# R L T '69 Review



## pg tips

*The RLT'69 Limited Edition of 100 Military watch.*

*General Comments*

The RLTâ€™69 is, I think, Royâ€™s 1st â€œHomageâ€ Watch. A tribute to, but not a copy of, the infamous and much sought after, Smiths W10 British military issued watch of 1968-1970.

It would be so easy to base this review on a comparison between the two watches. However the RLT â€™69 is not supposed to be an exact copy so I will try to refrain from comparing. There are genuine Smiths all over the internet so you can â€œGoogleâ€ and do your own comparisons if you wish.

*Box & Papers*

The RLT â€™69 comes in a very nice quality Green domed topped cardboard presentation box with gold piping and a white interior. It also came with a signed certificate from the maker, Roy Taylor, with the limited edition number printed on it.










*Case*

The case is beautifully made. It is 37mm diameter excluding the crown and 48mm lug tip to lug tip and 18mm lug width. The lugs are rounded off very nicely which adds to the quality feel of the case. Being a â€œmilâ€ watch itâ€™s obviously in brushed stainless steel giving the case a nice satin sheen. The watch comes with spring bars which may not please the purists but pleases me as it means I can put straps other than â€œmilitaryâ€ style on it. One thing I have not seen before is the holes for the spring bars are drilled further in from the tips of the lugs and this gives a much neater look when the watch is on leather. The case back is again brushed and in that military style and is engraved with the limited edition number (mine is number 3).










*Crystal*

Roy emailed me some time ago with a dilemma. He wanted Acrylic crystals but the cases had come supplied with mineral glass ones. What to do? I suggested he offered the watch with an option to chose either. Iâ€™m very glad he decided that was a good idea because it meant I could get mine with acrylic. The acrylic crystal (I havenâ€™t seen the mineral but Roy says they are very similar) is nicely domed and sits proud of the bezel by 2 mm. And give the watch a feel of depth.

*Crown *

The crown is, as befits a watch of this type, nice and chunky and sits low in the case and is again brushed steel.










*Strap*

Roy has given the RLTâ€™69 a choice of â€œNATOâ€ band but like every one else the 1st thing I did was to try it with various straps. I actually ordered mine on RLTâ€™s ostrich leather with deployant buckle. You can see a lot of different strap pics HERE.

*Dial and Hands*

The dial is black and military in style as it should be. It has the classic â€œmilâ€ â€œrailroadâ€ chapter ring with luminous (luminova) batons at 12, 3, 6 & 9 and dots at the other positions. It also has the â€œclassicâ€ lumed triangle at 12 and small Arabic white non lumed numerals 1 to 11. No date and a discrete maker name in the top half. In my opinion itâ€™s a refreshing change to see a â€œhomageâ€ with out the "crowâ€™s foot" on the dial. I for one am glad Roy decided not to go down this route. And just to finish it off it has â€œMADE IN ENGLANDâ€ either side of 6 inside the chapter. When was the last time that was legitimately put on a watch?










The hands are definitely different from the Smiths and probably the most noticeable. The minutes and seconds hand are just a tad short of the chapter making it very easy to read the exact time. The Hours and minutes hands are lumed and straight with a nice fine tip to them. I like them very much.

*Movement*

The movement is the excellent manual wind 17 Jewel ETA 2801-2 with hack. I have 2 personal standards with mechanicals that I judge my watches by, better than 30 secs drift a day and better than 10. Mine â€™69 is running 7 second a day fast straight out of the box. What can I say? Fantastic standards yet again from RLT.

*Price*

Well all in, including next day delivery insured, this watch was Â£149.50! Probably the bargain of the century! It is an absolutely fantastic watch and for those of you who have always wanted a classic manual wind watch in the military style I think you would be hard pushed to find a better quality or more affordable alternative.

I was privy to Royâ€™s 1st mention of his intention to do this watch and have kept â€œnaggingâ€ for news almost weekly. Now itâ€™s finally arrived I can genuinely say itâ€™s been well worth the wait.

*PG Tips, a very happy bunny!*

Here she is on an RLT Fieger Strap.


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## MarkF

Fantastic review PG, I am not keen on nato straps and I too prefer the leather.

Superb pics too


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## Stan

Very good review PG.









Comprehensive, informative and very well written.

Thank you.


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## MIKE

GOOD REVIEW

GOOD WATCH

Well done P.G

MIKE..


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## Garry

Nice one PG.......


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## TimD

Great review and photos Paul.

Got mine today, love it.

