I bought the Tandorio branded variant from AliExpress, back in Dec, 2023, for US$110 (delivered price). The Tandorio 40mm came with the PT5000 high beat movement, 316L sand blasted S.S. case, domed sapphire crystal, 200M water resistance, and black nylon strap. Fit and finish are surprisingly attractive at this price point. No bezel lume. I bought it for the PT5000...which has proven an excellent movement. Nothing negative to say about the NH35 workhorse...but if given a choice...I will take the PT5000 all day long.
Looks like a great beater to have for the summer of 2024. Can't beat the price, would love to see it in a water pressure tank to see if you can take it swimming.
Mine just arrived and I love it. It’s beautiful and looks perfect on that nato strap. And you are right, the lum is excellent. My only complaint is that I’ll be wearing my Baltic Aquascaphe a bit less.
As someone with 4 double watch winders and the 8 automatic watches to fill them, I agree on the VH31. Bring on more quality quartz watches. You will thank me when you get the bill for the automatic watch service
Why have them serviced when you could just buy the movement and swap it out? A lot of places price gauges servicing. Best thing I did was learn to swap out the movement.
Well done execution of the homage, especially at that price. I have mixed feelings about the 50 fathoms design, but at this low entry fee, a try-on may be in my near future! Great review!
Brilliant review, best channel on TH-cam. I’ve got the OG green dial and I’m now going to sell it, put the money in the bank and buy one of these. Many, many thanks
Thorn makes some really nice pieces. I have a blue face/blue ceramic bezel 39mm Titanium (case/bracelet) homage to the Tudor BlackBay, with PT5000 movement, sapphire crystal, and 200M water resistance. The best part...the bracelet has a toolless sizing capability...each link can be spread out (spring tensioned) and rotated to expose solid pins, then detached and removed..
Nice looking watch, I've just ordered one from WD, thank you. It looks like the titanium version is sold out however on their product page they state that it's just 'titanium sandblasting' and not actually a titanium case so could be worth bearing in mind for anyone looking to buy one. Great review as always :)
Excellent and practical no-nonse review !! Having said that, your review probably raised the price on the website - now US$119 !! 😂😂😂...no worries, still a good deal ! Cheers !
Fingers crossed they will discount it during the next sale! Also, do check the variations. Looks like the Titanium is back and I think it's a bit more expensive.
I have both k-1 mineral glass and sapphire version. I love the K-1 a little more because the distortion/numerals has a cool original LIP/Blanc Pain look. Not a fan of gloss bezel inserts though. The sapphire/matte bezel and hour markers is more the miltary Tornek Rayville version made for The Navy Seals in the mid sixties. Your viewers just mught find that it serves well as a "beater watch" but those classic looks may bump it up to valued keeper level. The WatchDives sheild is a great logo for this era homage.
Good points. I have the sapphire version and I love it. I would like to see the mineral version in the flesh. I do really like the matte bezel insert. It think I’d prefer I single domed sapphire glass. But I’m quibbling. I really like the watch.
Gorgeous watch. Although I do find it rather strange that Watchdives would make a watch with 19mm lug width and then give us a strap that’s 20mm. 🤔 Thanks for the review. 🙏
Bravo! Another great find :) The French Navy custom designed 50 Fathoms started the whole commercial dive watch craze. Rolex came a year later! The only differences are the Rolex crown guards and minute tick-marks on the Rolex bezel, otherwise, the Submariner was a copy of the 50 Fathoms. What does that mean? ALL major watch makers have copied from others, so, as long as the "homage" is honest with its own name, I have zero bad feelings getting a watch with same functionality and quality, as a way over-priced so called "luxury" piece. I will never wear a fake though, and a blank face, as preferred by many pretenders, is also a way of cheating! So this ticks all the marks: It has an original logo! It is better than the 50 Fathom in water resistance. The original was good to 50 fathoms! That means 50x6=300 feet, or 91 meters! It has one of the world's best, most reliable, and longest lasting automatic calibres: NH35A. Stainless steel construction. What else do you want?
@owenlaprath4135 Couldn't agree more! As far as I heard even Swiss watch industry also wasn't spawned out of nothing - Swiss, back in the day, took a lot of design cues from German and French watch makers... so I heard :-)
@@ShinyThings there are differences between "then" and "now": 1) back when military watches were important, they usually were made to specs, which often even included design details. I.e., if you wanted to fulfill a military contract, you had no other option than to produce an homage. When the specs are more loose, design differences between suppliers start to appear, e.g. see the type xx. 2) back then, the watch industry was not only smaller, but also less vertically integrated. So it wasn't (just) that companies copied each other, but rather that they had the same supplier for a lot of components. However, in a time where a wristwatch is not primarily about function, but about "memento Mori", I have a lot less understanding for homages.
