No 224 - TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500 quartz

It was early summer in 2014 and vacation was coming up. My wife was five months pregnant so we decided to do something easy and relaxing and ended up going to the Greek island Crete. My plan was to bring my new blue Squale along but it was so polished without any marks at all and since I didn’t wanted to risk scratching it I saw that as the perfect excuse to find myself an appropriate vacation watch; a classic sign of the watch junkie syndrome.

The range of suitable used tool divers was of course scarce just because I was in a hurry finding one. But then there was this watch that kept popping up every once in a while that I first had discarded as a candidate, but as we got closer and closer to departure it seemed like it was going to be my only option so I finally decided to get it.

The watch was a blue TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500 quartz. I had had the automatic version in the past which made an unexpectedly good impression on me. Being cheaper because of the quartz movement, and having the rubber strap instead of the bracelet were actually two things a saw as advantages and made me like this watch even more than the automatic version. Details like the tapestry dial and the rubber inlay in the bezel really made this watch stand out. The rubber was both comfortable and good looking and even if it would never work as my everyday office watch it really did a great job as a vacation/beach/pool/sports watch. Just perfect!

#224 - The TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500, ref. WAJ1112.

Resting on a can of Greek beer.

Resting on a bottle of Desperados. Flashbacks to my younger days!

Relaxing in the sun with some inspiring reading material.

Found this guy lurking down in some shallow waters.

The Aquaracer got to explore the Mediterranean Sea for a week and got to go on a diving trip checking out old planes from WWII lying on the ocean floor. But what it did best was acting as my beer buddy during the stay. It could handle its liquor pretty good and never lost track of time even if I did sometimes. The Aquaracer 500 once more proved it was a worthy watch that deserves better credit than they are sometimes given. 

Goodbye my summer love!

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

No 223 - Squale 50atm Blue

It was love at first sight. It was spring back in 2014 and my feelings for Squale were at an all-time high. I think this blue version of the 50atm was released sometime in late 2013 in a collaboration together with Page & Cooper and I think it later became a permanent part of Squale’s official line-up due to its huge success. It was simply irresistible as Robert Palmer would have put it. The watch was already sold out when I found out about its existence and I was on a constant lookout for one during the first quarter of 2014. Then in April 2014 one suddenly popped up on eBay from a seller in the UK. I contacted the seller and he offered me a good deal outside of eBay and he had it sent to me with an overnight delivery. BOOM!

The watch was beautiful! The blue sunburst dial when hit by the sun was mesmerizing. Unfortunately this watch had a problem with the balance wheel when I received it. I contacted Page & Cooper who refused to help me just because I wasn’t the original owner, even though the watch was still under warranty, so I had to take it to a local watchmaker who helped me out.  Because this was a newer Squale it had that bloody engraving on the side of the case but I tried to put up with it because it was so great in general. OK, so that horrible milanese type mesh it came with was both ugly and uncomfortable and I had to wear it on a black Squale rubber, but aside from that it was great. This was supposed to be my watch for the summer but I ended up selling it after I got a hold of a blue Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 (upcoming post).

Simply irresistible! Product image borrowed from www.squale.ch

The watch somehow ended up in my possession again later the same year (probably taken as a part trade) but then I had good plan for it. A little face-lift. I ordered a real shark mesh for it from Strapcode, that had a polished butterfly clasp instead of the traditional belt buckle type, and it turned out frakking amazing! A match made in heaven. 

#223 - The blue Squale 50atm.

I assume they thought that the engraving was going to look nice but god were they wrong.

On the new shark mesh together with the other two strap options it was delivered with.

Fantastic with the butterfly clasp!

I kept it for a while but it finally moved on to a new home in January 2015. I actually haven’t had any other Squale’s since then. Gnomon Watches have had a couple of limited editions that have looked interesting but not interesting enough. Recently though I was extremely close to purchase the limited edition 50atm Marina Militare that was a collaboration together with the Dutch company AWCO but I finally decided to pass on it. It looked really good but it was that damn engraving again that made me hesitate. Nowadays it seems like everyone who wants to make a limited edition Squale are allowed to do so. It’s quite boring when everyone who can pay up can put their brand on something, but looking back that’s exactly what Squale have been doing throughout their history so I guess that’s nothing new and nothing to be upset about. 

Look at that amazing blue tone!

