Cronos L6204. BB54 Homage. Lots to Love at $200! : Full Review!
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- Since Tudor released their Black Bay Series: BB58, BB Pelagos 39 and now the BB54 which is just 37 mm in diameter, it seems they can do no wrong. They have been on the tongues of watch enthusiasts for the last couple of years!
The BB54 is more niche though and it will be interesting to see if Chinese watch brands continue push homages of this model out.
So far I can count only one: the Cronos L6204. Their homage to the Tudor Black Bay 54.
This is my full review. At first sight the Cronos L6204 did not capture the imagination but after a few weeks and a few stints on the wrist it really started to grow on me.
This Black Bay 54 homage may not mimic the original but it certainly has enough going for it to make it count.
You can buy the Cronos L6204 (Cronos BB54) via the following affiliate links.
These are links to AliExpress. You will not pay any extra but you will be helping to support the channel going forward.
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Cronos BB54 (L6204) Link:
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It looks miles better than the photos on AliExpress! I didn’t expect the dial to be that gorgeous in the flesh. Hope they release a v2 with a matte bezel soon, I’d jump on that.
Hi Harvind. It has been agonising to review. I have flip flopped on this one to try and show it in a fair light. Hopefully I managed to produce a balanced and thought provoking review :) Thanks for watching. Any keyboard suggestions?
My husband is so torn as to whether to buy this watch or not - he used to be a swiss watch snob but he sold most of his collection when I was out of work. He only keeps 1 of his swiss pride diving watches that i doubt he will ever sell, but sadly it stays in his watch box now…i think he will love this watch if he gets it!
When you pick up a £ 3,400 Black Bay 54 its polished case sides will start to pick up microscratches just like this homage, that's the way they are designed. This watch needed something else than a polished ceramic bezel insert, I agree about that. What kills this watch for me is that strong colour mismatch between the bezel markings and the indices. Some Chinese brands cannot handle fauxtina, it's mostly overcooked. They should look at Baltany, they seem to have understood.
Agree totally but that dial! :)
I own it too. I was bummed out about the glossy bezel at first, but now that I have had it a while I really like it. The thickness is no issue at all. It's very comfortable and is really good looking.
Good to know.
Thanks for the great review. A couple years ago, Cronos was the primary competitor for San Martin. I think they make great watches. I’m definitely adding one of their watches in the future. The great lady Molly returns! I have to really try this marmite someday. 🤔
Haha 😆
If Cronos releases a V2, they need to ditch the ceramic and horrible green colored lume. That ain’t it. Everything else is decent. If I ignore the dial and insert, I feel like I’m looking at my BB54. Solid review as always. Thx 👏🏻
Thanks for sharing
I love this Cronos L6204 watch. I have the slightly smaller 'Thorn' brand equivalent of the BB54 homage. It is much cheaper than the Cronos but pipped by the brighter Lume of the Cronos.
I actually fooled a local watch maker when he was adjusting the bracelet on my 'Thorn' he said how much did you pay for the Tudor? Then he looked closer and laughed. The quality of many of the homages now is getting quite high. Price is key to the attraction of the day to day collector.
I have reviewed a few Thorn watches. Very good but the finishing here is next level :)
37mm thorn? Ref number pls
I saw this homage the day it came out. I never clicked on add to cart so fast before, then I noticed the gloss bezel in one of the shots. Thought at this point I’ll wait. Your summation is spot on if only it has the brushed bezel.. !!CRONOS!! In your case I think it works though! It complements the SKX a more dressy diver and firmest in you (and me) is/would be spot on! I’m glad the other watch failed on you I enjoyed this review. Thanks John.
Cheer my friend :)
I like the bezel on that, and showcasing that in the sunlight really does this watch a lot of credit.
Thanks buddy. It's a truly stunning dial
Cronos quality at 'almost' the price of a lower-end San Martin? And at my 'Goldilocks' size of 37mm? Sounds like a winner to me! I'm actually a fan of gilt hands/indices, but... I almost wish they would do this one with a black dial with white hands/indices or a blue dial/white indices/hands. I'd be all over either one of those. Thanks for all your work and commitment, John, much appreciated!
