Turns out, Sea-Gull, which is the largest movement manufacturer (1/4th of the world’s total!) in the world, wasn’t even the first to release a version, they did it only after a third party came out with the idea, and watching the success they were having, well, they were having none of it and released theirs, in 38mm with solid caseback, which I show at the beginning of the post —of course, they released the original back in early 60s.

42mm panda and inverse panda versions.

Sugess or Breitling Top Time Deus?

The Sugess versions.

Apparently, Hong Kong Ed is an ex-worker at Sea-Gull that sells his own high quality versions.

Sea-Gull and D304 versions.

Thing is, Sea-Gull being the “official” brand, is charging more than thrice what everybody else, and the buy is not as straightforward as just going to AliExpress for any of the others. So, I figured, if the movement is the same Sea-Gull ST1901 (based on the Venus 175, mind you; Sea-Gull bought everything, stock, machines, and rights, from the Swiss Venus back in the late 50s), and the casing, dials and finishing are basically the same, why not save two thirds of their asking price going for another brand?

I have to mention here that this is the Chinese market, and they go by a different set of values than us westerners. There’s no point claiming which one is the original one, all brands use the same factories for their cases, dials, hands, etc; you won’t find this things happening elsewhere, and it boils down to simply: This is how China works.

I liked a lot the official one with red chrono hand, but everyone is having it, just check every idiot on Instagram, so I chose a variation with all blue hands save the tip of the chrono seconds hand, and lume in hands and outside the numerals —the brand that makes this version is Sugess, which is a hideous name, but at least was not printed nor engraved anywhere in the watch.
Also, the 40mm version of the official from whichever brand has short hands, and I can’t stand short hands; they use the same hands as in the 38mm versions, and in my wrists a 38mm looks silly.
There’s versions with domed sapphire or acrylic, with cases a bit different to accommodate. I rather sapphire for the obvious reasons.

As I was previously saying, I succumbed and got this version, with blue hands but the tip of the chrono seconds, and luminous material applied to hands and numeral dots. The subdials rings aren’t printed but physically marked on the dial and are a bit larger than the official versions.

Sugess / Sea-Gull 1963 Chronograph luminous version.

It was beautiful and perfect in every way.

Except it wasn’t. The damned movement stopped randomly, my guess was dirt in the mainspring, or even a cracked bottom jewel on the balance wheel, who knows.

A note of caution: These type of movements have a little quirk in their design. As you push the start button, the arm that moves the connecting wheel between the seconds wheel and the chrono-seconds wheel slides into the space between columns in the column-wheel, but if the press it not hard and quick enough, the chrono-seconds wheel brake hasn’t went up a column and it’s still engaged, which results in the watch stopping and potentially damaging (as the seconds wheel makes contact with a braked wheel). The problem probably derives from the arm resting so far ahead in a column, in order to start the chrono as fast as possible. So, you have to press the start firmly and quickly, particularly when starting from zero.

In this video if you pay attention you can clearly see the problem:

Resuming, it stopped randomly. No worries, I chose that seller because it offered free returns, so I did and they refunded me every single penny. Talking with the seller they assured me it was not a common occurrence and they’ll have extra care next time. So, there goes this watch idiot savant and ordered another one of the same.

The return process is an infuriatingly slow affair, and you have to be on top of the involved shipping companies. To me it consisted in taking my package to a local company, which took it to my country’s central AliExpress warehouse. This warehouse takes ages acknowledging reception, and I had to upload more evidence (the pictures provided by the local shipping company) in order for my money to be released.

So, I ordered again and, guess what? It also came defective, only this time defects were cosmetic and not functional. One lume dot was half printed and the crystal was set askew. I’ve never seen a poorly set crystal in all my years having watches.

When I confronted the seller for the second time, they had the nerve to tell me that I should simply not order the luminous version, that it didn’t affect the watch, and that the crystal was not smooth. This was adding insult to injury.

What to do? The return and refund option is always there and you have 15 days since your order is finished or you confirm reception of the goods, but as I’ve said it takes a long time. So I figured it was best to try to move it locally… And then fuck the seller and ask for a refund without return.

Thus I did, I sold it as brand new —it was, with all its accessories included, I just took it out of its box to check that the movement was working and to notice its flaws— for a huge profit obviously, well, not huge, just for 170% more of what I paid, and in my defense I included an almost brand new, respectable brand, watch band that I had ordered previously (for which I’m also waiting a full refund, haha! I didn’t like it and asked the seller for their international return policy, they went out of their way and refunded me except shipping costs, refund didn’t came for a long time, asked them again and they included a refund for the shipping, which has been deposited; just waiting for my card’s issuer response —I’m a client, this wasn’t my first watch band from that brand, so there’s that).

Having sold it, and having waited the necessary time for the selling platform that I used to avoid any claims or returns, which fortunately was still inside the deadline for opening a dispute, I went and did with the seller on AliExpress.
You have always to document as much as you can when buying from them; In my experience they’re fair, but they need the evidence to go against their sellers. I had everything, of course, and in my dispute I mentioned this was the second time, from this very seller, that the item was flawed.