Actually the 50 Fathoms wasnt the first!... 1953 Zodiac Sea Wolf was the first dive watch release it had 100 mtr water resistance, the 50 Fathom had only 50 Meters Big difference!
I like WachtDives, they offer incredible value for the money. But the FF is my grailwatch, and I think trying to homage it failed by WD, especially with this boring flat bezel. Just my opinion. Thanks for the review 👍👍👍
Their use of the word "Titanium" is highly misleading. It's steel with a sandblasted finish. "Explanation:Titanium sandblasting is not titanium material, is stainless steel, quality and silver case is the same"
You say it should be good for "skin diving" I don't know about you, but I don't think even the "Gill Man" from the movie " The Crature from the Black Lagoon" is going to "skin dive" to 1000 ft as this watch is rated for.😃
I bought the Tandorio branded variant from AliExpress, back in Dec, 2023, for US$110 (delivered price). The Tandorio 40mm came with the PT5000 high beat movement, 316L sand blasted S.S. case, domed sapphire crystal, 200M water resistance, and black nylon strap. Fit and finish are surprisingly attractive at this price point. No bezel lume.
I bought it for the PT5000...which has proven an excellent movement. Nothing negative to say about the NH35 workhorse...but if given a choice...I will take the PT5000 all day long.
Looks like a great beater to have for the summer of 2024. Can't beat the price, would love to see it in a water pressure tank to see if you can take it swimming.
For a summer time outdoor watch this looks the part.
watchdives is great! i have their speedmaster and seamaster 300 homage San Martin and Watchdives makes the best most accurate homages
Mine just arrived and I love it. It’s beautiful and looks perfect on that nato strap. And you are right, the lum is excellent. My only complaint is that I’ll be wearing my Baltic Aquascaphe a bit less.
Thank you for sharing! 🙂👍
It's lovely, and the price is right. If I could be fussy I would say that a VH31 movement would make this even cheaper and more rugged.
Totally agree, VH31 would be a great option!
As someone with 4 double watch winders and the 8 automatic watches to fill them, I agree on the VH31. Bring on more quality quartz watches. You will thank me when you get the bill for the automatic watch service
Why have them serviced when you could just buy the movement and swap it out? A lot of places price gauges servicing. Best thing I did was learn to swap out the movement.
Excellent review!
Well done execution of the homage, especially at that price.
I have mixed feelings about the 50 fathoms design, but at this low entry fee, a try-on may be in my near future!
Great review!
Very nice. Thank you.
Is it really too difficult to reproduce the domed bezel of the original? Flat bezel hurts my eyes.
This homaging the mil-spec ver if I'm not mistaken. That one have flat bezel.
Just purchased the sapphire version for 96$. thank you for the review!!!
Excellent detailed review of a watch I ordered yesterday. Or to be precise the steel cased sapphire crystal version is winging its way to me, for $99!
Glad it was helpful!
Brilliant review, best channel on TH-cam. I’ve got the OG green dial and I’m now going to sell it, put the money in the bank and buy one of these. Many, many thanks
Thank you for watching!
Love the accent….Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse playing the Dutch police……😂😂😂
Great review as always and that is a really great piece
Was considering the Thorn take on this ... very tempted by this one!
Thorn makes some really nice pieces. I have a blue face/blue ceramic bezel 39mm Titanium (case/bracelet) homage to the Tudor BlackBay, with PT5000 movement, sapphire crystal, and 200M water resistance. The best part...the bracelet has a toolless sizing capability...each link can be spread out (spring tensioned) and rotated to expose solid pins, then detached and removed..
Awesome watch! I've had my 👀 on it.. and you have convinced me😊
Nice looking watch, I've just ordered one from WD, thank you. It looks like the titanium version is sold out however on their product page they state that it's just 'titanium sandblasting' and not actually a titanium case so could be worth bearing in mind for anyone looking to buy one. Great review as always :)
Thank you! 🙂👍
Yes, like my Tandorio, its sandblasted 316L (Ti look).
Excellent and practical no-nonse review !! Having said that, your review probably raised the price on the website - now US$119 !! 😂😂😂...no worries, still a good deal ! Cheers !
