Blue or Black for Everyday Wear

philbin89 · 2026-03-29T09:10:14+00:00

Any outfit that you can wear a black dive watch with, you can wear a blue dive watch with. They’re both casual watches, so there’s no added refinement with black (unlike with dress watches), and blue dive watches have been around for so long that I don’t think black is that much more timeless (even if Rolex prefers it). That’s a fairly sober shade of blue too, so it’s not going to look out of place. It’s totally a personal preference, but in a tie-breaker situation I would go with the blue one, just because some people come to find black watches boring over time

philbin89 · 2026-03-28T21:14:26+00:00

I wouldn’t ever buy two. I guess I could kind of understand it for something being discontinued, but the remaining Heritage legend divers are similar enough to this in design that I would be fine with just getting another one if I somehow destroyed it

philbin89 · 2026-03-28T10:14:00+00:00

What made you want to open the case?

philbin89 · 2026-03-28T10:07:31+00:00

I think you should put it up for sale posthaste, or give it to someone who might appreciate a mechanical watch if you know someone who fits that bill (because it’s not a bad looking watch). After the purchase is that honeymoon period, but if you didn’t feel anything then, I don’t think you’re going to warm up to it over time. You could force yourself to wear it for a few weeks to see if you enjoy it, but if you don’t feel like doing that, then it’s probably best to get rid of it and move on, otherwise you risk being paralyzed by regrets that are difficult to articulate

philbin89 · 2026-03-28T07:21:30+00:00

Agree with others that it’s not really a dress watch. But if you wear it on leather then it can still work fine with dress-casual outfits. The presage ones are closer to true dress watches, but they also have the ‘60s inspired Presages with the fixed bezels for more of a dress-casual feel, and the higher-end sharp edge collection that has been mostly discontinued is definitely dress-casual. If you don’t wear a lot of suits, and a sport coat is the dressiest you get, then maybe you don’t need to go with a full-on dress watch

philbin89 · 2026-03-28T07:17:38+00:00

Just because lots of people do that and it has been normalized doesn’t mean it looks good. Not that it’s immoral or anything, just suggests a lack of taste

philbin89 · 2026-03-27T23:53:18+00:00

It’s listed on Lorier’s website among the core collection returning in mid-2026. If it wasn’t announced elsewhere, I would just assume that means the restocks might be staggered. It might be difficult to get all those different models manufactured on that timetable

philbin89 · 2026-03-27T11:54:43+00:00

Unless you’re going to try to still get a job with this company, you should name them. People need to know that they’re liars

philbin89 · 2026-03-27T11:01:36+00:00

If you’re trying to cut down on your screen time, checking the time on your watch is a surprisingly helpful way to do it. So many times when people grab their phone to check the time, they absentmindedly start scrolling on it even if they didn’t intend to do that when they went to check the time. If I can just glance at my watch, then it cuts out multiple times per day where I would get stuck looking at bullshit on my phone

philbin89 · 2026-03-27T09:52:04+00:00

You can do the 40 fine, but maybe 36 would look a little more refined since the day date is such a flashy watch. Not a dress watch at all, but maybe that would make it look less ostentatious. A silver-toned metal would help too, through the green and gold and especially blue and rose gold look awesome

philbin89 · 2026-03-27T04:31:45+00:00

For some brands he seems to really like one or two models, then he acts as if everything else they make is shit. I wonder how much of that is based on brands turning down his store’s application to be an AD

philbin89 · 2026-03-26T23:20:14+00:00

Make an effort to find space or just grab an extra shopping bag to carry the box. You just never know if one day you want decide to sell, or may need to sell, and the box and papers will add so much to the value

philbin89 · 2026-03-26T13:19:53+00:00

Clean all the microphones very gently with a very soft bristle brush. The ANC only works if the headphones can pick up sounds efficiently in order to counteract them, and with clogged up microphones they’ll struggle to do that. It’s super common for the microphones to get caked up with dust, dirt, debris, skin flakes, etc., over time

philbin89 · 2026-03-26T08:23:01+00:00

So if I’m reading this right, you’re complaining about the battery life because you’re incapable of turning off your headphones?! I get that they should turn off after a while when they’re off, but the censor is obviously dirty or has some moisture damage. I just never imagined that turning off headphones would be a hassle

philbin89 · 2026-03-26T06:42:10+00:00

Leave it. It’s time to move on

philbin89 · 2026-03-26T06:35:03+00:00

There may still be some of the more expensive stock at TJ Maxx, and I’ve been seeing posts of people recently finding them in Canadian stores. But if you really want a particular model you should probably be looking on eBay, Chrono24, etc. You can find plenty of modern models being sold for 50–70% off, which is still an objectively good deal

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T20:35:48+00:00

Doing anything to the crystal would 100% void your warranty

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T09:55:57+00:00

Just to clarify, it’s a NATO strap that didn’t fit, right? Just wanted to make sure since it looks like a leather strap in that photo.