I asked for a full refund without return, which I knew wouldn’t come to pass. Seller insisted on full refund with return on private messages, which I ignored, seller proceeded with the same proposal on the dispute’s page. I declined and lowered my asking refund for two thirds original price. Seller insisted on full R&R. I didn’t accept its proposal and kept mine. At this point (when you decline and maintain your previous proposal, hence reaching an impasse) AliExpress steps in, analyzes the case, and presented two final resolutions: The original full refund with return, or 30% refund without return. Of course I took the 30%, that was what I was fishing for!

So, in the end, with the sale and the refund I got back 201% of what I originally paid. Not a bad deal at all! (Not my best either, just the last one in a somewhat long list of great deals I’ve managed along the years when buying or selling watches).

Worth mentioning is that the lume in these watches is a laugh, a sad joke, the worst lume I’ve ever seen. It lights up under a UV lamp and in less than 10 minutes it’s gone. You’ll need utter darkness to barely see it, and in about a couple hours you won’t see anything… So I asked myself why get a watch with a function that doesn’t work, besides the above mentioned problems with Sugess?

But, as I really like the watch —it’s beautiful watching it playing in the light, the golden indices and the blue hands shining so handsomely— I wasn’t about giving up, just try another model and brand!

The light play on the golden-greenish champagne dial, with golden indices and blue hands is very pleasing.

Thing is, there’s millions of sellers selling the same things on AliExpress, lots of brands selling this watches: Sugess, Seakoss, Red Star (which I believe is just a line inside Seakoss, but I’m not sure), Pierre Paulin, Gulltron, and a dozen or three more. Most are basically exactly the same with just different dial printing or different colors and hands, but I managed to find a more different variation of the official versions: a Seakoss. Case was the same as everyone, dial was obviously made in the same factory as everyone, movement of course was the Sea-Gull original, but the hands were different, they reached! And the hour hand is a bit wider than the minute hand, which of course helps with legibility at a glance. Also, the chrono minutes hand is different than the running seconds hand —in most every other interpretation, subdial hands are both identical, and as I’ve said in 40mm the watch hands are short on the official versions.

Can you spot the differences? Seakoss vs Sugess.

Sugess vs Seakoss: Longer watch hands, different subdials hands, and open chapter ring on the Seakoss.

So I contacted the seller and quickly explained my woes, they of course assured me it wouldn’t happen with them. Yeah, we’ll see about that, kind seller.

This seller was pricier by almost a third because they had the option of choosing an upgraded movement (by Sea-Gull, remember, they make the movements and sell them to everyone); it has a swan-neck regulator, which besides making the balance wheel bridge prettier and more interesting (the only ugly part of this movement), makes regulating easier and steadier: It’s a steel spring that applies force to the regulator, which in turn controls the size of the hairspring, actively making the watch run faster or slower, and it has a screw that applies opposite force than the spring, keeping it tightly in place against shocks, and making regulating much more precise —anyone that knows how to set a bicycle’s derailleur knows just how much more precise adjustments you can get with a screw instead of a lever.
This, I figure, has to count for something and maybe having the more expensive movement implies better quality control?

The movement in this watches, as mentioned, is the Sea-Gull improvement on the Venus 175: a column-wheel, horizontal clutch, manual chronograph at 21,600 vhp (6 ticks per second), with 45ish hours power reserve. You can clearly see the beautiful blue and tungsten-gray column-wheel that makes these types of movements so beautiful in the next pictures, on the top center.
The most famous chronograph of all times, the Omega Speedmaster (did you know that watch went to The Moon™?), has seldom used a column-wheel.
Column-wheel chronos are more expensive, more alluring, harder to produce, and have better pusher feedback than the standard cam-lever actuated ones.

The Sugess, without swan-neck regulator (bottom center).

The Seakoss, with swan-neck regulator.

An old Sea-Gull ST1901. Did you know you lot are using “vintage” wrong?

Anyway, I still like the dial of my original luminous Sugess better, with its slightly larger subdials which are not printed but recessed, or beveled, or embossed, can’t really tell, instead of the smaller ones with its outer ring printed of the regular versions (but the subdial hands, all being the same length across brands and versions, reach better on the regular smaller subdials), but alas it was not meant to be, so I ordered an official version in Seakoss branding.

I’ll update the post when it arrives…

An old Sea-Gull original from early 60s.

The 38mm Sugess with properly long watch hands.

The 40mm Sugess with improperly short watch hands.

The 40mm Seakoss with properly long watch hands and different subdials hands!

Oh, I didn’t mention any of the Chinese Aviation being issued these watches after being commissioned by the Communist Party back then, there’s plenty other sites to gather pieces of info about that elsewhere, and it makes for a fun information hunt, as every site has its own version of the events that supposedly took place… Just like today we have a plethora of brands and versions as to make it impossible to set straight.

For anyone interested, the dial and caseback reads in Traditional Chinese:

中国制造 – Zhōngguó zhìzào – Made in China.

And the caseback on the Sugess (haven’t yet sat to decipher the Seakoss, which has a couple more characters):

中國空軍航空計時碼表- Chinese Airforce flight chronograph watch.

