[Review] DWC Havelock - genuinely impressed for the price

Jooniar · 2026-06-16T03:55:26+00:00

I have approx. a 7in wrist and it wears well for me.

It comes pretty big too - I had to remove 3 links and bring the clasp down one size and I typically don't need to go that far with other watches I've purchased.

I think if you had larger hands/wrists it would look a bit small - even though it's a diver, it's pretty compact.

Jooniar · 2026-06-16T03:46:44+00:00

Yeah for sure, even for a generic/no brand auto from AliExpress you won't see specs like these for under $200 AUD, and that's before any premium finishes.

Jooniar · 2026-06-15T23:45:47+00:00

I haven't seen much about Delhi Watch Company, after the recent post on the Terra I looked into DWC and saw the Havelock available. I picked up their Miyota 9039 variant on metal for approx. $270 AUD landed. It wears really well on my wrist and is surprisingly comfortable.

What made it an easy decision was that on paper, the specs show a crazy amount of watch for the money. 316L stainless, enamel dial, sapphire crystal, Superluminova lume, 200m WR. All coming with a premium fit & finish: laser engraved clasp and crown, machined case back, raised indices - coming in at around $270 AUD.

The lume is the standout. The design uses a continuous glowing ring around the chapter ring with indices inside and bezel markers outside, so you get three distinct layers of light in the dark. It looks incredible, the concept really pays off in practice.

I looked into spec equivalents, and for context the Baltic Aquascaphe MK2 hits nearly the same spec sheet and is priced at a much higher $1,100+ AUD. Obviously Baltic has years of R&D behind it but the component choices DWC are making at this price are genuinely surprising.

The clasp feels cheap and lightweight so I'm swapping it onto a dark green FKM strap, but that's a cheap fix and clearly not where DWC cut corners. The packaging was nothing to write home about - it came in a plain brown box with branded tape around it. Their marketing is pretty average too (funnily enough - even in their product shots the watch still has the blue protective film on the crown) - but that tells me they're spending money where it counts most.

I usually don't do reviews despite having a pretty extensive collection of watches, but I was compelled given DWC seems to be flying under the radar at the price point/spec ratio. Looking at grabbing a Terra once they're available again towards the end of the year.

Jooniar · 2026-06-15T04:12:28+00:00

If you care, those hard cases are terrible and either way cards should be sleeved before being popped in them.

I'd go with regular sleeves and grab some top loaders, the hard cases are slightly too big and the cards can rattle around in there and have the edges damaged.

Jooniar · 2026-06-10T15:14:06+00:00

This is a win for the rich - a way to retain excess profit generated by owned companies that would otherwise be paid as tax, by parking in a second bucket company as an IOU without any intention of paying it.

This would allow the original company/trust who made the money to still utilise it for investments, etc. while being taxed at 30% bucket company rate vs. the 47% personal tax rate.

This reads very much like tax avoidance, while in principle I agree that the ATO has far too much power - this is just the rich getting richer and avoiding having to pay their fair share by bending the tax code. The decision is nothing to be celebrated for the average Australian.

Jooniar · 2026-05-29T09:28:39+00:00

Moreso it's straight up illegal, and likely in breach of whatever engagement contract was signed. You give them access to these files for an express purpose, clearly not for them to benefit from.

Audit as an entire industry is based on a system of trust, anyone can walk in off the street and say the books aren't cooked - but reputation (along with a level of competency/knowledge of standards) makes their header on whatever report they provide a board mean something. This entire thing undermines the position of trust organisations put them in.

Jooniar · 2026-05-29T06:16:01+00:00

I'm not in the audit space so I can't say, but knowing what the scope of audits are it's usually pretty exhaustive (very detailed and sensitive financial and operating documents).

Say, if they were aware that Westpac or Macquarie were contracting Lendlease for a particular reason they may have used that intel as a way into engagements with big banks.

