What time is it? Watches and horology

I'm sure this has been done to death... But, what is a nice vintage inspired dive/skin diver that has a box crystal, under 40mm and under £1000?
Yema has QC issues and not sure about the value of them. Squale heritage... hmm close but... Am I missing obvious brands? Does Seiko do a box crystal diver that's not 14mm thick?

Looks pretty cheap with the fully polished case imho

Mido ocean star tribute, 13.4mm. I've seen one in person and it's really nice, bracelet and clasp very very nice
https://www.midowatches.com/uk/watches/collections/ocean-star/ocean-star-tribute.html

Oh nice! The one with the grey dial looks good

We just saw these new 38mm Squales yesterday. Might fit the bill. Some had more modern dial/colour executions and some were more vintage styled.

https://www.squale.ch/en/supersquale

Should be under a grand.

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Does Seiko do a box crystal diver that's not 14mm thick?

The SPB143 et al (62MAS inspired) are about 40mm x 13mm and while they’re not exactly box crystals they are domed a bit.

The newer cushion shaped ones like the SPB313 are thinner and wear better though, I think. Not box crystal however and not especially vintage in vibe.

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Another option is wolbrook / Douglas - 40mm skin diver with a choice of sapphire or boxed hesalite - the watch Neil Armstrong wore in real life apparently

Alsta also do some skin divers at 40mm I think but poss not box crystal

The squales above look nice

Zodiac sea wolf?

Couldn’t find the VC on the Bonhams site. Looks beautiful

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27664/lot/82/vacheron-constantin-an-18k-gold-manual-wind-wristwatch-ref-4667-purchased-2nd-september-1953/

Seeing this lot reminds me I need to get mine serviced

Very tempted by this. Worth €370?

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A bit of Sunday lunch to celebrate the T20 World Cup win

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I like their non chrono offerings but that is a bit anti for me.

not really, an original (1989) AW10 has some proper design heritage and can be had for around £100 if you want that authentic Dieter Rams Braun vibe

Interesting, I had forgotten about the Douglas. Would make a nice partner to my speedmaster.
@Regal I'll check out the Seiko spb143 too. Not really vintage but it may outlast my vintage phase... So that's a plus. Thanks. I'd always assumed it wouldn't wear well.
@Ricochet thanks! Will try to find one in-store... Like most of the mido, not sure on the handset.

I should add, that it's the plexiglass roundness and smoothness on the speedmaster crystal that led me to desire a diver with a similar vibe.

This is nice though I do prefer the silver face and non-black case. Then again, I see no indication that it is limited and from what you say it's not something I could expect to make much back on if I ever chose to sell... I guess it will come down to how much I like it (more than my Discogs wishlist).

I saw Kibble watches just started stocking these.

It’ll be in their next auction in February I think.. (@Regal ?), they’re just finalising the catalogue.
We may have blagged ourselves to the pre-sale viewing drinks, if it comes good I’ll push my luck for a +1! Btw the estimate for the 222 was £50-80K 👀

Edit: it’s this auction on December 14th.
Interestingly the seller of the delightful 222 is also the seller of the horrific red AP. Weird.

I really like that, great sizes and look like a classic watch.

Get a Vostok? The crystal are super fun to feel.

Zodiac super sea wolf? Some models under 1k on sale

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I like them but from hearing what @JB said about them, quality isn’t reflective of price.

I do remember someone saying something about Zodiac was it reliability or overall build quality? I remember maybe JB as well saying Yema had reliability issues.

My impression, from seeing a bunch of the current Zodiacs IRL, is that they look and feel pretty cheap and not really worth the asking price. I know they are trying to improve the perception of quality (being owned by Fossil doesn’t help) and some of their watches are better than others but they have a little way to go IMHO.

£63 in true Timex fashion.

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Christopher Ward Super Compressor?

https://www.christopherward.com/retro-dive-watches/c65-super-compressor/C65-41ASC1-S0WB1-B0.html#

I have the previous model of this and it is very nice, although I paid about £600 for it in their sale.