Well, my Seakoss has arrived and while at first look identical to the Sugess, it’s on close inspection that its differences show.

Casing

From the vendor’s pictures (which aren’t always ideal) I thought the case was the same, but it’s not. It’s probably made in the same factory, as it’s the same general size and shape, but it has more angles, thus more detail, the light plays more with it than the Sugess. It has more work on it, more steps in its manufacturing and finishing.

Caseback is also different, with the base from which the decagon rises polished instead of rough. Also the engraving changes, without the ugly “Plan B”.

The crown is also different, slender and less protruding, I think it goes better with the long case, and with two different finishes: polished on the star and sandblasted on its base, instead of all polished, so the star is more easily viewable from whatever angle.

Both crystals are properly set.

Dial and hands

It seems the dial on the Seakoss is a bit different; while on both it curves beautifully inwards at the edges, creating a convex shape, I think on the Seakoss the curve is somewhat more defined, so you see it more. I like it better.

Hands are perfect, they properly reach, and they have a more solid color throughout; on the Sugess the paint (or lacquer, or enamel or whichever process they used) on the edges is visible thinner and more transparent than their central zones, while on the Seakoss no differences in color can be seen (with the naked eye), and the blue is a smidge darker, maybe just because the paint is thicker. In the pictures the blue is almost comic-book blue, in real life it’s very pleasant, deep and popping when the light hits it.
The long hands (watch minutes and chrono seconds) on both brands also curve inwards. The minute hand has a ridge down the middle, hard to see without magnification.

Conclusion

It’s like Sugess owners went to the factories that Seakoss uses and they decided to shave this and that to save money, which is very common in the Chinese industry (read the book I cite above), so they end up with inferior versions, maybe good enough for non-watch people who will never notice them (obviating a flawed movement, of course).

All in all, the Seakoss is several steps up in detailing, finishing, parts, and quality control, which justifies its higher price. After two defective Sugess’, I do think the Seakoss should be the preferred option, even considering the price difference: you get a much better watch (again, in WIS terms) than what a third in price suggests.

A beautiful watch without doubt! And, to me, almost free.

I, like all kids of my childhood, grew up admiring watches, particularly digital ones, and it sparked my interest on the subject to the point that I now consider myself a watch fan, and even maybe a bit more.

So, this is my very brief history with watches.

I believe my first watch was something like Casio calculators but cheaper, or maybe it was a Casio but in those dark ages the most basic ones were cheap.
Or perhaps it was a Transformer watch, red, with a little digital LCD. I also had a Mickey Mouse one with the arms as hands, and one with a cute little spider on its web circling the dial as the seconds hand.

Casio calculator.

Transformer Watch.

From there on, I treasured them everytime I got to be gifted a new one; several other Casios passed through my hands. They turned into Benettons (by Bulova) —they predated Swatch— as I grew and had to have more fashionable pieces in order to be cool. Sad, I know. I was young and knew nothing, the important thing to me at the time was just how good they looked.

I can’t believe there’s no mention at all of Benetton watches in sites.

But obviously the Casios always were there; my dad had this OG G-Shock —you know which, the 5000 or 5600 or whatever number with the screwable caseback— besides his Omega and several other fine gold watches. And they were inexpensive (regular Casios, not G-Shocks), so we (as in my little circle) got them often. This is important later.

The OG.

With screw caseback.

We were absolutely in love with digital Casios, they did so many things, they were tuff, they took several beatings, they were precise and futuristic. They had sensors and were capable of storing phone numbers, they had calculators and TV remotes. And as proof of how well built they were, the two of them that I’ve managed to bring with me to this day, still work perfectly.

My Casios. I still have a couple of Databanks.

Casio DGW-30 Digi-Graph.

Casio JP-100W Pulsecheck.

Casio DBX-103.

90s vintage Casio Databank.

Casio DBC-62.

You have to understand cell phones and computers came much later. We had very few things as ubiquitous and amazing as watches, thus they were an important part of our lives and got used and abused.

So, we loved them and it was an event of the highest importance when someone came with a new one to school; we all had to see it, find out what new marvelous things it was capable of.

A granddad gave me a fake large Mido Commander in silver, and an uncle a fake Cartier Tank. Which of course I wore happily, never truly wondering if they were real or not; they were just fancy watches that did their jobs while looking cool on a highschool and college kid.

Mido Commander.

Cartier Tank.

But sometime we had to grow. As I did, I diverted my attention to fashion watches, why that crap, you ask, well, I certainly could not afford —nor even knew— a Grand Seiko back then, so fashion watches were the closest for me to a real watch. I knew enough of horology, or rather, I’ve heard enough of it to understand there was a whole as yet inaccesible to me category of watches with names as Rolex, Tissot, Mido, Omega and Cartier, so those —the fashion ones— had to suffice for then.

An incalculable parade of Benettons came and went, we couldn’t believe our lucks, for that a watch as nice, dependable and fashionable as those were in our family’s reach, continuously, was quite nice. I was very lucky, I now understand. I opened them and interchanged dials between them. I like to see and learn how things work, and those watches were a great and cheap way to find out. Swatch were mostly out of the question, as you couldn’t get them in Mexico, only kids with families that went on vacations to El Gabacho (USA) had them and they were the coolest kids around.

