Reply With QuoteLooks great Chris. I never get tired of people posting their pictures of this watch.
Rick
After a quick perusal and a bracelet sizing it's on my wrist.
This watch is definitely high quality and the fit and finish are second to none. Lovely and precise brushing to the case sides and all the other surfaces. Ever so slightly domed sapphire crystal. The dial is clean and legible and I'm very pleased Eddie chose to go without any writing other than the "SL-Great britain-SL".
The bracelet is outstanding. Simple to size and very comfortable on the wrist. There are companies that charge twice as much for a bracelet like this alone as what Eddie charges for the entire watch . And the end-links fit the case perfectly and without as much as a hairline gap.
Great packaging as well with the two-watch travel case, seriously heavy-duty springbar tool, polishing cloth and NATO speedbird strap.
It's a fantastic watch for sure.
Regards,
Chris
Looks great Chris. I never get tired of people posting their pictures of this watch.
Rick
Excellent pics!
Really great shots of a cracking watch... I agree with everything you've said about it, I love mine :D
.
The SB3 is an excellent contribution to this type of ‘pilot watch’ and I feel that (with time) this model will become more collectable than the SB1.
Great pictures. Thanx for posting.
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
Originally Posted by abraxas
I've been thinking that the SB3 seems to have been a real success story, one of the iconic TF watches like the DN and SB1.
IMHO the bracelet contributes a lot to the package 8)
The proportions are all just right as well. It isn't too tall or too thin for the diameter, the lug width is right and the hands are spot on, too.I've been thinking that the SB3 seems to have been a real success story, one of the iconic TF watches like the DN and SB1.
IMHO the bracelet contributes a lot to the package 8)
I doubt it will be more collectible than the SB1, just because of the LE status of the 1, but it absolutely deserves to be a huge success for Eddie (and looks like it is being).
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
There are less SB3s than SB1s in the world. One is called an LE but the other a real LE.
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
I hate when, typing a thread, you touch a key and lose everything you have written. Just happened! :evil: So here I go again...I agree with all you. I am wearing mine today after wearing my IWC 3536 and you cannot feel a change in quality from the IWC to the SB3. I do think the bracelet is the key for this: I love the square bits! :D
True so far, but hopefully Eddie will keep selling them and will exceed the PRS1 numbers soon. There are what, about 130 or so out there so far?There are less SB3s than SB1s in the world. One is called an LE but the other a real LE.
john
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
Does anyone have any thoughts about the screwed links in the bracelet possibly coming loose and the watch falling off the wrist? I think the bracelet is excellent quality, but its just this screws coming loose issue that came to mind
I wont be filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, I am not a number, I am a free man, my life is my own!!!
Be seeing you
Toodle pip
Griff.
Many a bracelet comes with screwed links. If worried, you can always use Loctite and then dissolve it with acetone when you need to unscrew.
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
So far none of them has loosened at all.
Chris
Hello community,
this is my first post after many months (years?) of reading and watching here (and buying PRS-5, -14, -20, -50 - until now)
I just received my SB-3 with an ivory dial and I agree to everything the topic-starter has already mentioned.
But I was slightly disappointed when I found out that the movement does not hack and my first thought was that it is a disfunction.
Contacting Eddie he replied that this movement really does not hack and he nowhere mentioned it does. Indeed he didn't.
Nevertheless I'm asking myself about the "standard" quality of a non-hacking ETA 2824.
All my (eleven) 2824-equipped watches have a hacking-function - even the cheapest.
Is it a speciality of the gilt movement of the ivory SB-3 ?
What about the (rhodium-plated ?) movement in the black versions? Does it hack?
kind regards
Gerd
Uh? Ivory? Black?
I thought the 2824 hacked in all its iterations.
Chris
Hmmm. Never heard of a non-hacking 2824-2 yet :shock: :?:
Welcome to the forum btw :-)
So, you got the ivory SBIII? Any pics perhaps? ;-)
I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
Hmmm... interesting first post and strangely familiar to some other "nonsense" that has been posted recently regard the spec of watches on the Timefactors website. As others have said, never heard of a non-hacking 2824 movement and fine it hard to believe the Ivory SBIII doesn't hack. Would be interested in seeing Eddies response to this as we've nothing to prove your "email" from he was real.
So for me, jury is out.
I find it odd that no one else has commented about a non hacking movement. I think if it was the case it surely would have been spoken about before now.
Could very well be the case; years ago I had a Eterna Kontiki diver with non hack 2824 movement. I think it used to be an option on the base ETA 2824. Nowadays they all hack.
http://scubawatch.org/kontiki_super_nonissue.html
as to the veracity of this claim.
It's correct, the gilt movement in the ivory dial version does not hack. I didn't know this when I agreed to take the gilt movements (I thought it would be an interesting change for the ivory dial version) and I wasn't told this. I also thought that all the 2824-2 hacked but apparently not. I've withdrawn all the ivory dial from sale until I can get some clarification from the manufacturer.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
wow, how odd!
Hope you get it figured out :)
Eddie. I know your relationship with Felix Huber is irretrievably broken, but for all his manifest faults, I don't recall this kind of issue in the "Zeno years".
I know I shouldn't stereotype people, especially after seeing the watchmaking team at Zeno, but your problems with Fricker et al have completely changed my perception of German engineering.
Interesting, as I'm expecting mine to be delivered tomorrow.
I'm not overly bothered about watches being spot on accurate so it won't be the end of the world as far as I am concerned :)
You might have an LE... the non-hacking white facted SB3!
