It's far from perfect but I like it a lot. The watch stands out and it is brave from Spinnaker to take the risk with the design of the dome and the size of this piece. I recently decided to stop buying watches for a while due to the amount of watches in my collection and to get the wife of my back. However, I couldn't help myself and my blue one is on its way. $550 is indeed too much but
I can attest that their Customer Services and 2 year warranty were 1st class. Sadly, I had a Tesei that had all sorts of issues (linked to the crown, I personally believe) and they were very good. I do admire them for making the Piccard: The orginal was even more ridiculous and they probably didn't sell many at over twice the price. At least it is original in a sea of bland alternatives.
Why moan about the crystal? The crystal is the whole point of the watch. The only reason to buy this watch is if you want that crazy high bubble of a crystal with all it's distortion. Your points about the date and the weight and the clasp are all fair points, but to moan about the crazy crystal on a watch bought for it's crazy crystal makes no sense - it's like moaning about a digital watch being digital.
I have the piccard in blue. It's a fantastic watch, I wore a Rolex Submariner for 14 years, loved it. I had a Breitling Emergency mission, and a Swiss Military 20,000ft model in blue. All great watches, all of them were very large except for the Rolex. I like big watches and this is a really good one for the price point. I recommend highly. If it said Corum on the dial you would have liked it.
Reviews are a good thing to a degree but don’t really matter if the person wearing the watch loves. Clasp I agree let’s down the rest of the quality of the watch overall but the crystal is a quirk which draws the attraction making it somewhat unique even the like of detail in the bezel gives a unique look. Been wearing for about 6 weeks and loving the weight of this watch with no issues and I usually wear large Breitling’s so guess it’s like a movies review I like the movie you didn’t
However, I couldn't help myself and my blue one is on its way. $550 is indeed too much but I bought mine with a good discount. Probably still a bit steep for what you get but I think it is different enough from my others watches in my collection to justify the purchase. I am just praying (although I am not religious, but I thought it a good and save idea) that my better half feels the same or I will be in a lot of trouble 😉 Very honest and good review which almost made me feel that I bought a turkey. I guess that I can always send it back in case I don't like it in the metal.
An incredible review, really appreciate that you provide a real critique (and not the typical RU-vid puff piece "review"). Agree with almost all your points, would be a solid Buy if ... Smaller, No-date, better bracelet (clasp, screws, articulation) ... I waffle about the movement, prefer an NH35 rather than a whirly-bird Miyota 9015 (or PT5000) but a higher grade Sellita or ETA for more money would be interesting, however I am not sure the Spinnaker branding has that association. Anyway, subscribed! 🙂
Fab in-depth review 👍, thanks. Was considering this piece because of the fascinating eccentric design - but now I am going to wait for the next iteration 😊. NH35s are getting more and more expensive though - and I think we need to get used to this, unfortunately 😔.
Obrigado pela análise, mas entendo que no tocante às dimensões, a proposta deste relógio é ser um relógio de dimensões grandes, pesado e o vidro é a cereja do bolo que dá essa personalidade ao relógio.
Excellent review, John. As you point out, Spinnaker has missed some of the essential features which would have made this piece a viable homage to the original Rolex Deepsea Piccard. Shame… I do think their original release of this piece had much more originality. Loved the review. Regards
Your comment about the sapphire misunderstands the Rolex homage nature of the piece. It has to be large. The size is nothing to do with the water resistant. It’s a statement watch, tall and heavy. That’s the point. You are using the wrong criteria to criticise it. Totally missing the point. It’s for fun and a conversation starter. It’s not for deep sea diving!
Love it but the clasp lets it down should of gone with the single clasps that all are starting to use, Phiobus, Zelos etc much more classy and gives it a better look of quality and worth an extra £50 or so in my opinion.
Finally, I liked how the screw down crown is examined. I have three watches with screw downs and the threads on all three crapped out. Therefore, I have no reason to trust them on any watch.
Solid milled clasps are made from a heavier gauge of stainless steel l than pressed metal clasps; therefore higher quality (machined, rather than pressed). Regards, #WR4K
Very nice presentation ✨🤛 I was wondering about this new release. How do you think it compares with their former Piccard limited edition in titanium with a Selitta mouvement and a better legibility (notably of the date), but solde with a leather strap (solving the issue with the stainless steel bracelet). It also was thicker I think: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XbPD7Kg-hFU.html
I saw an advertisement a week ago that piqued my interest. I thought, it's odd, but it might be nice. Nope. It's not. This is just... Stupid. It's not legible. Sorry Spinnaker, you have lost your mind.
A great idea let down by terrible execution. The crystal dome is too distorted, the case is too big, the green lume is too ugly and why is the bezel blacked out? Such a shame.
