Spinnaker has always made some really nice looking watches. I do recall early on in my collecting journey, I was considering picking one up. I decided to do some research and I found a lot of people had been having QC issues with them. I remember in one case, one of the applied indices had detached from the dial. They were pretty major problems and I came across enough of them to change my mind. For a while it seemed like they had improved, then I heard you mention the crown thing. I hope they sort things out
Interesting Brit! I haven’t heard any real bad stories about the qc wise, everyone has it from time to time but I sure got an unlucky string of issue watches, but they did take care of it all so that’s good
Thanks Sebastian! I will be including this one in my 1500 subscriber giveaway which will be dropping on Monday, I think, early next week anyways. Please subscribe if you haven’t yet and thanks for watching!
The volumn on this video seems really low. I have noticed when uploading to youtube that in editing I had to crank the volumn up on my video to get it to sound right on the videos, does anyone else think the voice volumn on this vid is really low?
Hey Z H! Thanks m8 someone else commented the same, but strange, cause when I watch the video on my phone or computer I don’t have an issue. I dunno what to say m8, thanks for watching!
Shame about the qc but overall its a good looking watch, bit thick I think for myself but its still nice, especially that curvy bezel and the dial. Congrats on hitting 1.5K too mate. Well deserved.
Hey Chris. The qc issues are a bit of an alarm indeed, considering that you had issues with the AVI-8 too as far as I remember. Having nice customer support is great, but maybe some more budget being spent on qc would be a better idea for them. Now concerning the watch, the face looks really great indeed. The finishing on the hands is a bit rough though and the lume on the indices seems to not be equally applied based on your footage. I would tend to agree that if you have a screw down crown and you decide to add an inner bezel, the crown for that should be screw down too or at least the inner bezel should be very stiff and tactile and with very clearly defined clicks, which does not seem to be the case for this. Also labeling the strap as water resistant to have it come apart after some customers take it in the pool (even though they probably shouldn't in the first place) is at least a bit misleading. But my biggest gripe with the design of this watch is the the case. It is arguably too thick (even though that might be marginally useful for the inner bezel crown), but the real problem is the side profile. If you have a thick watch, don't make it slab sided. This makes even Vostoks (which are usually in the 14.5-15mm range including the crystal) look like ballerinas. Apart from the nice first impression of the face of the watch, I don't find this model too appealing. By the way, there is a bit of an argument to be made for not having quick release spring bars, at least in some circumstances. For example, it is a real pain to replace the quick release spring bars if they happen to break or get damaged somehow or if you just need thicker or skinnier lugs. In my opinion, the real necessity for quick release is with custom endlink metal bracelets. Those are a real pain to take off the case without quick release.
Thanks Andrei! Yeah, I'm not sure if it is my luck or if it is overall qc problems with dartmouth, but based on what I have seen it seems to be an anomoly for me. You make great points as always my friend, I thoroughly enjoy them every single time. Never thought about that with regard to quick release spring bars but I do suppose if they bend or break it is easy enough to replace with a straight spring bar, but I have never had a quick release do something like that on me (touch wood). The hawker hurricane is going to be replaced so I give them kudos for dealing with me in this way, like I said, I think I just had a string of bad luck with them, at least I sure hope that is all it was.
@@MirrlyonTime The issue Chris is that I think if you want to remove a quick release springbar from a strap, the sliding bit might damage the little hole in the strap. Indeed this is a very unlikely scenario and in practice it almost never offsets the ease of use of quick release. My personal preference is for the watch case to have drilled lugs. Then I don't really care about quick release or not :). Regarding Dartmouth brands, I don't know. I am quite skeptical of them, in part due to their half tacit half official association with the wheel gang and their very very dodgy pricing. There is also the qc stuff and the overall aesthetics that I am not a fan of with most of their sub-brands.
Qc issues aside if you can pick one of these up in one of thier special offers or sales then as a compressor style diver I think they're pretty cool & I guess there's a reason why it's one if thier longest running & most popular watches. My only issue with them is that they wear a bit top heavy being quite a thick/tall watch.
Agree Adrian, though I do think the thickness, whether intentional for this reason or not, does make the rotating bezel crown more accessible while on wrist, so in they regard the thickness serves a practical purpose. Thanks as always m8!