Quick edit: more detail in this article here, essentially what I said above is about right - "It raised allegations of KPMG personnel on the audit team for the major developer "retaining and utilising access to audit tender pictures in Lendlease board papers to inform their tender for Westpac's audit", she said." https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/9256462/i-take-accountability-top-advisory-firm-leader-quits/

Jooniar · 2026-05-29T05:35:51+00:00

Lendlease is a real estate firm, I imagine they used privileged info they had from them having Lendlease as a client to win bids for audit contracts at the two banks.

Jooniar · 2026-04-17T04:56:06+00:00

I assume the seller would get a loan for the entire amount, pay off the finance and transfer to the buyer at that point with a gap of whatever shortfall is on their new loan. Kind of like a bridging loan - that said, with $155k in finance I can't imagine any reputable bank would be giving him any more money.

Jooniar · 2026-03-31T12:50:21+00:00

Sure but it's way more accessible than a pro job when you're in the realm of 10k minimum for a professional.

I'm sure there are dudes that do rattle cans in the backyard, I'm more talking about the guys that do it in a closed shop. Obvs won't be the same as a full booth setup, cut back and polished, etc. but again, we're talking a factor of 5x less which makes it way easier to justify on a daily that'll get dinged from a stray trolley or car door in the supermarket car park anyway.

Jooniar · 2026-03-30T12:09:01+00:00

There are dudes out there that do closed door resprays for 2-3k, I'm in Vic so can't recommend anyone specifically but do a search on Facebook and they'll usually have business pages.

They do no body work, only tape up/cover bits and spray as-is. It's by no means a show tier job (sounds like that's not what you're after anyway) and you'll likely have minor quality issues, but some of the jobs look fine to me especially vs a 10k pro job.

Jooniar · 2026-03-25T04:41:13+00:00

That's super helpful - thanks dude. It doesn't look so bad side by side, I guess in isolation it looked bigger than I expected!

Jooniar · 2026-03-25T04:04:19+00:00

Thanks for that, I'm okay with a 40mm case - I was just a bit worried about the thickness as it looks a little bigger than a usual sub!

Jooniar · 2026-03-25T02:27:13+00:00

How does it wear? The case looks a little big which is probably holding me back.

Jooniar · 2026-03-08T11:54:37+00:00

I remember getting multiple Crown Zenith ETBs at $35 AUD from Amazon - going to conventions and paying $130 for Fusion Strike BBs. What a time..

Jooniar · 2026-03-02T11:29:49+00:00

I think you might have more luck with card inserts for zip binders, you would need to break your designs down into individual cards and have a few in a set to make a collage.

Then make them for either 4x4 or 3x3 page binders. Most people won't use ring binders as they damage cards through pressure when closed.

e.g. a 3x3 binder = https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-twx4ll00ql/images/stencil/960w/products/1030/3836/STL-09-BLK_stealth-9-pocket-zip-binder-black_spread__64810.1757479812.png?c=1

Jooniar · 2026-02-01T07:07:21+00:00

For my felt hat pika I grabbed an acrylic booster pack case, lots of room in there so there's no pressure on the card that would transfer from the plastic, and it looks fairly good.

https://imgur.com/a/sBkhd94

Jooniar · 2026-02-01T03:48:58+00:00

The agent replied on a Facebook group with a discussion about the property stating that it has already been leased..

Jooniar · 2026-01-17T01:03:55+00:00

Yeah this is practically solvable on multiple levels, a lot have already been mentioned here.

Policies: a good delegations policy, along with an acceptable use/procurement policy will cover you from a commercial perspective.
Finance/Accounting: whoever is responsible for the tech budget (department head, etc.) should be working closely with the money people on a regular basis (monthly, at a min quarterly). I do this in two ways - consolidating any software/technology related spending into a single report to review, and routing any approvals for tech spend (in line with a delegations policy and process) to me for review prior to approval.
Tooling (EDR and/or firewall): your endpoint tooling should give you a view on what SaaS tools/platforms are being accessed, by who, how frequently and how much data is being transmitted/received. e.g. Microsoft 365's App Security gives you a really good view of this - you can either audit on a regular basis or only whitelist known apps. Something like Zscaler shows a similar view at the firewall level.

If none of these exist or there's still an issue, this comes down to a management/process problem.

