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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanBaltic designs from a vintage perspective. You might find that their three handers wear perfectly. They are wonderful to do business with. I own the Aquascaphe and the BiCompax.
Postscript: I want to buy a new 36mm automatic watch
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Larry S
··Color Commentator for the Hyperbole.Thanks Larry, as you’ll have gathered from my original post, I’m in full agreement with you about the Baltic Three Hands. If I take that road, the dilemma will be black or blue (I’m leaning towards the blue despite the gold furniture) but after my Bambino mishap, I’m taking it more slowly and with a bit more water (hic) not least because, with taxes/duty, the Baltic is close to £400, four times as much as the Bambino.
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanWhat do you think of Steinhart watches? I know their a little bigger than you wanted.
But for a daily wearer they seem like very well built watches?
I have a couple of friends that recently bought them and they seem to be a very well built watch for the price point.
https://www.steinhartwatches.de/en/weitere-modelle/military-42-automatic-black.html
They are a better price point on this site.
https://www.gnomonwatches.com/
They look really neat but, at 42mm, they’ll not just sit on my wrist, they’ll obscure it.
This GP is a mere 34mm, so moving up to a big 36mm, is probably as big as I want to take.
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanIn case I haven’t made it clear, I really appreciate all the suggestions.
I did spend some weeks googling before reaching out to OF members.
Many of you will have information on smaller new watches that aren’t readily picked up by a regular search engine.
I did spend some weeks googling before reaching out to OF members.
Many of you will have information on smaller new watches that aren’t readily picked up by a regular search engine.
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JwRosenthal
·I hate to say it, but in the sub $150 range, it’s appearing to be Seiko 5 without manual winding, timex Marlin without auto winding, or a cheap micro-brand like Spinnaker or something else that uses a Miyota.
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanI hate to say it, but in the sub $150 range, it’s appearing to be Seiko 5 without manual winding, timex Marlin without auto winding, or a cheap micro-brand like Spinnaker or something else that uses a Miyota.
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Larry S
··Color Commentator for the Hyperbole.Speaking as a Marlin owner, I find that once it is out of the box, it stays out for days. Winding is not a chore. It’s so easy to wear and it just plays with light in interesting ways. Timex nailed it.
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kkt
·Buy a G-Shock ! 😉
Buy a new quartz watch, a swatch ? I've one for same reasons like you.
Baltic are good watches; Yema too but I think prices are over the budget.
Seriously, why are you looking for a mechanical movement if you don't want to be scared by a repair ?
I think in this price range you're going to pay the brand, the marketing for an ETA (I've nothing against this movement 👍) it's too bad but it's my opinion dude.
Are there 36mm G Shocks?
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Professor
·Didn't Orient make a 38mm version of the Bambino?
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanThis thread has been running for a while and it seemed to me, having started this hare running, that I should at this stage thank all contributors and the OF (for enabling it).
I have many suggestions to explore and shall take my time.
I have many suggestions to explore and shall take my time.
Edited:
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JwRosenthal
·I looked around and found Orient had marketed a "Unisex" automatic that resembled the Bambino in 37.5 diameter case.
Only found a not available listing on Amazon.
The perfectly sized Hamilton Navy watch at 36 is listed as ladies in many online shops. I guess I’m more in touch with my feminine side than most men.
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Lovewatches2
·
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanJust an update, particularly for the OF members who provided the much appreciated advice in this thread.
Well, I took up @Foo2rama's advice and ordered a black dial 40mm Orient Bambino (I couldn’t find a 36mm model). It came and looked lovely but too big - so I returned it.
Others suggested a Seiko 5, and I resuscitated mine.
But I was soon frustrated by the inability to wind automatic Seikos. This meant that it ran perfectly well when I was on the go, but I’d wake up in bed and find that the watch had stopped three hours earlier. Back to the watch box with it.
I then bought a 38mm Rotary watch. It looked nice but wore too large so I returned it.