They didn’t last, of course, they weren’t Casios. They all ended up in the garbage. Lost to what they measure.

This went on until I got my first real job, with a contract and all.

There was this new fashion clothing store in town and it was a big deal; fashion, accesible clothing for young people, beers and papas locas (to this day, nobody understands why on Earth did a fashion store sold beer and papas locas), and they were the only ones that had a diverse G-Shock inventory —other stores had only the basic models— and I promptly got a job there and they were nice enough to give us slaves a discount in all the merchandise, so with my first salary I got two Stargates (called so because they were used in that movie a couple of years earlier than I got them), one red, one yellow, and gave my dad the yellow. That was back in ’96; they still work perfectly. We have changed both batteries and straps only once.

G-Shock Stargate / Gundam / Heavy Metal.

Both Stargates.

I began realizing one of horology’s hidden —by the luxury brands— truths:

A watch is first and foremost, a tool. And as such it should be first measured.

I had the incipient thought that a tool watch was better than a beautiful or famous watch. Particularly after my experience with fashion watches, that yes, were cheap and couldn’t really be expected to last, but then again so were Casios inexpensive, and they lasted ages.

I wore that G-Shock huge piece of tech for years, I got maybe one fashion watch after.

I finished university, got a job, changed jobs and cities, and started earning some money. So I got me and my girlfriend a couple of Victorinox V7 translucent ruby 3-handers, stainless steel rated to 100m (unlikely, because of the regular crown, now I know), screwable caseback, laser-etched branding, engraved caseback and sapphire crystal, all of which was unheard of in that price range. They still work flawlessly.

Ruby red Victorinox V7.

Screwable caseback, enamel logo.

I then got the green one (always wanted the blue but they didn’t last in the store) and sold it shortly after.

I bought a couple of Nike sport watches, one for runners (I am) and I got rid of them very quickly: they were of an unacceptable low quality for me —misaligned everything, poorly made, cheap materials, low quality screens.

Nike Running Watch.

Nike Hammer Sports Watch for gym douchebags.

After those two abominations, I decided it would be better to spend time educating myself about watches, so I began buying magazines and read all I could in forums, in order to gain a vantage point from which were I could better chose. And it really wasn’t so much a decision but that I just liked watches, hence reading about them was in order.

As I was on a sports watch phase, and have always liked exercising outdoors, I did my internet research and decided on my second G-Shock, the GW9200 Riseman with a dragon on the caseback. I specifically ordered the one with the dragon —most others have a ridiculous flying squirrel— and it’s somewhat rarer today, at least every single one of them on Instagram has the squirrel. It still works flawlessly and I wear it as what snobs (sorry; you are) call a beater.

Casio G-Shock GW9200 Riseman.

Dragon caseback.

Sea level at Zicatela.

Run or Die.

I couldn’t be happier, and actually never have been as, with the watch. It simply was an amazing piece of tech that had a thermometer, barometer, altimeter, it synced on its own (what sorcery?!), and didn’t need batteries! It has a great memory function where you can store and then recall your current altitude that I use every time I’m at sea level.

About that time I also got a dark blue dial Particularly Robust and Sporty 516 from Tissot and a titanium Ocean Star Captain from Mido (originally it was a steel Multifort, but I exchanged it because the finishing was subpar). Both automatic as Cronos intended watches to be, which was nice. I even got the original leather strap for the Tissot, and had to take it to be regulated sometime. Both got sold years later.

Tissot PRS 516.

Tissot PRS 516 on rally leather strap.

Mido Ocean Star Captain in titanium.

So it was some years before I got the bug again. I knew a bit more (still nothing, I realize today) and could decide perhaps not as naively.

Being a F1 fan, I went for a Williams F1 Oris special edition in PVD stainless steel, 3 hands, day-date, and cool design. That sums how little I actually knew.

ORIS Williamsf1 Team Day Date.

ETA, obviously, modded by Oris.

Very well designed lumed markers.

Still, I loved the watch, it was so cool, jet black, gloss and mate, rubber strap, big legible fake-carbon black dial with white hands, lumed hands and markers.

When I bought it, I was between that and a Speedmaster, which was more expensive, but not inconceivable so. With hindsight, I should’ve got the Omega for the resell value, but I knew back then that most Swiss brands were of similar qualities, and I wanted to project an image of authenticity, not owning what everybody was familiar with (the Speedmaster apparently being the grail watch of all the original and authentic people at r/Watches), but instead a piece that maybe sparked a watch conversation opportunity. Being a watch fan, you could hardly blame me for searching ways to talk about things I liked with akin minds.

In between the Victorinox and the Oris, I got my girl and myself several Swatches (by the way, it means Second Watch, not Swiss Watch), they opened several shops across town and a couple of my friends got to work there, so discount!
Swatches I looked from afar as a child because they weren’t that common and affordable. Each a fashion watch, they were disposable. I’m recently selling two of my last three and I foresee they’ll go fast. But I’ll came to that later. I still sometimes miss Ambitious Goal and Zebah, one had a translucent smoked lovely plastic case with a color combination I really liked, and the other was an aluminum (!) watch that had a kind of dial Indiglo that looked very cool. I half heartedly decided not to ever sell a watch again.

