Omega Casino Royale Planet Ocean Alternative

James Brosnan

I've been trying to find a good place to post this, but I cant find a dedicated thread for this. Anyway, I found a great Casino Royale Planet Ocean with rubber strap alternative, and I thought some might be interested in it. So, the watch is probably well known and is the Alpha Planet 922C.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alpha-Planet-922c-Black-Bezel-Solid-Stainless-Steel-Brand-New-/151577755232

This watch is still the best alternative from what I have found, and the Ebay supplier is offering it for 107$ USD. The watch comes with a metal band, so I have been looking for a good rubber strap alternative to the Casino Royale one, and I found this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20MM-RUBBER-STRAP-FOR-OMEGA-BAND-SEAMASTER-PLANET-OCEAN-BLACK-/171247490730?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27df2556aa

Style wise, its the exact strap. The distributor is saying that they are aftermarket Omega straps that do not have an logo identification on them. I'm not sure what to think of this, but I bought this combination anyway because the strap is only 25$ USD. It should be noted that I bought a 20mm strap because my research concluded that the Alpha watch has a 20mm lug. Not really sure if that will turn out to be true or if the strap will fit, but I should know in about a week or so when I get both items, and I will post pics of the combination along with recommendations and address any issues.

minigeff

I wouldn't pay £6 for that.

The_Commander

Gotta agree - the quartz movement is probably about 50p and the case would bring the total cost of parts up to about £3.00

There's watches that are after the style of and then there's just cheap knock offs. This is definitely the latter.

If you want a quality watch that is reminiscent of a Planet Ocean, try a Seiko Model 5:

http://www.wired.com/2014/09/seiko-model-5-hacking/

manc_bond

Have to agree that buying that piece of garbage off ebay is folly.

The Seiko Model 5s are great. I have the SNZF17 - very Submariner-like - and is currently on a Goldfinger-esque G10 strap.

The Red Kind

Better to have a half decent practical watch that bears a resemblance to a watch Bond would wear (that Seiko is a good watch), than to have something of very poor quality that just tries to look like a Rolex or Omega. I think trying to get the best you can on a budget is also more in the spirit of James Bond than buying a cheaper lookalike.

James Brosnan

Ha! Apparently I don't have an eye for watch quality. I have an Invicta (the one that looks almost exactly like the one from TMwtGG), and it was around the same price and look, so I assumed the Alpha would be just as good. The Invicta has treated me well for over a year now, but I don't really know how it stacks up to other watches. I've never really liked the look of the Seiko watches, but it seems that a lot of you guys are saying they are good quality, so I'll definately look into them. I've been wanting to fit my Invicta to a G10 strap, but I need a good metal strap watch for the QoS outfits before I do that, so maybe it's time to look into Seiko for one.

Either way, I'll post pics of the finished mod. Maybe some of you guys with an eye for quality can give your opinion on the strap. I'm very interested to see how well this strap holds up.

The Red Kind

I don't think it's necessary about having an eye for a quality watch, I think it's just applying the general rule in that more often than not you get what you pay for. I would personally prefer to pay a bit more on something of better quality. But if your Invicta is working well for you and is within your budget then why not stick with it?

Anyway, it's all subjective. At the end of the day a watch that keeps good time is enough for the majority of people. As my late great uncle once demonstrated when we were all comparing and waxing lyrical about our nice watches at a family get together, he just pulled back his sleeve to reveal his basic £30 Citizen and said "so what time do you make it then..?" )

How much are you looking to spend on your QoS piece? I'm sure you'll get lots of opinion on here to help with your decision.

All divers watches look good on a NATO Strap

Look forward to seeing some pics of your final product(s) -{

UNCLE27

Have a look also at Steinhart....
Great quality automatic watches with a Swiss ETA movement.

http://www.steinhartwatches.de/en/OCEAN-One-VINTAGE-Red,934.html

James Brosnan

The Red Kind wrote:

I don't think it's necessary about having an eye for a quality watch, I think it's just applying the general rule in that more often than not you get what you pay for. I would personally prefer to pay a bit more on something of better quality. But if your Invicta is working well for you and is within your budget then why not stick with it?