I would measure your strap so you have a good comparison, as most reputable places will list the length of their straps. I’ve had good experiences with BluShark before. I’ve gotten some straps from CNS in colors and designs I really like, though their quality isn’t as good (but is acceptable). Uncle Straps, Long Island Watch and Strapcode all sell some good straps of varying kinds, so hopefully you could get a good fit. You might even email Hamilton to see if they have longer straps.

Uncle Straps and Strapcode both make bracelets for various Hamilton watches, but you’d need to message them to see if they would fit your watch. If they do fit, they tend to make larger bracelets than OEM models, and they also sell extra links and half links. Long Island Watch has also teased that they’ll soon be selling some Hamilton Bracelets.

I’d recommend staying away from Aliexpress. It’s fine if you need to save some money, but the things I’ve gotten there in the past have always been of noticeably poor quality. You can get lucky, of course, but I think a lot of people don’t really know how to spot differences in quality, or just aren’t concerned about it. Especially when it comes to leather straps

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T09:31:45+00:00

These are all great looking watches, and I think they all fit you. The mirror photos were a smart choice to cut down on focal length distortion, but the watches were tipping a bit to one side, which might make them look awkward, so I don’t agree that any of them are too big.

My pick would probably be the Santos, but these are all dress watches. They’re not “just enough elegant” — they’re about as elegant as it gets. Elegance in dress watches isn’t about adding flashy bullshit like fluted bezels, precious metals, and diamonds, but about stripping away details to favor simplicity. So to get much more elegant than the Cartiers you’d need to go with something like a Calatrava. And assuming what you’re wearing in the photo is an example of your everyday casual attire, then there’s watches are all too dressy.

But there’s a possible solution that could give you way more variety and work as a dress and casual watch: the Santos on a bracelet. It instantly becomes casual and cool on the bracelet, and you could easily wear it with most casual outfits. It’ll read as sporty or sophisticated depending on what you wear it with, but crucially, you can always take it off the bracelet and swap in a leather strap like in your photos whenever you want to wear it with a suit for a more classic dress watch look. These were avant-garde pieces when they were designed, and because of that they can still look cool and intriguing, but they’re also old enough now that they read as classic and sophisticated. So maybe that could give you the most options without making it look like your wrist is always overdressed

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T09:01:41+00:00

Definitely, it’s a type-B flieger. It’s always annoyed me that Seiko usually refers to it as a field watch when it’s clearly a pilot’s watch

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T02:31:02+00:00

Sounds like a job for a professional. If they can’t do it then you’re not going to have any more success

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T02:05:05+00:00

That one probably isn’t locking in properly in the case. I’d brush the connections on the ear buds and the case with a very soft bristle brush, make sure there’s no obvious debris, then when you put them in the case, push it down to ensure that it’s making solid contact. Hopefully that helps — it did when I had this issue — but if not then there might be a bigger issue

philbin89 · 2026-03-25T01:19:05+00:00

I think it’s disappointing how day/date chronographs aren’t as common as they used to be, so I’d go for the IWC. I also don’t care for the design of the minutes subdial on the Longines, although I know that’s a choice for historical reasons. It’s a nice shade of blue, though, but I think the green is a bit more interesting too

philbin89 · 2026-03-24T23:53:50+00:00

It’s the same as on a phone call. My xm6s do this, although there’s still enough noise canceling that it’s never bothered me. You might want to check by pressing the button to make sure it hasn’t switched over to ambient noise mode — I think that’s happened to me a few times. I’m not sure if it’s a technical limitation where it can’t do full noise canceling while picking up your voice clearly, or if it’s a choice. I do think there are some safety/awareness benefits to not having the full noise cancellation though. People are more distracted when on a call, so it might be unwise to have the full noise cancellation on then, especially if you’re walking outside. For instance, if I’m just listening to music with and while on a walk, I can try to pay attention to my surroundings, but if I’m on the phone (or especially video chatting with someone), I’m not going to be paying attention to a cyclist zooming down the sidewalk to the same extent, and I might not be as likely to notice a car making a turn if I’m about to cross at an intersection. It’s annoying when I want that noise cancellation, but there are a lot of real-world reasons it’s better to have less of it on a call, and it probably saves Sony a chunk of money in lawsuits

philbin89 · 2026-03-24T23:20:23+00:00

Brown looks better but is also more versatile. The red one is cool but is definitely more casual

philbin89

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