Fingers crossed they will discount it during the next sale! Also, do check the variations. Looks like the Titanium is back and I think it's a bit more expensive.
I have both k-1 mineral glass and sapphire version. I love the K-1 a little more because the distortion/numerals has a cool original LIP/Blanc Pain look. Not a fan of gloss bezel inserts though. The sapphire/matte bezel and hour markers is more the miltary Tornek Rayville version made for The Navy Seals in the mid sixties.
Your viewers just mught find that it serves well as a "beater watch" but those classic looks may bump it up to valued keeper level.
The WatchDives sheild is a great logo for this era homage.
Thank you for sharing! 🙂👍
Good points. I have the sapphire version and I love it. I would like to see the mineral version in the flesh. I do really like the matte bezel insert. It think I’d prefer I single domed sapphire glass. But I’m quibbling. I really like the watch.
Gorgeous watch. Although I do find it rather strange that Watchdives would make a watch with 19mm lug width and then give us a strap that’s 20mm. 🤔
Thanks for the review. 🙏
I paid more for the Thorn I bought a while back. I gave it away on my channel, though. This, however, looks like a great replacement :-)
I'm looking forward to this watch. Especially the titanium version.
They don't have titanium version. It says on the site. They are steel with grey sandblasting finish that look matte like titanuim.
Great review I think a better execution by Watch Dives instead of the Thorn FF version 👍
Beautiful watch. Thank you for the Indonesian subtitles
how is the AR on the sapphire version?
How does this compare to the Thorn version? The looks, specs and price are almost identical!
nice , any chance of a comparison with the cheaper tandorio version ?
@MrWansty Possibly. Tandorio is looking very interesting.
@@ShinyThings Hi there, did you get a chance to compare the Tandorio version?
Bravo! Another great find :)
The French Navy custom designed 50 Fathoms started the whole commercial dive watch craze. Rolex came a year later! The only differences are the Rolex crown guards and minute tick-marks on the Rolex bezel, otherwise, the Submariner was a copy of the 50 Fathoms.
What does that mean? ALL major watch makers have copied from others, so, as long as the "homage" is honest with its own name, I have zero bad feelings getting a watch with same functionality and quality, as a way over-priced so called "luxury" piece. I will never wear a fake though, and a blank face, as preferred by many pretenders, is also a way of cheating!
So this ticks all the marks:
It has an original logo!
It is better than the 50 Fathom in water resistance. The original was good to 50 fathoms! That means 50x6=300 feet, or 91 meters!
It has one of the world's best, most reliable, and longest lasting automatic calibres: NH35A.
Stainless steel construction.
What else do you want?
@owenlaprath4135 Couldn't agree more! As far as I heard even Swiss watch industry also wasn't spawned out of nothing - Swiss, back in the day, took a lot of design cues from German and French watch makers... so I heard :-)
@@ShinyThings there are differences between "then" and "now":
1) back when military watches were important, they usually were made to specs, which often even included design details. I.e., if you wanted to fulfill a military contract, you had no other option than to produce an homage.
When the specs are more loose, design differences between suppliers start to appear, e.g. see the type xx.
2) back then, the watch industry was not only smaller, but also less vertically integrated.
So it wasn't (just) that companies copied each other, but rather that they had the same supplier for a lot of components.
However, in a time where a wristwatch is not primarily about function, but about "memento Mori", I have a lot less understanding for homages.
Actually the 50 Fathoms wasnt the first!... 1953 Zodiac Sea Wolf was the first dive watch release it had 100 mtr water resistance, the 50 Fathom had only 50 Meters Big difference!
@@shakespeare_hall478850 fathoms are 91 meters
I like WachtDives, they offer incredible value for the money. But the FF is my grailwatch, and I think trying to homage it failed by WD, especially with this boring flat bezel. Just my opinion. Thanks for the review 👍👍👍
Thanks for sharing!
Get the bulova milship
Great looking Bulova diver, however the cheapest I can find is about £400 (~$570) here in the UK.
Better than Thorn???
Oh yes..😎
Their use of the word "Titanium" is highly misleading. It's steel with a sandblasted finish. "Explanation:Titanium sandblasting is not titanium material, is stainless steel, quality and silver case is the same"
It is misleading, not cool because im sure they're aware of what they're doing
You say it should be good for "skin diving" I don't know about you, but I don't think even the "Gill Man" from the movie " The Crature from the Black Lagoon" is going to "skin dive" to 1000 ft as this watch is rated for.😃
Brand name is watchdives....hah..........