I actually thought of getting the Seiko version and decided to get a steeldive to see if I liked it. It came within 24 hours of ordering and I was blown away with what I got, especially as it only cost £104. I've decided to just stick with the Steeldive and save myself and not bother with the Seiko. It's the same story with a Seiko SKX007. I was looking to buy one of them but they are now any where from 300 to 500. Steeldive do their homage for £99 so Steel dive it is.
What is so disappointing with Seiko is the fact that even with their watches that cost over 1k, you still have issues with misaligned chapter rings or bezel inserts. Completely unacceptable.
I actually bought this Steel dive last week. I ordered it shortly after I watched your first review. Although I have a few watches, including a Seiko this one hasn't been off my wrist since it got delivered. I bought it from the dealer you recommended in South Wales, good guy, so I'm a happy man. Incidentally I read somewhere that a piece of sellotape will remove the sticker on the crown . I find your appraisal of watches in your revues really informative.
I have the Steeldive 6105-8110 with a sterile dial for 3 months now, and i absolutely like it. It runs less than 5sec a day slow and i have it on a shark mesh bracelet. It looks bold and vintage. But i bought a new SPB149 today and i do not regrat anything. There is a time and a place for both watches. BTW: You get the Sticker easily off, just put on some Sellotape on top of the crown and pull it off.
A friend organized a custom group buy of these for our watch group...I can't wait for them to come in - It looks like a great a watch. Thank you for a great review Kyle 😊👍
Picked up the blue one on the steel bracelet for $120. Fits fine on my 6.5 inch wrist with a weight of 160 grams. Very happy with over fit and finish. Last Seiko diver I got was $289 without sapphire crystal or ceramic bezel. These Chinese homages with NH35 movements are simply better bang for the buck Good review.
I agree - I just lost out on ebay for a used Seiko SRP Prospex Turtle @ £220. If I had won it I would have bought a sapphire crystal and a ceramic bezel for it taking it to around £300 for a used watch - Could almost buy three Steeldive's for around that amount!!! atb snack.
I have had one for six months or so, love it, keeps great times, about a + 2sec daily. It's fantastic! I also swim with it daily ! No issues. I have mine on a NATO strap.
5:28 you can usually get that blue film off the crown by sticking strong tape to it and peeling it off. I use a roll of carpet tape I have lying around, but I expect duct tape would work.
I recently bought the blue dial Steeldive "Willard", cracking watch, my only gripe was the supplied additional silicone strap was too wide for the case, seemed more like 21mm than the required 20mm and the accompanying spring bars were the same, I had to shave off a sliver off either side to get it to fit then decided the entire thing looked too blue and that they would not work together so I stuck the bracelet back on. As for the watch itself it's great.
What a fantastic bargain this Steeldive is, in my opinion it's looks it's best on a "waffle" style rubber strap, it looks great, wears very well and is supremely comfortable. The NH35A (ironically a Seiko movement)will give it's cousin in the re-issue z lesson in time keeping in many cases too. This is nicely finished watch, with some nice touches even if it cost double the price, but at just over £100 it's a steal. Great video thanks. Edit. Yes I would wear this, I do, got mine from Amazon £105 on the stainless steel bracelet with the same style rubber strap as a little bonus in the case for £105. Personally I think there's more than a little "emperor's new clothes" with watches for example I recently replaced the rotor on one of my Swiss movments. Pricing went as follows; generic part £10 genuine Swiss made part silver finish £15 genuine Swiss made part in gold £20 genuine Swiss made part with makers mark £209. The only difference between them other than the country of origin (& material) was some letters engraved on the rotor, it wasn't even a gold one. They were exactly the same and the bearing was identical just those engraved letters were costing an extra £194. Now I appreciate quality as much as the next man but if I paid an extra £194 for a handful of engraved letters I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror, and that my friends makes shaving very tricky! Maybe I got lucky but my SD1970 is spot on, my buddy sent back his £1,000+ Seiko because the bezel was misaligned. Buy the Steeldive because it's a very good watch for the asking price, the fact it closely resembles a neo classic is just gravy.