Finally, I bought a 36mm Rotary quartz.
Just the right size and as slim as you’d like.
As I said at the outset, it’s a watch for use rather than for collecting. I don’t love it but I do like it and I may come to love it.
At £111 including tax and delivery, and with a two year warranty, I won’t fret about having it serviced and it won’t stop in the middle of the night and I shall never need to set or adjust it apart from month endings and the change of GMT to BST.
Well, I took up @Foo2rama's advice and ordered a black dial 40mm Orient Bambino (I couldn’t find a 36mm model). It came and looked lovely but too big - so I returned it.
Others suggested a Seiko 5, and I resuscitated mine.
But I was soon frustrated by the inability to wind automatic Seikos. This meant that it ran perfectly well when I was on the go, but I’d wake up in bed and find that the watch had stopped three hours earlier. Back to the watch box with it.
I then bought a 38mm Rotary watch. It looked nice but wore too large so I returned it.
Finally, I bought a 36mm Rotary quartz.
Just the right size and as slim as you’d like.
As I said at the outset, it’s a watch for use rather than for collecting. I don’t love it but I do like it and I may come to love it.
At £111 including tax and delivery, and with a two year warranty, I won’t fret about having it serviced and it won’t stop in the middle of the night and I shall never need to set or adjust it apart from month endings and the change of GMT to BST.
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanAnd finally:
Frustrated by the impossibility of trying on watches in shops during lockdown, I resorted to buying new watches on line from established companies with the option of returning them if I didn’t like them.
Notwithstanding that confidence, I’m very relieved to report that I have received full refunds from all the sellers.
Frustrated by the impossibility of trying on watches in shops during lockdown, I resorted to buying new watches on line from established companies with the option of returning them if I didn’t like them.
Notwithstanding that confidence, I’m very relieved to report that I have received full refunds from all the sellers.
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wilderbeast
·Morning, @Spruce
If you are still on the lookout I may have a solution, having recently bought a couple of low-stakes vintage-inspired pieces.
The TimeFactors Smiths range is a well priced set of pieces, of which I own the rather charming Everest Expedition:
£325, Miyota auto movement (same as in the Baltic Aquascaphe), 36mm case diameter, 100m water resist, sapphire crystal, clean, three-hand design. Mine is a cream dial, but you can get the Expedition in a black dial also, which you may prefer. A lot of watch for the money! It came on a bracelet, which I immediately discarded in favour of a (20mm) leather strap. It even looks good on a NATO.
The only trouble is getting hold of one when Eddie opens up his site!
here it is with my beloved A454, on which it’s based:
I hope you find what you’re looking for!
EDIT: TimeFactors currently closed to fulfil orders, so it’s showing out of stock now, but might be worth noting when the site will open up again, if this floats your boat.
If you are still on the lookout I may have a solution, having recently bought a couple of low-stakes vintage-inspired pieces.
The TimeFactors Smiths range is a well priced set of pieces, of which I own the rather charming Everest Expedition:
£325, Miyota auto movement (same as in the Baltic Aquascaphe), 36mm case diameter, 100m water resist, sapphire crystal, clean, three-hand design. Mine is a cream dial, but you can get the Expedition in a black dial also, which you may prefer. A lot of watch for the money! It came on a bracelet, which I immediately discarded in favour of a (20mm) leather strap. It even looks good on a NATO.
The only trouble is getting hold of one when Eddie opens up his site!
here it is with my beloved A454, on which it’s based:
I hope you find what you’re looking for!
EDIT: TimeFactors currently closed to fulfil orders, so it’s showing out of stock now, but might be worth noting when the site will open up again, if this floats your boat.
Edited:
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Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanThanks @wilderbeast.
I bought this one and am very happy with it. But had I not, yours are very nice.
I bought this one and am very happy with it. But had I not, yours are very nice.
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wilderbeast
·Thanks @wilderbeast.
I bought this one and am very happy with it. But had I not, yours are very nice.