Love it. Will it look ok in a 6.5 inch wrist? I like it more than the Dan Henry 1970, but the 42mm case and 50mm lug to lug makes me think about the Dan Henry which is 40mm and 45.7mm lug to lug
I’m sure it will but it’s the thickness that may not be suitable it is a little chunky. I still have it if you are interested in purchasing it from me I’ll give you a deal. Haven’t used it except to do this review so it’s in brand new condition
To Bo honest $285 is way to much for that watch, spinnaker and avi8 come from solar time limited out of Hong Kong, the exact same company that watch gang gets all their watches from. 75% of the watches you’ve received from them have had a defect which to me does not speak well of their quality control. This is all just my opinion, and when I was a member of watch gang for 3 months I was hoping they would send me a spinnaker but as I’ve been educating myself and learning about watches I personally have a low opinion of anything Solar time limited manufacturers. Opinions are like a$$holes but that just happens to be mine. Good luck with it though.
Ha thanks Blue, Solar time watches is something I haven’t heard of. Are they some sort of distributor, because the spinnaker and avi8 line among others are under dartmouth brands based out of the UK.
Have to say as well, the issues I have had have all been taken care of, but through dartmouth brands I have no idea what that solar time is. Oddly enough, the watch that I review in this video came from Hong Kong, the two prior with the same crown issue came from Canton Ohio 🤷♂️
@@MirrlyonTime well watch gang buys from solar time, they have them shipped to California and also Michigan, they go to great lengths to hide that fact of where they really source them from. I kinda like spinnaker watches, but they ask way to much for them.
It’s a good looking watch. I do love the duel crowns.
Yep this one is nice indeed thanks James
Spinnaker has always made some really nice looking watches. I do recall early on in my collecting journey, I was considering picking one up. I decided to do some research and I found a lot of people had been having QC issues with them. I remember in one case, one of the applied indices had detached from the dial. They were pretty major problems and I came across enough of them to change my mind. For a while it seemed like they had improved, then I heard you mention the crown thing. I hope they sort things out
Interesting Brit! I haven’t heard any real bad stories about the qc wise, everyone has it from time to time but I sure got an unlucky string of issue watches, but they did take care of it all so that’s good
Awesome review Chris definitely spinnaker like the dial color and the inner rotating bezel
Thanks 62! It's a fantastic watch and thankfully customer support has been fantastic as well
Great review! the watch has a beautiful dial!!
Thanks Sebastian! I will be including this one in my 1500 subscriber giveaway which will be dropping on Monday, I think, early next week anyways. Please subscribe if you haven’t yet and thanks for watching!
Could not agree more about the quick release. It’s all I buy if I can.
I know why more don’t do it is a mystery to me
Never knew about the parent company. Neat.
Yep I never knew either until I got to collab with em
Aaaaw, shucks, Chris. ❤️
The volumn on this video seems really low. I have noticed when uploading to youtube that in editing I had to crank the volumn up on my video to get it to sound right on the videos, does anyone else think the voice volumn on this vid is really low?
Hey Z H! Thanks m8 someone else commented the same, but strange, cause when I watch the video on my phone or computer I don’t have an issue. I dunno what to say m8, thanks for watching!
Shame about the qc but overall its a good looking watch, bit thick I think for myself but its still nice, especially that curvy bezel and the dial. Congrats on hitting 1.5K too mate. Well deserved.
Thanks Wes
Love my Bradner in Pacific Blue. Spinnaker sales are awesome. There are a couple 30% and many 25% off sales every year. Just wait for the sale.
For sure or use my discount code! Haha
Hey Chris. The qc issues are a bit of an alarm indeed, considering that you had issues with the AVI-8 too as far as I remember. Having nice customer support is great, but maybe some more budget being spent on qc would be a better idea for them. Now concerning the watch, the face looks really great indeed. The finishing on the hands is a bit rough though and the lume on the indices seems to not be equally applied based on your footage. I would tend to agree that if you have a screw down crown and you decide to add an inner bezel, the crown for that should be screw down too or at least the inner bezel should be very stiff and tactile and with very clearly defined clicks, which does not seem to be the case for this. Also labeling the strap as water resistant to have it come apart after some customers take it in the pool (even though they probably shouldn't in the first place) is at least a bit misleading.
But my biggest gripe with the design of this watch is the the case. It is arguably too thick (even though that might be marginally useful for the inner bezel crown), but the real problem is the side profile. If you have a thick watch, don't make it slab sided. This makes even Vostoks (which are usually in the 14.5-15mm range including the crystal) look like ballerinas. Apart from the nice first impression of the face of the watch, I don't find this model too appealing.
