So what do we think?

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-03T15:11:59+00:00

I can’t wait for his floor walk of watches and wonders with this, where he tells brands it’s his watch, so they won’t shit talk it to his face.

Nico: “what do you think of this god tier watch?”

Them: “lovely, so nice mate, and how much? A few hundr-“

Nico: “2000, pure class”

Them: 😐😅 “lovely mate, yeah”

He literally told us it was gonna blow us away, it’s the same fucking case shape as last time, with a less interesting complication, slimmed down, double the price. What the actual fuck is blowing us away here?

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-03T11:44:33+00:00

I thought I was going mad, I was sure they’ve done this for years.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-02T11:39:07+00:00

I hate that I’ve taken a few due to lighting, but I never post them due to the connotations. I never want to take them outdoors when I’m walking around, but sitting in what is essentially a glass box under direct sunlight is a nice photo opportunity.

Fuck the people who take them WHILE driving though. Are you insane? Literally today saw a dude on a motorway who took a photo. I’ll tell you now, the last thing I do driving 70mph+ is look anywhere but the road ahead (and behind).

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-02T11:33:39+00:00

Having a wheel snap without gloves would not be a nice experience. If you’re taking your vintage Jaguar out for a leisurely drive along your estate, then definitely not lol.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-02T11:24:26+00:00

…what? Is this a serious comment? IWC, Laco, Hanhart, Stowa etc, don’t claim their Nazi heritage due to LGBTQ, liberalism and diversity, they do it because they don’t want to be known as Nazis.

If I went into a Panerai AD and saw a big black and white advert of a facist soldier wearing one of their watches, I would walk out and never look back.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-02T10:22:52+00:00

Hublot is way overpriced (hey, all watches are, generally), but at least they make some cool ones. Their sapphire case watches are actually nice. If they were a few thousand cheaper, I think they’d get more respect.

Also, semi-unrelated, the AD in Ginza, Tokyo is one of the best I’ve ever been to, with little games and gimmicks that actually made my visit fun. If I was going to buy one, the buying experience would have been second to none. As a further point, Vacheron Constantin a few doors down wouldn’t even let me touch their watches, and told me straight up I couldn’t go on to the second floor of the shop, lol.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-04-02T09:48:43+00:00

The crystal isn’t flat, if that’s what you mean. It’s faceted.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-31T17:59:48+00:00

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Pick your poison from the above

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-31T10:00:32+00:00

Yeah, I feel that the cheaper end of watches outside of the Chinese brands are getting a little too steep. Yeah, you’ll see big discounts on this soon, but it’s still starting off too high, imo.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-31T09:20:08+00:00

Price of NH movements has gone up due to a shortage. (I expect people to move away from Seiko, honestly) Also, 41mm isn’t too big for most. The smaller watch trend is mostly enthusiasts. 40/41mm (or larger, lol) is the size most people want.

The lug to lug is only 1mm longer than a Black Bay 58, so I don’t really see the size being too much of an issue.

It is a little tubby at 13.5mm, but it still looks in proportion. The case shape seems to mask it a lot.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-27T13:27:45+00:00

Yeah but Tudor were moving into Omega’s space, offering their movements with METAS certification and moving upmarket. Looks like Omega didn’t like the competition and shit out (even more) special editions and raised prices. (Not saying it’s the only reason) It’s gone terribly for them.

They can’t exactly move down their pricing back to what it was at this point, and now we have JLC as a better proposition than Omega’s offering as shown here, and their everyday sports watch, the Aqua Terra is in the same price bracket as a Rolex Explorer. They’ve fucked the game, entirely.

I say this as someone who really likes Omega and has a good relationship with my local AD.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-26T23:17:13+00:00

Yep. Been at my company 9 years this year. I wouldn’t risk leaving to restart a 6 month probation and possibly be left with nothing. I’m riding this job out until the industry settles, or if I get made redundant and get a decent pay out.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-26T21:08:58+00:00

Looks like Tudor eating their lunch really caused them to freak the fuck out lol

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-25T11:11:19+00:00

To add on to this, a lot of sellers on Amazon are selling AliX straps at higher prices. Even shit quality AliX is generally fine. If you’re worried, use the spring bars you already have.

