semperfi55 4,707 Posted September 29, 2018 Of course I had to help myself to another Rolex...But the choice of rep Submariners, Datejusts, Day-Dates, Daytonas was too overwhelming and I wanted to save asking "Wat is best sub" for a rainy day when I want entertainment. So, I figured a Sky-Dweller will do for now. The Watch Ahhh such a divisive watch. I've seen roughly equal numbers of people who love and hate it online. Unlike the unifying rally against Hublot or Tagheuer. Another good reason to have a look at the Sky-Dweller and see what the fuss is all about. The Sky-Dweller is a newcomer compared to the other popular collections, unveiled in Basel World 2012, this watch houses a very complicated and impressive movement. The time, GMT time, date and month could be adjusted by using the crown and bezel. While some would consider the watch ugly, I'm sure almost everyone could agree that the gen movement is a masterpiece! The Sky-Dweller comes in various colours and materials, standard Rolex combinations. I decided to go for a rep of the white gold case black dial version. RRP for this model: GBP 10,600 The Rep I bought the Sky-Dweller from Reg while looking for the Snowtrooper. Top marks to the member who can shoe-horn "Reg" into the name "Sky-Dweller"! After doing some research, I knew that there were no reps with the full functionality of the gen. Furthermore, I'm not the sort to pay 400-500 pounds for the "like gen" end links or lugs. With Reg, you get the most watch for your money, and this is no exception I paid GBP 108 for this beauty... Thankfully I have yet to develop the any level of attention to detail. To my untrained eye, this is good enough for me. My wallet approves! Dimensions The gen case diameter is 42mm, case height 14mm. My rep measured out to be: Case Diameter: 41.6mm Case Height: 12.9mm Lug Width: 20mm Lug-to-Lug: 50.3mm The gen thickness surprised me when I first found out about it. That's pretty chunky (for me). Dial The Sky-Dweller has a busy dial for a Rolex, let's go through the various features The coronet and brand name looks decent. The triangle... apart from reminding me of road hazards is actually an arrow pointing to the GMT hour. The gen arrow has a sharper red and better defined colour borders between the white and red....on close up. At a normal distance, that difference is indiscernible. Almost perfectly aligned rehaut... The white squares is actually the month indicators. More on that later... The date is pretty shit, but acceptable for a cheap rep. First of, the magnification is off. And I suspect the DWO is a good distance away from the date window, which would explain why the date look very "far away". Unless you're looking at the date at right angles, the cyclops pretty much obscures the date. The cyclops is also highly reflective, which further obscures the date when you're reading it. The usual essay on Rolex dials. Only Rolex can get away with such a blob of text on their dials... There's even a serial number on the rehaut. The LEC is very visible on the photo. It's not obvious under normal indoor lighting conditions. But definitely more visible than the subtler LEC in gens/high-end reps. I'm not sure if there are any reps of the Roman numeral hour indices, but I feel that would be too much on an already busy dial. The stick markers works well here. Another delightful feature is the hands: cutout holes so that you can see the GMT hour wheel. Simple yet genius I'm very please that this feature was repped. The hour wheel font is close to gen. I say close because I can't say for sure as I'm terrible with comparing fonts, @Glaude would know Always love these low angle shots Movement The movement is a Seagull ST-3855. Here you can have a nice pic of the case back. I cursory google search yielded little results about this movement. I know of the ST6322 , ST1622 and DG3804B. The GMT can be set independently which is brilliant. It is visibly a low beat movement, based on the movement of the second hand. If you squint really hard, you could see the movement underneath the caseback. Case & Bezel Lovely Oystersteel Practically mirrors. The long and straight lugs increases the wrist presence of this 42mm case watch. It looks just about ok on my small wrist. The bezel is fixed, unlike the gen. The gen bezel plays a role in the quickset and adjustments. Bracelet & Clasp Side links are brushed with polished midlinks. The bracelet is comfortable enough. With the clasp having the typical engravings... Functions In the gen, the bezel (aka Ring Command) is rotated to switch to different quickset modes. Very impressive stuff. Hodinkee has a good article explaining this with some extra info. I'll let them do the job: Called RING COMMAND, it is the bezel that allows the wearer to set the date, local time, and reference time, all from the crown. There in fact three different positions on the rotating, fluted bezel, and that allows the crown to have only one setting position. This patented bezel control ring consists of 60 individual components, the heart of which is a double cam and levels that engage the various gear trains inside the movement. With the fluted nature of the bezel, few would have any idea that the bezel has been turned to set the date, local, or reference time respectively. This is super clever, and arguably the most impressive attribute of the Sky-Dweller. Of course, my rep bezel is pretty stationary. The little windows by the hour indices are month indices. 