Swatch Aiming for your Heart.

Swatch Ambitious Goal. I loved this one.

Swatch So Fresh.

Swatch Fire Proof.

Swatch On Her Majesty Secret Service.

Swatch Zebah.

Swatch Lavande.

Swatch Laser Light. Still got it, functioning perfectly!

Swatch Redrum. The Shining anyone?

After the Oris, I got an almost true tool watch, with the meaning of not buying anything else afterwards for a while (of course, I failed).

I got another F1 related —albeit a subtler one— watch, a TAG Heuer Formula 1 series 4, which I found out years later it actually had a story and could claim some pedigree, which is somewhat rare for a Swiss quartz (follow the previous link if you own a Formula 1, it’s quite interesting).

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series 4 three hander.

Titanium carbide (the thing the space shuttle black tiles are made of) bezel.

Engraved case back.

You’d never go cycling with an automatic.

Stainless, sapphire, 200m with screw-in crown and caseback, sporty / casual design, titanium carbide (that material is fantastically resilient) in bezel, crown and crown guards, brushed bezel numbering, and a single-sided rotating diver’s bezel.

A rotating bezel, I decided, is the most useful complication along with the date, and the only one ever needed in an analog watch —the date windows sometimes ruins the dial design. A chronograph of course does it better, and I love being able to operate them without looking, but it adds to the complication and price and usually subtracts from legibility, and most chronos in my affordable range measure just 30m or 60m, while a diver’s bezel can measure 12h.

Considering what I know today, I would never buy the Oris or TAG again. Neither similar pieces. Nor any Swatch. OK, maybe the Night Flight which is clearly a Speedmaster homage, if only the newer batch of Swatch Irony weren’t so damn big, and I can’t understand why they made the terrible mistake of re-using the sub-dial hands of the previous smaller Ironys, rendering the subs unreadable because the hands don’t reach the indices —effectively ruining the chronograph function.

But I was very happy with them. The F1 could take a beating. It still does. I still wear it and I still like it very much. They way it’s a sports watch, but has faceted high-polished hands is quite pleasant.

In the back of my mind, I was forced to think automatics were just better, and tended to regard my Oris higher than all the others, and the TAG —a quartz— as good as the other automatics. The G-Shocks were in a category of their own, and the Victorinox was special.

But I also knew a quartz watch could survive what no automatic ever —a quality well made one, like the TAG, not like the disposable Swatches. So they were closer to the ideal tool watch.

I debated between that for years, and sometimes I still think about it, specially after reading the snobbery that’s spilled on watch sites and YouTube videos: always the mighty automatic comes ahead, disregarding the obvious and indisputable superiority of a quartz movement. Also, a quartz suits me better because I have an active lifestyle. I exercise, go places, go outside, swim, run, cycle. For me, an automatic can’t keep up as a beater and considering all I know now, if a watch can’t be a beater, it has no merit as a tool (remember a watch is first and foremost a tool), and only has looks, status, things like that to his name. I didn’t like that I couldn’t treat my automatics as my quartzes. It bothered me.

Still, I got myself yet another Swatch for my birthday, a beautiful automatic skeleton that’s just gorgeous.
Swatch and Casio are the only brands that are truly beyond whatever measure you want to use to describe other watches. A multi-million dollar collection can as easily have those, and the owner will wear them happily, because those brands stand for themselves as True Watches, not pretentious, ostentatious, luxury, status seeking brands. A true fashion watch and a true tool watch.
Seiko too and to a greater degree even, but I learnt that later.

Swatch Body And Soul YAS100G.

Laser etching, done properly, can look so nice!

A thing of beauty.

Gorgeous from any side.

That skeleton has a very basic ETA movement, doesn’t hack, non decorated except for some laser etching, and slow beating. Gorgeous nonetheless.

I stopped buying watches. I had certainly enough. But more importantly, I knew more and realized several things.

A watch just measures time.

It’s silly to place more value in a famous watch, just because its fame. A well built inexpensive quartz watch is not inferior to a well built luxury watch; they measure the same thing and usually the quartz does it better. Watches only measure time, and any 5 usd Casio F-91W will out-perform whatever million dollar brand you care to name.
By the way, there’s a hipster craze about vintage Casios in rose gold, gold, and silver nowadays.

I had one or two of these, but they almost don’t count.

It really speaks volumes in favor of Casio that their watches can be used as fashion items…

… by hipsters all over the world…

… and by working people that have no money but still need something to tell the time in any condition. And have a stopwatch, timer and alarm while at it. And a light to read it at night. And water resistance.

It is as Noah Harari says in his Sapiens book: value is just another of our myths. Materials have no inherent value (besides their physical characteristics, of course; iron being harder than copper is better for making tools, and so on); we give gold and diamonds its value, not they by themselves. And that was continuing what I believed when I got the Oris and not the Omega.