Cheers Dayne. I appreciate it 🙏
Maybe the designer was doing a “design with your eyes shut” day when he did the bezel. I don’t have any Tudoresque watches in my collection and would consider this other than that bezel. All hail her fluffiness…
Spot-on specs for my small wrist and i value the wearability points you make. You might have just introduced me to my next watch.
Cool Jon :)
John, the L6017 is slightly bigger (41mm), which I'm sure you are aware of, and closer to a BB58 rather than the 54, but that model does offer the colour matched and faux patina'd bezel, I've had the 'vintage' version for about a year now and it's pretty much become my daily...
Hi buddy. Yeah I have seen it and it is just too big.. for me anyway. I like 40 and under if I can :)
The glossy bezel doesn't bother me so much. But the white markers does. Still a lovely watch!
About the Ixdao Engineer, I'm planning to buy it for Christmas. I'm a bit worried now 😅
Thanks for the great review, John.
Great to see this one in more detail. I’ve had my eye on it.
It's a divisive one that's for sure 😊
I actually love the glossy bezel. It does draw the attention to what you're wearing and a nice conversation starter. The bezel has a slight missalignement, though. So, that part could be a Seiko homage.😂
Cronos should brush the sides and so should Tudor.
Great review with plenty of detail.
Cheers Jon 😺
Thanks for the review! I do hope they come up with a v2 (or maybe San Martin can have a crack at the BB54 homage hopefully) with a matte bezel and reduced thickness
I hope so too!
I completely agree with you. My wife saw this and loved it. I think this watch has that looks for woman.
Personally, I seem to be growing tired of fauxtina lume. My OVM's by far the most accurate watch I own and I used to love its looks to bits ... but it's spending a lot of time on the winder or in the drawer these days. I wish manufacturers would also offer "factory fresh" vintage homages to give people like me more of a choice.
That said: I have no qualms about Cronos' quality - I own their modern Sub homage and I adore that watch (been hogging my wrist ever since I bought it early in the year). As far as I can tell, they're the "thinking man's San Martin", since their quality seems to be comparable but their value for money is even better than San Martin's. And BTW: No complaints about the PT5000 in that Cronos. It feels very similar to an SW200 - perhaps even a tad smoother on my example. It ran pretty fast when I got it, watch-maker slowed it down a bit, but a few weeks later it was running at +10s/d again. But it did so consistently. With about 8 months of break-in it's now settled to ~+5s/d on-wrist - which I'm more than happy with.
What I don't like about this Cronos (and mine) is the fact that the rehaut is a bit too thick/tall. Granted: This stands out much more in macro-shots than it does in the real world, but it is still noticeable on-wrist.
Also not too sure about the glossy bezel-insert. Same mistake SM used to make (still make?) with some of their vintage homages, IMO. They might get away with it if they put a non-glossy insert on there, but IMO aluminium is what this type of watch needs.
Hi and thanks for your detailed message. I loved that Cronos too but it was a mistake not to go with an aluminium bezel insert...or at the very least a matte version. It was a bad oversight by Cronos but it is something they seem to do...spoiling otherwise great watches ;/ Frustrating!
This was a great review John. Non biased and you really picked up the important features and flaws. I'll stick with my seestern 62mas & Octopus p39 for now. I've been on waitlist since May for a BB54 and I hoped maybe this Cronos could save me a few thousand dollars but I don't think so. I'll have to play the long AD game for this one...
Worth waiting for though ;)
I had been looking forward to this full review ever since you released the first one. Thanks for releasing it (good intro, btw). Now I get why it took you longer to make. I’ll wait to see if they come up with a V2 with matte insert. Hopefully brushed sides as well. And one peeve of mine remains to be that super reflexive crystal. It seems it does not bother anyone but me. This watch’s dial is indeed gorgeous but if I’m going to be looking at it 476 times a day, I’d like a crystal that honors the dial.
The crystal is absolutely fine. Very easy to read the time :)
@@johnswatchjointМне тоже понравилось. Спасибо.
It is a shame about the IXDAO but that is a gorgeous Cronos honestly the only thing keeping me from it is the glossy insert give it a matte insert and it would give that dial more room to shine
Ditch the ceramic bezel insert and tone down the mustard color of the fauxtina on the hands and markers, then it's a winner.
