scorpion 0 Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) BARBOS MARINE BLUE 1000M AUTO DIVER REVIEW After being very impressed with the built quality of the Barbos Seamaster I bought a few months ago I decided to bid for their similar automatic model. Its called the Marine Blue and can be bought with a blue or black dial. I went for Black as my Seamaster was a blue dial and I wanted something different. You can read my Seamaster review here:- http://www.rwg.bz/bo...showtopic=94300 About Barbos….. Barbos are a Germany company but these are most likely made in China to Barbos specs as the price is very cheap given the quality. Made in Germany they would be 5x the price. Primarily based on ebay they also have their own website in Germany and all watches are shipped from Germany not China. They have been around for quite a few years now and have various older obsolete models plus a new chrono just released. They offer a 2 year written warranty on all watches and ship them in a decent mini aluminum flight case with an outer box and bubble wrapped in a larger cardboard box. Specs on the Marine Blue…… The solid 316L stainless steel case Miyota 8215 automatic movement day, hours, minutes, seconds Screwed + signed crown Screwed case-back with Barbos engraved logo Rotating bezel Water resistant 3300ft / 1000 m Luminious indexes, hours-and-minutes hand Luminious figures Automatic helium valve at " 9 " Black Silicone Rubber Strap Case diameter: 46,0 mm Case thickness: 16,0 mm Weight: 156,0 gram CONSTRUCTION + FINISH..... Very solidly built case with good high quality brushed stainless steel to front and sides. Deep dished case back with good engraving. BEZEL...... Uni directional with deeply engraved markings, nice lumed pearl at 12 "o" clock. It is solid with no play major play. 0 to 15 has a nice red paint fill and rest has black filling in the deep engraving. DIAL..... Very nice clean simple black dial. Markings are very clear batons with a double size at 12 marker. Inner bezel has fine white minute markings with 15m intervals in white numbers. There is a Barbos logo in silver that is much smaller than it looks in the photos. "Marine Blue" is it in underneath in white text. Lower part has Automatic Professional 1,000m / 3300ft in white text. WATER RESISTANCE..... Very solid construction and heavy duty crown and case back give it a 1000m WR rating, it has a signed certificate saying it was examined for 100ATM (1000M) water resistance. HANDS..... Big easily legible hands that have an unusual design to them but look good. They have a part skeleton design with lume at the ends including seconds hand. LUME...... Hands and dial lume are a nice green color. I wore it around the house for about an hour and it was glowing nicely. Powering it up with a LED bulb and its nuclear for a short time then settles to a decent legible glow. Not up to Seiko Monster standards but not much is in this price range and its more than acceptable. The Seamaster was similar and it glows for 8 hours so I expect this will be the same. ACCURACY..... To soon to tell, it has a decent smooth sweep and whilst the Miyota 8215 is not cutting edge it’s a good solid proven movement and should prove accurate enough for me as I rarely wear the same watch for more than a day. STRAP..... Supplied on a nice silicone black rubber strap with a nice large Barbos logo brushed buckle. Its tapers down from 22mm to 20mm and feels good but not quite as chunky as the Seamaster one. I am not a big fan of rubber and tried to put the Seamaster on a metal bracelet but getting end links to fit the massively thick case was very hard and despite a lot of time and two attempts I was never happy with it as it has a curved case where end links fit. The Marine Blue however has a flat part where the end links fit and therefore does not need a curved end link piece. So I ordered a cheap strap from ebay and fitted it as can be seen in later photos. PRESENTATION..... It comes in an outer Barbos logoed white high quality box, inside is a very solid aluminum case with a nice cushion inside. There is a warranty for 2 years and instructions for the Miyota movement. The packing is very good for such a low price watch. It was delivered in a larger out cardboard box well protected by bubble wrap. The case back and crystal both had protective plastic covers. PRICE..... Barbos are stacking them high and selling them cheap and never give out a bullshit RRP like Invicta and lots of others. This model sells here in the UK off ebay direct from Barbos in Germany on buy it now for between £129 and £165 and the price varies daily around these figures. However if you do a bit of research you will find that Barbos sells a few on its EU Euros only website on an auction basis. You do have to pay in euros but paypal takes care of that and I bagged this one for just £82.58 plus £11.15 for delivery so to my door it cost £93.63. OVERALL..... I must say at the price I bagged this one for it’s a bargain. It really looks solid and especially good with the new bracelet which gives it a proper Tool Diver look. Even in super zoomed macro shots the printing on the dial and lume is flawless as is its finish. It’s not a brand most people have heard of but then so are many of the other micro divers. I am still amazed at just how good this is for the minimal spend and can’t think of anything else of this style and quality at less than £100. Barbos could sell this for a lot more but seem intent on selling lots for less money so I guess they must buy them in bulk to get price so low and still make a profit. For me it’s easily worth the highest price of £165.00 and I am very happy with it. [/indent] I hope you enjoy this review and welcome any comments. Scorp Edited March 5, 2015 by scorpion Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baxter 6 Posted March 5, 2015 pretty sweet that scorp .... especially for that price .. enjoy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andyboy 5 Posted March 5, 2015 Great review watch and bracelet look solid. nice pick up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sbryantgb 0 Posted March 5, 2015 Based on your reviews I am already considering my second Barbos purchase, and I have yet to receive my first one!!! I do think the Marine Blue is the more handsome of the two. The braclet you purchased for the Blue, do you think it would work with the Seamaster? If so could you point me in the sellers direction. Thanks for two great reviews Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) Based on your reviews I am already considering my second Barbos purchase, and I have yet to receive my first one!!! I do think the Marine Blue is the more handsome of the two. The braclet you purchased for the Blue, do you think it would work with the Seamaster? If so could you point me in the sellers direction. Thanks for two great reviews Steve I am not sure it would work. For me i dislike gaps on where it joins the watch and the Seamaster has a round case so it looks odd with a straight end link. Curved end links just don't fit it right as its to thick see pic below. The Marine Blue has a flat end so a flat end link fits it fine. I have put my Seamster back on the OEM rubber. Edited March 5, 2015 by scorpion Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike on a bike 0 Posted March 5, 2015 Nice, Seiko like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sbryantgb 0 Posted March 5, 2015 I see your point, cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted March 6, 2015 Nice, Seiko like. Agree Mike the look is simular but Barbos is much larger. It makes my Orange Monster look tiny. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike on a bike 0 Posted March 6, 2015 That maybe a plus or minus depending on taste. For myself with over 8.5 inch wrist can wear anything, a large circumference doesn't bother me but height sometimes does. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meenahman 0 Posted March 6, 2015 Oh my I love this May need to get on it :0 I tried not to buy a watch till pay day:( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NFleischer 4,355 Posted March 6, 2015 looks good mate- very good deal! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
