No 273 - Doxa SUB 600T Sharkhunter

This watch was a grail for a long time. I had come to conclusion that the measurements for the SUB 600T should make it the perfect Doxa. I was searching for one for so long and in the end of 2015 I finally found one located in the US. It was a fullset in very nice condition and it arrived in early January of 2016. And it was indeed a beautiful watch! The proportions were great just as I expected. But! There were two details that started to bother me. One was the edge of bezel which felt very thin. The bezel on the 1000T and 1200T felt fatter and sturdier to grip. This was also a detail that made me dislike the reissue of the 300T but more on that when we reach that post. The other detail was the lume on the hands. The lume covered a smaller area on the hands compared to the 1000T and 1200T and it just didn’t look 100% to me. One thing I did like more on the 600T compared to the newer versions was the design of the crown but that wasn’t enough to make up for the two details I didn’t like.

#273 - The Doxa SUB 600T Sharkhunter.

My dear friend Magnus bought this watch from me and he still have it in his collection. The 600T has become really hard to find and when you do they are expensive! This version of the Sharkhunter with all white hands, a.k.a. the Great White, has become my favorite Doxa design and my new goal after selling this one was to find a 1000T with that appearance (which I did but more on that later as well). Owning the 600T was a good experience because that made me realize that the 1000T in my opinion is the most complete and perfect Doxa SUB.

A wristshot from an extremely cold winter's day in January 2016.

I haven’t had a Doxa SUB for quite some time now. The new Black Lung versions look cool but since I didn’t like the reissue of the 300T I have decided to avoid them. The yellow Poseidon SUB on the other hand, now that’s another story. Especially since Poseidon is a Swedish manufacturer if diving equipment it is really cool to see them collaborating again. But why they hell do they call it 300T when it actually is a 1200T? That shit just bothers me. I still haven’t had a Divingstar yet… damn… now I want one... a 1000T Divingstar.... the COSC version... I think I just found a new project…

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

No 272, 367 & 468 - Seiko SRP775

Wow! I can really remember the hype of when the rumors about a reissue of the iconic 6309-7040 diver, a.k.a. Turtle, started to surface. Then all of a sudden a blurry photo taken from an upcoming Seiko catalogue leaked out and spread like wildfire among the watch forums. I think this must have been in the late summer or early fall of 2015. There were four different turtles showing in the low resolution photo but you could clearly make out the differences. A classic black, a pepsi, a navy blue and a black version with gold details. I wanted them all of course!

I think the release was scheduled to sometime in the beginning of 2016 but I managed to track down a seller in Asia that either wasn’t aware of this or either they didn’t care but I got my delivery right before New Year’s Eve. By this time no one really knew how many was going to be produced. Was this a limited series? Was it a new line perhaps replacing the SKX? I figured that if any of the four was a limited version it would have been the black with gold details so I decided to get that one first in case it was going to be hard to get later. I of course replaced the bracelet with a DAL1BP rubber, or perhaps it was a Bonetto 284, I don’t remember. It looked really cool anyhow.

#272 - The Seiko SRP775.

The reissue of the Turtle was an absolute success and even if none of the first four that were released were limited there was going to be plenty of variations and limited editions of it and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of them. The design is timeless and to me it is as up-to-date as I guess it must have been forty years ago. I’d say I prefer the modern SRP Turtle compared to the SKX diver. The only thing making the SKX a better entry watch is its less wider case which I think appeals more to the non-watch nerds. I would of course chose the wider cushion case any day!

#367 - Ordered my second one together with a SRP779 to make a golden pepsi version. The project never happened and the watches were forgotten in their boxes and later sold.

This was just my first encounter with the new Turtle and there will be plenty of upcoming posts about the other versions. I was thinking of making one big post with all of them but to me they all have their own story so I decided to present them separately.

#468 - My third that I received as a part trade in mid-December 2018. Bought an original rubber for it since wearing the bracelet wasn't an option. Sold it soon after this photo was taken.

 

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

No 271 - Seiko SCED035

I know, it’s been ages! ‘What’s going on?’ you might think. ‘Did he quit?’ No, I did not. I just started to work again and it’s been an intense three months and it’s not going to get less intense any time soon. But, I’ve managed to scrape together a few hours and I’ve chosen to use them wisely. That means writing a piece to end this three month drought!

While writing this I’m expecting the delivery of a grail. A Seiko 7A28-6000, a.k.a. Bishop. It’s not only supposed to be in NOS condition but it is also manufactured in May 1984. Say what?! I know, it’s insane! It’s pretty funny then that the next piece I was going to write about was this SCED035, a.k.a. Ripley, which completely opened up my eyes for a whole new segment of Seiko watches that I hadn’t even looked at prior to the announcement that Seiko made of their upcoming reissues of the Giugiaro designed 7A28 chronographs back in 2015. Unfortunately I had already missed out on the re-release of the Bishop, the SCED003, but I managed to get a hold of a Ripley on eBay to a fair price. Growing up in the eighties and loving science fiction of course led to me watching all the Alien movies over and over again. Just like with the Abyss (another favorite movie) the watches the characters wore wasn’t something I reflected over while watching the movies as a kid. So after my purchase was done it was time for a marathon of Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 just to build up a good vibe.

#271 - The Seiko SCED035, a.k.a. Ripley. Reissue of the 7A28-7000.

I received the Ripley in the middle of December 2015. The watch was really super cool and much more comfortable to wear than I had imagined. But seriously, if this watch wouldn’t have been comfortable to wear I don’t know what I would have done. What a goddamn pain it was to size that bracelet! Jeeezzz! Usually you can always find a tutorial on Youtube to solve most matters but at the time there was no information anywhere on how to do this (now there is though!). I knew this was going to be a collector’s item so I didn’t wear it that much and stupid like so many times before I ended up putting it up for sale (WHY?!?!). Some clever dude of course made a good deal and every time now when I try to find a new one, the only thing I find are just increasing prices. Well well what the hell. It was a reissue. Nothing to cry over. And now when I have an incoming original Bishop it would of course be an ideal quest trying to find an original 7A28-7000, in equally good condition, to pair it up with. That would make a sweet duo that I perhaps should consider keeping for some time. 

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