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Possible new 300m spotted on Daniel Craig

GrussGott
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josiahg52 josiahg52
I like the ceramic insert ... I don't think it makes it a fail as a "real" dive watch, but it wouldn't the first choice ... Lots of very hard, unforgiving steel things down there.
We could all agree there's a higher percentage of luxury dive watch owners using their bezels for timing grilled meat or coffee blooming than for actual diving.

And that's because, hopefully we could all also agree, luxury products are generally designed to inspire the romance & emotions of tools, rather than to be used as ready-for-duty tools.

TLDR, luxury dive watches are a product of craft, rather than a tool for craft or expeditions.

Because they're crafted products rather than tools, the door opens to infinite amounts of crafted & artistic features from all types of fields:
  • Crafts: materials engineering (ceramic), metallurgy, leatherwork, mechanical engineering, et al
  • Art: engraving, carving, enamel & glass work, stone polishing, etc

So for luxury products really it just depends on which arts and/or crafts one appreciates versus which tool uses one needs.

For example, one can buy a $6400 G-shock MR-G Frogman as a dive computer back up or an $800 one and they both have same features, so which is the better tool? which is the better crafted product? My choice would the $800 one, but I'd never use it for diving unless it was incidental.
Edited:
 
ErichPryde
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GrussGott GrussGott
We could all agree there's a higher percentage of luxury dive watch owners using their bezels for timing grilled meat or coffee blooming
Wait.... people time their coffee blooms with a bezel?
 
Mach
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Took advantage of an opportunity to visit Los Angeles for the weekend. Wore my 60th Anniversary Bond for the trip:
IMG_0172.webp

Today, I finally had the opportunity to see the new black dial in the flesh at the South Coast Plaza boutique:
IMG_0185.webp

Comparison shot:
IMG_0186.webp

They also had the new Seamaster Aqua Terra with the gradient turquoise dial:
IMG_0187.webp
Edited:
 
ErichPryde
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Mach Mach
Took advantage of an opportunity to visit Los Angeles for the weekend. Wore my 60th Anniversary Bond for the trip:
IMG_0172.webp

Today, I finally had the opportunity to see the new black dial in the flesh at the South Coast Plaza boutique:
IMG_0185.webp

Comparison shot:
IMG_0186.webp

🥵
 
GrussGott
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Mach Mach
Took advantage of an opportunity to visit Los Angeles for the weekend. Wore my 60th Anniversary Bond for the trip:
Today, I finally had the opportunity to see the new black dial in the flesh at the South Coast Plaza boutique:
Comparison shot:
They also had the new Seamaster Aqua Terra with the gradient turquoise dial:
Great pics thanks for posting!

The new AT looks a bit better in that pic than in others I've seen, I'd love to see it in person
 
Archer
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GrussGott GrussGott
TLDR, luxury dive watches are a product of craft, rather than a tool for craft or expeditions.
While that may apply to higher end watches, mid-tier brands like Rolex and Omega are making massed produced consumer products that were once commonplace, and in fact used as tools, but they have been marketed as luxury for the last 40 odd years. That was out of necessity, as the core technology was obsolete, so they had to change their approach.

The watches are still fully capable of doing everything they were when they were just tool watches.
 
josiahg52
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GrussGott GrussGott
We could all agree there's a higher percentage of luxury dive watch owners using their bezels for timing grilled meat or coffee blooming than for actual diving.

And that's because, hopefully we could all also agree, luxury products are generally designed to inspire the romance & emotions of tools, rather than to be used as ready-for-duty tools.

TLDR, luxury dive watches are a product of craft, rather than a tool for craft or expeditions.

Because they're crafted products rather than tools, the door opens to infinite amounts of crafted & artistic features from all types of fields:
  • Crafts: materials engineering (ceramic), metallurgy, leatherwork, mechanical engineering, et al
  • Art: engraving, carving, enamel & glass work, stone polishing, etc

So for luxury products really it just depends on which arts and/or crafts one appreciates versus which tool uses one needs.

For example, one can buy a $6400 G-shock MR-G Frogman as a dive computer back up or an $800 one and they both have same features, so which is the better tool? which is the better crafted product? My choice would the $800 one, but I'd never use it for diving unless it was incidental.

Yeah, I kind of agree, I suppose. I personally don't dive any longer, and very, very rarely do I even snorkel these days. 99.9% of owners don't use their Seamaster in any capacity and diver's watches just aren't necessary today, but I think for personal and recreational use, these watches remain perfectly capable. They do so for professional use, too. My opinion of these watches and the materials used is shaped by the use of the "Professional" moniker and my personal professional experience which was rough on watches, and I wasn't in the water the vast majority of time. Could've been me being a blockhead. Buuut, I do see the point about price and I guess that shapes my feelings also.
 
