I will continue to hope and pray that a day will come when Glycine give us an Airman with good proportions.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 150 - Helson Skindiver

This was a quick catch and release. I knew it probably wouldn’t bring anything new to the table compared to the MKII Stingray and bought it just because I had nothing else to buy at the moment. Helson had impressed me with the quality of their Sharkmaster so I expected nothing less from the Skindiver. The seller, who I had done several deals with in the past, gave me a couple of names of people who also had shown interest in the Skindiver and told me to contact them if (rather a question of when) I decided to sell the watch, to spare me from having to put it out for sale.

It was a Tuesday afternoon back in October 2012 and Swiss cheese fondue with the boys was scheduled for the evening. I hurried home from work to prepare everything but managed to stop by the post office and pick up the watch. I remember coming home, tearing the package open and putting the watch on the wrist thinking “Domed acrylic crystal! Sweet!” and then carried on with all the preparations. Sometime during the dinner I looked down on my wrist and paid attention to the teeth of the bezel. “Hmm… that’s some sharp teeth alright.” Dinner went on and I recall pouring Kirsch all over my suede Minnetonka slippers. “Damn!” Even though we were drunk and suffering from fondue coma I still managed to send a PM to one of those people, whose name I’d been given from the seller, and sold the watch the same evening. My head was hurting so much in the morning the next day when I was wrapping it up again that I totally forgot to take a picture of it before I rushed off to work.

I contacted both the seller and the new owner just a couple of days ago and they both managed to supply me with some pictures of the actual watch. Thank you guys! Much appreciated. 

#150 - The Helson Skindiver. (picture contributed by the previous owner)

(picture contributed by the previous owner)

(picture contributed by the previous owner)

Sweet looking lume! (picture contributed by the new owner).

So what about my thoughts regarding the watch? Well, it’s all a bit of a blur but I remember it was even better than I expected it to be. The finish was great, water resistant to 200m, bright C3 luminova, reliable movement (ETA 2824-2). But the best detail in my opinion was the domed acrylic crystal which I think contributed a lot to the overall impression. Is it a homage or a copy then? Well, let’s not get into that discussion right now.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 149, 162, 202, 330 & 335 - CWC SBS Quartz PVD Diver

This might be my favorite in the CWC line. Quartz. PVD. Day and date. Great lume. Screw down crown. Water resistant to 300m. Tough Monnin-style case. Affordable. In other words: features that define a perfect tool watch! I’ve had three of this version as well, just like the regular non-PVD Quartz RN diver. I never get tired of them.

Got my first one in late October 2012. Second one was bought in March 2013 and the third was bought in late December the same year. The first and the second were newer ones with luminova dials but the third one must have been older since its indexes and hands had faded to a more yellow/light brown tone assuming it might have been a tritium dial. I wasn’t that into the whole “issued business” with military watches at the time so I never checked the case backs to see when they’d been manufactured and if they were intended for the military or the civilian market.
 

#149 - The CWC SBS Quartz PVD Diver. My first.

#162 - The second one. Worn on a black heavy duty nato.

#202 - The third and last with a nice patina on the dial.

I bought a bunch of nato straps in different colors with PVD-details to get some variety and of course I gave them away for free every time I sold one of them which resulted in buying new straps every time a got another one. Very smart and economic. Not. 

Me with the first one back in October 2012 just as I was about to lose the long hair.

Make sure to have at least one CWC quartz diver in your drawer. Doctor’s orders!

UPDATE - January 11th 2017.

In mid-November 2016 I just couldn't stop myself from buying this newer L-dial version that popped up for sale to a great price. The same day I receive it a friend sends me a picture of his PVD quartz diver with the T-dial that he just received. I instantly texted him "I'll take it!" and got the answer "Sure, when I get bored of it". So I got rid of the L-dial and then just waited for him to send it and after a bit of serious mind games and constant nagging it finally showed up. Since these T-dials are becoming more and more uncommon to find used I will really do my best to hang on to this one for a while. Great watch!

#330 - My only L-dial. A little worn with some chipping in the crystal.

#335 - My fourth T-dial. Issued in 2013 so probably one of the last.

On the iconic Marine Nationale strap from NDC Straps.

UPDATE - September 27th 2017.

In the spring of 2017 this idea came to me. "Wouldn't a nodate in PVD look really cool?" Why didn't CWC make those? Well, I guess I had to make it myself. My friend Magnus helped me out as usual and the result was awesome. What a hardcore watch! The dial and movement was taken from my fourth RN Quartz Diver and the dial and movement from the SBS was put back in the donator watch which made it look exactly like my Day/date Quartz Diver that I bought for my son. So having two identical Day/dates was perfect I thought. It was of course going to be given to my second son. The only thing was that all the numbers on the case backs didn't belong to the actual watch model which finally bothered me so much that the watches in the beginning of September 2017 were restored to their original state. The SBS nodate still got plenty of wrist time though during the time it was modified. Shortly after I introduced this mod on Instagram the SBS nodate became a stock watch in the CWC catalogue.

Watch #335 with the dial from watch #347 which created the SBS nodate.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.