I started selling most of my collection (ugh, the snobbery again) and began searching for an unsuperfluous tool of a watch to use daily along my Riseman. I wanted what the F1 failed to do: be The Watch for me.

Anyway, I got this Seiko at a tianguis, a type of flea market in which you can find food, clothing (mostly imported) and assorted items (sadly, a lot will be from robberies), a retro futuristic chronograph that was amazing. Just as I was passing by I knew it had to be something special; there was a watch I’ve never seen before, but with a recognizable design (from the ´69 Omega Speedmaster Mark II which is one of the best looking watches ever), that surely was old, with lots of style. I strove to keep my cool with the seller and tried several other of his watches first, all used. I bargained (you do that even when buying expensive watches on jewelries, didn’t you know?) With a later crystal and battery change, I spent 19 USD. Mine has the central seconds hand a bit crooked, but I like it that way, it has character.

It looks titanium because of the finishing, but it’s stainless steel.

Look at that handsome bracelet!

Gorgeous utilitarian no-nonsense IN-HOUSE JEWELED and serviceable quartz movement.

Engraved buckle!

So, I was right and the Seiko turned out to be the first analog display quartz chronograph in the world. An icon in a brand of icons. A world first. I couldn’t believe it! What luck to own a Speedmaster 7A28 and for that price!
It’s no longer water resistant, and I don’t know anyone here that can fix the pusher gaskets, and it’s also no longer lumed, but I don’t mind, the movement works flawlessly.

I sold it at something like 25 times what I paid; I ragret it every single day.

So, I searched and continued informing myself, forums, sites, YouTube. I concluded, as I’ve mentioned of the rotating diver’s bezel, that I only needed a diver. But a true one, not like my TAG that lacks visibility at night (because the lume is sparse and not very lasting, but the faceted hands and glossy hour markers do help a lot catching reflections) and a 12 o’clock bezel lume pip.

While on vacation I tried the new GW9400 Rangeman at a G-Shock store, which was a step up from my GW9200 Riseman. In action it amazes, the sensors are blazing quick, and the design is unapologetically G-Shock —unlike most modern G-Shocks that are ana-digi unreadable abominations; G-Shocks should always be digital. I almost got it, but the fonts used are the same size as in my Riseman but the dial is larger so there’s unused space, which goes against what a G-Shock should be. Also, and after the initial impression, I like the Riseman more, so sticking to what now I believe / want, there was no point in getting it. Maybe when my Riseman dies, but then again, there’s the latest Rangeman, which is stupidly and absurdly incredible, and one can only wonder what will Casio manage in the years mine still has.

Rangeman and Riseman. Notice how space is better used on the Riseman.

The author and the G-Shock store in Playa del Carmen.

Seiko was the obvious answer. Not a SKX007/013 (seriously, what’s with Japanese brands’ naming?), because their designs are a bit outdated for my tastes, and the dial-bezel is a bit busy. Also the dreaded chapter ring / bezel misalignment stories are no fun. But a Diver’s from Seiko would surely be my next and hopefully last for many years.
I also liked a lot the new Oris 65 re-interpretation, and one or two obscure brands like the Zelos Hammerhead, any Sinn diver (that tegimented steel is out of this world!), the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf “Gulf” re-issue… but they are vastly more expensive than a Seiko, and if a Seiko is (and this is the consensus), the better watch, why should I pay more? Brands trust us to be naive.

Zodiac Super Sea Wolf re-issue in Gulf colors.

This —and most Seiko “diver’s”— need no introduction.

Zelos Hammerhead.

Gorgeous Oris 65.

Sinn U1.

Anyway, I kept looking on and off, and at the same time I took out from my rotation (that also sounds terribly snob, and you know it) most of my watches but the Riseman, the F1 and the Body and Soul. A sport tool, a casual tool, and a dressier piece.

I discovered Seiko Monsters and was instantly in love with them, particularly the new Sea Monster and the Orange Monster. They weren’t too expensive.

Seiko Sea Monster, Professional Specifications.

Shark teeth.

Just look at that blue bezel!

Lume is a Seiko thing. No other brand comes close.

Seiko Orange Monster.

I tracked the blue one and almost got it used at a great price, but the seller backed off at the last minute. New costs twice as much and I couldn’t justify it, so I ended up not getting it, and kept on searching.

By now, I know a lot more about watches than ever, I can tell which watches are worth it, which ones are famous, historical, from where they come from, what are their influences. I know that Jaeger-LeCoultre supplies movements to the holy trinity of Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe. I can tell the Nautilus from the Royal Oak, and that Hublot is cheap, its ex boss Jean-Claude Biver to blame, and he’s proceeding to ruin also TAG Heuer… but he also helped save the Swiss industry from Japanese and American quartz, turned Omega into what is today, and brought Blancpain back from the dead. I know Tudor divers were first, but held back by Rolex in order for the latter to gain a false prestige. I know Makos and Rays from Turtles and Hammerheads, Searamblers from Super Oceans; Richard Mille is a laughing stock while being technological marvels, and Urwerk is just from other planet… I also know cosmographs don’t really graph the cosmos, and that in order to impress you have to write everything on the dial and repeat your brand name ad nauseam in the rehaut, after having your watch officially and professionally superlatively certified, in Rolesor, of course. I understand Valjoux, ETA, Miyota, Seiko and Sea-Gull, and the achievement and value of an in-house movement.
I hear with contempt those poor souls that think Rolex and Omega are truly luxury brands, or the best watches ever, or those that dismiss Seikos and Casios, knowing nothing of horology.

