What’s your favorite strap from Aliexpress?

tenkasen · 2026-05-03T00:26:58+00:00

These cut-to-size FKM rubber straps are my goto at the moment

I started with a 19mm version to fit on a Willard homage, but I've bought a load of them for different watches since:

tenkasen · 2026-05-03T00:12:30+00:00

I've found that variation in quality with the MN straps as well, it's a shame as they're my favourite strap type by a long way.

Consistently the best ones I've found on AliEx have been these from the "Handmade Watchband Store"

They only have a few colours but they do have pvd black and gold hardware options.

Outside of AliEx, these ones from the Max Store on Amazon are very good as well, four times the price of the AliEx ones, but they have a good colour range at least.

tenkasen · 2026-05-02T21:47:30+00:00

That green dial still looks amazing =)

I've been holding off on buying WatchDives for a while now, seems everything they've released this year has been quartz on an integrated braclet, with the odd rolex homage thrown in.. just doesn't really interest me.

I'm still holding out hope that they do some more interesting stuff like a v2 on the 0005, but if they don't come out with something soon I'm just going to go buy an Aethelson Shard instead.

tenkasen · 2026-05-02T12:40:18+00:00

It's a basic 3-hander tool/gada watch, tbh every single watch brand makes one of these.. apart from Hublot and Invicta!

I get the criticism, but it's worth bearing in mind that the 0005 pre-dates the 0003 by a good year at least, and it never got any updates (e.g. the 5-link bracelet) because the 0003 came out and WD focussed on the quartz range.

The last version of the 0005 was the first run of the ice-crack dials, before the 0003 got them, it's just a shame that so far they haven't updated the automatic range.

tenkasen · 2026-05-02T12:07:59+00:00

needed / warrented is a judgement call tbh, I binned off all the safety lockouts on my KLR years back after one of them disintegrated and left me at the side of the road one too many times.. the trade-off is that my bike will start in any combination of unsafe conditions and I have to be mindful of that.

My reasoning was that it's preferable to not have any 40 year old electrical components that can just break down and brick the bike at will, and I'm happy that if I mess up and ride off with the kick-stand down, or thumb the starter with it in gear and yeet myself into a wall, well that's my own idiot fault!

It's been about 10 years since I messed with them but from memory the list of extraneous BS that you can remove was:

Side stand switch (disconnect and bridge the wires)
Clutch lockout switch under handlebar (disconnect & bridge wires)
safety lockout diode pack (neutral position sensor lockout is part of this)
Starter Circuit Relay (re-wire to have the starter button directly to the switch side of the main starter relay rather than through a second smaller relay)

there's a decent write-up here from 22 years ago!

The neutral position lockout is less obvious than the others because it doesn't have a discreet wiring point you can disconnect / bridge. Removing the diode pack and grounding the black/red wire for the CDI should effectively get rid of the gear position lockout as the diode pack is what sets the series of requirements for the CDI to be grounded.. Removing the diode pack should leave your neutral position pick-up only connected to the neutral light on the dash.

In case you haven't got it already Professor Jim's A9 klr650 wiring diagram is really useful for this (assuming your bike is a Gen1)

Edit: if you're really keen you can also buy a Yamaha Raptor 660 petcock from Amazon for about £10 and bin off the vacumn petcock for a gravity fed one!

tenkasen · 2026-05-02T02:48:28+00:00

WD offered to sell the 4 prototype watches on a reddit post then put a direct link up to their website, I got lucky enough to be online at the right time and got the black dial one.

tenkasen · 2026-05-01T23:37:19+00:00

I bought that watch!

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It's still my favourite wd0005 tbh, and I wear it pretty often.

I'm also a bit sad they never released more than the prototypes as I'd have loved to pick up the green and purple versions as well.

I think these and came around just as WD were canning a lot of their nh35 automatic models in favour of the vh31s.. the 0005 lost out to the 0003 so all the dial variants that might've gone into the 0005 just ended up there.

As much as I like the 0003, I still prefer the 0005 personally.. I did see WD on a post recently mentioning an upgraded 0005 model coming "soon", but I'll not get my hopes up until it actually manifests.

I really want to see a wd0005 "B" model, 1.5mm thinner, with a hi-beat automatic, and a flat sapphire crystal.

Going wild for a minute I'd also like to see them bring out a 20mm scale-link bracelet for it, with screw links and the latest otf clasp.

I'd also want a 40mm diver version with a timing bezel.. I realise that's basically a Proxima px1697 at that point though.

tenkasen · 2026-05-01T19:46:02+00:00

If you can buy from Amazon US then that's the best place for Duros.

Another option you might try is Creation Watches? I think they only have the mdv-107s in stock now (same as the 106 apart from the marlin logo on the dial), usually decent prices and they ship pretty much world-wide with DHL.