Anyway, it's all subjective. At the end of the day a watch that keeps good time is enough for the majority of people. As my late great uncle once demonstrated when we were all comparing and waxing lyrical about our nice watches at a family get together, he just pulled back his sleeve to reveal his basic £30 Citizen and said "so what time do you make it then..?" )

How much are you looking to spend on your QoS piece? I'm sure you'll get lots of opinion on here to help with your decision.

All divers watches look good on a NATO Strap

Look forward to seeing some pics of your final product(s) -{

Great story about your great uncle! That's the thing, the quality of my Invicta is perfect for me, and my budget for this stuff is small, so I can't usually afford much more than 100$ USD for a watch. It may seem strange, but for me it's all about the look. Something as simple as having the lines rather than the dots for the five minute markers makes all the difference in the world for me. That's what makes finding QoS alternatives so difficult; I have yet to find a good option. Looking at some of the Seiko's, I really like the double line on the 12 because that is a huge feature of the Broznan/ 2nd half of Casino Royale watch that I am looking for. And, the price point is just right on some of them. Now I just need to find it in blue and find a strap that better matches the 5 chain structure of the Omega (like I said, it's all about the details for me).

James Brosnan

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. Any and all suggestions are much appreciated.

SFPROPS

I know some people frown on this, but you can find Omega PO replicas that look nearly identical with japanese automatic movements for around $150 from China if you look hard enough. I've thought about getting one just for display as a collectible but have never gotten around to it. Sort of like the equivalent of buying an airsoft PPK for display instead of the real deal. You're never going to get close to the quality of the originals unless you spend well over $300 on a watch and that still will fall short in areas.

Higgins

SFPROPS wrote:

Omega PO replicas

Asp9mm

SFPROPS

I said "frown," not "look of utter disgust!" )

Higgins

) ) )
I still have the curves to look phantastic on these paintings

minigeff

Asp9mm wrote:

Oh Jesus.

The Red Kind

I cannot undo seeing that picture...!!

Westward_Drift

Great, another George Costanza wannabe. )

minigeff

On a serious note, here's what I do with suspect websites;

1) is what you're wanting to buy a good deal? Sound too good to be true? Then it is, be careful that you're not instantly sucked in by a great deal or an impending 'sale' deadline that never comes.

2) what currency is being used? If you're in the UK but prices are displayed in dollars this is another sign things might be dodgy

3) spelin end granma. If things seem to be written in broken English or contain any punctuation or spelling mistakes this instantly gets me concerned.

4) address of the site. Check the domain doesn't change. Front pages might be hosted on a realistic domain, but the product page might be on a .hk one. Watch out for this.

5) finally, an address, as in postal. Look for a contact page. No real address? Dodgy. I like to know where my money is going. An email address, just a mobile number or a form to fill in isn't good enough for me.

Hope that helps people out.

MG -{

Barbel

minigeff wrote:

Asp9mm wrote:

That picture

Oh Jesus.

+1. Coffee spluttered over the keyboard again!

) ) ) ) ) )

Charmed & Dangerous

Barbel wrote:

minigeff wrote:

Asp9mm wrote:

That picture

Oh Jesus.

+1. Coffee spluttered over the keyboard again!

) ) ) ) ) )

Sweet mother of God I just lost my breakfast

welshboy78

Could of been worse, he could have been lying on his back!

Thunderpussy

) ) )
Hilarious and yet disturbing at the same time ! )

Sir Miles

welshboy78 wrote:

Could of been worse, he could have been lying on his back!

Higgins

welshboy78 wrote:

Could of been worse, he could have been lying on his back!

Do you want to see this particular painting as well? :v

Barbel

(Sir Miles and Barbel get prepared to make that horror disappear....)

Higgins

Hey, freedom of speech and expression!

Barbel

It's the expressions on everyone else's faces that worries me....

Higgins

) ) )

That never worried me

) ) )

Sir Miles

Higgins wrote:

Hey, freedom of speech and expression!

Yes...well...it's at times like these I think North Korea may have a point !!

Higgins

can I help you to move to there? :v