The Longines HydroConquest Automatic Chronograph

Posted by justhideandwatch | 42-43mm watches, Chronograph Watches, Dive Watches, Longines, Watches, Watches under $3,000 | Monday 8 September 2008 4:00 pm

This piece was passed on to its new owner last week, but here are some photos of this very nicely priced piece!

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I really like the silver embossed bezel and the silver face. The red chrono pointers really stand out against all that silver.

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The clasp is very nice, and the bracelet has a very solid feel to it. The polished center links look great, and I really like the fact that the bracelet does not taper in width from the lugs to the clasp.

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My only beef with this watch may actually be a compliment. The tolerance between the pieces that make up the clasp are so tight, that it can be difficult to get the clasp to open up while on the wrist.

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However, at an MSRP of $2100, and having only one major fault that I can see, this watch is a hell of a value!

The Alpina Avalanche Extreme Regulateur PVD 48mm

Posted by justhideandwatch | 47mm+ watches, Alpina, Watches, Watches under $3,000 | Saturday 16 August 2008 4:00 pm

It’s been quite some time since I got rid of this watch, but there isn’t much out there written about this watch, so I thought it would be a good idea to give my thoughts on this particular piece. The watch has a very sporty look with the PVD finish, the rubber strap, and the red accents on the black dial.

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At 48mm, this is a large watch. However, the case only sits 12.5mm tall, so it is relatively thin. The rubber strap is contoured to hug the wrists, but since the case is so broad, the strap tends to bow outward if you don’t have broad wrists to match. The dial has a great triangular pattern texture on it, and there is an hours subdial at the 10 o’clock position, and the seconds hand subdial is at the 6 o’clock position. Reading this watch takes a little getting used to at first, but it’s a cool complication and a great conversation piece.

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The caseback features a very large viewing window, which showcases the nicely decorated ETA 6497 manual wind mechanical movement.

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All things considered, this is a pretty cool watch, but I ended up getting rid of it because the 48mm case just never quite sat right on my 7″ wrist. I hear that Alpina recently released a 42mm version of this watch, so I may have to grab one of those sometime soon.