By the way, there is a bit of an argument to be made for not having quick release spring bars, at least in some circumstances. For example, it is a real pain to replace the quick release spring bars if they happen to break or get damaged somehow or if you just need thicker or skinnier lugs. In my opinion, the real necessity for quick release is with custom endlink metal bracelets. Those are a real pain to take off the case without quick release.
Thanks Andrei! Yeah, I'm not sure if it is my luck or if it is overall qc problems with dartmouth, but based on what I have seen it seems to be an anomoly for me. You make great points as always my friend, I thoroughly enjoy them every single time. Never thought about that with regard to quick release spring bars but I do suppose if they bend or break it is easy enough to replace with a straight spring bar, but I have never had a quick release do something like that on me (touch wood). The hawker hurricane is going to be replaced so I give them kudos for dealing with me in this way, like I said, I think I just had a string of bad luck with them, at least I sure hope that is all it was.
@@MirrlyonTime The issue Chris is that I think if you want to remove a quick release springbar from a strap, the sliding bit might damage the little hole in the strap. Indeed this is a very unlikely scenario and in practice it almost never offsets the ease of use of quick release. My personal preference is for the watch case to have drilled lugs. Then I don't really care about quick release or not :). Regarding Dartmouth brands, I don't know. I am quite skeptical of them, in part due to their half tacit half official association with the wheel gang and their very very dodgy pricing. There is also the qc stuff and the overall aesthetics that I am not a fan of with most of their sub-brands.
@@MirrlyonTime Chris, check out the excellent vid of Blue Collar Watches. Explaining (some) not all microbrand watches.
@@AnCar88 yep saw it, and commented :)
@@MirrlyonTime Just noticed lol:)
Qc issues aside if you can pick one of these up in one of thier special offers or sales then as a compressor style diver I think they're pretty cool & I guess there's a reason why it's one if thier longest running & most popular watches. My only issue with them is that they wear a bit top heavy being quite a thick/tall watch.
Agree Adrian, though I do think the thickness, whether intentional for this reason or not, does make the rotating bezel crown more accessible while on wrist, so in they regard the thickness serves a practical purpose. Thanks as always m8!
This watch is amazingly beautiful and easily beats higher prized manufacturers
Reboot rules!!
Yes he is one awesome dude. Ola scatter you freaky person…..ha!
How is it you always seem to be reviewing watches I am thinking of buying?
ha whit, we are in sync! lol, if you do decide to buy, use my link and discount. code :)
Love it. Will it look ok in a 6.5 inch wrist?
I like it more than the Dan Henry 1970, but the 42mm case and 50mm lug to lug makes me think about the Dan Henry which is 40mm and 45.7mm lug to lug
I’m sure it will but it’s the thickness that may not be suitable it is a little chunky. I still have it if you are interested in purchasing it from me I’ll give you a deal. Haven’t used it except to do this review so it’s in brand new condition
@@MirrlyonTime how much would it be?
@@danielm2827 It retails for 285 USD I would take 100 dollars off retail so 185 USD, how does that sound?
To Bo honest $285 is way to much for that watch, spinnaker and avi8 come from solar time limited out of Hong Kong, the exact same company that watch gang gets all their watches from. 75% of the watches you’ve received from them have had a defect which to me does not speak well of their quality control. This is all just my opinion, and when I was a member of watch gang for 3 months I was hoping they would send me a spinnaker but as I’ve been educating myself and learning about watches I personally have a low opinion of anything Solar time limited manufacturers. Opinions are like a$$holes but that just happens to be mine. Good luck with it though.
Ha thanks Blue, Solar time watches is something I haven’t heard of. Are they some sort of distributor, because the spinnaker and avi8 line among others are under dartmouth brands based out of the UK.
Have to say as well, the issues I have had have all been taken care of, but through dartmouth brands I have no idea what that solar time is. Oddly enough, the watch that I review in this video came from Hong Kong, the two prior with the same crown issue came from Canton Ohio 🤷♂️
UA-cam won’t let me add the link to justia link to the trademark, it easy to find though.
@@MirrlyonTime well watch gang buys from solar time, they have them shipped to California and also Michigan, they go to great lengths to hide that fact of where they really source them from. I kinda like spinnaker watches, but they ask way to much for them.
@@bluecollarwatches7048 that explains why several brands don't state in their websites their location and where their watches are made.
A very beautiful fat lady. I have the Atlantic Blue and Love it.
Definitely a nice piece thanks for watching m8!