Outside of the 2531.80, this is my favourite Seamaster...and the first model came on the best bracelet. The one on the later models just doesn't work as well (IMHO) as the original is so damn comfortable. Forgotten, underrated and I love it.
Are the pictures of your watch?
I don't really know what this means, but my point about the 2534.50 not being a dive watch wasn't meant to be snarky (well maybe 20%) but a fact.
ISO 6425 standard for diving watches
- The presence of a unidirectional bezel with at least at every 5 minutes elapsed minute markings and a pre-select marker to mark a specific minute marking.
I don't really know what this means, but my point about the 2534.50 not being a dive watch wasn't meant to be snarky (well maybe 20%) but a fact.
ISO 6425 standard for diving watches
- The presence of a unidirectional bezel with at least at every 5 minutes elapsed minute markings and a pre-select marker to mark a specific minute marking.
And likewise I wasn't when I said that it was, I am aware of the ISO standard for diver watches but the fact remains the GMT is a 300m water resistant watch based on the SMP minus the useless He valve and elapsed time bezel which a modern diver never uses in any event. To say it isn't at heart a divers watch is a little pedantic, IMO of course!
I think Foo's point is that people decompress for hours rather than minutes so was suggesting, perhaps tongue in cheek, that a 24hr bezel may be of more use where Heliox is involved.
Mine is the 2234 version with the Speedy bracelet (very comfy). It is a marmite watch yes, specifically the insert, but I actually love it for being so distinctive. The red lettered dial is a thing of beauty. I can't fault it overall, but appreciate that others may feel differently.
The only 'issue' that I do have, is that it's not the kind of watch that looks good if marked in any way - but then neither do any of the s/steel SMPs imo. For that reason it remains, for me, as merely a collectors piece to be looked at and admired now and again. It's not one I'll ever sell 😀
Archer has pointed out a couple of times that parts like the dial aren’t interchangable between the black and white dial GMTs for some reason. Madness really.
The reason dials for the great white and this black 50th are not swappable is because the white dial is thicker and that makes everything inside fit a little differently making the stem for the crown sit off-center in the case. I think the white needs more layer of paint (or whatever is used to make it white) in order to be the color it is. Sort of how if you are painting a car from a dark color to bright color more coats are required vs painting a car from light to dark.
Good theory I suppose, but the metal dial blank is actually much thicker. Here is a photo that illustrates the difference:
At the time I took this I didn't have a 25345000 in the shop so I used a 22545000 dial that I did have for comparison. I just happened to take apart a 25345000 this afternoon, and can confirm the dial on it is the same as the 22545000, so this represents the difference between the black and white GMT models accurately.
It's not paint that makes the difference.
Cheers, Al
