I need some Steinhart POISON please =p

Hi guys,



My first purchase was a Seiko Sumo and love the movement. While researching for my next potential Seiko purchase with a better movement and being confused about which to choose, I read some posts here regarding Steinhart watches and initial thought was that they are expensive timepieces. However, after more reading, it seems they fall into the value-for-money category, which is right up my alley since I just started this fascination with watches. The net is teeming with information when I googled so hope to seek the advice from collectors and hobbyists here.



My budget is around $1.2k so any models to recommend? As I'm a big fat guy I like big watches and if possible, lots of pointers on my watch =p Please also advise whether I should get from Gnomon or online (Ed.Teo please help =p) and will the difference justify the hassle? How do the Steinhart movements compare to Seiko (especially the 6R15)?



All input will be appreciated, kam sia juay juay =)

Steinhart uses eta 1824, 2893, Unitas 6498, 6497, and valjoux 7750.



Not sure how familiar you are with these movements but these are tried and tested movements used by brands such as iwc, breitling, panerai and Tudor to name a few.



I reckon the track records speak for themselves.



As to whether to get direct from steinhart or go through gnomon, it's your call.



I prefer to get locally cos if there are issues with the watch, I can conveniently call them and head down to their shop to have it looked at. Personally, I have not had any bad experiences from them. I've bought 11 pieces from them since July this year.



You probably pay pay about 10% less on average if you buy from steinhart directly but I read that they tend to short ship or ship the wrong stuff.



Furthermore, should there be any issues, you have to send the watch back to them. If I understand correctly, if they can't find anything wrong with the watch, you have to foot the freight bill.

Bro, did any specific steinhart model catch your eye?



You have a sumo now, so are you planning on sticking to the diver theme or are you looking at other watches like pilot etc?



Since you are you're comparing against the 6r15, I assume you're more keen on an auto than annual winding.



If you're into auto and would like another diver, the popular ones from steinhart are the ocean 1, ocean vintage military and the ocean vintage gmt. These are pretty much Rolex hommages. The triton range and ocean 2 are their in-house designs.



If you wanna have variety, then why not check out their aviation and pilot range?



Based on the local prices, I reckon most of the chronos will be beyond your budget but if you get direct, they should be marginally off your budget.



Iirc the on-going promo at gnomon is if you purchase anything with with leather straps, you'll get another pair free. If you purchase one with bracelet, you'll get a NATO strap free.



I personally do not like to buy on-line cos I like to try the watches on and feel the real thing before making the decision.



Also I do not appreciate the anxiety of waiting for the watch over a period of time after I've made my payment.



But that's just me.



IMHO, do check out their pilot and aviation models.

@rouge_hog : 11?? Wow!



Personally I don't mind paying a little more if they have stocks on hand. But these Steinharts are usually out of stock for the popular models. For me I only bought 5 from Gnomon and one direct cos Gnomon had no stocks and I had an itchy trigger finger. Luckily no mishaps with my straps and watch order.



Ocean Vintage Military





Ocean Vintage GMT





Ocean One GMT Ceramic





NavB-Uhr 47mm





Aviation GMT





NavB chrono 2





All poisonous. Don't get bitten.

Haha let me join in the fun.



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I can't show the 11th watch till either tomorrow of Friday.

Yeah sometimes the popular models do sell out very fast at gnomon.



I'm actually contemplating getting the nab-b dlc 44mm chrono and the boutique edition soon as both are in stock now.

Sorry forgot to mention if the 11, some are other brands.

Bro mobilenerd, I think I met you at the shop recently. Your surname starts with "C"?



You were making a purchase then, aviation chrono?

Sorry should be aviation gmt. You were contemplating on whether to get the chrono.

Not C, It's Y. Yup that was me.



Moving office soon. Will be further away. So now thinking of grabbing what I can now. Haha

These Steinharts are poisonous. Now thinking of the pink gold models also. Argh!!!!



Out of the 6, I rarely wear the Nav B Chrono ii, and Ocean Vintage GMT. My daily beater is now the OVM!

Retired my Pam and Rollie.

Haha same here. I was the guy at the counter with the lap top.

My Pam and Rollie and even iwc taking it easy now. Your first name "P"?

Matt.



The pink gold NavB is catching my eye, just like the Aviation goldie. But now considering that over the Ocean 44 GMT.

Lately been getting GMT watches. Grabbed a Marina Militare GMT from Chris recently also. Haizz...



Poison poison poison.

Hmm... I personally don't quite fancy the ocean 44's. the chapter ring looks pod and the dial somehow is too tiny.

I prefer the 42mm ocean gmt with Alu bezel.



The dievas voyager gmt is ont radar now.

Thanks rogue_hog for your very informative reply. Models that interest me right now are 'Triton 30ATM', 'Triton 100 ATM stainless steel', 'Ocean 44 Automatic', 'Nav B-Chrono 47 mm' & 'Apollon Automatic'. One thing though, the price of the chronograph Nav B costs slightly more then a Tissot automatic chronograph I saw. Seems strange........

