Independents

Fiftenn months ago, I decided to try my hand at dial designing and came up with a configuration that Sartory Billard agreed to make for me. The case is in titanium and made and finished by Voutilainen and Cattin while the dial and the final asembly of the...  

Maybe the customed watch can not be sold at par value.

But there is only one way to find out!

I am assuming you are referring to the Sartory Billard rather than the Bovet?!

SB, Laine, Garrick, etc. In the end, I decided to pass as I could not quite position them in my collection. It is like they are interesting, maybe good to have but I will not miss it kind of feeling. When it comes to “piece unique”, was there a commitment... 

My Sartory Billard actually states 'piece unique' on the movement and Armand has assured me that this would be a one off. It is a lovely watch don't get me wrong but at present I have quite a few lovely watches. Armand though is a great guy and we have be... 

Thank you!

It’s Avery lively watch and Armand is a great guy I’m not too fond of the bovet to be honest

The Bovet has a gorgeous movement too! ...  

Don’t do anything hastily, let this sit for a few months to see how you feel. In the end you are the one wearing the watch and so you will determine what to do. Btw, you should explain to folks here what you did with the time increments on the dial. It wo... 

I am actually quite surprised that the SB05 is that popular here. I might have to keep both the Bovet and Sartory Billard! I was given options of many types of numerals from Arabic, Roman, Breguet, Chinese and a few others and played around with the vario... 

Basically it’s a Chinese traditional unit of of time representing two hours. So the character at 12 which is “wu” indicates the time block from 11am-1pm and similarly for the others. That lines up with the way they have broken the outer ring into two hour... 

I had asked Armand to insert the numerals relating to PM rather than AM since I was more likely to be awake during PM!

I do like how it has been executed. I guess some will argue that it only tells the time from 11am to 11pm but I could live with that criticism. As I commented to Christian below my personal feeling, and perhaps this is what you sense too, is that all of t... 

For me, I would prefer almost any independent over a Rolex but then again I have never been a sports watch person so no Nautiluses, Aquanauts, Royal Oaks or Rolexes on my hit list. For me, the SB05 is a good watch and I like it. Do I love it? Nope. And fo... 

With Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si. ;p

i actually have made the decision to sell it ! My small watch collection will be reduced to four watches

I would remove the SB from the plastic wrapping so I can at least see the beauty of the dial while it sits in my watch box while I decide. A plastic covering over a watch, to me, always takes away from it's design and from it's "sparkle" for lack of a bet... 

Much appreciated and it just shows that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The SB05 just arrived earlier today and I shall decide after the weekend whether or not to remove the watch from the plastic. If there is a 50% chance or more that I will be ke... 

I am generally biased to the Bovet but I prefer the newer models with the fully in-house 7 days caliber. This said the Sartori Billiard does nothing for me. Chinese numbers are not for me. In general all these micro brands, even with piece unique, do not ... 

Thank you for your reply Chris. The newer Bovets tend to be on the larger side (42 to 43mm as opposed to 39mm) hence my preference for mine. But you are right, if in doubt sell!

and since you ask you probably don't ..then it should go

I keep my watches on a similar criteria.

And it’s kinda what I speculated that Sham was feeling. My take on this is that despite SB and other peers offering good value propositions for many of us they still do not satisfy us. It may be somewhat shallow to feel this way but ultimately all of thes... 

but in the end you will never be satisfied with the second, cheaper option.

So true…

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A lovely dial David. Thank you for sharing.

It's such a pity because you designed this SB yourself. But just the fact that you're undecided tells me that you should let this watch go. The color composition of this dial is wonderful. Yet the Chinese numbers leave me rather cold. But that's a persona... 

I agree with all your points actually apart from the subjective one on the Chinese characters!

But if you haven’t worn it, then sell it and move on

I have more or less decided to sell it and move on as you suggested.