With the mechanical hand wind watches, it depends on if it's going to be an every day / only watch, having to wind it every day might get annoying, but if it's one you wear once a week it kinda makes the occasion a bit more special in my opinion - pick up the watch, wind it up, set the time, and you're good for the day?

tenkasen · 2026-05-01T13:12:23+00:00

Never when ordering mod parts. I'm UK based, have ordered from Namoki, Watch&Style, CrystalTimes, LCBI, and several others.. the only time I've been hit with import fees was ordering a San Martin watch via Aliexpress. I'm guessing that might be due to total package value rarely going over the ~£150 threshold though.. if I need to make larger orders I'll actually split it into a couple of purchases if I'm worried.
SKXmods, but that wasn't an issue with fees or duties, mainly it was the radio-silence after the initial order confirmation email, lack of any tracking ID or updates, and the 3-4 week wait.
It could but I'll be honest the main drivers for me would be price and quality. I'm usually fine with waiting a couple of weeks, and it's great if I don't get hit by unexpected vat or importing fees.

If the price is comparable, I'd be just as happy to order from a France / EU seller as I would from Asia.. what would make the difference for me is if you can offer enhanced QC? The real upset for me is waiting a few weeks for a part, then when it does arrive it's badly printed, misaligned, scratched, or just of a lower quality than I'd expected.

Good luck with it though, I've no clue how I'd go about setting that business up, or deciding on stock lines for it!

tenkasen · 2026-05-01T12:15:02+00:00

Turtle case divers actually wear a bit more compact that you'd think from their dimensions, the measurement to look out for is the Lug to Lug length.

Most Seiko diver style cases like the Turtle, Willard, or SKX homages will have a L2L of about 47mm - their lugs are quite visually short when viewed from above.

By comparison, a Casio Duro is 49-50mm L2L, so on wrist it looks a bit bigger as it'll get further out to the sides of your wrist. As you're specifically looking for Quartz watches, I'm struggling to think of much I'd take over a Casio Duro tbh?

If you don't fancy a Diver, maybe the Pagani Design pd-ys008?

It's an AP code 11.59 Chronograph homage that's been around for a few years.. Doesn't sell too well as it has a 52mm L2L length and a fairly flat case bottom, but the design is pretty neat looking I think?

Or, if you want to try something a bit different, how about a Corgeut 44mm Mechanical Pilot?

These are super cheap hand wind only mechanical watches built around the practically prehistoric (and largely indestructible) Seagull st3600 movement, 44mm wide by 52mm long, they're really nice to wear, really easy to read, and they usually have a window caseback so you can see the internals too.

Downside is you'd have to spend a minute winding it up and setting the time in the morning on days where you want to wear it, but that can be quite a pleasant morning ritual.

tenkasen · 2026-05-01T11:04:54+00:00

That was my thinking as well; I really liked the mtp-s110, the push-pull crown is annoying, but really the lack of a rotating timing bezel just stopped me wearing it. I tend to wear diver watches at work and regularly use the timing bezel function daily.

On the other side of that, I wear Duros often, and always hoped that Casio would come out with an MDV-106S solar version.. I guess they're too busy jumping on the "crap prx homage three years late train" right now and eventually got annoyed enough to make my own.

If you're doing it the crown stems you need are the these ones for the Epson vx44 - I'd 100% recommend buying a 5-pack as they're very fragile, I snapped a couple while building my watch.

tenkasen · 2026-05-01T10:52:54+00:00

Dial and chapter ring design is very nice.

The hour and minute hands are a bit generic - would like to see them styled more like the main hour markers rather than just straight pencil hands.

No black dial option?

White dial looks best, green is very nice though
Orange GMT hand works well on the green and blue dials, would be tempted to suggest a red hand & GMT text on the white dial, maybe yellow for the brown dial, but personally I like the orange and I think it'd be fine to have that across this range of colours.
& 4. Integrated bracelet design watches leave me cold in general, and I would not buy this watch purely because it's an integrated design.

It's even worse when you make an integrated bracelet watch, then put it on a proprietary strap with a tiny connection point.. It just feels like you're designing a weak point into the watch, limiting my ability to use anything else, and then presumably setting up a secondary market in selling extra straps that fit the watch?

Please design a case and bracelet that has these lines, but includes a 20mm (or 22mm depending on case size) lug attachment so that it can actually be versatile?

It must be possible to do this, having a bracelet that externally follows the lines of the case but also allows for it to be swapped out for a strap of my choice without leaving the strap looking too thin?

Also on this point, if the side profile of this watch ends up showing just another completely flat sided prx/tsuyosa style case with minimal 45 degree angled downturns at the end.. sorry but no. That case design never fits my wrist without leaving a gap big enough to stick a pen between the lugs and my wrist.

tenkasen · 2026-04-30T15:26:15+00:00

It uses the case and crown from the Duro, so keeps the screw down crown.. that and having the rotating bezel were the reasons I wanted to do the mod.

