elmerlo 0 Posted September 3, 2016 After the IWC Big Pilot Petit Prince and 500901 and the Hamilton Khaki, it was about time to get a hand wound Pilot watch. Preferably German. Dug deep into the various companies: Laco and Stowa went quickly out of the window for their prices, a bit high for my taste, then I turned my attention to Archimede. The Pilot 45 HandWound has almost everything I needed, but it was still quite high at 720 € and the 10,5 mm thickness made me think too much... Large watches so thin...It looks like you have a frittata on your wrist Then I asked myself: "what about Steinhart?" You guys here always talk about the Ocean One Vintage/Military/GMT/Titanium and bla bla bla. Hey, I have news for you: they make Pilots as well! :P Nav B-Uhr 44 Handaufzug (you can have a 47 as well). And, are you kidding me? An ETA 6497 decorated at 450 Euros? 14,5mm thick? Bought immediately! The buying experience is very "German": don't expect nothing more than buy-receipt-tracking. You write them? No answer. I saw this coming as some guys at watchuseek freaked out after sending mails in late august which were not answered. I kept my calm and waited. After one week Fedex came in and, yeah, this is a gorgeous watch: top quality, top lume, a stunning decorated movement, soft yet thick leather. Lume is at the same level of Seiko/KeNny/Hamilton_Frogman. You can't go wrong with this. So far I had only chinese 6497s, which are quite crappy to wind: too stiff, they jump out of gear... The ETA is a complete different story: a pleasure to handle (and a great sight indeed...) Even if the leather of the strap is one of the best I experienced, it does not taper, so at the moment I don't like it. I replaced it with a Rios1931 Aviator "closed loop" buffalo strap, to have an even greater "vintage" look. That strap is awesome: very soft and with a stunning design for a ridiculous price. Well, enough words, on to the pics: Finally, the obvious comparison: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lmvfernandes 365 Posted September 3, 2016 Great review, i'm thinking to get one of these. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BM284 1,518 Posted September 3, 2016 Thanks for posting that - Great review , I've been looking at the steinhart collection of late - and my have to sell a few to fund a purchase. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MDK 0 Posted September 3, 2016 Fantastic bang for buck the Steins, i had one similar and a buddy has the ocean one Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MDK 0 Posted September 3, 2016 The buying experience is very "German": don't expect nothing more than buy-receipt-tracking. You write them? No answer. I saw this coming as some guys at watchuseek freaked out after sending mails in late august which were not answered. I kept my calm and waited. Hmm, my buddy who has the Ocean One, emailed them on two separate occasions, once for a replacement bracelet and once for a new bezel insert, each time he got a fast and friendly response, maybe the Watchuseek chappie was just bad luck. Anyway, nice watch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted September 4, 2016 The buying experience is very "German": don't expect nothing more than buy-receipt-tracking. You write them? No answer. I saw this coming as some guys at watchuseek freaked out after sending mails in late august which were not answered. I kept my calm and waited. Hmm, my buddy who has the Ocean One, emailed them on two separate occasions, once for a replacement bracelet and once for a new bezel insert, each time he got a fast and friendly response, maybe the Watchuseek chappie was just bad luck. Anyway, nice watch Yeah, that is for something which actually _needs_ an answer and their customer care seems to be up to the job. I guess they simply ignore the emails like "I have made the order but didn't receive shipping notification..." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bash64 17 Posted September 11, 2016 I have an OVM V1 but it does not get much wrist tiome and would love to have one of these instead - very nice review!! BTW - great strap choice, I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted September 12, 2016 I have an OVM V1 but it does not get much wrist tiome and would love to have one of these instead - very nice review!! BTW - great strap choice, I think. Thanks! For that price I bought another (black) Rios1931 Aviator strap, and I am considering to replace my BP ones with those... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