 

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

No 221 - Deep Blue Daynight T100 OPS

Received this one in a trade for the Certina DS Multi-8 back in April 2014. One PVD watch for another. Deep Blue has completely flooded the market with dive watches in different color combinations. They used to be known as a micro builder but from what I can tell they seem to be running a pretty much full scale manufacturing process nowadays so I think they’ve lost their status as a micro builder. If that’s a good or bad thing I don’t know. Probably a good thing for the company which I assume is making more money but boring for the customers who in return receive a product a little less special and unique than it perhaps used to be.

Anyhow, on to the watch! What can I say? We’re talking about a 44mm diver with a 22mm lug width. I fitted it with a Yobokies waffle rubber which I think suited it rather well. It housed a Miyota 8215 movement; not my favorite but I guessed it worked fine and got the job done.  The cool thing about this watch, the actual reason why I even considered taking it as a trade, was its flat tritium tubes. It lit up like crazy in the dark! The tube at twelve o’clock and the hands were yellow while the rest of the indexes where green. I had had flat tubes on my Ball Skindiver so I already knew they had a strong glow to them but it was just fun to try them out again. I ended up flipping the watch though not too long after I got it so the tubes can't have been that fun anymore.

#221 - The Deep Blue Daynight T100 OPS PVD version.

I really have a hard time wrapping my head around the Deep Blue brand. Looking at the watches they have produced over time it feels like they have tried to create something new by recycling different pre-manufactured parts that haphazardly have been mixed together. Lately I saw that they had ripped of the old classic Seiko SKX-diver which didn't impress me very much. For what good reason did they do that? Come up with something new instead! I think that was a cheap move trying to squeeze out a little extra profit. No more Deep Blue watches for me.

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

No 179 - Squale 50atm PVD

This is another watch that I got a whole lot of history with. I had already decided that I had to buy a watch during our honeymoon in Rome. A Panerai would of course have been very cool, being in Italy and all, but I wanted something more “me” and in a lower price range. The obvious choice was of course Squale. I marked out a couple of Squale AD’s on our map and one day I headed down to Watch You Want; the store I felt was most promising. Inside I met Laura who was very nice and service minded. She made me a good deal on the PVD-version of the 50atm and threw in a couple of extra straps and some other Squale merchandise. I was a very satisfied customer when I walked out of that store. The Squale got to spend a lot of time on the wrist for the remaining part of 2013 and the first half of 2014. Here are just a few moments of where it got to accompany me during that time. 

Laura and I at the time of purchase. June 2013. Rome, Italy.

#179 - The Squale 50atm PVD. A wrist shot outside the store.

I remember taking this one while my wife was trying on dresses.

I thought I had ordered a big bowl of pasta and was a bit surprised when I found this long veal intestine lying curled up in the bottom of the bowl. Tasty stuff!

But like so many times before there were some moments were it got to lie still for too long in the drawer which freaked me out. It had to make room for something else. I think I first let it go as a part trade for an old 70’s two-tone Datejust. The Datejust turned out to look like shit inside (but that’s another story) so the deal went back and the Squale bounced back. I then later traded it for a Certina DS-3 re-issue and even though the guy who got the Squale sold it away I managed to keep track on it and it finally ended up bouncing back at me for a second time. I had strong sentimental feelings for it and I really didn’t want to let anyone else have it even though I wasn't using it. I bought a whole bunch of PVD nato straps for it trying to bring some new life to it but it wasn’t enough to make me start using it more. I can’t remember what it was this time that made me want to sell it but it ended up selling it in the middle of June 2014. After losing it this third time I lost track of it and it was gone forever.

Back home. On my way to work on an August morning.

Another wrist shot from the same morning as above. The AR coating on this watch was great. It sometimes felt like it had no crystal at all.

Brothers of the pike. Time for drin... fishing!

Dinner is served!

A well-deserved Gin and Tonic.

The bass pro.

A good haul of some fat perch.

I still have feelings for this watch and I hate to think about it. It just makes me sad. I try to console myself by thinking the older tritium version is better than the newer luminova version that I had with the ugly engraving on the side. Wait a minute! Perhaps that was it? The hideous engraving! Why the hell did they put that on the side of the case? It looks terrible. I should try to get a hold of the older version instead, that’s what I must do! 

The last pictures I took of it before it left me for the third time.

