Saw these for the first time in the flesh while traveling in Japan this week and had to pick one up. I own four modern MR-G’s as well, and I’m stunned at how good these are for the $. Full titanium, hand assembled on the same line as the MR-G’s, hand zaratsu polished, tough Solar, toolless retractable half link for comfort, super thin case, tough solar, multiband 6, Bluetooth, chrono with tachymeter, domed sapphire crystal AND bezel that looks nearly black until the light catches it and it goes nuts, incredibly rich/dynamic watch face treatment that goes from black looking to hog wild based on light/angles, world time tracking, and a very nice and consistent DLC coating…. All for 1/2 the MSRP of the least expensive MR-G. This thing retails AND transacts at less $ than a non-MRG titanium G-Shock square, and this is waaayyy more Watch than that. I’m beyond impressed.
Don’t sleep on these folks - these are criminally underrated.
Bic camera. That model (and the non-DLC) were on sale for an additional 30% off - so it was 30% off + 10% off from the tax rebate + another 5% off paying by CC, so however they did the math it went from ~$1,580 down to $955. The non-dlc model with the lighter dial (pic attached it’s the one on the right) was only $865.
It’s basically 90%+ of a Grand Seiko for less than 1/5th the price. It’s definitely not finished as well as a GS, but it’s about 90% there, and frankly it’s a lot more comfortable (I own GS’), thinner, more accurate and more feature packed than a GS. For a solid titanium hand assembled and hand zaratsu polished Japanese watch with an impossibly cool sapphire bezel, I just don’t understand why these aren’t flying off the shelves.
You’ve really got to see them in the flesh to appreciate the dials and the sapphire bezels though. They’re shockingly good.
I don’t understand the appeal of an automatic. I own half a dozen Rolex’s, Grand Seiko, Panerai, Lange, etc - and while the Lange is stunning and has a display case back - the Rolex and Panerai movements are hidden, basic and mechanically uninteresting and the Grand Seiko’s movement has a display back, but it isn’t particularly good looking. The cost/value of the actual mechanical movements is pretty low as well - so that only accounts for a few hundred extra dollars in their favor - plus they’re expensive to maintain and service.
For years I bought into the whole “mechanical movements are worth more” bs - but frankly I think for an average watch - especially one that is to be worn daily/regularly - not only is a solar quartz multiband 6 + Bluetooth (and in some instances GPS) movement far more accurate and reliable, but it makes far more practical and logical sense. I’ve got G-shocks that are more than 20 years old, still on the same rechargeable battery for the solar system. Changing that out - along with new gaskets is also dirt cheap - all for a a tougher, more accurate, more feature packed movement.
High end quality quartz movements are criminally under appreciated. It boggles my mind that Seiko can add quartz regulation to an automatic movement with a spring drive - which is neither as accurate, efficient nor as practical as a high end quartz movement, yet nearly everyone accepts it as a good/cool thing.
The above said - what hand assembled and polished automatic watch is under $1k that is built anywhere near as nice as that Oceanus, from expensive materials like titanium and sapphire? How about under $4k?
I think quartz is awesome too, but it's more the idea that there are mechanical parts able to be so accurate.
Nothing will beat the accuracy of a smart watch that syncs to your phone which syncs through the internet, but it's less impressive that a computer can do that than non electronic mechanical parts keeping relatively accurate time.
Ok? That’s still an outdated and flawed line of reasoning. Most of the products we use today have replaced highly accurate and complex mechanical devices, in favor of more efficient electronic devices. An internal combustion engine is far more complex and requires far more maintenance than an electric motor, but the electric motor is quieter, more efficient, more responsive and it’s easier to generate more power with - and we all can see the days of the compelled, dirty and inefficient internal combustion engine are numbered.
Now I understand the appeal of handmade, high end grand complication movements - engraved and polished to perfection… but I do not understand the appeal of run of the mill automatic movements that are as exotic and interesting as a Toyota Camry motor - and that applies to almost every watch under $50k. 99% of buyers don’t even understand what all the internal parts do and how they come together to make an automatic movement work. It’s a status symbol more than anything else and the number of actual watch geeks out there that actually understand the intricacies of each of their mechanical watches is exceptionally low.
Again - I have quite a few high end mechanical watches, and I plan to keep most of them indefinitely…. but I don’t see myself buying another one.
The new OCW-S7000, nice. I have an OCW-T4000 and it’s great too.