The white indices on the bezel look good (I don't like the patina ones on the BB58) but the glossy ceramic is horrible. If the insert was in aluminium I'd be sold.
Boy oh boy that’s a sharp watch. I do wish that the colour of the indices and numerals on the bezel somewhat matched the dial, it seems to throw me off and leave me a little confused with this one myself because of that otherwise really nice and yeah that dial really pops outdoors! Spot on review as always m8
Hey buddy. Yeah, a watch that pulls you in different directions and is difficult to review. Took me weeks to be able to get the review right.
@@johnswatchjoint Хороший обзор.👍
I just find it so similar looking to my San Martin 004-G, Retro Diver, that i would not buy this, But this golden and yellowish fake patina combo is stunning.
I love the watch, except for the "yellow-ish" vintage color... I think it's way too yellow 😞. We need this in a monochrome version
I have to agree...but in hand you would probably change your mind. Stunning on wrist
Fix the shiny bezel and yellow digits and it’s a go!!
I would want the same type of the watch but much thinner. Like 11mm thin, 37mm diameter, 45mm lug to lug.
Then you would either be looking at a quartz watch or a far more expensive watch with a slimmer automatic movement. The budget automatics available do increase the thickness of a case in a watch. :)
@@johnswatchjoint To be honest I want to try the high beat quartz movement. As long the watch is thin as hell.
Another one on the list especially with the Lume performance ala cupboard of doom. Since the bezel insert is usually held on by double sided adhesive tape (for watches in this price range). It might be worth mod'ing it with a new insert from Ali. Off topic question, I assume those shelves on the fence were originally for plant holders, etc. How many broken plant pots did it take to be redefined as a cat ladder? We had that battle in our house with the mantel piece ..wife's ornament display shelf or cat's snoozing platform....cat's snoozing platform.
Thanks for watching. The shelves were actually made for Molly. She has no hip joints after having them removed last year. I built them to help retrain her to walk, jump and strengthen her muscles and she now pretty much has all of her mobility back. We thought we would lose her at two years old but it's a genetic thing with Maine Coons. Both her hip joints fractured after a jump and she collapsed. Genetic weakness caused it. She's a little fighter and a real character :)
you are a scholar and a gentleman! knowing the cost of vets bills in the UK its very kind of you to show loyalty to pets. Its also Kind also to build things for rehabilitation, plus cats love to explore. Maine coons are wonderful pets full of character but they do tend to get a little heavy for their bone structure....as you say genetics @@johnswatchjoint
Ended up buying the GMT Tandorio in the skx013-homage case for 75 bucks instead of this.
Well done. Wear it well :)
Yeah. Why didn’t,t they dull the yellow. It’s the thing that will probably keep me from buying it.
Why have yellowed indices and a white bezel?
No AR coating???? Needs a matte finished bezel....
I find with this watch you tend to love the watch more and more everyday.
It's the toughest review I have done. It has to be measured and honest. I think I got it about right :)
Around 12mm thick and a matte fond and it will pretty much perfect! 😢
Ah well...keep looking. Perhaps a quartz is the way to go? 12mm automatic at this price is pretty hard to find :)
Aluminium bezel please
Yep 👍
the rehaut looks awfully deep , and the bezel having white numbers that are a different shade than the indices turned me away
Watches are personal things and we all have our own tastes. Thanks for sharing :)
What sized wrist do you have sir?
6.75 inches. It's in the video :)
@@johnswatchjoint oh haha, sorry, I must have totally missed this :)
Thank you for getting back to me. Have a great day!
No worries...I always make sure I make my wrist size known. Thanks for watching :)
Too bad for that ugly clasp. As always the bracelet ruins it.
No go for me
Stop advertising to naughty thieves. They sent me defective watches, with a noise that says everything inside it is breaking.
Unfortunately sometimes things go wrong. Calling sellers naughty thieves doesn't help. Request a return and refund.
@@johnswatchjoint too late, he told me to take the watch apart and tighten the screws. I went to the service and they are tight, the bearing is defective
@@johnswatchjoint thief, they sent it to me two weeks late and defective
@Daniel-gv3ko that was daft. You have to know and use your rights my friend 😕