It has the style, (almost) perfect finishing, precision (even beyond for my model, I'll come back to that), and the underwater usefulness of a... I'll let you guess?! Did you find it? Yes, a Submariner from the brand with the crown, more precisely in the model that interests us today; the Submariner 16610... so we are on these famous tribute watches, yes, the eternal endless debate of is it a copy? Is it plagiarism? Is it an outrage to good watchmaking morality? Let's be serious! If a company like Rolex, a commercial monster like Rolex had the idea that a small brand like Steinhart was making money on its back by outrageously copying one of its iconic models, then I think that the brand with the crown would have already taken care of the case and it would have been a long time since the Steinhart brand disappeared from our philosophical discussions on being or not being a Submariner, such is the statement... Well, once you get past this inevitable point when you own and present this model, you can try to see further, and even understand the pleasure of wearing one. I'm going to tell you about my encounter with the Ocean One, so know that being a fan of diving and the history that goes with it, watches are linked to this history, and even if I have always loved watches and it took me many years to understand what a watch was, it so happens that during one of my missions in Abu Dhabi I, like all good expatriates, took a tour of the Hamdan Center (from memory, that was its name, anyway a sort of Galerie La Fayette of counterfeits), while visiting the watch stand I saw for the first time the mention Submariner on a watch, I look at the brand and I see "Rolex", ok this brand I knew like everyone else, the brand of the rich and the thugs in my head, at the time that was all it represented, ok they have a model made for diving, it even surprised me, for me the diving brands were Citizen, Seiko, Spiro, Scubapro, Sunnto, Omega, and especially computer watches, but still I love this model, almost buying it because I didn't care that it said Rolex on it, I liked the design, it exuded diving, there are instruments like that you can't explain but when you see them or touch them or feel them well it reminds us of the sea 🌊, the depths, the silence (relative to underwater life) and the well-being, and the adventures of the Mousquemers (the trio Cousteau, Dumas, Tailliez) pioneers in underwater exploration and in the advances that made diving accessible to ordinary mortals, but I digress, but it's still inevitable that I tell you this so you understand as closely as possible what led me to buy this Steinhart, because yes I almost bought this copy at that time because I simply liked it and I could see myself diving with it, but my colleague brings me back to the reality is that if I buy this disaster then I will plunge into despair above all, a watch that will most certainly already be dead before putting a hand in France ... so no more interest in buying this shit, and then I forget, this story passes and the Submariner gets lost in my unconscious, then one day I while I have already understood the difference between an automatic movement and a quartz, which I have already bought and resold quite a bit, I come across one of these famous Steinharts whose name I have seen come up on quite a few sites, in the meantime I have also heard of tribute watches, not convinced at all by the Invicta, the Pagani, Sthurling etc ... but I see one of these famous Steinharts, and there nothing to do, we feel the Swiss quality 🇨🇭, even if it is German, well it fits ETA2824-2, SW200 etc ... so I am not an expert in movements but I understand that it is serious and that above all it is maintained by a watchmaker, it is not disposable, the quality, the finishes are good and unfortunately for it its resemblance (for having put the two models side by side) is striking with the 16610, it is thin on the wrist, I love that, well it does not have a diving extension that bothers me, but the links are easily removed with a 1.5 mm precision screwdriver… so it's okay, it's not dramatic as a negative point, I've seen worse, mine is a 42 mm and frankly it is small for my 17.50 cm wrist, it fits an ETA2824-2 and hold on tight it is the most precise of all the watches I have had… it fines I think a lot of Submariners I think, but shh 🤫 it's not a Rolex let's stop the comparisons… in any case it threw me years back when I was in this famous center, because yes if at that time I had been sold the same watch which looks point by point like this famous Submariner while offering me a quality which is still quite close to the Submariner, I would have bought it with my eyes closed and I would have been super happy to tell myself that the design is crazy and then yes you have to stop guys because even if I really like the sub, you still have to be really dishonest to say that the, at least, 10,500€ difference is justified by the Rolex quality compared to the Steinhart quality which is worth 400€, you can find some on LBC at 300€ or less, no it is unjustified, ok it is not the same cost in terms of marketing and blah-blah-blah ok, but still ... my Steinhart goes underwater and it is reliable, it is robust because it can withstand being smashed on rocks when leaving the shore to go diving etc ... it is precise, because it runs at 0s to +2s on very bad days... no 904l steel but it exists in 904l steel for less than €1,000, so no no and no it is not justifiable it does the job as well as the sub and for extremes cheaper and the waiting list is there order and two days later it is at your home...
So in the end the Steinhart is indeed the tourtel of Submariners, it has everything except the intoxication of the prices, and as at the time of the release of the tourtel the real beer drinkers 🍺 were against and conspired this drink reserved for the weak balls 😁, but many have become alcoholics and died due to their alcoholism and all this collateral damage... as for the drinkers of tourtel they are still there and even throw themselves from time to time a real beer 🍺 and it does not bother them to go from the tourtel to the 1664...