It looks smaller diameter than it is. The dial layout, hands and the acrylic crystal help give it the look of a smaller vintage watch. The case is the same as my Speedbird 2 but you'd swear that the two watches were different sizes.

The lume on the hands and dial has an wonderful aged look to it, the colour is somewhere between green, yellow and biege.

The acrylic crystal adds to the look of the watch and it's great that this is available as an option.

Cheers,

Tim.


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## AlexR

Nice one Paul


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## traveller

Good review pg. Can't disagree with anything you've written at all. Your picture shows the lume contrasting colour better than Roy's (sorry Roy). As I stated last week, far, far better "in the flesh" than any picture can display.


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## pg tips

thank you all for your comments. This is without doubt my favorite watch so far, just eclipsing the RLT4 and my Hamilton. It just sits on the wrist beautifully. I showed it to my brother yesterday whose main criteria with a watch is one he can wipe paint off (he does a lot of decorating work) and he said how nice it looked!

As for the photography I think I may have had a bit more time than Roy to play around with manual settings to get the right shots.


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## Roy

pg tips said:


> As for the photography I think I may have had a bit more time than Roy to play around with manual settings to get the right shots.


 Yeah that'll be it.


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## chrisb

Hi,

Mine's (#26) has just arrived, it's everything Paul has written, I love it









#26 has mineral crystal, and although it's not strictly authentic, it looks brilliant







...and reduces the overall height of the piece









Nice one Roy


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## pg tips

A couple of pics. The specs on the close up one is purely the way the light hits the dial.


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## Stan

PG,

I still think it looks best on old faithful.









Maybe not in keeping with what a true mil watch would wear but it does look good on it.


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## gravedodger

Great review PG .... I'm hiding my pennies from the 710 to get number '66 but I think it'll be the mineral glass and flieger on mine







.... i think


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## MarkF

Just curious, why would anybody choose acrylic over the mineral glass, for authenticity or what?


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## AlexR

I want mine with plastic glass.

On some watches it looks great,makes the dial look softer and less harsh,but I may be talking ******


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## Mrcrowley

Yup

and taking over the forum in the process.


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## pg tips

Authenticity is one reason Mark but they do have a softer look to them, a bit sexier I just love the way the light plays on the edge of the curve, you dont get that on mineral, plus it's a lot easier to keep the plastic ones scratch free a quick polywatch and as good as new.

I would not have plastic on a work beater though, not the way I treat my work watches.


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## AlexR

It is good to be back Mr C


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## JoT

Nice review PG .. great photos as ususal


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## iloper

i really like the watch and the Made In England is Great..


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## USMike

Thanks to Royal Mail and the USPS, RLT '69 #9 has finally arrived in New Hampshire.

Sure is a great looking watch and the good feeling starts when you open the box. Nice to see the warranty/explanation card with the Serial Number printed on it. Not to mention the hand-written signature of Roy hisself.

I had reservations about the mineral crystal until I saw the watch. It does add a smooth look to the dial, particularly with its curve. You can see in the 1st pic how it bends the light reflecting off the crystal from 12:00 forward.

Fitted the only long 18mm leather strap in the house on it and I believe it (a Movado Aligator embossed calf skin strap from a watch now residing in Germany) dresses it up a bit. Will try this configuration out for about a week and switch back to the Buffalo Skin strap after checking and re-setting the time (if necessary) If this one runs as closely as my RLT 4, I'll be changing straps more often than I re-set the time.

Not happy with the pics but am still experimenting with a new camera and picture taking set-up. The macro range is pretty wide but there is almost no depth of field. It may be time to add another light or bump up the ISO from 100 so the aperture can be stopped down a bit more.

Roy, THANKS for another winning design.


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## Roy

Glad you like it Mike.


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## rockpile6

RLT-69 #27 arrived last week and I've been wearing it for 4 or 5 days now. I like the hands and the nice clean face. It will take me a while I think to get use to the domed crystal. It is more reflective than my other watches since thay all have flat crystals with the exception of my Early Bird. Its a little stiff on winding but I assume that that will work it self out with use. All in all its a real nice design. Congratulations are in order once again Roy.


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## Stan

John,

Just looked at my forefinger and thumb again.









Callous on index finger growing, skin worn on thumb tip.









I need to wear quartz for a week.


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## namaste

RLT 100/100 has arrived. After a lot of patience, on Roy's and my behalf







, it's finally there. I have been looking for "the" military watch for more than a year. I had none and loved the old Smiths for their simplicity and clean dials and case. I considered a vintage Smith, but would not have been comfortable wearing it and they have become scarce and expensive. I like the vintage Benrus' too, but again they are hard to find. So when the first pictures of the 69 came up I put my name down. And have been patiently waiting... It's the first watch coming my way since February, so the anticipation was huge.