As I’m older, my tastes change and I have to leave behind —to a point— most flashy things, instead opting for a more appropriate look. Think a Fifty Fathoms. Those are very nice looking watches (and Jacques Cousteau’s choice, if you’re into that kind of thing, better company than Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, James Bond or the Moon), simple and to the point, no superfluous things in them —the originals, of course, not the modern jewels they try to pass as tool watches. But terribly expensive, and again, I don’t want a jewel.

Cousteau wore one.

One fine day, wondering the deep trenches and abysses of the internets, I discovered a true jewel. The Casio Marlin Duro MDV106.

It had all I wanted! Black sober dial, but with a lovely sunburst! Applied indices (you don’t even see this on the 3-4x priced Seikos), decent lume, legible big fat —but not Seiko fat— even faceted hands! 200m, screw in crown and caseback, date and rotating aluminum insert bezel with lume pip at 12. A true diver!
Even better: it is quartz! So it will keep up without me baby sitting it.

The Casio Marlin Duro.

Thin and slender profile, decently enough polishing.

Well executed applied indices.

Of course, the plastic Casio strap is crap (well, not crap, just ugly), they had to save somewhere! But a nice Nato/Zulu will do the trick.

Not Seiko level, but then again who is? There’s even a lumed function-check seconds hand!

Nice and unnecessary marlin engraving; well done Casio!

The truly amazing thing about this Casio, is the price. This is a watch well under 50 usd. You simply can’t get all that this Marlin offers at this price point (actually, at several times this price point) from any other brand, not even a Seiko 5 comes close. This Duro (duro meaning hard in Italian and Spanish) really makes you wonder what scams, pillages and robberies all the other brands are inflicting upon us.

This is an obvious homage to bigger names, the dial is unmistakably Submariner with circles and rectangles for the markers (which actually come from Blancpain, as the Rolex Submariner came after the Fifty Fathoms), the sunburst also comes from Blancpain. The 12 o’clock lumed bezel marker is a must in a diver, and this is Casio’s particular design (they’ve had it on several divers). The Marlin is a great touch, particularly on the caseback were it shouldn’t be because of the ridiculous pricing. A true tool, a beautiful watch, a serious diver, a daily beater, an inexpensive —not cheap— piece. A watch to be truly proud of.

As always with Japanese divers, because their ridiculous naming system, they get a fan name (turtle, monster…); the official name for this is Duro, but the fan name is obviously Marlin, which always adds and endears.

The only negatives, besides the ugly plastic bracelet —well, not ugly but sparse, it actually is a Casio trademark with its deep grooves— are that it has no sapphire but mineral crystal (because price!), that 200m legend doesn’t look so good and the crown is on the small side. And of course the finishing and faceting is not quite up there, again, price! But considering from where it comes from it’s an almost unthinkable improvement. The father of this is the original Marlin MVD102, which being honest is not very nice looking at all, bulkier and busier, unnecessarily so; this one being so clean, neat and packed speaks wonders of Casio’s designers.
Also, you really can’t find negatives on a watch that has all this one has for that price. Well, the size is also wrong, 45.5ish mm is on the large side; 42 would have been so much better.

The previous Marlin had too much text (and that’s a hideous thing, eh Rolex?), a cheesy “super illuminator” legend (but in red, so you know who was their inspiration even then), a robust but busy design. The new version is surprisingly lean to say the least.

The previous Marlin.

This is what I mean by “lovely shark mesh bracelet”.

So, this was it! I ordered mine! I will change the strap for a gray, brown or green zulu and maybe even a lovely diver shark mesh bracelet in the future, and be done with all my other watches (except the Riseman for exercising and the skeleton Swatch for dress-up —the Victorinox stays, obviously, as well as my Stargate and Databank, but I’ll sell all the others, maybe even the TAG. The Speedmaster is on sale but I really don’t want it to go, so I listed it a bit over what I’ve seen on ebay (but mine is in better condition than most I’ve seen), because it’s a part of horological history after all, and my only watch as such.

At last, a True Tool, a proper watch, besides G-Shocks, as I’ve mentioned, they’re on a category of their own.

And it’s a Casio! A brand I’ve respected and admired from the moment I got my first one for what they’ve accomplished! I can’t ask for more. As a plus, being so inexpensive, if I get robbed —this being Mexico— it won’t hurt as much and will be easily replaceable.

I intend to not buy anything else for years, but maybe one day I will get one of these: the evolution of the Rangeman. I truly believe this model is the future for G-Shock, embracing what G is, and what a smartwatch could do. The Ressence Type 5 oil filled watch is a thing of beauty and a very authentic and original brand —that planetary dial must look amazing. And of course a proper luxury Seiko Diver.

