Steel master: the Marinemaster 300 for three times less, Tina Turner-approved lume included
Marinemaster reduced
We're all up around the steel masterpiece tonight, bros. The SPB185, SBDC125, the Steel Master, Marinemaster Reduced, MM200, Baby Marinemaster, call him what you want. He's based on the 1967 6215-7000, the first Seiko with a four o'clock crown. It's a fantastic watch.
Seiko website says £1,050. This one comes from Mr Jun, and the Mr Jun price is £650, so you should never pay any more than that.
Wears like a 40
42 mm case but a 40 mm bezel, so it wears like a 40. 12.6 mm thick, 48.8 lug-to-lug, 20 mm lugs, and drilled lugs, as it should be done. The sapphire's flat with a lovely bevelled edge: no doming inside or out, so no distortions. 6R35A inside, 70 hours of power reserve, hacking and hand-winding, 200 metres.
Accuracy? I'm the wrong guy to ask. My job means I only wear the nice twerps at weekends, and nothing stays on my wrist more than a day, so I can tolerate 30 seconds either way. Every 6R15 and 6R35 I've had has done better than plus ten, minus five. I don't think you're going to have a problem.
Same soul, three bodies
Trying to choose between the Willard, the 62MAS and this? It's a conundrum I can't solve for you. It's the same soul in three different bodies. All are great, and whichever one I have on my wrist is my favourite.
The Marinemaster 300 case is a work of art. A masterpiece. I couldn't afford one either, but I bought one, and in the end it got too heavy for me to cope with. If you can't stretch that far, this is the same thing for less, and I mean three times less. Nothing's quite the same, the handset's not the same, the seconds hand is all mere imitation, but it's pretty close. Slightly bevelled, polished, fully dished hands with lume that's just Beyond Thunderdome. If Tina Turner was here she would salute this. The steel bezel's a little bit loose, but it's saluted, and a sight to be seen. A very comfortable and lovely piece.
The bit that needn't be there
The bracelet's a 20 mm affair, female end links as usual, but unlike the Willard you get flat centre links with high-polished bevels. Nicely done. Four micro-adjusts, a milled swing arm. The only thing I don't like is how long they've made the clasp. That bit needn't be there. It only exists to cover the completely pointless diver's extension that doesn't ratchet and no one will ever use. Get rid of it.
Verdict
Lume shot, Marinemaster versus Marinemaster. The big one is slightly brighter, and that's why you pay three times as much. Both of these are nice. This is nice, and the big one is even nicer. But for £650? Fantastic watch. Never give up, and stay with Gethin.
