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The new swanky seikos - sla017 is my favourite. Although id be really worried if I’d bought one of these in the last year or so as they are due a HUGE value drop now you can get EXACTLY the same watch for £3k less (I may be trying to tease @Regal about that last part)
Ha! I'll bite. I'm a connoisseur of midrange Seikos and while I love them (and think this year's 6R-based Prospex divers are the best yet), an SLA they are not.
Interestingly, despite the release of the SLA037 and SLA043, the SLA017 prices seem to be holding at about a third over the original list. I thought they might drop. But the SLA017 is the only one in the original grey 62MAS colourway so unless they do another run with the grey dial they'll probably hold firm.
I really, really like the blue dial hi-beat one (SLA037), it's top dolla but it is a very very nice watch with an excellent movement in it. @IanF should definitely check it out.
Good comparison with the Seamaster 300 (not the 300m) here.
There really aren't that many truly nice 39-40mm divers out there. There's a Rolex sub, obviously, but you already know if that's what you want. The BB58 is cool but do look at the finishing of the hands and so on (they're flat stamped/cut pieces, no real finishing) you can see why it's at the price point it's at. In some ways that adds to its appeal though - it doesn't look as "jewellery" as a Rolex.
The 42mm Breitling Superocean surprised me, I think it's a pretty nice watch for the money and doesn't wear as big as I expected.
Regal-
I know I know - my tongue wasn’t so much in my cheek as actively being poked out :) Completely agree that the sla017 et al are different creatures to the prospex versions and likewise I don’t think their market value will be affected by the new models.
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Thanks. Good ideas - I’ll see if I can find somewhere to look at a Seiko. On Rolex, I’ve never been a massive fan, apart perhaps from the GMT Batman but getting one of those is almost impossible/unaffordable.
Detritus
IanF
As I’m bored, it’s always more fun spending other people's monies and everyone is being far far too sensible, some eclectic suggestions for your consideration :
IWC 2000m aqua timer IW3536 - titanium or steel versions are in budget. https://www.fratellowatches.com/iwc-aquatimer-3536-gst-watch-review/#gref
Panerai 42mm radomirs wear smaller than you think - there’s a world of choice there both new and second hand
Blancpain Ff bathyscape 38mm (prob nearer 6k than 5.5 but if you’re going to push the boat out for a forever piece....) https://www.jomashop.com/blancpain-watch-5100b-1110-b52a.html?utm_medium=cpa&utm_campaign=8172428&utm_source=CJ&cjevent=40fc7108361411eb82b200350a180512&cjdata=MXxZfDB8WXww
JLC Navy Seals Master Compressor - a most awesomely ridiculously over testestorone’d watch - https://www.ablogtowatch.com/jaeger-lecoultre-navy-seals-automatic-watch-review/
The new swanky seikos - sla017 is my favourite. Although id be really worried if I’d bought one of these in the last year or so as they are due a HUGE value drop now you can get EXACTLY the same watch for £3k less (I may be trying to tease @Regal about that last part) https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-seiko-prospex-diver-sla017-based-on-the-first-seiko-diver-6217-from-1965-and-the-prospex-diver-s
Oris 65 diver
Sinn U50 https://www.sinn.de/en/Modell/U50.htm
Bremont s300 models - https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/bremont-supermarine-type-300-301-introducing or the Argonaut. Both available at low and mid £2k. Eg https://www.chisholmhunter.co.uk/watches/swiss-watches/bremont/all.html