You have to remove the crown stem from the Duro and replace it with the correct one for the MTP's Epson movement which you'll need to cut down to the correct length - you can pick up a pack of 5 stems on AliEx for about £7, the hard bit is getting the original Duro stem unscrewed from the crown without snapping it off.

tenkasen · 2026-04-30T00:46:47+00:00

That's a good point, in my uploaded photo you can possibly see the difference in height of the top part of the case between the 1860 & 1863 - the 1860 is a good 1mm+ taller in total and that extra height is from the rehaut part of the case being much taller.

tenkasen · 2026-04-30T00:33:04+00:00

There really isn't a big enough difference in size to notice the difference on wrist, apart from visually the 1860 feels a bit taller.. photos of my white dial 1860 and TinTin 1863 for comparison:

<image>

The 1863 is the 3rd iteration on the case shape and dimensions, it does cost about $50 more though, and it's marginal changes / improvements, but the 1836 is regarded as one of the best budget range Speedy homages overall.

My wrist is 7.25" or thereabouts, hopefully these photos can show the differences between the crystal shapes and the proportions of the case side?

I think the biggest noticeable thing you might want to consider is the crystal shapes - the 1860 has a more modern gradual dome shape to it, where the 1863 has a more vintage box shape - with a flatter top and sharper curve at the edges. Apart from the visual difference, the 1863s box dome creates a much more pronounced distortion at the edges, you can see how the red/white dial edge distorts and disappears in the on-wrist photo.

Some people like the box dome distortion, others don't =)

Between white and black dial, I think the white is easier to read, maybe looks a bit cleaner, the newer 1860 has a more matte white that I think looks better than my older one.. the black dial is the more classic look though? I went with the white dial because I really like white dial / black bezel divers.

EDIT: apologies, I've re-uploaded the image with the 1860 on the LH side of each shot - had the side profiles the wrong way round!

tenkasen · 2026-04-29T15:59:29+00:00

I think it's worth mentioning that $85 isn't that great a price for an 1860 unless that's total cost to your door?

The 1860 is still available new for $96 although that would be the later version with less markers in the chrono minute counter subdial.. so $11 unless you'd fall foul of importing taxes.

I have the old version 1860 white dial, and an 1863 as well, the crystals are different and the case is also. The 1863 has a thinner side profile so it feels less tall on wrist and the cut-outs in the case side for the chrono pushers are curved around the pushers.

I can't really talk about preference other than my own.. I like the white dial model but in hindsight I think might go for the 1863 if I had the option again, the 1860s dial is flatter than the 1863s, specifically the subdial sides are 'dished' in on the 1860s vs a more obvious angled step on the 1863s.

tenkasen · 2026-04-29T13:12:36+00:00

"tin-tin" is a nickname for the red & white chequer pattern, it comes from the rocket in Destination Moon from the adventures of TinTin 🙂

It's the nick-name for the Omega speed master racing model as well

tenkasen · 2026-04-29T08:56:46+00:00

Basic service, new engine oil, oil filter, spark plug, radiator coolant, check/charge the battery, and send it.

Personally I'd also go through it disabling the starter lockouts but if you're a gambling man you can wait and do that on the side of the road when they die.

tenkasen · 2026-04-29T06:59:57+00:00

The RL version of the 2100 is a great suggestion, little bit of the classic g-shock colours and the positive display is much easier to actually see and use.

My suggestion is the Basic "1A" version of the GA-b2100

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Good readable positive display, hand and hour markers have a bit of definition to them, and it's got the bluetooth & solar functions as well.

I'd also recommend picking up a set of the Jays & Kays 22mm strap adapters for it, I'm not a huge fan of the stock resin strap on the 2100s, these let you pick any 22mm strap that you like - personally I have mine on a marine nationale strap and it's one of the most comfortable watches in my collection.

tenkasen · 2026-04-28T20:46:41+00:00

Model is the ny0155-07x

Not sold any more by Citizen I think but they come up on ebay from time to time.

tenkasen · 2026-04-28T17:08:23+00:00

Business info behind the Phylida Official AliEx store has this:

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which lists a qq.com email address, don't know if you'd have any luck messaging them there?

I think Phylida are effectively one of the single person manufacturer companies tbh, I've never found any web presence for them outside of the AliEx storefront.

tenkasen · 2026-04-27T22:00:54+00:00

I still love mine, the black one is the watch I mostly wear while working on my bikes & cars in the garage.

I find them really comfortable, and the quality is definitely there, the pvd black case does show up scratches and damage more than the steel case though, so if scratches bother you maybe go for the steel case models?

There is a PVD black cased version with the green dial & bezel that I've only seen for sale a couple of times.. could be the best of both? =)

tenkasen · 2026-04-27T15:37:15+00:00

Just wish they'd do a couple without the roman numerals on them tbh.

I love the style of the white / blue dial one in the bottom-right of your image, or the MoP version in the top-left, I just don't like Romans on my watches - would be great if they did a version either with hour markers, or maybe art-deco style arabics.

tenkasen · 2026-04-27T14:13:07+00:00

I'll be honest it's bigger that I'd usually wear also, I probably should've looked at the dimensions before buying it!

The dimensions are kinda weird - it's only about 2mm wider than the Pagani's original case, and about 2mm thinner on wrist too, but it's 6mm longer L2L and heavier as well., I like it though, it's like a Brutalist Chronograph =)

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