About three weeks ago I ordered three watches from three recommended dealers – the 42mm Planet Ocean from Narikaa, a Bond SMP from WBK Time, and a SMP 300 black dial from Hont.
Dealer Service
All dealers performed admirably in terms of service, with all watches arriving in good order and faster than expected; within 7-10 days to Melbourne, Australia. Communication was fantastic from all dealers, with a slight edge going to the native English speakers, WBK Time and Narikaa. Payment options were also a painless exercise from both dealers. That said, I would definitely use Hont again having finally set up a Western Union account.
The Watches
POrikka: I love this watch and it still gets a lot of wrist time. I’m so impressed with the build quality that I’m considering getting black bezel with an ETA clone just to see if I get a better watch for the extra cost.
I wrote a short review here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57606
Bond SMP First Impressions: The POrikka was my first rep and consequently the watches that followed were judged by the standard set by this one. I’d read glowing reviews about the Bond SMP before pulling the trigger so I had high expectations about this rep, perhaps too high.
I noticed two things immediately upon opening the package from Stan:
The dial & bezel colour was not the deep cyan blue you see in most pics, but a dark navy (roughly Pantone 289C) in the flesh. Interestingly, upon photographing the watch it seems to bring out the “cyan†colour that is not evident with the naked eye. However a trip to an AD confirmed that the colour is indeed identical to the gen.
The second thing that struck me was the lume dot on the bezel, which was like a ripe zit ready to pop. After a few days I ended up scraping off the excess lume with a sharp blade so it was at least flush to the bezel recess – (my first mod!?!)
The next thing I noticed was the sloppy lume application, which appeared fuzzy even without the aid of a loupe, no doubt because of the strong wave pattern on the dial. The hands are a tad short, but nothing to worry about. Nor was I particularly concerned about the incorrect helium valve placement.
Setting the time and date the crown felt tight and “grittyâ€. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts or if this is how Chinese movements are supposed to be. However, over the last few weeks it’s been keeping good time.
Over all, I’m relatively satisfied with this purchase, especially after squeezing that zit on the bezel!
SMP 300 First Impressions: This is the least convincing rep of the trio, but I can’t say I wasn’t forewarned. Despite reading that there were no really reps of this particular Omega, I thought I’d buy one anyway, simply because I’ve always liked this model.
When it arrived I must say I was not overly impressed with the thick mucus green lume conflicting with the comparitively white hands of this watch. To add insult to injury, the lume is almost non-existent and I would have preferred no lume at all so long as it matched the hands.
The bracelet also felt flimsy and unsubstantial compared to the others, and the clasp was difficult to close and remain closed. However, a friend from work took a liking to it despite it’s flaws and bought it from me. So I guess I have more cash to play with!
In conclusion I’m pretty happy with my first rep purchases, and look forward to buying more in future. In many ways this site has given me a greater appreciation for my gens and the forger’s art. I hope this has proved helpful to some noobs out there, and once again thanks to the learned gentlemen on this site.
Dealer Service
All dealers performed admirably in terms of service, with all watches arriving in good order and faster than expected; within 7-10 days to Melbourne, Australia. Communication was fantastic from all dealers, with a slight edge going to the native English speakers, WBK Time and Narikaa. Payment options were also a painless exercise from both dealers. That said, I would definitely use Hont again having finally set up a Western Union account.
The Watches
POrikka: I love this watch and it still gets a lot of wrist time. I’m so impressed with the build quality that I’m considering getting black bezel with an ETA clone just to see if I get a better watch for the extra cost.
I wrote a short review here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57606
Bond SMP First Impressions: The POrikka was my first rep and consequently the watches that followed were judged by the standard set by this one. I’d read glowing reviews about the Bond SMP before pulling the trigger so I had high expectations about this rep, perhaps too high.
I noticed two things immediately upon opening the package from Stan:
The dial & bezel colour was not the deep cyan blue you see in most pics, but a dark navy (roughly Pantone 289C) in the flesh. Interestingly, upon photographing the watch it seems to bring out the “cyan†colour that is not evident with the naked eye. However a trip to an AD confirmed that the colour is indeed identical to the gen.
The second thing that struck me was the lume dot on the bezel, which was like a ripe zit ready to pop. After a few days I ended up scraping off the excess lume with a sharp blade so it was at least flush to the bezel recess – (my first mod!?!)
The next thing I noticed was the sloppy lume application, which appeared fuzzy even without the aid of a loupe, no doubt because of the strong wave pattern on the dial. The hands are a tad short, but nothing to worry about. Nor was I particularly concerned about the incorrect helium valve placement.
Setting the time and date the crown felt tight and “grittyâ€. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts or if this is how Chinese movements are supposed to be. However, over the last few weeks it’s been keeping good time.
Over all, I’m relatively satisfied with this purchase, especially after squeezing that zit on the bezel!
SMP 300 First Impressions: This is the least convincing rep of the trio, but I can’t say I wasn’t forewarned. Despite reading that there were no really reps of this particular Omega, I thought I’d buy one anyway, simply because I’ve always liked this model.
When it arrived I must say I was not overly impressed with the thick mucus green lume conflicting with the comparitively white hands of this watch. To add insult to injury, the lume is almost non-existent and I would have preferred no lume at all so long as it matched the hands.
The bracelet also felt flimsy and unsubstantial compared to the others, and the clasp was difficult to close and remain closed. However, a friend from work took a liking to it despite it’s flaws and bought it from me. So I guess I have more cash to play with!
In conclusion I’m pretty happy with my first rep purchases, and look forward to buying more in future. In many ways this site has given me a greater appreciation for my gens and the forger’s art. I hope this has proved helpful to some noobs out there, and once again thanks to the learned gentlemen on this site.
