# Help, Too Much Choice!



## Guest

I spend a good part of my spare time with the Air Training Corp as a Civilian Instructor and have recently been spending more and more time on "green" activities which is taking a toll on my beater Fossil and on my dress watches (when I forget what I should be wearing).

I have a few things I consider crucial in a replacement beater watch

1. Very legible analogue dial preferably with arabic numerals and a date window (I'm anti digital!)

2. Good scratch resistance on the face and no date magnifier - already scratched one on another watch. Things that stick up where they shouldn't are liable to get damaged!

3. Luminous, it can get very dark in and around forests and airfields at night.

4. Water resistance - preferable a good 200m. It'll probably end up experiencing some white water rafting next summer, plus its damp enough here in NI to naturally require that!

5. Straps, I prefer a wide strap for comfort and either metal or leather. I just remember rubber or synthetic as being sweaty but I haven't used one in a while so

Secondarily I would find the following useful

6. I need to time sporting events etc from time to time so a chrono may be useful but might just crud up the face.

I have spotted a few wants but can't really afford a CWC RN Diver or Marathon TSAR

I've have so far fallen for the Dievas Endurance, V-Max Freestyle and the Praetorian Legionnaire, all of which seem very similar except in price. Can anybody update me on their feeling for these three watches or suggestion some otyher options of a similar style and capability.


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## mach 0.0013137

Have you considered the O&W `M` range as sold by our host Roy, scroll down the page... HERE

As I recently posted elsewhere on the forum...



mach 0.0013137 said:


> Back on topic, as has been said already the O&W `M` series are excellent watches as this post from our own man in Baghdad shows...
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> Nalu said:
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> Below is one of the first watches I bought from Roy (anyone remember the watch auction feature of the RLT web site? :lol: ) I brought it with me on this deployment because I felt it would make a good beater for workouts in the gym. Well, with our recent 'Change of Mission' it's been getting quite a workout! I recall writing to Roy that "I can't wait to beat this one up" after I received it - the O&W divers just look like they can take whatever an owner can dish out. It's taken everything I've been able to muster so far!
Click to expand...


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## Guest

Decided against O&W due to the movements. There is a good likelyhood that the watch chosen my spend irregular amount of time on my wrist and thus a quartz movement might be more practical.


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## Guest

Ive had 2 v-maxs and sad to say flipped both ,good size watch -lumes good and robust you bet,check out its spec .Dont rate the ugly bracelet so i would have it on a nato ,funny enough i believe theres one for sale on the forum ,steel at the price .

I will probably get another in the future :lol:

spec-

Specialist watchmakers have built it to a specification determined by us. It is designed to a hard wearing and practical specification and priced at a sensible level so as to make the watch affordable to most people. It is also designed to be worn either as an everyday watch or as a beater. Function and form have been the prime most considerations when laying out the specification. This is because it is meant to be a utility type watch. To this end it has been well constructed using high grade materials, crystal, dial and movement using Swiss materials. It has a military feel to it and the dial is based on the 1960â€™s Vietnam era military watches. The case is made out of solid high grade 316 L stainless steel, which has a sandblasted finish. The case is large and heavy. It has got a screw down crown which is engine turned to allow easy use of the crown. The case back is screw down and these two combined give the watch a water rating of 200 metres. It also has a scratch resistant sapphire crystal which is a hard glass and can only be scratched by material of equivalent strength or stronger than sapphire. The bracelet is a solid link bracelet with solid end links where it attaches to the watch. It is sandblasted/polished finish. The clasp is a folding clasp with double push button security release as well as a fliplock safety clasp. It has got a uni directional ratchet operated rotating bezel with a full 60 minute scale which can be used for independent timing of up to one hour. The movement is a Swiss made Ronda quartz powered movement. The dial and hands are constructed in Switzerland by MB-Microtec. Their ability to manufacture luminous dials is the result of decades of research and development work in the field of radio luminescence. Small glass tubes are coated on the inside with luminous matter, filled with gaseous tritium and then sealed airtight. The electrons emitted by the tritium gas cause activation of the luminous matter without the need to external light charging. There are 12 tritium tubes providing the luminescence. The minute and hour hands also contain the tritium tubes making them luminous. The luminescence is green for the dial and hands and orange at the 12 oâ€™clock. The watch is brand new, with a one year warranty, comes in a tin with warranty card. Dimensions are: width is 44 mm excluding the crown, 46 mm including the crown, 48 mm lug to lug and 15 mm thick :thumbup:


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## spankone

dare i say a casio analog g-shock

MTG1000G-9A

G100-1BV

google these for images/spec.

lets face if its going to get battered it might as well be a casio


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## blackandgolduk

Perhaps a Citizen Military chrono or similar? I think Pulsar to a similar version...

Not quite 200m, but 100m WR is still pretty good 










EDIT: Found the Pulsar one - I think it's a cracker...


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## thunderbolt

How about something like this.










Seiko movement, 500m w/r and a lot of wrist presence. Mine is a Divex, but it can be had uder a few different names and they appear on ebay from time to time, in fact there are 2 of them on there as we speak under the Aquqlung name, and available for well under Â£100.


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## stevo

IWC Aquatimer Chrono-Automatic

Reference IW371928

suits all your requirements and is quite a looker


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## pg tips

ForkTailedDevil said:


> I have spotted a few wants but can't really afford a CWC RN Diver or Marathon TSAR





stevo said:


> IWC Aquatimer Chrono-Automatic
> 
> Reference IW371928
> 
> suits all your requirements and is quite a looker


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## aliasmarlow

+1 on the Pulsar Chrono, Â£40.00 from Argos and its a dead ringer for the 2004 RAF issue.

Only downside is it comes with a crap strap, so factor in another Â£7/8 for a proper grey nato to finish it off


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## mediummynd

blackandgolduk said:


> Perhaps a Citizen Military chrono or similar? I think Pulsar to a similar version...
> 
> Not quite 200m, but 100m WR is still pretty good
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> EDIT: Found the Pulsar one - I think it's a cracker...


I have the Citizen first class watch does exactly what it says on the tin.


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## mach 0.0013137

aliasmarlow said:


> +1 on the Pulsar Chrono, Â£40.00 from Argos and its a dead ringer for the 2004 RAF issue.
> 
> Only downside is it comes with a crap strap, so factor in another Â£7/8 for a proper grey nato to finish it off


Great watches & as has been said they are a bargain at Â£40...

*Pulsar PJN299-X1 cal.V675-X063*










The photos below(nicked from the net) are of one of the watches issued to the RAF. I gather that the differences to the Argos version are very minor including the hands the MOD details on the case back & the `L` on the dial, I`m not sure what that stands for, it possibly indicates that the lume used `Luminova` :huh:


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## Bramptom

mediummynd said:


> QUOTE (blackandgolduk @ Dec 9 2008, 10:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Perhaps a Citizen Military chrono or similar? I think Pulsar to a similar version...
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> Not quite 200m, but 100m WR is still pretty good
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> EDIT: Found the Pulsar one - I think it's a cracker...
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> I have the Citizen first class watch does exactly what it says on the tin.


Hi I have just joined the forum to make my mind up on a new watch. These little Pulsar's are fantastic value for money but probably over looked because of the cheap looking strap. Would you be so kind tell me where the leather strap came from in the picture. It's the perfect finishing touch


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## msq

I say any pilot style watch would fit the criteria quite well. Perhaps something like Stowa or something would be real nice. If you got a large chunk of change, the IWCs are wonderful


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