And I was not disappointed. The finish, the feel, and the design are all I was hoping for. With each new model RLT Watch Co further establishes its reputation. My hat off to you Roy. Most of what can be said about this watch has already been said, so I will only add two pictures that emphasize the 69's "pedigree". I went for an acrylic crystal for obvious reasons, and the black strap was a decision helped by a picture posted by another member, can't remember who and just spent 5 minutes to find the picture (I've got it on my hard drive but not on my webspace). Difficult bit will be to bring it into the worn-watches ladnscape without the oil noticing







!



















Anonymous









(PS: that signature below is a forgery, nothing to do with me, don't even know the Guy!)


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## pg tips

Well done pieter she certainly is a fine watch, I ws only remarking to Roy this morning how happy i am with mine.


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## namaste

PG: Every day I feel like doing the same, but he's a busy man: I don't want to hold him up as he is putting those divers together
















Now I know why they take so long!














Being a moderator has its privileges!









I have to appologise for the amount of scratches visible on the bezel of my RLT5. It's my beater and although I take good care of it, it has to cope with intensive wear!

Besides something went wrong with the compression of my second picture which shows a ridiculous amount of pixelation. I'll sort it out!


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## Roy

Glad it was worth the wait Pieter,









You can phone me anytime.


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## pg tips

I prefer to converse via email. I rang him once and couldn't understand a bloody word!









Northerners !


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## Roy

Ditto,


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## namaste

Thanks Roy. I'll say hi when live help is back on, costs less than the phone call!


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## gravedodger

Well the deal has been done.

As you know I'd my PRS-11 up for sale, I had to do this to free up funds for my RLT69









So had a wee chat with Roy today and it'll be sent on Monday with Acrylic Crystal and Fleiger Strap







, now my only problem is the wait
















I think Roy needs to get one of those particle transporter things like Star Trek have .... instant watch delivery









Thanks again for the terrific review PG


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## gravedodger

Delivery update ..... just got a call from Roy to give me even better news ... my RLT69 #66 can ship today












































What can I say Roy ... you're a star ... absolute first class service!

Thats me not able to leave the house tomorrow







.... no shopping with the 710 harharhar !

I owe you 1 Roy ... or maybe 2


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## Roy

gravedodger said:


> I owe you 1 Roy ... or maybe 2


 You owe me nothing, just glad to be of service.


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## hakim

Love the watch but just can't get myself to order one. My two main gripes are the manual wind and the "RLT Watch Co". I think it should read "Roy Taylor" instead.







The "Made In England" is perfectly placed.


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## chrisb

I'm coming around to the view that "manual wind", "hacking", and "no date" are the most desirable features in a watch


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## gravedodger

I agree chrisb ... I'm a big fan of manual wind, auto's are ok but I prefer manual every time.

Add to that the styling and finish .... droool









is it not tomorrow yet


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## pg tips

Terrific and excellent in the same day! Where's the blushing smilie?

Great choice GD. Bit of a contrast PRS 11 to a '69.

I also think my favorite watches are now MW no dates, except for my work watch I don't need a date and I love winding things up ! (usually my boss







).


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## namaste

Agree on the MW and no date! The more watches I have, the more often I change watch during the week and during the day.

If Roy were to put his name on all his watches, the whole thing might go to his head and he'd charge us twice as much!














Why not remove the RLT Watch Co and the Made in England and just put Taylor Made while you're at it!
















I give this watch 100/100!









I haven't changed the black nato of my 69 but I have a flieger somewhere that wants a 69


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## Roy

namaste said:


> I give this watch 100/100!


 Pieter I







you,


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## gravedodger

yup PG .... it is quite a contrast from the PRS11 to RLT69 but as much as I'll liked it, selling the PRS11 was the only way I could swing it and I couldn't wait any longer







I wanted my '69 No.66









and now it's mine


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## vassilis

A big hello to all of you from the islands of Rhodes and Tilos in Greece!!









This is my first post although I'm visiting this excellent forum quite often. I like watches, especially "real" mechanical ones and currently own a Tudor Prince Oysterdate (90s), a black Seiko Samurai SS, a vintage Doxa from the 70s, and last but not least a wonderful white RLT5!

I'm writing in this thread to announce to everyone that my *RLT69 #74* will be soon on the way to Greece!!









My anticipation is great mainly after what I've read in this thread concerning the RLT69. As I didn't hope to find #74, my happiness became even bigger when Mr Roy told me that it was available! I ordered it right away (acrylic crystal and James Bond strap) and I'm now waiting for it...

