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With your OCD and GS knowledge how do you think this would look on a black rubber strap or Erika? The lugs looks quite tall and steeply angled so I'm thinking it could leave a deep blocky gap despite the square case? I can't find any images of one on a rubber strap and no one makes one with custom shaped ends to fit flush like some do for Rolex, Tudor and Seiko divers. There one up for a really good price on ebay right now. But I've also just been offered a new sbgn003 for a very good price which i know will look good off the bracelet and will still be a couple of hundred cheaper than the used sbgn019. Both look like better investments than the Rados i was eyeing up recently.
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Retro_Bastard
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Well for a start they're both on a totally different level to a Rado! Personally, I don't really like rubber straps that fit flush to the case (same for leather straps that try to fit flush with curved ends). I'd happily wear that SBGN019 on a conventional rubber or leather strap, in fact I'd probably prefer it to the bracelet as I'm not wild about the end links. Erika MN or similar could definitely work too.
They're really nice in person, those newer quartz GMTs. To me the SBGN003 looks a bit dated now (although the movement is the same) and it has a very obvious resemblance to the Explorer II, which is a turn-off. The design and finishing on the 019 is definitely more modern. The lume is a lot better on the new ones as well.
Even with the rotated date and the slightly larger size, the 019 would be the one I'd go for.
By the way - it's not the same case, but I think the SBGV245 might give you an eye for how a strap would look. These types of GS cases tend to have quite short lugs and a strap can kind of tuck under the bezel quite often, so not a huge gap. Big disclaimer though, I have no idea if it would look the same on the GMTs.
Regal
I quite like them. The design is really nice and I am glad Squale are leaning into their heritage designs more. They are also quite a bit smaller than the usual Squale diver at 38mm which gives them quite a vintage vibe. I think they’d be a great daily on a nice strap.
The two things I wasn’t as sure about were the asking price relative to the rest of their range (maybe the applied markers accounts for some of it?) and the case finishing - but that’s a nerdy bugbear of mine. Basically you can see the case has been buffed a lot before they apply the brushing, so it sort of curves down towards the edges and the brushing really highlights that. On a skin diver case like that I would always want to see the tops of the lugs being really flat and crisp. But that’s a really OCD thing to get hung up on. The brushing is nice, and it’s no different to any number of other watches, it just comes off looking a bit cheap to my eye.