Jakeys
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ErichPryde ErichPryde
Wait.... people time their coffee blooms with a bezel?
That's what fancy coffee scales are for, although I'm more of an espresso (with milk) guy myself. 😁

I don't time anything with my Bond Seamaster because the bezel is too difficult to keep a grip on for how stiff it is, it's easier to just grab my phone and set a timer. I don't really swim either, frankly I'm an appalling Seamaster owner in that sense, but I like it because it's built to do much more than I ask of it, gives me an additional level of confidence in it. It feels more like a professional tool than my other watches, even if for all intents and purposes it's doing the same job. Plus, it looks excellent.
 
GrussGott
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Archer Archer
Omega are making massed produced consumer products
Agreed! At least for me this the definition of a craft, ie "repeatably produced, functional art" or similar.

In this particular case, Omega has figured out (painstakingly engineered!) how to mass produce a beautiful time piece. Granted many would say a craft must be done by hand, but I'm an engineer by disposition, training, & experience so I say the craft is the hand that built the machines that build the machines.

One might even say an Omega is multiple crafts forged into a single product depending on the volume of engineering required and materials & techniques used.

It's why I love my GSotM: who else is making a brushed & polished grey ceramic case with matching pushers, crown & clasp?!? Ok, arguably a few come close, but that's before everything else Speedy. And the displayed movement is fantastic looking. Probably the only place for me to go next in that respect would be, say, a Breguet Tradition 😡

Anyway, if you're meaning to say "massed produced consumer products" as a bug, well, for me, it's a core feature!

Archer Archer
The watches are still fully capable of doing everything they were when they were just tool watches.
This! Without this nostalgic romance, few would buy them! That is, a mechanical watch is a purely emotional purchase so it must be capable of evoking maximum passion, ie romantic functional art.

For example, I would consider the MoonSwatch to be a luxury product within its class but, of course, the
 
GrussGott
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Jakeys Jakeys
It feels more like a professional tool than my other watches, even if for all intents and purposes it's doing the same job. Plus, it looks excellent.
🎯 Luxury defined. 😀
 
McBeardy
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Mach Mach
Took advantage of an opportunity to visit Los Angeles for the weekend. Wore my 60th Anniversary Bond for the trip:
IMG_0172.webp

Today, I finally had the opportunity to see the new black dial in the flesh at the South Coast Plaza boutique:
IMG_0185.webp

Comparison shot:
IMG_0186.webp

They also had the new Seamaster Aqua Terra with the gradient turquoise dial:
IMG_0187.webp
The black SMP looks great. I really need to try this on.

The Aquaterra personally looks to green, and better in the tenders. Maybe the AD lights
 
Archer
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GrussGott GrussGott
In this particular case, Omega has figured out (painstakingly engineered!) how to mass produce a beautiful time piece. Granted many would say a craft must be done by hand, but I'm an engineer by disposition, training, & experience so I say the craft is the hand that built the machines that build the machines.
Okay - well being both an engineer and watchmaker, I don't see it that way, but you do you. Having been through many watch factories they are just like any other manufacturing facility - unskilled workers mostly, turning out watch parts that are largely assembled with hard automation. No different than if they were making a washing machine, toasters, or any other common consumer product that is made in the millions each year.

In some Omega videos you will see movements being oiled with automation - not a lot is done by hand, even one of the more demanding tasks to do well like oiling. I don't typically associate industrialized production with a lot of automation as craft.

Even "higher end" brands use a lot of automation - Patek used CNC machines running batches overnight, with no one there. The industry has marketed itself as one of craftmanship and precision, but the reality doesn't look quite the same.
 
GrussGott
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Archer Archer
Having been through many watch factories they are just like any other manufacturing facility - unskilled workers mostly, turning out watch parts that are largely assembled with hard automation.
We may be talking past each other Archer: you seem to be comparing hand-made Swatch Group products (e.g., Breguet) with machine-made products (Omega), making the point that ONLY the hand-made products are crafted?

My point is, those machines & assembly lines are the crafted product (which then make a better-than-crafted end-consumer product!?):

(1.) Craftspeople had to design the desired repeatably produced product (e.g., decorated movements or brushed & polished blue ceramic)
(2.) Craftspeople the had to design the tooling to make the outputs
(3.) Engineers then had to design the machines & process to make those machines
(4.) Engineers then had to setup the assembly lines (months or years)
(5.) Engineers then have to control production, quality, operations, etc

Making a beautifully decorated, insanely functional, crafted product at scale is the magic! THAT'S the craft!

Funny story: Rich friend buys a Rolls,
"sheesh the stitching on the dash looks a little wavey"
"that's because it's done by hand"
"my porsche costs 1/4 of that and the stitching is straight"

My appreciation is for the craft & engineering that goes into making mass produced beautiful products (watches, cars, airplanes, etc).

I like hand-made stuff too, I'm just not sure if I appreciate it as much. maybe.
Edited:
 
ErichPryde
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B banzrs311
Look what I found under the tree this morning

IMG_9096.webp
Santa had you pretty high up on the nice list this year!


Congratulations and Merry Christmas
 
lanckthephat
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B banzrs311
Look what I found under the tree this morning

IMG_9096.webp
Congrats! What’s your first impression of the bracelet comfort out of curiosity? Still have not seen this one in person, looks amazing
 
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