Hacking or no-hacking shouldn't make any difference to most. We had some die-hard 'pilots' in the early years of the forum (and it was hack or death) but I think they all 'crashed' now.You might have an LE... the non-hacking white facted SB3!
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
On a base 2824 movement that is +- 10-20 seconds per day its completely irrelevant whether the movement hacks or not. Much more important is that its well timed. You will always be able to set it to the next minute and if needed one can always hold the second hand for a few seconds but without making the movement run backwards. Otherwise there is always the option of buying a superquartz like the Citizen Chronomaster that will run within a second per year if that type of precision is needed. Hacking does not make the 2824 movement any better or worse. The original watch that inspired the Speedbird III (IWC Cal. 89 ) did not hack either. :wink:
My relationship with Felix Huber is not broken at all, it's just that he couldn't get produced what I wanted as well as selling my stuff himself. I first went to him with the Dreadnought but after almost a full year of dithering, he finally said he couldn't get the case made. I had similar problems also, the ETA2801 in the PRS-53 is modified to hack and I received 50 pieces which didn't hack, had problems with some vintage movements which hadn't been serviced before fitting to watches.Eddie. I know your relationship with Felix Huber is irretrievably broken, but for all his manifest faults, I don't recall this kind of issue in the "Zeno years".
I know I shouldn't stereotype people, especially after seeing the watchmaking team at Zeno, but your problems with Fricker et al have completely changed my perception of German engineering.
In the end, despite all the "Quality Control", it's always been down to me to make sure things are right. Six of the ivory dial escaped into the wild before the non-hacking was picked up and now they're all going back for a hacking movement.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
:roll:
...and how's your gastric ulcer doing? :o
I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
Thanks to Eddie to save my reputation. I would not like to start here writing "nonsense" in my first posting... :D
So everything will be fine now. I will send the watch to (the former Fricker engineer) Roland Kemmner "right around the corner" here in Germany to update the movement to an actual standard with hacking-function.
I do not overvalue the hacking-function -most of my handwinding watches doesn't have one- but an actual new watch in the year 2008 should have it anyhow.
For those who like to watch watches here is a quick'n'dirty wristshot before it's packed again.
(Ahh my camera - I don't know how it appears to you: my skin is not that red and the dial is mre greenish...)
regards
Gerd
That looks damned nice if you ask me!
I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
Looks good (although I still think I prefer my standard black dialled one), glad to hear it's all going to be sorted!
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
That looks fantastic Gerd, good luck and wear in good health.
There is one on its way here too...Christmas present for my wife... :lol: I will not bother getting another movement, the non hacking will do just fine.
Looks very elegant in Ivory :)
Imho the point is not hacking or non-hacking. Primarly it's the question, how old these movements may be :?:
Any ideas, when ETA stopped the production of this non-hacking version?
Dito :wink:
Imho the point is not hacking or non-hacking. Primarly it's the question, how old these movements may be :?:
Any ideas, when ETA stopped the production of this non-hacking version?
Dito :wink:
A friend of mine (Watchmaker) told me that they were still plentyfull available (as NOS?) from ETA, three years ago, when he retired.
Once they are cleaned and oiled they are perfect workhorse movements no matter how old.
Roland Kemmner just informed me that they forgot to mount the stop lever because of pre-christmas stress.
So I think there are no old (stock) movements in this watches. Indeed the 2824 is an "old" movement in either way, isn't it. :wink:
Regards
Gerd
I didn't realise there was an ivory.. :(
My self ban is taking its toll...
I have got today an ivory dial SB3 with the non-hacking movement, and it is going nowhere...In fact, I fancy having a true LE. And for a change it is fine to have a non hacking movement..... :D
BTW I see it now more greenish than ivory. While not being daltonic, I tend to confuse some colours under some type of lights... :?
PS: It is totally different from the black version...............
Few quick pics of mine :)
I'll try to take some of the whole family tomorrow :)
He forgot 20 times and did not notice when he checked his work 20 times :lol:
I made and delivered 20 chairs this week and forgot to add the legs, well people will have to sit on the floor. :lol: must be Christmas stress :lol:
The watch is a beauty though, nice pics
He didn't forget 20 times, I've been informed this morning that at least one of the six I shipped actually hacks.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Mine certainly doesn't. As long as it is likely there will be no ongoing issues, which seems to be the case, I'm happy to leave it as it is.
Eddie:
Are these 20 watches the only ones with an ivory dial ?
What is the (planned) relation between black and ivory dials ?
Regards
Gerd
That depends entirely on how popular they are. When the first 20 sell, I can get more.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Back to black, just placing some thoughts about my recently received SB3.
First, about the package, I think it's very adequate, no luxuries or fancy unusefull gadgets, but very nice.
The watch is simply superb, size and proportions are perfect and the awesome bracelet is the living proof that 1+1 can be more than 2 sometimes, except for the sizing system wich IMO is too complex (but I'm in the minority that likes pins).
Being super-critic, I could say that the hands lack a little depth, look a bit two-dimensional, but, as I said, that's being unreasonably critic, considering its price.
To finalize, I consider this watch to be one the best values around.
It's the 2824-2. There isn't much space between the hands themseleves AND the dial ... and depending on the design of the watch ... it looks worse when the dial is high up in the case.
I first noticed it on an Archimede pilot where it looks even worser due to the flat crystal.
The way to avoid it is by having the movement low in the case and then have a busy dial … as per PRS-50. :wink:
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
I think the quasi 2D dial is one of the best features.
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