I wear all of my watches, I like to enjoy them. So the concept of a company re-issuing a classic makes a lot of sense. A re-issue ins not 'real' but it is a watch that you can wear and enjoy everyday.....I think CWC's re-issues are totally legit and I would wear one.
Nice review, however with your "main flaw" you are not quite right. The first Royal Navy Divers up to the mid 80s (auto and quartz) indeed had completely polished cases to MOD spec. So the reissues are correct in that regard.
I’d rather have the reissue over the original. Vintage watches have to be babied- every time you ding or bump them, you feel sick to your stomach. Been there, done that, learned my lesson.
The originals are getting very expensive and there are no spare parts available anyway. Funny that like Rolex milsubs, they only relatively recently became highly desirable.
The reissue chronograph has 29 jewels, and has an upgraded ETA movement. The reissue is far more quality of the original, yet made withthe same specs, and the same company.
Dear Sir, I have just purchased two CWC reissued timepieces from England aka Great Britain, a Royal Navy diver and an infantry variety G10, and consider myself quite lucky. I adore my CWC watches and leave the debate of pros and cons of owning an original or reissued to someone else with too much time on his or her hands. Now if I could chase down that illusive fellow who runs TimeFactors and get me a Smiths then my mission would be complete. Cheers.
I think availability is the limiting factor and if you were positioning yourself to purchase a reissue you might consider a original but one would not be available on the secondary market in most cases. And given that, and some of the things you mentioned about wearability and cost, of repairs, there is a good case to be made for the reissue. Or even just wearing the modern version issue
Great video, l have a small collection of CWC, mainly G10s and all have most probably seen service except my 2017 diver and 2017 chronograph. The fact that you keep stating 're issue doesent detract from the quality of any these watches that were not used by military personnel. CWC have continued to produce a quality product and hopefully continue to do so , rarity has caused to price increases and unfortunately has a knock on effect so the current prices continue to rise
Thank you. By that I meant from the perspective of a traditional military watch collector. Despite that, there’s a whole lot of tool watch collectors out there who are happy to own both old and new. That being said, there definitely is a group that will always look down at the reissue label. Collecting has changed so much in the last 15 or so years. This stuff used to be so cheap!
The final batch of the 1980 reissue is in now (Oct 22). They've bumped the price up to £2083 + VAT where applicable. At $2500, there are a lot of options out there.
I was interested in the Reissue with the ETA movement, and I had a question or three. So I contacted the customer service with my questions, that was about three or four weeks ago. I still haven`t heard one word from them, too bad for them, I do not think that I will spend my money on a CWC watch.
The reissue 80,s diver is way to over priced! im quite happy with my satin quartz non dated diver with T on the dial but has c3 luminova on the markers, very small numbers of my version were issued by apparently.
Really appreciate your comments and opinion on this! Was considering picking one up, and now I can look at them in more detail! Fortunately I live in London so I will be able to visit and inspect them before buying.
QM60 Reissue here. Full provenance is unquestionable as if to be issued a brand new watch. "It is made by the same company", needs to be understood that is is Made by THE Company that has provided these watches to the British forces to current times. You are essentially purchasing an issue watch. This can be contrasted with other re-issues or remakes by companies that don't currently supply the forces. This Provenance is what you get with CWC. Also, I believe many of the originals were also shiny. There may be a misunderstanding of history of CWC and what it provided the forces in the past.
If you are going to make a re issue , re release. Or what ever they want to call it than it should be an exact ( where legal and ethical) otherwise you just have a half assed watch that Someone thinks everyone will run out and buy
The 1970's Chronograph is far superior to the original. It is also the last CWC that has true Tritium markers. The reissue has a 29-jewel 7760 and is beautifully finished.
Love the 62mas. But, would never wear it the way I wear most of watches (in water at work, gym) so I picked up the sla017 instead. Just a more a wearable piece on a daily basis. Same with a sub300 Doxa reissue. Both virtually identical, but more wearable at the end of the day. (had my share of vintages and didn't like the feeling of babying my watches) just my 2 cents.
Eh, no. While I have a CWC, and once owned a 16610 Submariner, Omega and Rolex watches have a level of refinement missing with CWC watches. Heck, even my Tudor BB54 and Pelagos 39 triumph over my CWC in terms of finishing, movements, bezel action, and so on; and it better, because I paid a premium for the Tudor watches. My CWC watch is a awesome, milspec diver, but the overall quality and feel of the watch is rudimentary and basic. The bezel and crown action, while not great, gets the job done - as does the cheap entry Swiss Rhonda quartz movement (accurate, but less accurate than higher end Swiss quartz movements). It is a proven, field tested design; therefore, that removes consumers being the beta testers of said design. I think that's what I like about it the most: it's proven in the field. And it is the watch that replaced the Rolex milsub, a legendary, rare, expensive grail of many.
I think personally if you reissue a watch of a certain erra ,keep the original markings the original cant be hard to replicate , the chinese are knocking milsub 5517s out near identical to the original .. for £750 ish for a cwc auto , for the general public side of things (none military) which i understand is a big part of cwc sales now . Copies of originals are flying off the shelves . Just a though ☺
I really like the look of the 1980 RN reissue. Not shure about that faux patina. Looks kind of odd on pictures. Maybe it is way better in real live. Laco does a wonderful job recreating the look of an aged issued watch with their "Erbstück" line. It takes them up to 3 days to age the watch manually. www.laco.de/en/watches/pilot-watch-original/pilot-watch-paderborn-erbstueck-42mm-automatic What I really would love to see from CWC is an automatic version of their SBS Diver. Yes historically incorect, but I would prefer an automatic movement. Great video. Thank you for posting.
I've read quite a lot of quality control issues on these. Bezels falling out over a few years time, no lume on hour markers amongst other quality issues.
I wore my Mk1 SBS quartz diver operationally for over 20 years, never had a problem, accurate to about 1 second per month, the battery lasts about 7 years.....a superb watch....
