C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

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Amor Vincit Omnia
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C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

As it has been more than a couple of months since release, I just wondered how the owners of the Elite are finding their watches?

Easy to live with? Precise? Accurate? Comfortable? How does it wear on bracelet and/or strap?

I’m very interested in this one, but said at the beginning that I would hang fire in the hope that a blue dial version appeared. No word from on high about that, but one lives in hope.

Meanwhile, any feedback would be most welcome. Thanks. :D
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by tikkathree »

I find it very easy to live with, mine lives on a strap. Timekeeping accuracy is within expectations, hell I've probably only worn the watch for four, maybe five days thus far.

I've completely got used to the side to side symmetry of the case but when I pop the stem and crown out why is I'm reminded of one of those spacesaver car wheel and tyre items?

If you were to ask whether I'd ever managed to pop the crown simply due to hand/wrist articulation I'd say that possibly I have, maybe twice, but
I've never managed to recreate the event.
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by stefs »

My thoughts..
Absolutely brilliant watch. So much that I would choose if designing my own watch! Love the titanium and the lightness and comfort it brings. To me it looks really good on both the tide (which did take a bit of breaking in to be fair but very nice now) and the bracelet. The usual excellent cw clasp with its ratchet micro adjustment which gets used a lot. I have also ordered the black/orange hybrid rubber for it as well.
WR that means it can get wet without concern.
The recessed crown that means no dig. I would add as a downside that these are close to impossible to manually wind and if you do try it your thumb and forefinger will be down to the bone very quickly.
The legibility is excellent as is the lume.
Finally on my one at least the timekeeping is really good and easily inside cosc.

So you can probably tell, I'm pleased with mine :D
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Cheers now, Paul
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by downer »

I wore mine for two straight weeks, including a four day bike trip. At the end of that period the watch was 3 seconds fast overall, so the timekeeping on my example is excellent.

I used the bracelet for the duration and it proved very comfortable. Combined with the low profile case and overall light weight, this is a watch that is unobtrusive on the wrist, yet still very legible.

There is no doubt the hand-winding of this watch could never be described as a tactile joy, as the crown is really quite small and the winding action seems stiff. However, fortunately, this will not be a big feature of owning an automatic.

Overall, I feel this is one CW's best watches and represents decent value when compared with similarly specified watches from other brands.
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by Gar787 »

I have to echo the thoughts of the other guys here Steve. Very comfortable on the strap and bracelet although the ti clasp has scratched up quite a bit as I’ve been wearing it daily. A friend of mine bought the ti Omega 007 at the same time as his Elite and he prefers the Elite which is nuts given the £6k price difference. Timekeeping accuracy is excellent.
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by albionphoto »

I'm writing my review of it at the moment. I've mostly worn it on the bracelet as I found it pretty much disappears when worn on the strap. On the bracelet it is very comfortable. On one day in particular the temperature changed from 13 deg C to 28 deg C (hello upstate New York) and it was comfortable all day. Mine is accurate (< 1 sec per day loss). I have had only one issue with the crown popping open on its own and that was when I bumped it on.
In fact I'd ay the only problem with the watch is the crown. When popped out to wear the watch you'll see that it is very thin in profile. It feels like you're winding the watch using a very small dremmel cutting disc. It is also quite stiff to wind and adjust the date or time. The various setting positions are well demarcated though.
The bracelet clasp is a scratch magnet as someone else has commented.
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by albionphoto »

One good thing about the crown though is that the twin flags etched into it aren't rough to the touch unlike the rest of the CW crowns with the twin flags on them. This removes a tactile dissonance from the watch that I've never liked.
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Thanks, guys. Really helpful feedback as ever. :D

I get the comments about the crown, but as it’s an automatic chronometer I probably wouldn’t expect to spend a lot of time winding or adjusting it.

I’m looking forward to reading your review, Mark. You always write so well and in such detail. :thumbup:
Steve
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by Jcalder68 »

I’ve worn mine a good deal since it landed.

It is fighting for wrist time with my Lympstone, but it is probably the most versatile of my collection so far. It has been to the office, gardening, hiking, in the hot tub and pretty much every activity in between. Actually, the only activity I intentionally leave it at home for is when I go cycling, but that is because I take my GPS watch with me…

I have tried it on the bracelet as well as several NATOs and a couple of leather straps. The bracelet definitely benefits from being titanium (it is noticeably lighter than any of my other bracelet watches) as well as having the half-links. These are a massive help! With all my other CW bracelets I am either in the loosest of the micro-adjustments with links out, or the tightest if I put one more link in. For me the micro-adjust just gets over absence of a half link and is next to useless. With the half links here I am bang in the middle of the micro-adjust and can actively use it during the day.

Straps add a whole other dimension. The bracelet is definitely the smarter option, but for casual wear I always opt for leather or NATOs. I’ve got a couple of leather straps (black with orange lining and stitching and a more subdued, muddy brown/grey one) as well as a pair of black/orange/grey NATOs. All are supremely comfortable and compliment the colours of the watch well.

As for accuracy, it is amazing! It is running approx +1sec, but that is in total since it arrived and not per day! I have quartz watches that are less accurate! There is a bit of variation depending on how I leave it when not wearing (roughly -2sec a day when dial up and +2.5sec when crown up) and I use this to adjust the timekeeping variations when I wear it during the day.

Lastly, I really like the balance of the dial - date at six, branding at 12 is very good. I do miss the twin flag, but hey…

So, versatile yes. Practical yes. Accurate yes. Comfortable yes.

Negatives - just one really and that is that the crown is very thin/narrow and a bit uncomfortable to grip if you need to wind the movement. It looks rather dainty or delicate too, but I’ve been assured it is plenty tough enough!

Hope this helps,

C
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Recently started hand making most of the leather straps you’ll see on my watches, happy to consider bespoke order for forum members.
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by albionphoto »

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:57 pm Thanks, guys. Really helpful feedback as ever. :D

I get the comments about the crown, but as it’s an automatic chronometer I probably wouldn’t expect to spend a lot of time winding or adjusting it.

I’m looking forward to reading your review, Mark. You always write so well and in such detail. :thumbup:
1200 words and counting...
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Re: C63 Sealander Elite - owners’ thoughts?

Post by stefs »

Bet your credit card is pooing itself Steve!
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