CT1113.BA0550
You may remember that I bought one of these from eBay a month or two back - it seems a long time ago now, I guess a lot has happened in the meantime! That one was (by far) the cheapest one I could find, and once it arrived it became clear why. It was a bit scratched, but not too bad - I would probably have worn it for a while and then maybe had it polished once the battery needed doing, but it also had three polished links in the bracelet (should be brushed) and the bracelet was too small for me, which admittedly isn't the seller's fault. But the real problem was that the Regatta function didn't seem to work properly and I couldn't get the hands to reset properly.
So it went back, and I resigned myself to either living without the Searacer, or having to find some more money to get a better one. It was a massive shame because I really loved the watch and I really didn't want to send it back. But the head won out (thankfully!) and I received a full and prompt refund from the seller.
In the meantime I found one for sale on EST1897's website which was up for £995, a hefty jump indeed, but considerably less than I had seen CT1113s for on Watchfinder to be fair. I decided to get the watch sent to my local pawn shop for a viewing, but for whatever reason it never turned up, or if it did they never notified me that it was there, and so eventually I assumed it must have been sold. But then the other day I went on EST1897's website for the first time in ages (for some reason I always forget about them) and the watch was still sitting there, only now it wasn't £995. It had been reduced to £745, and then further reduced to £495!
It would be crazy not to buy it at that price, even though the photographs showed that the hour sub-dial wasn't aligned properly (... more on that in a minute), and so I ordered the watch only to be informed a couple of hours later that Bicester Village had finally got the WAY208C in that I've been after for over two years. How typical is that? Still, probably best I had already ordered it, otherwise I would have probably passed it up again, and someone else would have snaffled up what is undoubtedly a bargain. Hell, Watchfinder could have bought it and put it on their site for their usual price of £1150!
So it took a week to arrive, which is a bit slow if I'm honest, these days watches usually turn up within a day or two, a week seems like a lifetime. There's no box or papers, although they did send it in a black watchbox which is adequate for the purpose. The watch is in excellent with no marks to the glass, and only a few tiny marks on the case and bracelet. Furthermore, despite being advertised as having a 7" bracelet, the watch fitted my 7.3/4" wrist straight out of the box and needless to say all the links are brushed rather than a random assortment, which is nice. The clasp is also in good condition and functions well, it obviously hasn't had too much use as it still has a nice crisp action and snaps into place perfectly.
So then, I had to reset the hour sub-dial, which isn't too difficult. You pull the crown out to the first position: this allows you to move the hour hand (with the crown) quickly and independently of the minute hand to set the hour and date (there is no quick set date function on the Searacer). In this position you can also reset the hour sub-dial hand and the red 'Regatta' hand using the upper and lower pushers, then pull it out again to adjust the minute hands (with the crown) and reset the second hand and the 1/10th of a second sub dial using the upper and lower pushers.
This video demonstrates first the chronograph function, then putting the watch into Regatta
mode by depressing the lower pusher for two seconds. Notice the hour subdial flicks from
12 to 6 and the red hand starts moving, this indicates the ten minute countdown as measured by
the larger Arabic numerals on the chapter ring (rehaut).
(I won't make you sit for nine minutes watching the seconds tick by...)
Nine minutes later, the red hand is now approaching the end of it's ten minute countdown.
When it reaches 12 the hour sub dial flicks back up from 6 to 12 and starts the chronograph counting forward.
Once the countdown is completed the chrono functions normally and can be stopped and re-started as required.
Once you have finished timing, the chrono is reset in the usual manner by pressing the bottom pusher.
Once this was done I depressed the lower pusher for two seconds to initiate 'Regatta' mode and the red tipped hand on the hour sub-dial flipped to the 6 position to indicate 'Regatta' timing. In this mode the second hand starts moving and the red hand with the half-arrow tip begins a ten minute countdown (using the large backwards digits on the rehaut as markers). Once the countdown is completed the hand on the hour sub-dial flips back up to 12 and the chronograph starts counting normally and can be stopped and restarted as normal. I left the chronograph running to satisfy myself that the hour sub-dial was working and then reset everything back to zero.
Great, so everything works and finally I could relax and enjoy my new timepiece. Unlike my new Aquaracer, I'm okay with wearing this one to work so I switched my watches and wore it for the rest of the day. So far I'm very happy with it, although there are a couple of niggles, not pertaining to this watch in particular, but the watch in general.
First, though the Link bracelet is super comfortable and extremely stylish I do wish the bracelet tapered rather than 'stepped' from the largest links to the smaller ones. I know that's just how Link bracelets are but it does look a little bit clunky to these eyes, albeit it's probably something I'll stop noticing after a while. Secondly, it's a bit strange not having a running seconds hand anywhere on the dial, again it's not a massive deal, just something I'm not used to as none of my other watches lack a second hand.
The only other minor complaint that immediately springs to mind is that the glass doesn't seem to have any anti-reflective coating applied to it, so reflections are a bit of a pain. But really, that's about all I can come up with, and given the bargain basement price I paid for this one... it's a definite keeper.
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