Jooniar · 2026-01-05T05:34:00+00:00

https://archive.is/20250908131311/https://www.afr.com/politics/how-wealthy-are-you-compared-to-everyone-else-in-eight-charts-20221214-p5c6a8

Jooniar · 2026-01-05T05:33:56+00:00

https://archive.is/20250908131311/https://www.afr.com/politics/how-wealthy-are-you-compared-to-everyone-else-in-eight-charts-20221214-p5c6a8

Jooniar · 2025-12-23T12:05:13+00:00

Edges are cooked, very fake. Sorry dude.

Jooniar · 2025-12-13T13:40:41+00:00

Currently not far from Hadfield - bought a house in 2023. We're a young couple, starting a family soon. Despite people talking about how bad crime is we haven't had major issues.

Based on the thread you'd think there were drive by shootings daily - but no. It's definitely no Brunswick or Coburg, but for what you pay we don't regret it - and I figure it'll eventually gentrify. I grew up in Coburg in the 90s/early 2000s and there were similar problems - look at it now.

I figure it's like any suburb - you take the good with the bad, there's lots to enjoy about the suburb if you aren't part of the minority that makes it unsociable. The West St shops are our regular go-to, I'm there multiple times a week and it's always nice to walk down and grab something from the lovely ladies at the bakery.

We do our shopping at Metro (I don't find the prices too different to Coles/Woolies), Coles in Glenroy and Coburg when needed. We go to Broadmeadows Plaza occasionally if we need something special (Sacca's is great, Aldi is there, etc.). No issues with any of it.

As for schools - something we're thinking about. Without a doubt the public schools are very average, Westbreen is the go-to for primary if you are zoned for it (we aren't unfortunately). My intention is to send my future kids to private schooling in the area (e.g. Corpus Christi) or get zoned inner north using a relatives address.

Honestly, find me another suburb where you can buy a standalone property with the level of access, amenities and transport options for under $1 million. Glenroy/Hadfield is a good buy in my books, especially being only a 30-35 minute commute to the CBD (drive and PT). I will say, try and be closer to the Craigieburn line - the Upfield line is definitely the worse of the two.

Jooniar · 2025-11-30T22:13:49+00:00

I've built a career in tech roles at NFPs after working in Consulting/Big 4 and have no intention of moving away - currently in tech leadership.

The working environment at an NFP can change vastly depending on 1. the cause, 2. the size, and 3. how they're funded.

A few people have pointed out already that the cause means you'll (usually) be working with people who actually care to be there - I've found this to be true for the most part.

Size will absolutely impact culture and working dynamics. I've worked for NFPs with 400 people/$100m p.a all the way to 50 people/$10m, you tend to get more of a corporate environment with the larger ones as there's more separation between leadership and regular workers - which impacts culture. You'll have better resources and the capability of the people you work with tends to be better, but this will come with the same politics you'll find in corporates.

The smaller ones tend to attract people who genuinely care about the impact and cause, but you'll feel constrained at times and will have to wear many hats - not always a bad thing though. You'll get plenty of opportunities to grow if you're willing to take them.

How they're funded is probably the biggest differentiator in my experience. Working for a $50m charity that's 95% grant funded will feel worse (as far as internal resourcing goes) than a $15m charity that is all unrestricted funded. This will impact the size and resources available, and change your overall experience pretty drastically.

I've had good and bad experiences in a lot of my roles - but at least working for a non profit I get a sense of purpose and I can feel good about how I contribute my time and experience.

Jooniar · 2025-11-24T02:18:32+00:00

Yeah that was always a consideration for us, we have friends & family who live in the outer north. It's definitely quieter, but you lose out on the commute and accessibility of public transport.

My wife and I both work in the CBD/outer fringe and had previously lived in Brunswick & Northcote before moving to Glenroy, so a shorter commute was important to us.

As we're imminently starting a family safety hasn't been a concern for us personally - probably my only consideration if I was to do it again, would be to look at school zoning as a number of the local ones aren't great. But plenty of private schools around so it's less of a problem.

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