12 months to 12 hour markers. In the gen, a red square moves from window to window as the months progress. From Hodinkee: The annual calendar inside the Sky-Dweller is based on a mechanism called SAROS, and its genius lays in its simplicity. Only two gear ratios and four gear wheels were added to the traditional Rolex date calendar system to make for a full annual calendar (which, by definition, requires re-setting but once per year - at the end of February). Called SAROS after the Greek term for the 18 year cycle between the sun, earth, and moon that is responsible for both lunar and solar eclipses the Sky-Dweller's annual calendar mechanism is designed around a fixed planetary gear wheel (ie the sun) at the center of the movement. A satellite wheel (aka the earth) engages the planetary wheel in one month, driven by the date disc. The satellite wheel (the moon) is fitted with four fingers, for the four 30-day months (April, June, September, and November). At the end of each 30 day month, one of the satellite's finger receives an extra impulse from the date-change mechanism, which causes the date to jump two days with in a few milliseconds. The month is indicated via a small rectangular aperture on the outside of the hour track, with January being representing by 1 o'clock, February by 2 o'clock, etc. As you would expect in the rep, the red square stays on August forever. It'll be correct for a month every year On the rep, the crown has the usual functions. First position, rotate clockwise to set date, anti-clockwise to set GMT time. Second position to set time. Pretend to rotate the bezel to pretend you have the gen. Some weak lume on the rep, didn't expect it to have lume anyway! Probably why you're leaving the reps for gens eh, @McGilli? There is no lume for GMT time but that would probably be too confusing if they did that. Accuracy COSC certification for this watch. You will never miss a flight with this bad boi. Overall Personally, I find this watch, in this specific combination to be aesthetically pleasing. The gold versions with roman numerals looks all over the place and I can see why people would find it ugly. This specific rep has a good GMT function and sleek dimensions all for a reasonable price. So far no reps have a functioning month indicator, so why spend any more than this for the Sky-Dweller rep? If you have to get the rep, just go for this version! Just bear in mind the date is not very legible from most angles due to a "deep" DWO. Again the LEC is too visible under photo lighting conditions Final wristshot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Glaude 1,615 Posted September 29, 2018 Another nice review, my friend ! Yeah you are shit for fonts, but that's why I'm here That's a lot of watch for the money ! A bit sad that the month indicator doesn't change, even if it was with only the crown that would have been great ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Svenborg 1 Posted September 29, 2018 Thanks for this very detailed feedback on this amazing watch. I’d been looking at this watch for some time and couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. A couple of weeks ago I was at Rolex as I was looking for a Date Just with a blue face, when I spotted this beast. You are right, it is big and impressive. The one they had was in full Everose with a offwhite face. I had to see what it looks like on my wrist. I have thin wrists so it is very bulky, but a very impressive watch. So I added it to the bucket list. It is going to take me a while to buy that exact version. Maybe not even in this lifetime. The rep you show, at that price is very impressive. I do like it in a lighter face. It isn’t as powerful as the black face. There is a lot going on on the Sky Dweller face. Thanks again, it looks great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandonm2323 0 Posted September 29, 2018 Great write up! Always wanted to see a review of the rep since it’s been a grail. For the money it’s surprisingly good, now if you buy 11 more you can wear it year round ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semperfi55 4,707 Posted September 29, 2018 46 minutes ago, Glaude said: Yeah you are shit for fonts, but that's why I'm here People like us keep people like you in employment 48 minutes ago, Glaude said: A bit sad that the month indicator doesn't change Agreed. 