Good stuff Kyle. Blue tack will take the blue film off the crown, just press on and lift off mate. I got mine from steel Dive UK, ss bracelet and rubber strap for £110 delivered in 6 days. Absolutely love it. I've put mine on a waffle strap, looks perfect
I've just taken delivery of 2 Steeldive watches the Willard in bronze and the Tuna, both give me the look and quality I was looking for at a fraction of the price. I think I'll be buying more!
Even better still, I got mine a few weeks ago on Alibaba for 78euro/£70, that included delivery. Wearing mine right now. I put a waffle strap on it, I love it. No scratches on my case
@@_Snapper I got a few dollars off using a coupon but its still the same price. www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Ready-To-Ship-STEELDIVE-Brand-SD1970_62389761784.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.0.0.52b3643ar6IKC9
Great video and chimes completely with my own experience of the Steeldive SD1970. It's a great interpretation of the Willard, updated with a new movement and better lume. I have mine on an Uncle Seiko Waffle strap.
got one of these a few months ago and its bonkers how good a job they did on making a willard homage with this thing. Mine had multi color lume which doesnt appear to be the case with the one in the video. the blue tint on the face, really cool logo on the crown, and great movement are all very appealing for what was roughly $120 USD.
I bought a month ago an addiesdive captain's Willard homage version, what can I say except it's such a lovely and incredible watch. Look I would like to buy a proper branded Seiko but they are moving a lot of good stuff to the $1000 ceiling. They do that seeking their own interest. Chinese microbrands instead take notes and offer this amazing and irresistible watches with a Seiko movement. How on earth are you supposed to be so damn stupid and refuse that deal?
I just got the green one on a tropic strap in the mail yesterday, for father's day, it's a pretty good watch for the money. Looks just like the original. I'm satisfied.
I've been saying this for a while. Seiko have great design, but they are let down by poor quality components and QC issues. Especially now that they seem to be aiming for a higher price point on a lot of their watches now. There's lots of great homages of Seikos fromt he likes of Steeldive, Heimdallr, San Martin etc. I have quite a few of them myself. But I don't have any actual Seikos. The homages cost less and have better specs such as sapphire crystal, solid end links, milled clasps etc.
See i'm/was a Seiko Fanboy and have a fair few but just can't jusify paying the new high prices for basically the same spec watches they made 3 years ago. For the price of a mid range propex seiko i can get a Zelos with a ETA movement, Sapphire crystal and so on. If i want a Seiko i will get a copy now, unless it is second hand.
Could not agree more. I bought the Steel dive and I absolutely love it. It has not come off my wrist since I got it. A superb watch and the value for money is just ridiculous.
I agree have never bought a Seiko and doubt if I ever will .They are a better value proposition if you live in the States but we get totally screwed pricewise
@@GrimwoodWatchModding Yes their prices are not related in any way. to production cost it's all about what they can get away with .Sadly Seiko fan boys pay up like sheep.
Arr they have been clever with this because this is not a true 4 oclock case, the crown site more towards the 4:45 position below the 4 so everrything does line up ;). Seen it a couple of times on the older style homages now.
I purchased my first Seiko Willard watch back in 1970 at a cost of $80.00 NZ dollars. I loved the watch but sold 5 years latch for the price I purchased it. Now I'm much older and near 70 years of age and have to watch my pennies in retirement, I came across the Steel Dive watch for $220 NZ dollars and purchased it, I was stunned how good it was as the original Seiko 6015 is now over $1000 NZ. I am very please to have my old Willard homage back in my collection, as I now have 12 Seiko watches which I enjoy.
Steel dive is a savage watch .... it’s excellent, put it on a silicone woful strap , only problem I have with it is I don’t want to take it off ! Better than my citizen pro master ... witch I love but I am being honest.. the loom is savage, even shines throw my long sleeved T-shirt.... unbeatable
Be excited...be very excited... Waffles look the business on this watch! Not sure how relevant it is to you- but it was actually the Chocolate bar strap in the film, which Uncle Seiko do a copy of, as well as Waffles.