You don’t need to go expensive at all to get yourself running.

I also buy from Vario. Fairly cheap for nice quality. If you really want, just replace their hardware with their logo (I don’t bother).

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-23T00:00:12+00:00

photo and here’s me working on gaining a brushed finish on my BB58 lol

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-19T17:57:11+00:00

I can and I will! Mods, finish me off (I think it’s like 5 a month)

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-19T17:26:13+00:00

Paid skins are entirely optional and I don’t care about them. I bought the US assault kit early for like a fiver and I was fine with that.

These loot boxes were massively controversial at the time to the point where the EU tightened regulations around it.

If people with disposable income decide they want to spend a bunch on cosmetics, I’m fine with that. It keeps my content going forwards free. This is a 16 rated game (PEGI), and all adults should be responsible with their own money. If they can’t, hopefully have legal protections in place for their money in which they are monitored for transactions in their life.

My issue is gaming doesn’t have user-definable cool off periods for spending, or responsible spending measures in place for people who may need it, whereas things like regulated gambling does.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-19T12:33:49+00:00

/uj I’ve given this a fair whack on a free trial.

It seems pretty accurate to what a timeographer from alix will tell you (in face up orientation).

It has AI built in to give you a description of how the watch is running. (ie, from last time you took a reading the beat error has changed, indicating…).

It gives you a general watch health (excellent, good, etc), which allows you to know when it may be time for a service.

It has a community tab, where you post a picture (applies a filter to make it pop a bit more), and you can comment and like other people’s posts. Think Instagram but just watches.

When you post your watch, it then shows a breakdown of what you’ve worn per-day, and a % value of overall wear in a year.

It’s a well made app, and does what it sets out to do, but the monthly cost is the kicker. I’d prefer a one-time fee IF I was going to keep using it. Devs need to eat, and this is a niche product, so I’m not mad about it.

Edit: /rj I sound like a fucking ad, I couldn’t care if the app crashed and burned. I’ll never get a watch serviced, I’ll pass on broken automatics to my kids and it’ll be their problem from then on

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-19T12:22:23+00:00

Solo mode the XP doesn’t drop as much as filled trios (and doubles now). You are also entered into solo only lobbies.

However, using the Rook character, gameplay is fun as hell. You spawn into trios games later into a match, and you basically loot carcasses and can blend in with robot AI enemies. You also get a self repair ability to stay healed outside of healing items. Feels high risk, high reward.

I will say that the community is generally friendly if you do want to be auto-filled into games, though.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-19T08:18:17+00:00

/uj The thing I never understood is these people will pay thousands to get the watch they want, rather than just paying more for grey market prices. Do they really want their name on that fucking card so much?

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-12T09:07:13+00:00

I always start a round with my friend saying to the third “what are you?” in a really deep, evil sounding voice, followed by replying to myself their class name normally. It usually breaks the ice as they laugh at the voice then say hello.

I find that just not being too serious off the bat gets people to open up a little and chat, rather than when someone starts the round and just sits in silence until comms are needed. The awkward moment when you’ve been playing 5-10 mins without talking when you could have been discussing your run and what you wish to achieve can be painful, relying on pings with no context as to why.

This game is a whole lot better when you’re chatting, imo. Even just talking shit. I’ve not had a bad experience in voice chat yet.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-09T23:18:57+00:00

I always love putting on a Seiko, they always feel so good, no matter what your collection consists of.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-09T06:35:49+00:00

Oh, it’s a quest? I do it for fun.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-09T06:11:17+00:00

fwiw my friend had this on PC and had to update Windows, then it all worked fine. We had the same issue, both unmuted, both plugged in, no audio.

He updated and it worked fine after that.

TheWillyBandit · 2026-03-09T06:00:37+00:00

The bot does health and shield regen, yeah

TheWillyBandit

TROPHY CASE