More news when I get it!!

Vassilis


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## jasonm

Welcome Vassilis









And congratulations on your new purchase









May I ask why *74 is 'your' number? (EDIT, I see now its your birth year  )

We hope to see you chating on the forum often


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## vassilis

Thank you for welcoming me!

I've created a small photo gallery of my watches for everyone to see. I'll add the RLT69 shot as soon as I get it!

And an irrelevant question (which you may erase after reading it): why am I not able to see any profiles by clicking on the members' names ( even mine! ) ?

It says:

Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available.


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## jasonm

The reason is that we had so many new 'members' who were dealers contact people by 'Private message' this function is accesed by your profile, what we have done is made it so when new members post 50 posts, you can use the full facilities of the board, its not a ideal situation but it does encourage genuine members and not those who join just to sell their products...









Hope this isnt too inconvienient, 50 posts soon comes round


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## pg tips

vassilis said:


> And an irrelevant question (which you may erase after reading it): why am I not able to see any profiles by clicking on the members' names ( even mine! ) ?
> 
> It says:
> 
> Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available.


Thsi function is blocked to new members until you have 50 posts. We had dealers joining the forum just so they could use the PM and email addresses to SPAM members.

Welcome to the forum, great watch the 69.


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## vassilis

Well, I have to admit that it is a fantastic watch, now that I have it on my wrist!









It's much much better than in the photos and up to now it's accuracy is at about -5 sec/day. That's great performance for a new watch!

I'll add photos of it soon...!


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## Bladerunner

Good review, great watch & brilliant pictures


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## namaste

UPDATE ON THE 69! water resistance

I'm on holiday, taking the kids to visit their grandparents from both sides who have all emigrated to the South of France. Not much computer time available, a lot of time is spent around swimming pools. It's very hot down here.

The problem is I have brought my RLT69 with me, and I have already twice forgottent to take it off before swimming





















(I know, some people don't deserve their RLT's)









Good news! Jumping in the pool and swimming, even under water, have not done any harm so far!

















If I remember correctly these watches are rated 50m, so that's a 100% pass rate so far on water resistance! I'll update if I have another senior moment around the swimming pool!


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## Roy

They are only splash proof and not rated for submergence in water.









Hope your having a good time Pieter.


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## namaste

Roy said:


> They are only splash proof and not rated for submergence in water.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hope your having a good time Pieter.


I'm glad I didn't know that at the time! It's not the watch that would have skipped a beat!









I obviously need diver's watch!


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## Griff

Roy said:


> They are only splash proof and not rated for submergence in water.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hope your having a good time Pieter.


Good to know.

I dont like taking watches off when I splash my boots!!


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## Nalu

These posts reminded me to put up a recent photo of the '69, now on a desert tan canvas strap:










Mac, I'm sorry that I _still_ can't figure out where I got this strap


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## mach 0.0013137

Nalu said:


> These posts reminded me to put up a recent photo of the '69, now on a desert tan canvas strap:


I got all excited Colin, then saw your final comment











> Mac, I'm sorry that I _still_ can't figure out where I got this strap



















No doubt you`ll suddenly remember when you`re in the middle of a sandbox with bombs and bullets flying around your head miles from the nearest internet access























BTW the `69 looks very cool on the canvas


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## hakim

> Mac, I'm sorry that I still can't figure out where I got this strap


Looks like the strap from a U.S.N. BU Ships Canteen watch similar to this one


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## raketakat

Hey Mac, look at these Celtic hemp straps







.


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## mach 0.0013137

raketakat said:


> Hey Mac, look at these Celtic hemp straps
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


I`d rather not


















hakim said:


> Mac, I'm sorry that I still can't figure out where I got this strap
> 
> 
> 
> Looks like the strap from a U.S.N. BU Ships Canteen watch similar to this one
Click to expand...

The trouble is those are 16mm, I`m interested in 18-24mm


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## quoll

Have you tried Nilsen on ebay - user rmnilsen - they do canvas in that size range.


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## mach 0.0013137

quoll said:


> Have you tried Nilsen on ebay - user rmnilsen - they do canvas in that size range.


Thanks for the tip









I would really prefer a UK based supplier, say one with an excellent reputation for customer service









Hang on, I better put my wellies on, I seem to be knee deep in hints here


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## pg tips

With the Â£ buying $1.90 at the moment these are a right bargain imho if you like that sort of thing. and he's only charging $2.20 shipping by letter post!









Mac pm me if you want me to order I quite fancy trying one or two of them out.


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