Great review. I got my first AE watch delivered last week an "Addies" pilot style dive watch, NH35 , sapphire crystal, absolutely perfect. I totally agree on the cost and I'm a Seiko fan! I tried to find a Gen 2 Monster over the past few months. Used of course. The beaten up ones were €500, didn't interest me and I saw pristine ones for up to €,1500! Crazy. So, I decided to order a Heimdallr red dial Monster instead. Still waiting for it, but saw good reviews so I'm hopeful it will be fine. Same movement, so not missing out there.
It's wierd tis because i have done lume shots with this camera in the past and been great, last 3 videos however something has changed s will need to have a look into it haha
Good review. These are great watches; bought one £105 off VJS; bezel stiff but use bowl of warm water trick; finish is equal/maybe better than my SRPA21 but 1/3rd of price; 2 sec per day; theres a few little details they could have done different but a 95% effort nonetheless, great VFM. BTW the crown and stem detached from the SRPA so I might not buy a Seiko again either!
Well, it arrived today…. The label being pissed on the the box was a sign… to be fair, it’s ok and I’m glad I didn’t spend a ton on it. The bezel sounds and feels plastic when you rotate it, the blue glass means it will be converted to a have a blue seiko face. To be fair I’ve had a 28 quid prospect turtle off wish that was better quality.
I've heard that if you want to remove the residue on the crown of the watch you should push a small piece of blu tack onto it, then pull it away. It might take a few goes for it to work.
got the 1970 and the 1977 Steeldive to see which i like the Best . . gave up on a Real Seiko when i checked out the reviews on utube and found these homages
There was a time when the only way to get the look and reliability of a Seiko dive watch was to buy the real thing, because Chinese knock-offs couldn't survive a shower, much less an ocean dive. Now that's changed. The Steeldive comes with 200 meters of water resistance,, a Seiko movement,, sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel and a comfortable steel band lasting as long as the watch. Given the choice between a Seiko reproduction for $1,200, or $67 for the Steeldive "homage," the choice is easy.
Some people are willing to pay £ 8,000 more for Rolex on the dial. I'm fine with paying considerably less of an uplift than that for Seiko on the dial.
And this is a very good point, and if im honest i'm am guilty of this with my more exspensive watches. But i don't know, Seiko just seem to be slowly moving away from what they where and just don't feel it. However thats just me :)
@@GrimwoodWatchModding They are on a journey. Like all companies threatened by the very low production costs of China, they are threatened and need to find the place in the market where they can thrive. It isn't down at the lowest end battling it out with companies that 'borrow' every part of their design and buy in the movements and have an R&D budget of nil, because effectively someone else did it for them. So they are on that journey. I have loved Seikos for a long time. I for one, won't go away from them at this part of the journey, because they haven't started blatantly 'having you over' like Rolex, for purchase costs, or even more egregiously mugging you for servicing, like Omega, or strangling parts supplies so that they can up their returns through other channels. No, I still have more than enough faith in Seiko to see me through this part of their journey.
The steeldive turtle and sqaule homages as some of Steel Dive's best watches, but I would avoid their Sub and Oris 65 Homages. The bezel actions on those is garbage (my Oris 65 bronze homage had its bezel fall of within an hour of wearing it, and I've been fighting them for weeks to get it fixed).
My Seiko SNK809 cost nearly $200 It is basically a tiny scout watch that runs at +27 second per day My Steeldive SD1970 cost $50 It is basically a beautiful homage to the Seiko Willard, has insanely bright lume, looks amazing and runs at -7 seconds per day. I dont trust big brands anymore. Especially when they are putting WORSE movements into their own watches than they are selling to third party Chinese watch companies.
I have four Steeldive homages,Blancpain fifty fathoms,Seiko 'Tuna',IWC pilot watch and the 'Willard' 6105.All are very impressive quality,so much so that I find it difficult to remove from my wrist once I put one on............................
I went with the PT5000 movement green version on a lighter-weight (t-word style) rubber strap. It's a bit top heavy on that strap and my wrist is between holes, so it's either a bit loose or tight. It keeps very good time and definitely fills my desire for the style of watch, especially since the specs are equivalent to the Seiko reissue, and it's a far better value. I can't stomach rewarding Seiko by buying an overpriced watch with poor QC. I'll probably look for a different strap or perhaps even a better bracelet than SteelDive's, which is frequently described as just OK for the money, but I'm very happy with the watch itself.
