C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by albionphoto »

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 6:29 pm I wonder, just a little idle speculation and a rhetorical question...

If Bremont had stuck it on one of their watches would everyone now be all over it? Or am I being a little unfair?
If Rolex had done it the whole world would be saying it was the most innovative thing ever. Omega had it on a very niche watch and everyone forgot. But if the crown put it on a watch then all of the YouTubers would be sacrificing their children to get one.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by nowttolose »

A good job Rolex put that huge depth railing on the DSSD. Comes in handy when I’m diving the Mariana Trench
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by A1soknownas »

Innovation in my view if it is a choice between the two. I would class it as more of an innovation of the design rather than a technical one as it already exists elsewhere.

It is funny that something that is now more balanced looks odd when compared to the current unbalanced watch design with a crown pertruding on one side. I suspect most would quickly get used to it though.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by JAFO »

Maybe it depends how often you need to use the crown. If it's a one watch, so it's always wound, theres no issue. if you have to keep popping the crown to set the watch up, though, it might become irritating. Is it screw down as well as pop out?
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by FloridaPhil »

Adding a feature for the sake of adding a feature IMO. Crown too big? Move it to 2 or 4. 'Problem' solved.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by A1soknownas »

FloridaPhil wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 1:36 pm Adding a feature for the sake of adding a feature IMO. Crown too big? Move it to 2 or 4. 'Problem' solved.
Horse not fast enough, get a quicker horse! What about an alternative, rather than the easy option.

I do get your point :lol: but it may be that innovation has to be led from somewhere and surely CW should take some credit for that. I am no blind CW advocate, quite the opposite and they seem to get such a hard time on occasion no matter how undeserved. Maybe it won't take off but in years to come there may be more of these designs where there is a perceived benefit to not having the crown external at all times.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by kidevil »

It’s the same crown used on the Omega Aqua Terra Ultra Light, by which CW was inspired.

A hidden crown makes the watch case look more streamlined and more “sporty”. It’s more of a design feature than a practical innovation.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by CW257 »

A1soknownas wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 1:10 pm
It is funny that something that is now more balanced looks odd when compared to the current unbalanced watch design with a crown pertruding on one side. I suspect most would quickly get used to it though.
I find this amusing too. ‘Balance’ on a watch seems to have little to do with actual symmetry and more to do with our expectations on what’s normal. Without wanting to start yet another discussion about the logo, I’ve seen a few people describe the placement of the logo at the 9 as ‘unbalanced’, whereas actually you could argue that logo at 9 and date window at 3 is more balanced than the usual 12/3 placements.

For what it’s worth, I do think it’s a gimmick, but no more so than something like a display case back, or the C60 sapphire for example.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by kidevil »

redmonaco wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 10:41 am I think the crown is a cool innovation/gimmick. Could be seen as useful but who cares, I like the gimmick value (a bit like a helium escape valve when I don't even go down to the deep end of the swimming pool!!!

The cut=outs on the dial are another story though. I really don't like them, they serve no possible purpose that I can think of, and I think they look awful. I'd never want to own one because of them...
I think that’s because they tried to make the watch look like a sports car, with streamlined body and cut out grill.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Caller »

Of course it's a gimmick. But it would neither be a must have, nor stop me buying a watch with it. I hope it's reliable and I hope the crown can be kept in its normal position, if desired, which I would probably want. It's hardly a 'one step forward' for watches, is it.

I'm not sure why Bremont have been mentioned, I don't think it's on their to do list at all. Probably nobody else's either.

This is about a crown on a CW, it's hardly 'haute horology'.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Caller wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 3:29 pm I'm not sure why Bremont have been mentioned, I don't think it's on their to do list at all. Probably nobody else's either.
Mea culpa. I was suggesting, perhaps a little unfairly, I don’t know, that had another company than CW produced it, it might well have met with a more favourable reception from certain areas of the forum. I chose Bremont as an example of a brand that seems to be able to do no wrong.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by strapline »

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 5:52 pm Tell you what, guys. If you think it’s cool, buy it. If you think it’s a gimmick, don’t buy it.

Me? They can have my £1.3k for one on a Ti bracelet as soon as they bring out a blue dial. I think it’s great. :D
Going slightly off topic, Steve, I'm inclined to agree with you. I think it would would look spectacular with the ocean blue coloured dial of the SC, particularly as an all Ti watch.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Tortoise »

It's more innovation than gimmick IMO as it serves a purpose.
I can certainly relate to the crown digging into the back of the hand whilst exercising or riding..

Whether it's innovative or not seems to be up for debate as others have commented ... because it's been done before; ... because the actual crown is manufactured by a third party; etc..

The key thing to my mind is that it is actually functional rather than just being there for show.. and surely an appropriate feature for a #GODO watch?

What is curious, to my mind, (and as others have noted) is the fact that the shape of the watch looks "odd" with the crown retracted even though it's more symmetrical. Just goes to show how much we are conditioned to normalise the asymmetric "conventional" watch configuration. :-k
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by JAFO »

Similar to seeing the crown other than 3 o'clock. Looks odd, too.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by redmonaco »

kidevil wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 2:43 pm
redmonaco wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 10:41 am I think the crown is a cool innovation/gimmick. Could be seen as useful but who cares, I like the gimmick value (a bit like a helium escape valve when I don't even go down to the deep end of the swimming pool!!!

The cut=outs on the dial are another story though. I really don't like them, they serve no possible purpose that I can think of, and I think they look awful. I'd never want to own one because of them...
I think that’s because they tried to make the watch look like a sports car, with streamlined body and cut out grill.
:shock: :shock: :shock: 8) 8) 8)
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