I (and my gf) went to the Omega Boutique in Beverly Hills to see and try on the Speedy Pro for the first time. My first impression is that it is a decent watch but just not for me. I have been used to great watches in affordable budgets - so sometimes, anything expensive ends up as an anticlimax for me when I finally have it in my hands (all that money for just 'this'?!). But the Speedmaster Pro just failed to excite me - at any price level. Let me explain my immature thoughts.
As for the Speedy Pro, the size and fit for me is great (wears smaller than its 42mm would suggest) but the aesthetics/design is just too bland for me. I cannot imagine looking at this watch again and again and just staring at it. I understand it was intended to be that way and the design has continued since several decades, but it does nothing for me. The hands are simple needles, I absolutely hate the tachymeter (since I have no use for it and it just clutters the watch), and I'm not a big fan of the handwinding either. though I could live with it. The only thing I like is the depressed subdials and caseback with bragging rights. It was also thicker than I had imagined (probably true for all chronos but I expected it to be slimmer than regular Valjoux automatics).
IMO, there are Valjoux 775x watches with better finishing and style for much lesser. Look at the hands or airplane wing lugs on the Sinn 103, or look at the indices and the finishing on the Stowa 1938 (I will likely buy one of these two). They are just 'sexier'. My gf did not like the Speedy either (she doesn't like the Sinn too, but for some reason absolutely loves the Stowa) and I taker her opinion to an okay measure of public perception. Also I need to convince her in any case to make such a big purchase. This Speedmaster is not the perfect 'graduation' watch, on which I would spend all the money I saved from my stipend in grad school. I was wearing my C60 and honestly, I would prefer looking at the C60 with its excellent finishing and stylish hands/dial on my wrist rather than the Speedy Pro (which does not seem targeted to a younger crowd IMO). For me, the Speedy Pro is just a boring overpriced watch with an old movement.
I also saw some other watches but didn't try them on. Seamaster Pros, blue Aqua Terra, some POs, some Speedy variations, and in general, my opinion of most Omega watches is that they look better in photographs than in real life, and at their retail price are definitely overpriced. However, there are some Omegas, like some of the more expensive special edition Speedmasters which might be right for me e.g. Dark Side of the Moon (however, I didn't see one). I'm visiting Tudor next week and will let you know of my thoughts. Omega has definitely not convinced me to step out of the 1k budget for the first time. I suppose Tudor might do better for me, since I'm not a movement snob and do care more for better styling, design and materials used in the watch.
Some people will argue that you really need to live with the watch and get used to it to like it better. Maybe, but these watches cost a lot of money and they should generate that irresistible feeling. If they could not convince me on the first view, I would probably not want to keep looking at that moderately-good-looking thing on my wrist to get used to it. At this price, I expect a stunner. My thoughts may change as I grow older, but at this time, this is what I felt.
What are my choices now?
The two choices mentioned above, watches of two very different styles, are front-runners.
- Sinn 103 St Acrylic
- Stowa 1938 Chronograph Black Polished
I think I would like to have both in the long run, but don't know which one to go for first, since I can only afford one now. Ideally, it would be Sinn 103 since it a more functional all-round tool watch while Stowa is a more classy beautiful dressy watch. But I suspect Stowa might stop production of the 1938 chrono black, after they stopped producing the white version of the same watch recently. I'll give them a call and ask about this (as well as the expected wait times to get the watch).
I welcome all your comments, suggestions and advice.
