Sterile, homage, fake or just god damn fine!

I tried posting this somewhere else without much in the way of a response. Either a dull subject or got missed because of the high traffic on the sit that day! I was wondering what people thought of sterile, non-branded watches? I've never personally gone for homages like Steinharts, just not my thing though I don't fault people who like them. I've never previously been that interested in divers either.  But of late, I am attracted by modded sterile divers, by the likes of Yobokies and Dagaz.

There are also companies such as Parnis who make sterile homages, and these watches tend to be reasonably well regarded too. Then there are makes like Alpha and Corgeut who make either steriles or homages though create a bit of debate because they're considered to have crossed a grey line which skirts a bit close to the replica market.  What makes the likes of modded divers and Steinharts so well thought of and relatively accepted in comparison to the companies like Alpha and Corgeut? Where is the line is which crossed between the two in terms of acceptability?

There are some pictures below of a modded Seiko with a Yobokies Black Bay style dial and a Tudor Black Bay. I must admit, I personally prefer the modded Seiko, either way two great watches.

an endless debate i think, but first and foremost i think we should all condemn fakes ........PERIOD !
as for Homages my opinion is that all watches are Homages, all styles started somewhere.
look at Mercedes hands.......as far as i am concerned they say : ROLEX and yet they are used by a multitude of brands so does that make them all Homages or just followers of fashion?
the two watches @Elwood shows are beautiful IMO and clearly the Seiko Mod is going for a certain look, but is it wrong ?  personally i dont think so......it wont affect the sales of Tudor or Seiko for that matter and again IMO i think its a positive advert for both brands.
i have looked at these cases for a while now as i really like the style and there is nothing to stop anyone fitting a totally different style of dial and as such creating a unique watch

i put this together a while ago, the origins of the case are clear, but its obvious its not a know branded watch


i think the arguments will go on forever mostly perpetuated by people with the "real" watches scared somehow that their precious wrist candy is somehow being devalued........i believe its the opposite;)

Bruce, I agree, fakes are wrong, end of story as far as I'm concerned. I personally think, whatever on life it relates to, styles of influence are copied until they morph into something new. Just part of a natural evolutionary process

there is a long running [ and a bit boring ] argument that the Fifty Fathoms came out before the Rolex Sub and if that is the case then the Sub is a Homage , BUT .........who cares

Yep, exactly who cares. I'd have one of each anyway! Going back to the pictures I posted, I'd have the Seiko mod over the Tudor. There's something about an unbranded watch which really appeals to me, it could be that no one other than a real aficionado would have a clue what I was wearing

Elwood wrote:

This is a beauty very appealing to the eye I would have that over the Tudor.

Fakes are just wrong and shouldnt be allowed but I can not see a problem with a Homage watch , I fully suport talented people that are able to buy a sterile watch and change its appearance to how they want it something I will hopefully have the confidence to do one day .

If you do get confident enough to do a job like this, you'll have to do one for me too!

Unbranded homage you say? Say hello to the Sharkey Apocolypse!

It's built on a Seiko NH35 movement (I think that's what it's called). It's very comfy to wear, it's plenty accurate and the quality of it is surprising given the cost. Would I prefer to have a 6105-8110 original? You bet. But if I did I might still have one of these as a beater.

Pip wrote:Unbranded homage you say? Say hello to the Sharkey Apocolypse!

It's built on a Seiko NH35 movement (I think that's what it's called). It's very comfy to wear, it's plenty accurate and the quality of it is surprising given the cost. Would I prefer to have a 6105-8110 original? You bet. But if I did I might still have one of these as a beater.

thats a candidate for a seiko dial if ever i've seen one or a Dagaz or even Yobokies.......i am drooling at the thought

If I put a Seiko dial on it doesn't it then become a fake...? I think people have bought them to mod though, there are some cool ones out there, like you say Yobokies and the like.
I quite like the Sharkey to be honest (and my 5yo boy thinks it's way cool to have a shark on the dial) and have just ordered a tuna from them too. Same NH35 movement so should be just as nice.

Pip

Pip wrote:If I put a Seiko dial on it doesn't it then become a fake...?  I think people have bought them to mod though, there are some cool ones out there, like you say Yobokies and the like.
I quite like the Sharkey to be honest (and my 5yo boy thinks it's way cool to have a shark on the dial) and have just ordered a tuna from them too. Same NH35 movement so should be just as nice.

Pip

where did you get it....i would buy one in a flash

It's a bit convoluted but not that difficult:
Google for then go to a Chinese aggregator (?) website called spreenow. Create an account, then search for 6105-8110. When you see the sharky buy it then follow all the instructions. Basically you send the money, they buy it, they then receive it and tell you how much your shipping option will be, you pay that and then they send it. It's a wee bit complicated but doable. Took about 3 weeks or so from order to delivery in my case.
Pip

Alternatively I think some people are selling them on the bay now for around £150-£200.

This was one of my homage watches I owned complete Seiko to start with with a blue bezel insert and Tudor style hands and dials