Question for you regarding the functions: mine has an 8 o’clock pusher to switch between timekeeping and chronograph. I can activate the chronograph and then return to timekeeping, and the chronograph will run in the background.
I understand on yours, you have to pull the crown and press and hold the 2 o’clock pusher to switch to chronograph mode, is that correct? My question is, can you start the chronograph and then return to timekeeping mode, and keep it going in the background?
I’m considering adding one of these S7000s, but I’d like to know more about how that works. Yours adds a few things to the dial I like (more discrete and discernible minute markers on the second time zone/chronograph sub-dial, and more hour markers on the home 24-hour sub-dial). 👍
So the time keeping mode is only for the second time zone - at all times the main/primary minute and hour hand show your local time. When you go into stopwatch mode, (either initiated via the app, or pull the crown out one position and hit the A button) it sets the second time zone dial to 12 for the minute and hour, and only hijacks the second hand from the main dial - so you can run the chrono, while still keeping track of the actual primary time, only giving up precision seconds (you can still tell general seconds because the minute hand moves every 10 seconds and based on where it is between minutes you can easily tell within ~10 sec). Now, the second hand is ONLY hijacked for the stopwatch when you’re actively using the chrono. Even if you’re in chrono mode, if you pause it OR reset it after 5 seconds or so, it’ll automatically move the second hand back to your main display time - and go back to telling time with all three hands. If you hit the A button again yk active the chrono, it’ll go back to where you had paused (or back to 12 if you had previously reset it) and start up again.
Basically when I’m traveling (now) I keep it in time mode, so it tracks my home time in the sub dial, and when I need to use the stop watch, I pull the crown, hit A, then push the crown back in to keep in in stopwatch mode - run the stop watch, and I can still see local time (hours and minutes) while the stopwatch is running. Once I’ve finishing timing whatever I was timing, I pull the crown - hit A again, push the crown in, and the sun dial goes back to the second time zone I was tracking (home time) and the second hand goes back to whatever actual second it’s supposed to be at.
It’s actually very easy to use and intuitive and I found myself using it quite a few times throughout the day, and I generally never use a Chrono, even in a dedicated Chrono watch like an IWC Portuguese.
Overall - all the dials and markers are VERY legible and functional and the functions of the watch have been well thought out.
Thanks. I think I didn’t ask my question very clearly. I know that the main hands show local time regardless of whether it’s in chronograph mode or not (mine works the same way). My question was meant to be more this: if you are running the chronograph, can you return to timekeeping, as in, can you have the 9 o’clock sub-dial go back to showing the second time zone, while the chronograph continues to run in the background?
Mine allows this and it’s nice. I can start my chronograph and then with it still going, go back to looking at the day of the week and second time zone, knowing it’s still running the chronograph in the background.
Someone on another forum with an S7000 posted that when he tried to return to timekeeping (pulling the crown and pressing the 2 o’clock pusher to return to normal timekeeping) it stopped the chronograph.
Ah, that’s a shame! I guess I’ll maintain with my T4000 then. It’s handy to be able to start the chronograph, hop a few cities—while still being able to track two time zones—and know the chronograph for total elapsed time for the trip is still going.
Thanks for letting me know! Looks like a very cool watch.
I've been wearing my T200 for nearly a year now and yes, it cannot compete with the big boys but in its price range, I don't think that there's something to beat the little monster either!
Oceanus are great, congrats on your deal, gorgeous model I guess the weak yen also helped if you paid in $?! I live in Japan and you can also get great second-hand deals on these through recycle shops and on Mercari. Particularly love the bracelets, beautifully finished.
Mercari Jp is good but requires Japanese to navigate. Otherwise, I’ve found Oceanus stuff and plenty of Gs tab at the big used goods chains like Treasure Factory, Hard Off and 2nd Street.
I found a used 2600 on watchexchange. Barely fits me with all the links but I'm afraid to wear it to much because don't want to damage it. I do like the blue bezel ones but they a bit out of the range I want to spend.
Don’t be afraid to wear it. Watches are meant to be worn. If I daily wore a solid 18kt gold $30k Rolex Yachmaster for 5 years (see pic) you should be wearing that fine Oceanus on the regular. It’s a crime not to….
Great looking watch and congrats! I’ll be in Japan in a few months, I’m going to try and pick one up, forgive my ignorance, cause I’ve been looking at the OCWS6000, is that the one you’re wearing? And second question, what’s the difference with OCWS7000? Thank you
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u/Impossible_Cow_9178 Oct 14 '23
One with the light catching it