I cant explain why the price is higher for the steinhart nav-b Chrono. and I'm not sure which tissot are you referring to but If you like big watches, you should check it out. I'd strongly encourage that you try out this watch first before making a purchase. it's fitted with a diamond crown. and it can be pretty painful as it can dig and cut into the flesh at the back of your hand if your hand is too fleshy.



Most, if not all the models that are on your radar now are in stock at gnomon at the moment. have a chat with anders, while you are there. he can be very helpful.christine, the sales manager there can look unfriendly but she's ok.

Sorry for the late reply dudes...

Been knocked out since 1800hrs yesterday becos of tiredness.



Okay...



On the topic of where to get...

Brudder ROUGE had explained most of the pros and cons of getting from here or Germany in details... so i think i won't repeat on that. Just to add a little on the warranty thingy though... Actually there's an option to claim warranty from STEINHART even in SG. Let's say, should there's an issue with your movement particularly, you need not to send the whole piece back to Germany. All you need to do is to send them an email of "request for permission" before you go to any watchmaker here in SG, descriptive on the defect found, and wait for their reply. Should they give green light, you may proceed to visit any watchmaker you knows for the servicing. But, take note that the amount you claim, is only up to a value of 30eu.



On the topic of pricing...

Definitely, straight from Germany will cost you much less, taking advantage of the current low value of EURO vs SGD exchange rate. Gnomon's pricing high is becos of the factoring in of their operational cost, not only rental of the shop front @ the prime district, not only the sales staff in his shop, but now also a team of watchmakers under him to do post servicing of the watches covered under the stated warranty period. Hence the higher price tags.



On the topic of TISSOT vs STEINHART...

This is fun... STEINHART is not a major big brand for all wee know, but where should it be positioned, in a crop of European timepiece labels using ETA movements? In other forums, people are comparing STEINHART against TAG, here we're comparing it against TISSOT... okay... fair enough, since the movements used on STEINHARTs are mostly not so niche...

When comparing the 3 hander movements, STEINHART have a slight winning edge in pricing, if you compare their Ocean Ones against the SEAMASTERs from TISSOT. STEINHARTs built quality is more sturdy as well.

On to the Chronos... ha~~~ this is the most interesting part. If we're to make comparisons, we have to look into details... here... i'm talking about the movements used... Let me give you an example...

TISSOT PRC200 Auto-Chrono against STEINHART Nav.B SS Chrono

vs

Both looks sleek from far, right? When come closer, TISSOT have that sportier look than the more classic STEINHART. Look more closer you'll notice a difference on the dial... TISSOT have only 6hrs counter, while STEINHART have 12hrs counter. Yes... the difference of movements used. TISSOT with C01.211 while STEINHART with ETA7750. The C01.211 is more cheaper in cost than ETA7750.

So... if we're to make comparisons, we need to compare what are we getting, in details of the content.

For your reference, I'll use the cheapest 7750 movement powered TISSOT from AceJewelers



priced @ 904eu with VAT, against

STEINHART Nav.B SS Chrono priced @ 840eu with VAT from Germany...





Both are 7750 powered, bears same limited WR @ 30m... which will you pick?



Btw... you should be able to tell how marked up the TISSOTs are sold locally...

Ill join in the fun, dont own any Steinharts at the moment but they do come in and out of my collection pretty often.



Steinhart Vintage GMT





Apollon





Triton 100ATM





Nav-B 47mm DLC





Nav B 42mm





Aviation





Ocean One





I only bought two of them locally as for the rest they came directly from Steinhart Germany. Personally I prefer to deal directly with Gunther Steinhart, Anna and the rest of the team at Steinhart. I have not encountered issues with warranty issues and defects/errors dealing with the team. My only gripe with Steinhart is I wish they would reduce the size of their original designs, you could see from the pictures above I have a small wrist and those triton, Apollon and Aviation are huge on my 6.5" wrists.



Little things that the team does do put a smile on my face at times

Bro funksoulava,



I think you can more or less gauge the popularity of the brand now. But it's kinda an even split as to whether to get the watch directly from steinhart or gnomon. It's really up to you personally.



But personally, and this applies only to me, I feel that the price difference is rather negligible and outweighs the inconvenience and anxiety of purchasing on line.

Thanks Ed for your usual detailed insights. The Tissot you posted should most probably be the one I saw and was priced around $1.1k after discount. And I thought the 7750 was the cheapest chrono movement around which led to my conclusion on the Steinhart costing more then the Tissot.



Thanks Solanum88 for your reply and pix. You're not making this easy for me, you know? =p



Thanks bro rogue_hog. Yesterday I was all hot and bothered about the Steinhart. However, today I woke up and the first thing to hit me was: wouldn't it be better value to get a JDM Seiko with either 6R15 or 6R21 movements compared to Steinharts with ETA2824-2? The Seiko auto chronos are much higher priced then the Nav B but Gnomon doesn't have the version with bracelet (yes I'm a bracelet guy.... I hate the smell of leather after it's been soaked with my persperation after a period of time =p). Guess I still can't make up my mind....... =p

Go with your feel, bro. It's your dough, spend it on what your heart desires. Not what others tell you to get.