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

No 89 - Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 automatic

Isn’t it ironic? One day I sell a Tag Heuer and decide it was going to be my last and the next day I go and buy another. It’s at time like these I start to question myself. “What the hell is wrong with me?” My drive knows no limits and at this particular moment in July 2011, this almost brand new full set automatic Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 shows up for about $1200, and I just had to try it. When I get a little too enthusiastic I sometimes lose my sense of rational thinking and forget about any possible consequences. I didn’t do any research regarding the watch or the unknown seller. It just felt like a good price for a newly purchased Tag Heuer so I sent a PM saying “I’ll take it”. It was like I completely had forgot about the promise I made to myself the day before about not getting another Tag Heuer and I pursuaded myself by repeating over and over that this was a new Tag Heuer and not a vintage one available with the Heuer logo and therefore could be seen as an exception.

As soon as the money was transferred, that was when I got time to think. Could something be fishy? Did the certificate have the stamp from the AD? Could I have missed some important information in the ad saying it was running bad? Could it be fake? Hell, could it have been stolen? Had the price been as good as I thought it was or was I mistaken? Could I flip it without making a big loss? But perhaps I was going to keep it… For real? Get a grip man! It was a Tag Heuer. Of course I was going to flip it!

Finally the package showed up. Was there even going to be a watch inside or was I about to unwrap a brick? Of course! I had been scammed. The Aquaracer 500 was a brand new model. How could I have been so blind?

It turned out that the package contained a full set Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 in perfect condition. It actually blew me away a little bit. It was much better than I could ever have imagined. The overall finish of the details were really nice. I loved the tapestry dial and the rubberized bezel (even though I didn’t like the action of the bezel). The bracelet felt a little sharp and could have been more comfortable. It had a see through case back were the new Calibre 5 movement was visible (but from what I understand it is pretty much a basic ETA 2824-2 with an engraved rotor and some minor modifications).

#89 - The Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 ref. WAJ2110.

From the left. Helium escape valve at 10 o'clock.

From the right.

See through case back. Calibre 5 movement.

I think the ref. WAJ2110 with the bracelet had a MSRP just below $3000 and paying $1200 for an almost brand new one back in 2011 must have been a really good deal. There was no problem flipping it when I decided we were done and I got my money back. I’m really glad I took the chance to give this one a try and it really was much better than I had expected.

Wrist shot.

A pocket shot.

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

No 86 – Orsa Sea Viper

Looking back on the pictures I took of the Sea Viper it looks pretty damn cool and unique. It’s sad I didn’t perceive it like that when I had it. With its 45mm width it was big, sure, but it was a 500m diver!  I think many of the details like the dial, bezel and the case was really well done and didn’t resemble anything else. The case back design must also be one of the meanest engravings ever. It was quite heavy on the bracelet so I wore it on the dust attractive Timefactors Isofrane look-a-like rubber (which I put on almost all my watches at that time). I paid about $350 for this watch and it was like new when I got it. It housed an ETA 2824-2 movement which ran well. Considering its cool and own design together with its overall high detail finish I really must say it was a lot of bang for the buck.

#86 - The Orsa Sea Viper. Here on the bracelet.

And here on the piece-of-shit-dust-loving rubber from Timefactors.

With a little water on it.

From the side.

The engraved Sea Viper on the case back. Awesome!

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

No 84 – Squale 50atm

During July 2011 I placed an order on the official Squale homepage for two watches. One of them was the Squale 50atm. This was the NOS-version based on the old parts that had been fitted with a new ETA 2824-2 movement. The 50atm shares its case with many other dive watches from that same era and is one of my absolute favorite designs of all time.

I think it was Fedex that arrived at my office around lunch time. The other watch was a Squale Tiger which I wasn’t that excited about; I just got it because I got a good deal when purchasing two watches. So the 50atm was the one I put on the wrist first. I just loved that rubber strap. So flexible and comfortable with that great smell of vanilla. 

#84 - The Squale 50atm ref. 1521-026/A.

There was actually nothing to complain about regarding this watch. It was perfect. Of course I didn’t realize that at the time but after owning several other Squale watches and seeing what they have come up with latley nothing can’t really beat the old traditional 50atm with the tritium dial. And the fact that it was built on old NOS-parts and had a new movement inside just made it better since I'm not a fan of old rusty vintage movements. Goddamn, I even lost money selling it which today really makes me pissed off. F**k!

Captured during Midsummers Eve 2011.

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