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Never Meet Your Heroes
A common enough saying.
I am a big Royal Oak fan.
I am also a big fan of collecting vintage versions of things where-ever possible to get as close to the source as it were.
As well all know, the Royal Oak started life as a 39mm watch and that size, along with it's flat case shape means that is it simply too big and unfitting for my tiny wrists. Well, as luck would have it, the Royal Oak was eventually made in a 36mm form and my experience with Omega integrated watches that this would be the perfect under-the-cuff wear for me. I made a stop once whilst in Hong Kong to try on the modern 15450 to see how a 37mm one fits and well, it's pretty much what I hoped for so the slightly more snug 36 should be just the thing.
So that was that.
Mind made up
14970ST was the one for me.
Then one day, I stumbled upon one in a store in a random city and got to try it on.
Short Version: Not good.
Longer version: Very not good.
It wasn't the fit because as I imagined, it was perfect.
It wasn't the condition because the edges were still sharp and the brushing still distinct. There are a few scratches here and there but nothing too bad for a 30 year old watch.
The problem was how it felt the moment I picked it up.
The only thing I could describe it is to compare it to a stretched out Rolex Oyster rivet bracelet. Bear in mind that the Royal Oak bracelet is made from all solid machined metal and not folded pieces. Age was also unkind to the bracelet in that it flexed and flopped and rattled in a way that I just wasn't prepared for. The feeling of lack of weight I can just about overcome as I do know what a 36mm intergrated bracelet watch feels like but that bracelet really destroyed any chance of an emotional connection between it and me.
It just created too many questions.
Can it be fixed?
Is the bracelet still available?
What is it going to cost?
Would it mean I'd need the entire case re-finished to match?
Does that mean a modern 15450 is a more sensible buy, especially seeing as the 14970 isn't really the original anyway?
Right now, I'm still not sure where that has left me.
So that's that for now.
What watches have you been 99% certain of wanting/buying right until the day you got to try it on?
Last edited by drunken monkey; Aug 8, 2015 at 12:53 PM.
Reason: typo
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Member
Yep.
Momo Design Pilot Meccanico.
Had the cash in pocket, went to a dealer that had them, tried it on, realized that it was ridiculously large for my wrists and left without it.
Frustrating.
Bought a Momo Design Forma Quarz Chrono a few years later, quite a nicely done quartz chronograph, but the use of a plastic crown is a bit of a turn-off (it's industrial plastic, but still...).
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Several higher-end watches left me feeling "meh" about a watch I thought would be lustworthy. Omega Seamaster PO comes to mind. A fellow WIS friend owned one, let me try it on, even offered to loan it to me. I have always loved the iconic color combo. That's when I realized the size and weight were all wrong for me. Those who love the solid sense of having a weight around their wrist crave just that. Similar size-and-weight turn-offs with IWC, Panerai and others have pushed me further into the realm of small vintage things.
Last edited by skywatch; Aug 8, 2015 at 07:55 PM.
Too many watches, not enough wrists.
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Member
Pam 368,have always wanted that watch since 2012/2013 (it's a destro 47 mm luminor 1950 with Ti case and 8 days movt,it's an LE of 1000 pcs from 2011)
Fast forward to late 2014 when I already have the $$$ to buy it,I went to the dealer in HK that has it,and I felt underwhelmed when I tried it for the very first time...was thinking about using this watch as my daily wear but it felt heavy despite the Ti case and the size didn't help either (47 mm case and high domed sapphire crystal are a bad combo)
Around a month later I actually stumbled across pam 345 (same destro 8 days configuration but this is smaller in 44mm and the crystal is flatter,and did I mention that it's limited to only 150 pcs?) so I ended up with that particular watch and as I said,I wore this watch from early December all the way to April since I got this as my daily wear piece
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The most notanle for me was the white faced Milgauss. I loved the looks online and in magazines. I the metal though it just seemed a flatter white, and less well balanced with the orange. A real shame...
G-Shock: GW3000B-1A
Rolex: Submariner 14060M
Accurist: 1961 Shockmaster (Gold) & 1965 Shockmaster (Steel)
Omega: Speedmaster Professional 3570.50.00
Meistersinger: Perigraph AM1002
Ben Sherman: S489.OOBS
Rotary: 1990 Quartz (Gold)
Steinhart: Ocean GMT 39mm
Certina: DS Super PH500M & DS PH200M
Timex: MKI Mechanical
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I tried the modern Royal Oak on last month, the 41mm silver dialed one. It fit perfectly on my 7.25" wrist, felt comfortable, but when I put it on, I knew it wasn't for me. I think it was just too shiny, too blingy. That's when I decided to get the Jules Audemars Chronograph instead...
This also harkens back to this thread from January:
http://www.intlwatchleague.com/showt...u-tried-one-on
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Love the dual crown, vintage look of the LLD. tried it on couple of weeks ago and it left me very underwhelmed. Felt the lugs were too long and thin. I have fairly large wrists at ~8" but it just wore strange.
Still love it in pics though (without date)
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For me, there were a number of Omegas that I had that experience with. I was completely underwhelmed by the Seamaster line and Aqua Terra. The Speedmaster was nice enough but it has since dropped off my wanted list.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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not that this was a grail of any sorts..but i was quite keen to try it on
the lug design just made it too 'long'...
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