I'm not an expert on Seiko, or even on any brand or movements, actually. Haha! But I've been reading that the 6r15 is reliable. Due to the supply crunch of the 2824, some micro brands are already switching to it. But I could be wrong.



Anyway, here's a pic of how an aviation auto looks on bracelet.



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"Solanum88"

Nav-B 47mm DLC

Hi Solanum88,



May I ask where you got this strap? It looks very nice.

"Mobilenerd"

[quote="Solanum88"]
Nav-B 47mm DLC

Hi Solanum88,



May I ask where you got this strap? It looks very nice.[/quote]
Hi, I actually recieved this strap as part of the trade with this watch, have no idea where did the previous owner get the strap but its a 24mm strap notched to fit the 22mm lugs of the Nav B :)

Thanks for the reply. Nice strap.

Bro, funksoulava, I was browsing the gnomon website. Seems like quite a bit of steinhart stock just arrived today. In case you're interested I suggest you drop by.

"rogue_hog"

Bro, funksoulava, I was browsing the gnomon website. Seems like quite a bit of steinhart stock just arrived today. In case you're interested I suggest you drop by.

More poison coming my way.

"Mobilenerd"

[quote="rogue_hog"]Bro, funksoulava, I was browsing the gnomon website. Seems like quite a bit of steinhart stock just arrived today. In case you're interested I suggest you drop by.

More poison coming my way.[/quote]

Fresh from the oven!



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What??? U hoot all these???

Waah... U must be damn stressful this month wor...

Haha no la

My 11th watch from gnomon.

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"rogue_hog"

My 11th watch from gnomon.

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Nice copper dial

"funksoulava"

Thanks Ed for your usual detailed insights. The Tissot you posted should most probably be the one I saw and was priced around $1.1k after discount. And I thought the 7750 was the cheapest chrono movement around which led to my conclusion on the Steinhart costing more then the Tissot....

The cost of ETA7750 will only go up, won't go down. Unless if SEIKO mass produce in large volume of the movement used in FLIGHTMASTER or TAG's calibre 16, you won't see 7750 much under SGD1k point.

There're however, another budget label that have some 7750 watches selling under 1k, but their designs could be boring to you, and there wasn't much good options for you.

"funksoulava"

. Yesterday I was all hot and bothered about the Steinhart. However, today I woke up and the first thing to hit me was: wouldn't it be better value to get a JDM Seiko .Guess I still can't make up my mind....... =p

Hi funksoul , its bad trying to make up ones mind when watch hunting . I checked out Orient watches @ Big Time yesterday & bro let me tell you they are very impressive & exellent value for money . A nice big Automatic Orient that would suit your big wrist is the "AKA - THE BEAST"

M Force - Model #EL06001H its a awesome watch . Anyway buy whatever makes you :D



P.S Orient watches can be very poison, http://www.orient-watch.com" false;

Bro rogue_hog, you conperm ish Gnomon VVIP lah..... enter only all the seow seow swee chew pio on the table for you to inspect leow =p



Ed, you've brought up a very important point. Budget label with 7750 watches under 1k but designs boring. Steinhart's design nice but cost a little more. You seem to read me very well hor? Are you a Seiko-logist? =p



Miker, you need to make up your mind while watch hunting eventually. However, when I find myself in a quandary, I will turn to my VOR: voice of reason. I'll tell them what perplexes me and I'll get sound advice from them =)

Wah many people at the stuck up shop!

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If you looked past the counter, there is a foldable safari bed which Rouge Hog uses when no one is around. :-)

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Mobilenerd where are you? So crowded I couldn't find you!

Haha, had to get home and pass wifey her Aristo.



Can see Christine guarding the exit like a hawk. Either that or it's close to 7 and she wants to leave. Haha





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I like the Nav b urii....and Ocean vintage military.....more fav

"Mobilenerd"

...Can see Christine guarding the exit like a hawk. Either that or it's close to 7 and she wants to leave. Haha...

If she dun hv BF, spread ur charm to her lo... maybe she'll say... "Stay..." :mrgreen:

Bumping this old thread in a... good time?

Those who need temporary relief of the poison... perhaps the 2nd week of March 2015 could be a good time as EURO continues to plunge...

I just checked... @ 0600hrs, 1eu ~> under 1.1USD !

They revised the price up right?



Sorry for the typos..am using auto correction.

Yes. The price was revised since last month.

Actually what i'm trying to say... even if the price was revised, anyone who's interested should pull the trigger this coming week if euro is going to plunge further, hitting under SGD1.4x ~> 1eu mark. Or else, when it goes back to above SGD1.55-> 1eu... it'll definitely not budget friendly...

At current point, Euro is in it's lowest against SGD in the last 5yrs...

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=SGD&to=EUR&view=10Y" false;