Steeldive wasnt my cup of tea until I learned about its specs. I just ordered one, and I believe I made a good decision to get the steeldive and mod it
I have the same one on a waffle strap at it looks amazing. Steel Dive are producing a high quality very good looking watch. Got mine in the Ali express sale for £78.00 on a steel bracelet. Absolute bargain.
I have 2 - excellent timekeepers - but I miss a day/date complication so I bought a Turtle SRP775 which I love. I asked Steeldive to add a Turtle homage with day/date as they would sell loads.
Late to the party. I keep trying to be ashamed of my off brand Willard, and I'm fully capable of brand snobbery, but I can't do it. The Steeldive has performed flawlessly, shrugs off hard use, and looks terrific. I had a Seiko SZSB that I liked and was reasonably priced under $300, but the Willard re-issue pricing just doesn't make sense nor honor the watch's history. I don't have an extra $800 worth of Seiko nostalgia lying around. Given the brand's legacy for value... who would?
thank you for that excellent review of the Steeldive (CPT. Willard). You covered everything I would have wanted to know about this watch. I think you are right about Seiko. Companies like Steeldive, Pagani, and the others are really improving their quality. Also, there are so many micro-brands that offer excellent quality. I have a titanium watch by MARATAC (SR-35). Excellent watch, lume better than a Seiko, running a Seiko NH-35 Automatic / Self Winding (Hacking movement ) 24 Jewel movement ( 21,600 Vibrations Per Hour ) movement. Than there is the issue with mis-aligned bezels. My SKX173 suffers from this. Seiko really need to re-evaluate themselves in my opinion. thanks again for the great video. I have just subbed to your channel.
Hello! I'm already buying this Impressive watch, I know it's not the Original, but it's looks like that!... Or better, what Lumen, whooo!!! But I have a Questions, How long will it take, or to stop to working? I just try to figure Cost/Benefits.... I would like think this watch is for a 10years or something like that,... I just was wondering that😎🤗😉thanks so much!!!
I have never heard that any component of the Nh35 differs from The Seiko movement! what are your references? Are you referring to the luxury movement In the 6105?
Maybe MM300 Dial ! The difference obviously being the date on the Steeldive and date date on Seiko, any chance you could send me a link for which chapter ring and dial would do on ebay ?
Hi grimwood, I've only just found your channel as I've been looking for info about swapping a seiko tuna street solar movement ant dial 4 o'clock crown into a willard case with 4oclock crown. My problem is I can't find a true 4 o'clock crown willar other than the tc9. I need the cushion case willard do you know of 1
Im patiently waiting for delivery of my cptn willard steel dive. Im sold. I currently sport my steel dive sumo, which outshines my actual seiko sumo. Im with Grimwood. Micro brands offer more seiko than seiko. I hope they dont catch on.
What are the chances of receiving this watch with no issues (misaligned chapter ring, misaligned hands, scratches, poor finish, bracelets that don't work, bracelets with screws falling out, etc)? Any bad reviews out there?
See this is the thing, i want to say with the one i have othe than the scratches it is perfect. However there will be people who would have got a dud. Thing is i have had more misalined chapter rings and bezel inserts on Seikos then i have had off these chinese homages. Yet again might just be luck.
I've ordered nearly 40 or so and sold them on eBay, I didn't find one with scratches or alignment issues. The chapter ring is plain black so there won't be any issues with it being misaligned. All have been great quality and have had no negative feedback on any of them. Buy through Alibaba directly and they will be about 88.00 usd shipped if you use the coupon. Soon I'm buying a reproduction 6105 dial for mine and installing it, should be sweet.
There both very similar. But if you care about warranty, I'd go with Heimdallr. They actually have warranty support and return addresses in US and EU to send your watches to. I've had the pleasure of dealing with Heimdallr's support in the past and the displeasure of currently dealing with SteelDive's right now.
