Certina PH200M Reissue

JwRosenthal

Hey guys,

So despite being on the fence about the size (and against the advise from @ConElPueblo), I ordered a Ph200 during a holiday sale and coupon deal at Jomashop- it was too good to pass up. I absolutely love the design so I need to see it in the flesh- if I hate it I can return it. It should arrive in 2-3 weeks unless they are blowing smoke.
I am eager to try this thing on- I have several divers in the 41mm range and a few chrono’s at 42mm and they all wear differently depending on bezel to dial ratio. My hope is that the 200 wears like my Helson or Marathon (large bezel small dial- perfect proportions).
I read on the TZ-UK forum that there were many that went out with misaligned bezels and even misaligned dials-has anyone else seen this and do you have pics so I know what to look for?
It should come with the factory mesh bracelet but it has strait ends and I prefer fitted endlinks. I have seen one Instagram picture showing it on a Gecko BOR with fitted endlinks and it looks spectacular- anyone else try this combo and which Gecko bracelet specifically is it (they have a couple)? Any other aftermarket bracelets with fitted endlinks work well on these!

Please share pics of your 200 and any thoughts on the watch negative or positive? If mine ever arrives I will post pics and my thoughts.

JwRosenthal

....still waiting. Jomashop said 3-5 weeks,we are now at 6. Perhaps I should call.

JwRosenthal

So finally Jomashop delivered, they said they would, and they did. I was tempted to cancel the order as I am flush in vintage divers but I figured for $475, why not just let it ride.

First off- this is a great looking watch. It’s well built, the bracelet is first class (although I would have preferred fitted endlinks and I can’t resize it at the moment as I need the screw type pin tool), and it comes with nice accessories (although I think the factory blue Nato is fugly, that won’t ever leave the box). Apparently the Gecko BOR with fitted endlinks is a dead match to this watch (from one online pic I found), so I plan to try that at some point since this on a BOR would be to die for and the fitted endlinks would reduce the apparent size and make it look more polished. The turtleback is just plain awesome, crosshairs dial, sword hands, high dome acrylic crystal - retro awesomeness-period. I love that they kept this watch so true to the original in design and didn’t try to “jazz” it up as so many companies (Omega included) try to do and just screw the pooch so horribly.
As @ConElPueblo had said previously- it’s big, but is it too big? If you normally max out at 36-40mm divers then yes, it’s probably too big. If your wrists are under 7”, then yes, this will look huge. My favorite size for this form factor is about 37-40mm so this tips the scales for me normally- but I tend to wear larger watches in the summer months when I have my sleeves rolled up as my 33-38’s tend to look a bit dinky- so this may be an ideal summer watch on my 7” wrist.
For the size it’s surprisingly slim- startlingly so- just like a Speedmaster, but this is an automatic so kudos to Swatchgroup for finally getting an auto under 3” tall. My Helson and Marathon are far taller and are sleeve catchers- I think this on leather or any bracelet will slide under a cuff well. Even on a nato it isn’t that high off the wrist surprisingly.
All the specs are online so no use mentioning them here other than it is spec’d at 43mm- 2mm of that is bezel overhang- and it does indeed overhang- easy to grab, or catch on the edge of a table...hmmmm. It’s a well done watch with a workhorse movement and great pedigree- well worth the money if the size doesn’t scare you. If I needed a great cheap vacation diver that has retro looks and can actually dive without fear of leakage- or being devastated if it got stolen, this would be the one.
Enough talk

Surprisingly slim

Packaging is gratuitous -I would have been fine with a regular box and save the plastic landfill material and shave $5 off the price.

Bracelet is nice and a good choice as mesh is the hot retro diver jam these days but without the fitted endlinks it just looks tacked on like an aftermarket bracelet...but I like the signed clasp

Now for comparison scale:

The Helbros is 38mm, obviously we know the Speedy. Although roughly the same size but because the Speedy has more dial and less bezel it actually appears larger.

Compared against the current Bulova 666 reissue which is 44mm- a big boy, but despite only being 1mm smaller the Certina appears far smaller again due to the large bezel and smaller dial.

The Marathon is 41mm, roughly the same size and proportions as an Sm300...and I wanted to include it just because it’s Bad-Ass
and of course a lume shot- love the blue