18 minutes ago, Svenborg said: The one they had was in full Everose with a offwhite face. Went to have a look. That is incredible.... 19 minutes ago, Svenborg said: I do like it in a lighter face. Reg (Narikaa) has a few other colour options of the Sky-Dweller if you feel like getting a cheap fix 20 minutes ago, Svenborg said: I have thin wrists so it is very bulky, That's the problem for me too! I felt a gen 41mm Datejust was too big for me to ever be happy with it but a rep 42mm Sky-Dweller I feel comfortable buying it knowing I won't regret it a week later! 18 minutes ago, Brandonm2323 said: now if you buy 11 more you can wear it year round ! This guy. Either you're a genius or you work for the TDs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
McGilli 1 Posted September 29, 2018 1 hour ago, semperfi55 said: As you would expect in the rep, the red square stays on August forever. It'll be correct for a month every year Nooooooooo! I genuinely thought you would say it works - and then I would have been extremely impressed, and would have given all of my Rolex watches away for free just so I could buy this one. But - it isn't so I'm going to keep all my watches. So. You're in Death Valley, driving alone down the highway, when you see a dark patch on the road - could it be oil? Water would never survive... And then you see the dark shapes in the distance. "What are those" you ask out loud. There's definitely three of them.... -- I've never seen a Sky Dweller before that I know of - and the functions of the gen are eccentric enough for me that I'd enjoy playing with one. FOr the $ you paid - I'd say it's appropriate. The question I have these days is..... With all your new watches.... How much wrist time will this watch actually get over the next month? 21 minutes ago, Brandonm2323 said: For the money it’s surprisingly good, now if you buy 11 more you can wear it year round ! Ha! @semperfi55 No! Just mod this one 12 times a year!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semperfi55 4,707 Posted September 29, 2018 29 minutes ago, McGilli said: So. You're in Death Valley, driving alone down the highway, when you see a dark patch on the road - could it be oil? Water would never survive... And then you see the dark shapes in the distance. "What are those" you ask out loud. There's definitely three of them.... -- Plonking film references in other people's reviews.... Man, I predict a tough competition coming soon... 31 minutes ago, McGilli said: How much wrist time will this watch actually get over the next month? Not a problem. I wear watches on all five limbs Fifth one wears the Soviet watches because they are much smaller.... 33 minutes ago, McGilli said: Just mod this one 12 times a year!!! But my new watch box has 12 slots... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandonm2323 0 Posted September 29, 2018 @McGilli You’re right there, just pop the crystal off and some red sharpie and whiteout should do the trick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
McGilli 1 Posted September 29, 2018 26 minutes ago, semperfi55 said: Not a problem. I wear watches on all five limbs Fifth Limb There you go - Brand name for a new watch company.... They should work closely with Ball watches.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semperfi55 4,707 Posted September 29, 2018 1 minute ago, McGilli said: Fifth Limb There you go - Brand name for a new watch company.... They should work closely with Ball watches.... When they say the Holy Trinity of Watches, they refer to a collection consisting of one Fifth Limb and two from the other brand.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAJ75 922 Posted September 30, 2018 Great job on the review @semperfi55 One of the best references from the current Rolex stable for me. I do think with the recent advances in things like the 4130 Daytona movement it would be nice to see a higher spec replication of this piece..... All the best & keep up the solid work. Mark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semperfi55 4,707 Posted September 30, 2018 2 minutes ago, MAJ75 said: I do think with the recent advances in things like the 4130 Daytona movement it would be nice to see a higher spec replication of this piece..... Indeed! It's all based on demand I suppose, Subs, Daytonas, Daydates, Datejusts being more popular. Maybe they'll get there eventually.... Or the effort to replicate a unique movement is just not worth the hassle! But then again, the lack of a super-rep Speedmaster is an anomaly in the market forces theory....as @GingerBlubba has recently mentioned. 4 minutes ago, MAJ75 said: All the best & keep up the solid work. Cheer mate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