Proper Master of G. Sadly, most modern G-Shocks are ana-digi abominations.

An oil filled Ressence. This watches are very original.

This is a proper (800 USD) diver.

So, that’s my not so brief after all history with watches. I’ve liked them always, and it’s a subject I enjoy a lot.
Casually, just yesterday I got to try an Omega 007 Seamaster from a friend and… well, it’s incredibly bulky, a huge and heavy lump of steel. Yes, beautifully made, but it didn’t speak to me, less because it’s a mall watch, a mass marketed, machine made, James Bond endorsed (that’s cheap, that’s Omega) expensive thing that marketing will have you believe is top of the hill.

Sportier watches.

Recording at sea level.

Proper Diver’s’s.

Sport watches.

Beautiful.

Perfect for all ocations.

Hopefully you enjoyed the long read!

…

Update 2020:

I ditched the Marlin after using it for about a year, its terribly poor lume, humongous size, and hard to turn bezel are why I exchanged it for a Citizen Promaster BN0100, fan named Excalibur, no longer made. I also sold the Seiko chrono, and miss it terribly. My Redrum Swatch is gone too. I’m not buying watches anymore, until my Riseman dies and I’ll exchange it for another, more modern, G-Shock.

The Excalibur has all the good things I liked about the Marlin, plus incredibly bright two-tone lume (and I mean it, it lasts at least two days in full darkness), smooth bezel, a bit smaller than the Marlin, better design (hands don’t protrude back from the center, minutes in orange, hashed more like a Longines Legend than a Submariner, much better finishing), and it’s an Eco-Drive —everyone knows solar-powered quartz movements are amongst the best movements, second only to the radio/GPS controlled ones. It came on a steel diver’s (adjustable on the fly) bracelet, but I motsly use it on a Barton elite silicon for comfort and looks. It’s also a true diver, in the sense that it complies with ISO 6425 —which of course older and more luxurious brands don’t care about.
It also has an anti-reflective coating on the inside of the glass, at least when comparing it even to my F1 it reflects a lot less and is that more legible, even though I haven’t read it officially.

Best thing is thanks to some arcane eBay magic I got it for about 35usd, I only paid shipment!

Citizen Excalibur vs Casio Marlin.

Citizen Excalibur two-tone lume.

…

Update 2021:

OK, I just ordered this ultra gorgeous manual mechanical chronograph from China that uses the Sea-Gull ST1901 movement and is based on a 1963 Sea-Gull prototype for the Chinese AirForce that never got made, because, I mean, look at it! Look at it!

What’s so special about it? Well, several things actually: Sea-Gull is the fourth or so manufacturer of watch movements in the world, and the first one on mechanicals, so right up there, this movement was a Swiss Venus originally, but they bought everything. Then it’s a chronograph with a column wheel, a feature superior to the ones with cam-lever and only found on much more expensive pieces. It has 45-ish hours power reserve and a domed sapphire crystal —sapphire is not used on watches on this price bracket, at all. A domed one is unheard of. On top of all that, it has an incredible and authentic design that to me evoques the communist Chinese stories for children my granddad gave us ages ago. Also, I’ve never had a mechanical chrono.

There have been several iterations of this watch by a few brands (Sugess, Seakoss), they all use the Sea-Gull movement, and Sea-Gull even released one themselves after realizing other brands were having success. The last image in the gallery below is the usual one (it’s the Sugess one, on the Sea-Gull one the chrono minutes hand lacks the back protrusion, the Chinese characters are slightly different, and it’s acrylic only), the one that everyone has, with no lume and a different and even more gorgeous red big seconds hand… but I want the lume as, again, a watch is a tool, and I definitely don’t want the one every YouTuber is getting because authenticity. By the way, I found out about this watch on AliExpress’ recommendations.

Oh, price? Less than 150 USD, shipping included (because AliExpress’ special sale). Nányǐ zhìxìn de! (That’s Chinese for Unbelievable!). I also ordered a Barton green canvas, because I hate NATOs (after having used one on my Marlin; they add a lot of height), and the leather additional strap looks terribly cheap.

Based on the Sea-Gull 1963 prototype.

With the Sea-Gull 1963 ST1901 movement.

This shall look grand on proper leather or canvas!

A column wheel chronograph!

Different version, without lume and with red big seconds hand.

That’s it! I need to stop. I haven’t even managed to sell the ones that I don’t use anymore and I’m already planning in getting another one… Speaking about that, the other day I got a bargain price on a Casio Databank DBX-100 from 1988 working perfectly, which is the only Databank with (I’m sure) steel case, mineral crystal, and full dot-matrix screen, instead of plastic, acrylic, and LCD. Owner didn’t know what he had. It came with a very poorly cut and set keyboard from a DBC-62; I’m in the process of restoring it, there’s a couple of guys on eBay that sell matt polyester stickers, but they ask gold prices (they ask more than what I paid for the watch!), and I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement in my usual places. We’ll see.

Gorgeous retro-future dot-matrix screen.

Casio Databank DBX-100.

Came with a DBC-62 keyboard.

Casio Databank DBX-100.

With amber.