Managed to get a photo of these 3 fashionable bros at my local OB.

Here are the yet to be released DSOTM Apollo 8 (non functioning sample) and my JR and freshly delivered Ultraman having a mini GTG...

 

What are your impressions of the DSOTM Apollo 8?

 

At 44.25 it is bigger than my preferred size but the manual movement makes it thinner than other DSOTMs so it wears better than it otherwise would. If people are comfortable wearing other DSOTMs, this one would be an easy wear from that perspective. I really like the appearance, the black and yellow go well together and of course the skeleton dial makes a statement. There's a hefty price tag on this one so I'm not sure yet whether I would pull the trigger. I was advised that supply will be staged and released in low volumes and, if interested, I should put a deposit down to reserve one but I have not done so yet.

 

What kind of clasp does the Apollo 8 feature? Is it the deployant available on the DSOTM?

 

The Apollo 8 is being released with the normal buckle unfortunately...

 

Let's hope they do a better job at the 2019 Apollo 11 commemorative Speedmaster
.

 

Tang buckle on the sample. My wrist is a bit less than 7 1/4 inches and the strap was on firmly at the 3rd hole so there's plenty of strap to accommodate beefy wrists.

 

The DSOTM was originally only available that way and later was offered with the deployant. I don’t know that I would want to risk the tang type clasp arrangement with a ceramic case. One drop on a hard floor and it’s all over.

 

...and with a tang buckle there'll be a lot of excess strap to wear if you have slender wrists. As you can see on the above photo, with a near 7 1/4 inch wrist I was only on the 3 hole and the loose strap end was protruding off the side. A deployant would make it neater on the wrist.

 

And with a retail price of $9,700, deployant should at least be an option like it is on the DSOTM.

 

If you drop the watch on the floor you better hope it lands on the buckle side because that will be a lot cheaper to replace than the case.

 

The Apollo 8 appears massive compared to the other two. Same calibre in the watches, why the big difference in size? Anyone?

 

There’s probably some distortion in the photo due to the lens. Rather than comparing the DSOTM with the JR, compare it with the ST2. Irrespective of that, the case size used for the DSOTM range is bigger than the moonwatch case - it’s as simple as that. IMHO I would have preferred the Apollo 8 were done in a moonwatch case.