Another watch topic! Helson...

A

A320_phill

Member
 Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear
I have always loved diver style watches (despite never diving).

I used to own a nice Breitling Superocean Steelfish but sadly had to sell when I was contracting, or not as the case was at the time.

I have come across a brand called Helson when trauling the interweb who are a company based in Hong-Kong making, in my eyes, some stunning divers watches.

A quick bit of research shows they are getting excellent reviews from the watch communities out there for quality of build, timekeeping,weight and most of all bang for your buck.

Here's the model I have in mind (link to a watch forum)

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f74/helson-shark-diver-bracelet-those-ridiculously-large-lugs-1161394.html

The company site

http://www.helsonwatch.com

I appreciate these watches won't be to everyone's taste, and the quality won't be up there with the likes of Omega and Breitling, but at $599 for the 42mm and $999 for the 45mm I am placing my order today for the blue face 42mm. It also clicked at how the blue watch may match the Zed somewhat. The fact that this immediately confirmed in my mind that I definitely wanted the blue face made me feel slightly pathetic. Life goes on...

Can't wait to see what it's like and with the good things I have heard so far, it should be a great everyday watch. I think Ill go and measure my wrist now to make sure it doesn't look like I'm going to be strapping a medium sized wall clock to my arm as these things look big, and deep!

Thought I would share this find as it has taken me a long time to find a watch in this price range that I am genuinely excited about.
 
Make sure you get one with a decent ETA movement, not one of the Miyota powered ones. The ETA movements are just better.

FWIW Helson seem to have a reasonable following / reputation on tz-uk as well, but I've never owened one.

IMHO if you want the best dive watch bang for buck for under £1000, I would seek a Seiko Marine Master 300. Or for half that, a Seiko Sumo (which they do with a blue face too). Both watches are punching well above their price range in terms of quality.
 
Hi Danmiddle thanks for the quick reply.

I have researched the movements and it seems you are right regarding the ETA movement. The 42mm Helson Shark diver has a Miyota 9015 movement, which also seems to have excellent reviews though.

I am no expert but I honestly don't think I would notice, going by a few watch forums. If all other aspects were the same then I would go for the ETA movement, but sadly that is only available on the massive 45mm Shark diver (too big).

Had a quick look at the Seiko options. It's not a deal breaker but I just can't get away with the bracelets on both watches. The 42mm shark diver comes in at around £415 inc shipping so I think it's a very good price.

Thanks again for your advice :thumbsup:

Also, is there anything on this forum that someone doesn't know a decent amount on? It's actually amazing, and extremely helpful. From heating boilers to watches!
 
my twopenneth ... if you like divers its worth having a trident

http://www.christopherward.co.uk/watches/dive.html

i've got one which i use as my work watch and the quality is really good - and I prefer some of the features of it over my Seamaster .
 
I was a divemaster until I gave it up a few years ago but still have my Citizen dive watch/computer.
Absolutely love it and Citizen are a great brand and good value for money.
The worst bit about my watch is having to have the battery replaced every 3 years or so but the later watches are Ecodrives that do not need the battery replaced.
 
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